Who doesn’t love a meal or snack on a stick? Shish kabobs are easy, delicious, customizable and have a fun name, what’s not to love? Our beef shish kabob recipe in under 30 minutes takes the classic combination of beef with fresh vegetables all marinated in a refreshing citrus marinade with a twist.
Beef shish kabobs served over our Brown and Wild Rice Medley
Beef shish kabob is a perfect dish on the grill in the summer or in the fall for a tailgate or in the winter on a grill pan indoors. Shish kabobs make great party food because the prep can be done early in the day or even the day before.
The original post was on September 20, 2017. We updated with refined ingredient measurements, directions and pictures. Hope you like the improvements!
Best Beef Shish Kabob Marinade (try saying that three times fast)
We have chosen to use a citrus marinade for our beef shish kabob recipe. Typically you see citrus with chicken or fish, but it works really well here, giving the beef a refreshing flavor. I use just limes, but you can add the juice of an orange and/or lemon as well.
Adding garlic, chipotle chili and cilantro round out this shish kabob marinade. Just blend all of the ingredients together and marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Don’t go over 4 hours though because the citrus will start to mess with the texture of the meat. If you need to marinate the meat in the morning, then mix all marinade ingredients together EXCEPT the lime juice. Marinate the meat and then when you get home from work or closer to dinner, add the lime juice, preferably for 2 hours.
What Is The Best Meat to Use For A Shish Kabob
Of course you have a choice to use beef, chicken, fish, tofu or any protein you choose. I’ll be adding more shish kabob recipes with other proteins later. For this beef shish kabob recipe I recommend sirloin, and if you can find it top sirloin. Top sirloin is a little more tender and flavorful than a cut just marked sirloin. You can also use ribeye (but then no need to marinate the meat), flap or another name for sirloin, rump.
You want to remember to cut the cubes as uniform as possible so that the meat cooks evenly and requires the same amount of time on the grill or broiler. I like to keep the meat at bite size 1 to 1 ½“ cubes. BUT if you cut the cubes this small then you need to babysit them on the grill so that they don’t overcook and you end up with a chewy, dry dinner. At 1” thick you’ll only have to cook the kabobs for about 3 minutes on two sides. What’s great about this smaller size is that no knife is required once you serve the beef shish kabob recipe. And easy is what we all like, especially if you are feeding a crowd. And we all love fast, this beef shish kabob recipe in under 30 minutes is fast and delicious, you can’t beat that!
How To Make Our Beef Shish Kabob Recipe In Under 30 Minutes
Mix the marinade ingredients for the beef shish kabob recipe and seal in a plastic bag and refrigerate a couple of hours. Then remove from the frig about 30 minutes before throwing on the grill. Bringing the meat to room temperature will ensure more even cooking. I also keep certain ingredients separated and on different skewers due to their cooking time.
If you don’t have time to marinate the meat for 2 hours. Then just add the meat to the marinade, let sit while you get the vegi skewers ready and grilling. Once the vegis are on the grill, start putting together the meat and onion kabobs. The meat will still be good, but it may be tougher and not as much flavor than if it marinaded for 2-4 hours.
If using wooden skewers then soak for about 30 minutes or longer to keep them from burning on the grill. I typically put them in a shallow dish cover with water and then weigh the skewers down with a pan or heavy object to keep the skewers from floating.
In this beef shish kabob recipe the beef is skewered with the onion. The other vegetables can be intermixed on skewers. Thread so that the colors look pretty. Also don’t jam the beef and vegetables too tight or the skewers will be too heavy and may break; and won’t allow any air circulation around the food which cooks more evenly.
Thread the marinated beef onto the kabob skewers. I like to place a piece of parchment paper under the kabobs so that I don’t have to rinse off the tray between putting the kabobs on the grill and taking them off. Meaning the raw beef juice won’t contaminate the tray. Using baking sheets is an easy way to transport the beef and vegetables to and from the grill.
Cut the vegetables in uniform size, thread on the kabob skewer and brush with a combination of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
What Vegetables to Use For Shish Kabobs In Under 30 Minutes
Metal or Wooden Skewers For Shish Kabobs?
There’s an advantage to both. The 
If you do go with 
Whether you use wooden or metal skewers, it’s helpful to add oil to them before threading on the meat and vegetables. The oil helps the food release from the skewer when ready to serve.
Vegan Plant Based Shish Kabob
Merely replace the meat with baby bella mushrooms or portobello mushrooms. Go ahead and make the meat marinade, add mushrooms and marinade to a baggie. Let sit for 15-30 minutes.
What To Serve With This Beef Shish Kabob Recipe In Under 30 Minutes
We chose not to add the corn on the cob to the skewers because the cob won’t cook as evenly as the other vegetables. So we shucked the corn, added some oil and butter and wrapped in foil. Placed the foil on the upper indirect tray on the grill. The corn turned out beautiful and tasty and a great complement to the beef shish kabobs. And took absolutely no effort by the cook……well, while the corn was cooking anyway.
You can also skip the rice and thread a skewer with new potatoes or quartered yukon gold potatoes, pour the vegetable marinade on them and grill away.
Also some white or brown rice is a perfect accompaniment. Try our Brown & Wild Rice Medley. Just think, all of the prep work is done for this entire meal early. You just need to grill and boil rice when it finally comes time to prepare the meal. I love recipes like this where I can have a glass of wine in one hand and casually finish off cooking dinner.
Beef Shish Kabob Recipe In Under 30 Minutes
Don’t let the amount of ingredients intimidate you, you can always use bottled Italian dressing for the marinade and as many vegetables as you have on hand. Ready in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Top Sirloin cut into 1" cubes
- 1/4 Cup Fresh parsley chopped
Meat Marinade
- 1 Clove Garlic minced
- 4 Tablespoons Cilantro chopped, or use Italain parsley
- 1 Whole Chipotle chili in adobo sauce minced
- 2 Medium Limes juiced
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Vegetable Marinade
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper separated
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
Vegetables
- 4 Ounces White buttom mushrooms or baby bellas, about 1/2 a pint
- 1/2 Pint Cherry Tomatoes
- 1/2 Medium Red bell pepper sliced into 1" chunks
- 1/2 Medium Yellow bell pepper sliced into 1" chunks
- 1/2 Medium Sweet onion or red or white onion
- 1 Medium Zucchini cut into 1" rounds
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
Make the marinade for the meat
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Mince the garlic and chipotle chili pepper, chop the cilantro, juice the limes and add the mustard, salt and olive oil. Mix marinade ingredients well.
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Cut the meat into 1"-2" cubes and place the meat cubes and the meat marinade in a resealable plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 4 hours. No longer than 4 hours or the texture will be affected.
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If using wooden skewers soak them in water for at least 30 minutes to keep them from burning when on the grill.
Add some oil to a paper towel and rub the sticks. The oil will lubricate the sticks and make the meat slide off the skewer after it is cooked.
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Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you are ready to grill. Then thread onto skewers, alternating the meat with a slice of onion.
Chop the Vegetables
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Cut the vegetables into 1"-2" squares, making them as uniform as possible. Thread all vegetables (except parsley) onto skewers, alternating the vegetables, keep the colors in mind so that it is appealing. The cherry tomatoes should go on their own skewers as they will not take as much time to cook as the other vegetables.
I like to top the skewers with a mushroom since it's the least likely to slide off the skewers, so will hold the other vegis on the stick.
Make Vegetable Marinade
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Whisk oil and balsamic vinegar, then pour over skewered vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. No need to marinate for any amount of time, just put directly on the grill
Grill the Meat & Vegetables
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Grill vegetable skewers over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally. Tomatoes will only take 4-6 minutes.
The meat will take a total of 6-10 minutes. Place meat skewers on a high heat grill for 3-4 minutes per side with the lid down. If meat is not cooked enough then lower heat and continue cooking. A total cooking time of 6-8 minutes will give you rare to medium rare meat, increase time if you would like the meat more done.
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Taste. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if needed.
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Top with chopped Italian parsley, mainly for looks than taste.
Recipe Notes
If you assembled the skewer by diner then just put skewers directly on the diners plate. If you segmented the ingredients onto separate skewers then remove the food from the skewers and assemble on a clean baking tray or decorative platters.
To Save Time, remove the meat from the frig to come to room temperature 30 minutes before grilling. Thread the vegi skewers first, get them going on the grill and then thread the meat skewers while the vegi's cook. 10 minutes saved.
To Make Vegan or Plant Based, use portobello or baby bella mushrooms in place of the meat and button mushrooms. Marinate in the meat marinade for 15-30 minutes. See post for other ideas.
Under 30 minutes, delicious and healthy? What more can you ask for. Great instructions.
Shish kabobs are a favorite in my house. Thanks,
Recipe sounds yum and easy enough! Trying tonight!
Hope you enjoy it! It’s a family favorite around here!