This shish kabob recipe features tender marinated beef, peppers and onions, all skewered together and grilled to perfection. Shish kabobs are a quick and easy meal option that can also be cooked in the oven during cooler weather months.
My kids love food on a stick, so I often serve meat and veggies on skewers including shrimp kabobs, Hawaiian chicken kabobs, and these flavorful steak shish kabobs.
You just can’t go wrong with classic shish kabobs – they’re fun to eat, simple to make, and can easily be customized to suit your family’s tastes. Add some side dishes like black eyed pea salad, mushroom rice, crock pot baked potatoes and roasted cherry tomatoes, then you’ll have a restaurant quality meal that’s sure to earn you rave reviews from family and friends. You can even add some tzatziki sauce for dipping!
Table of Contents
Shish Kabob Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, Italian seasoning, black pepper, salt, onion powder, steak, red onion, red and green bell peppers and fresh parsley.
How Do You Make Shish Kabobs?
A great shish kabob is flavored with a fabulous marinade. First make a marinade with soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings. Place cubes of steak in the marinade and let them soak up all the flavors for at least an hour. Skewer the marinated steak with peppers and onions and the kabobs are ready to go on the grill. Grill the kabobs until the steak is cooked through and the veggies are slightly tender. Add a sprinkle of parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For Shish Kabobs
- You can use wooden skewers (bamboo) or metal skewers. I like to use metal skewers because they don’t bend or break. If you use bamboo skewers, make sure to soak the skewers for 30 minutes in cold water so that they don’t burn on the grill.
- You want your veggie chunks to be about the same size as your meat so that everything touches the grill.
- I like to use two different colors of bell peppers because it looks nicer, but you can use a single type of bell pepper if you prefer.
- These skewers can be grilled indoors on a grill pan, or outside on a gas or charcoal grill. If you don’t have a grill, you can use your broiler instead.
Quick Tip
The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavorful the end product will be. You can leave the steak in the marinade for up to 24 hours.
Recipe FAQs
For steak shish kabobs, you want a naturally tender cut of meat with some marbling in it. I like to use top sirloin, but other great choices include beef tenderloin, New York strip, or ribeye. Don’t use beef stew meat or chuck, as they require a much longer cooking time.
If you want to prepare kabobs the night before, the best way to do it is to leave the meat in a marinade overnight. Cut up veggies should be stored in dry airtight containers. You will want to store onions separate from other veggies. You can also skewer everything the night before; however, the veggies may dry out a little. Make sure to use an airtight container.
While this particular shish kabob recipe uses peppers and onions, you can use other types of vegetables too such as zucchini or mushrooms.
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Shish Kabob Flavor Variations
One reason shish kabobs are so much fun is that you can put practically anything on the skewers. Here are some fun variations you can try.
- Meat: Try bite sized pieces of chicken breasts or chicken thighs, pork tenderloin cubes or medium sized shrimp instead of the beef.
- Vegetarian: For a vegetarian option, you can use cubes of extra firm tofu.
- Veggies: Feel free to add different vegetables to your skewers such as mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash or cherry tomatoes. You can even add fruit like pineapple for a tropical twist!
- Spicy: For spicy kabobs, add crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce to the marinade.
These shish kabobs will please your family and friends with their bright colors and fresh flavors. They are easily customized and always fun to eat! Need some more summer entertaining inspiration? Don’t miss my collections of 30 summer dessert recipes, 38 summer dinner recipes and 45 summer salad recipes!
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Shish Kabob Recipe
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
For the kabobs
- 2 pounds lean steak such as sirloin or New York strip, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 large red onion cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl or in a resealable gallon sized freezer bag. Mix to combine.
- Add steak pieces to the marinade. Marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
- Season the onions and peppers with salt and pepper to taste.
- Thread the beef, peppers and onions onto skewers.
- Heat a grill or indoor grill pan to medium high heat.
- Place the kabobs onto the grill and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
- Broiler directions: Prepare the skewers as directed and place on a sheet pan coated with cooking spray. Broil for 4-5 minutes per side. Continue with the recipe as directed.
Notes
- You can use wood (bamboo) or metal skewers. I like to use metal skewers because they don’t bend or break. If you use bamboo skewers, make sure to soak the skewers for 30 minutes in cold water so that they don’t burn on the grill.
- You want your veggies to be about the same size as your meat so that everything touches the grill.
- The longer you marinate the meat, the more flavorful the end product will be. You can leave the steak in the marinade for up to 24 hours.
If I need to feed 7 and want a skewer leftover , can I double the marinade to accommodate the extra cubes of steak or will the ratio be off?
Thank you in advance.
You can just change the number of servings in the recipe card and the ingredient amounts will automatically update!
Excellent flavor! We intended to serve these for dinner, but had a change in plans and served them the next day. They were still excellent after a night in the fridge.
This recipe was wonderful! The meat and vegetables were flavorful and tender.
I was a little hesitant about this recipe because i wanted something a little sweeter. But i must say it was delicious. I did it with both beef and pork and it was great on both. I will definitely make again.
How many skewers do I need for the 6-serving receipe? Or how many skewers is it per serving (sorry if I missed this somewhere!) Thanks!
It’s one 12-inch skewer per serving!
Thank you! Making these for Father’s Day on Sunday! 🙂
What can you use in place of soy sauce?
Thank you
There’s not a great substitute since it’s one of the main flavor components. You could possibly try leaving it out but then you’ll need to add some salt to the marinade.
Thanks so much!
You can use Bragg Liquid Aminos in place of the soy sauce. The flavor is the same!
You can try dicing up some anchovies and using that instead of soy.
Coconut aminos are a decent substitute for soy sauce. Most large chain grocery stores carry this item.
You can also try amino acids. I think the name brand is Bragg’s. It’s a yellow label. You can find it right by soy sauce. Had a very slightly different taste (I’m told). Although I don’t find any difference in taste.
To replace soy sauce use Bragg’s Amino . Taste the same but a healthy choice
I usually do not like marinades, but this was absolutely delish. Tasted amazing with sirloin and chicken kabobs with bell pepper, onion and pineapple. Thanks for the recipe!
I don’t eat beef, but I prepped it for the grill and my son did the cooking. My family loved it and this is a keeper for us.
I prepared my stew beef with the marinate and put in frig overnight. It was so tender and delish!
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try it.
Love these for a lower carb meal! They always turn out perfect.
It has been warm enough here the past couple of days to break out the grill! I think I know what I am making this weekend now. 🙂
So delicious! I dunno why my son and other kids love food on a stick. I’ll take it though! Whatever it gets for them to eat.
With these crazy times, it’s so nice to get out of the house and do some grilling! I love the flavor combination in these kabobs SO much and can’t wait to make them over and over again!
The flavor is insanely good! these were super easy to put together and tasted great!
This shish kabob recipe looks delicious and so easy to make!
Kabobs always make a great addition to a party plate!
I love the addition of these veggies. They make this kabob irresistible!
These look delicious! Great pictures. I can’t wait to try these. Thanks 🙂
The marinade sounds delicious! I love that everyone can customize their kabob!
My family loves this for dinner. I bought metal skewers because we make them so much. So easy to marinate overnight and broil.