Everybody will love these tasty and tender marinated steak kabobs made with strip or sirloin steak. Easy enough for family dinners but eloquent enough for company.
Introduction
I love kabobs. They are just fun. What is better than meat on a stick? You could add veggies between the steak chunks for a complete meal, but I tend to cook my meat separately as veggie kabobs.
I's occasionally lazy. I occasionally buy premade, season, and tenderized sirloin steak kabobs at our local store. They are nicely done and just a great time saver. Buy, turn on the grill, and cook. So easy.
But it was time for my own version with very little work you can step it up a few notches. Using just pantry staples, you can make a great kabob marinade everybody will love. Step the meat up to strip steak or top sirloin will just add to the great taste.
My Rating
High 4 to low 5. Varies with your meat choice. The marinade is a strong 5.
🐄Steak
I like to use top sirloin steak or strip steak cut into 1-inch chunks. Strip steak is a step up from the sirloin and a bit more tender.
Yes, filet would be great, but I have better things to do with good filets. You can use lesser sirloin, but it is a bit chewer but still good due to the marinade tenderizing.
🥣Steak Marinade
A marinade is used to tenderize and to add flavor. While we all love grilled steak, adding more taste and tenderness is always a good thing.
I read maybe 20 marinade recipes, but in the end, I have a great marinade, The Best Steak Marinade. It has great taste and handles the heat of a grill on high great without burning.
This marinade uses pantry ingredients you already have on hand. There is olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce along with common spices. I also suggest white pepper for a special taste but use black pepper if you don't have that.
A final note on terminology. A marinade is a liquid, so it is a noun, while marinate is a verb.
✔️Tips
Adding Vegetables
I frequently add the veggies on the same kabob as the meat. That usually works out ok. If you elect to do that, some big chunks of green or red peppers or wedges of red onions are my favorites. They need a light coat of oil.
But I consider veggies vs. meat a bit of a grilling mismatch. They just don't cook the same. So even though it looks so nice, I suggest separation is best.
Vegetable Kabobs
If cooked on separate kabobs, the standard onion and bell peppers will cook in about 10-12 minutes. But if mixed in with the steak, they will take about the same time.
The Skewers
I tend to use metal skewers, but really on beef, I prefer wood. Why? I don't really need the center to cook faster.
With chicken and veggies, I prefer metal with the heat transfer but not for beef. I prefer wood. The wood skewers should be soaked in water for several hours before grilling so they don't burn up.
Serving Size
Lastly, I suggest about ½ pound of meat as a serving size. There is enough marinade here for about 4 servings. If you are doing more, just increase the marinade.
📖Kabob Recipes
Buttermilk Ranch Chicken Kabobs
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Pictures are for 3 servings, but recipe and comments are for 2 servings.
Mix marinade 4 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce,1 ½ tablespoons dry basil, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes, and ½ teaspoon white pepper.
Trim the steak of trimmable fat and cut into 1-inch cubes.
Combine marinade with steak cube and mix well. Refrigerate for 2-6 hours—but overnight is fine.
Clean, oil, and preheat grill to high. Place steak on skewers.
Grill over high direct heat. Flip every 3-4 minutes—grill to your desired internal temperature. For me, 12 minutes to get 145°.
Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
📖Recipe
Marinated Steak Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 pound steak - ½ pound per serving. Use top sirloin or strip steak.
Marinade - Enough for up to 2 pounds of meat
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons dry basil
- 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes
- ½ teaspoon white pepper - substitute black pepper if no white pepper
Instructions
- Mix marinade. 4 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 ½ tablespoons dry basil, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes and ½ teaspoon white pepper.
- Trim steak of trimmable fat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Use sirloin or strip steak.
- Combine marinade with steak cube and mix well. Refrigerate for 2-6 hours.
- Clean, oil and preheat grill to high. Place steak on skewers.
- Grill over high direct heat. Flip every 3-4 minutes. Grill to your desired internal temperature. For me, 12 minutes to get 145°.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Wooden skewers work better here since the wood will not overcook the center of the meat. Presoak them to prevent them from catching on fire.
- I generally use top sirloin but strip steak is great for this recipe.
- Marinade for 2 hours minimum. Overnight is fine.
- This recipe is written for 2 servings. Count on ½ pound of steak per serving. The half-pound of meat will fit nicely on one skewer.
- The marinade is enough to handle up to 2 pounds of meat.
- Use black pepper if you don't have white pepper.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published August 28, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Russ Hoblitzell
I always make extra marinade and baste frequently. For food safety, when I remove the meat from marinade, I bring it to a boil to kill any bacteria and can then serve it on the side at table. Zucchini and marinated artichokes also are great additions on the skewers!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Russ,
Welcome to the blog.
The general recommendation for marinades is to make extra and reserve the extra for later use. And to discard the marinade used on the raw meat. This is what I would do generally.
But boiling and reusing is considered acceptable by the FDA for those readers who are wondering.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Have a great holiday.
Dan
Jaime
I have become a much better cook thanks to you. This Marinade is delicious.
Amy
Do u think I could Cook this in the oven? It’s raining outside here where I’m at.
DrDan
Yes, but it just won't be the same. You will need to get the oven at about 450 convection. If your oven is not super clean, it will smoke perhaps a lot. You will need a meat thermometer since I can't really give you an estimate of time but probably about 15-20 minutes range and you might need some broiler at the end to brown it some.
You might also try pan searing and then into the oven. See my Pan Seared Oven Roasted Strip Steak
I just did some prime ribeye steaks on the grill in the rain (OK my grill is three feet from the door). I'm hot sweaty and wet now. Watch Sunday for pictures.
Good luck with it.
Dan
Tavi
Can you marinate overnight?
DrDan
The "official" answer is yes, up to 24 hours. But the acid (lemon juice) can eventually make the meat tougher not more tender. I like to keep beef to a few hours but even 20-30 minutes does a lot. This recipe calls for 2-6 hours so I think 6 hours max is safest. I would prefer 1 hour to overnight here.
Sam Smith
This looks so good, I would love to try this.
Ron
Looks to be a solid marinade, I'll be giving this a try this week.
Thanks for another great post!
John Lansdown
Looking at this makes me want to do K-Bobs
again. I'm like you in that it's best to cook meat
and veggies on a separate stick. When you
distrubute all on a plate, it's all good. I pretty much
season all protein I cook with your 7-2-2. Got the basics, anything more should be sauce, and your
Memphis Sauce is great. Really good after a day in the frig.
marms
I am so sad! Barbecue and grilling again, and I don't have a barbecue and am NOT turning on my oven at 30 degree weather.
Sigh. But wait. Dog pix!!
DrDan
Sorry and one more, Grilled Pork Chops, coming this weekend. Working on it today. I promise two good dog pictures. I'm switching to crockpot/tailgate/fall after Labor Day.
Dan