Looking for a steak kabob marinade that delivers big flavor without a lot of fuss? This one’s packed with bold, savory taste, uses everyday ingredients, and turns out tender, juicy kabobs every time. It’s beginner-friendly, grill-ready, and tested for real-life results.
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Featured Comment by Jaime :
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I have become a much better cook thanks to you. This Marinade is delicious."
🤔Why This Marinade Works
- Beginner-friendly beef kabob marinade with full flavor
- Pantry ingredients you probably have on hand
- Balanced mix of savory, sweet, and tangy flavors
- Tenderizes without turning the steak to mush
🥣Steak Kabob Marinade Ingredients
- Olive oil—the base
- Soy sauce—for salt and flavor
- Worcestershire sauce—depth of flavor and savoriness
- Vinegar or lemon juice—for tenderizing
- Honey or brown sugar—flavor and will enhance the browning
- Garlic powder, dry basil, parsley flakes
- Pepper—white or black
- Optional additions: Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, other fresh or dry herbs
👨🍳Quick Overview: Streak Kabob Marinade
1. Mix marinde
Mix olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and spices.
2. Marinade steak
Trim the steak of trimmable fat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Use sirloin or strip steak, which are good choices. Combine the marinade with the steak cubes and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.
✅Pro Tips: Let the beef rest after marinating—don’t rush from fridge to grill.
3. Making kabobs
Place the steak on skewers—soaked wooden skewers preferred. Ready for the grill.
✅Pro Tips: Use wooden skewers instead of metal. They will not transfer heat as much as metal, allowing you to achieve a great sear on the outside and a moist, tender interior. Be sure to soak them for 10 to 30 minutes to help prevent them from burning.
4. Grilling steak kabobs
Grill on medium-high heat, turning every 3-4 minutes, until your desired doneness is reached—about 10-15 minutes usually.
👇For complete step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card or keep reading for tips, flavor options, and serving ideas.
⏲️How long to marinate the steak for kabobs
Marinate for 4 to 6 hours, ideally, but a range of 2 to 8 hours is acceptable. For tougher steaks, go up to 8 hours. For more tender steaks, such as ribeye or filet mignon, I suggest 2 hours..
The flavor transfer is quicker than the tenderization. As little as 30 minutes will give a lot of flavor, but it's even better after 2 hours.
👨🍳Pro Tip: Don’t marinate overnight—it can break down the texture too much.
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⚕️ Pro Tip: Can I safely reuse marinade?
Answer: The marinade should be considered contaminated and should not be reused unless it is boiled first. If you want to use the marinade for basting, make extra and reserve part of it for later use.
🐄What steak to use?
You can use this beef kabob marinade with any beef steak, but I usually use sirloin or top sirloin. You can also use New York strip, ribeye steak, or beef tenderloin (filet mignon). I find a skirt or flank steak tougher than I like for kabobs, but they may be used.
📋Other kabob recipes
Easy Beef Kabobs with a quicker three-ingredient marinade. Or try Honey Garlic Chicken Kabobs, BBQ Chicken Kabobs, or Buttermilk Ranch Chicken Kabobs.
🍽️Serving kabobs
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, increase the marinade.
For a special treat, serve top garlic butter or steak butter.
We like to serve steak kabobs with a garden salad and a potato side dish, like Grilled Baby Red Potatoes or Roasted Baby Potatoes.
Grilled side dish recipes like Grilling Asparagus on a Gas Grill and Grilled Corn on the Cob are good choices. For cold sides, try Broccoli Salad with Raisins and Macaroni Salad.
😊Leftovers
Leftover steak kabobs make an excellent topping for a salad. Store them sealed airtight in the refrigerator for 4 days or frozen for 4 months.
❓FAQs
Yes, but for chicken, marinate for 1-2 hours. For pork chops or tenderloin, marinate for 1 to 4 hours.
“Shish” is Greek for skewer. A kabob is usually just meat. Shish kabobs typically feature vegetables with or without meat. Skewers refer to the stick itself.
There is a large amount of sodium in both the soy sauce and the Worcestershire sauce.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Steak Kabob Marinade (Bold, Easy, and Grilled to Perfection)
Ingredients
Marinade - Enough for up to 2 pounds of meat
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar or honey
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice - OR red wine or balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1½ tablespoons dry basil
- 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes
- ½ teaspoon white pepper - substitute black pepper if no white pepper
Steak
- 1 pound sirloin, strip, or other beef steak - ½ pound per serving. Top sirloin or strip steak is a good choice.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Mix marinade: 4 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1½ tablespoons dry basil, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons dry parsley flakes, and ½ teaspoon white (or black) pepper.
- Trim the steak of trimmable fat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Use sirloin or strip steak, which are good choices.
- Combine the marinade with the steak cubes and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours. The ideal is 4 to 6 hours. Do not marinade overnight. For tougher steak, get close to 8 hours. For tender steaks, such as filets or ribeyes, 2 hours is enough.
- Place the steak on skewers—soaked wooden skewers preferred. Ready for the grill.
Grilling steak kabobs
- This is a marinade post, not a full grilling guide. However, grill on medium-high heat, turning every 3-4 minutes, until your desired doneness is reached.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- The marinade is enough for up to 2 pounds of meat.
- Use black pepper if you don't have white pepper—other options in the body of the post.
- Marinate for 2 hours minimum. 8 hours maximum. The ideal time is 4 to 6 hours. However, as little as 30 minutes will add a lot of flavor, but it will not tenderize.
- 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.
- Count on ½ pound of steak per serving. The half-pound of meat will fit nicely on one skewer.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Originally Published August 28, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Russ Hoblitzell says
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 says
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 says
I have become a much better cook thanks to you. This Marinade is delicious.
Amy says
Do u think I could Cook this in the oven? It’s raining outside here where I’m at.
DrDan says
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 says
Can you marinate overnight?
Sam Smith says
This looks so good, I would love to try this.
Ron says
Looks to be a solid marinade, I'll be giving this a try this week.
Thanks for another great post!
John Lansdown says
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 says
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 says
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