Category: Veggie

Grilled Veggie Kabobs

These grilled veggie kabobs skewer all the best vegetables and are easy to throw on the grill! They’re an ideal…

A Couple Cooks – Recipes worth repeating.

These grilled veggie kabobs skewer all the best vegetables and are easy to throw on the grill! They’re an ideal healthy side dish.

Vegetable kabobs

Ready for the best best, easiest summer side dish? Let’s make Veggie Kabobs! Perhaps you’ve made these before without a recipe. But you’ll know, the veggies risk coming out under-seasoned and over-cooked. Here’s our best method for making veggie kabobs with a simple seasoning blend. All the best veggies come out cooked to perfection! It’s the ideal summer side dish for a grilled dinner. Let’s waste no time and get right to it.

Best vegetables for veggie kabobs

Sure, you can mostly use any veggies you want. But some veggies are not ideal here. The trick? Use veggies that all cook in a relatively similar timeframe. That means no extra hard veggies like carrots or potatoes. Here are the best vegetables for veggie kabobs:

  • Bell peppers, multi-colored for a beautiful look
  • Red onion or white onion
  • Zucchini or yellow squash (or a combination of both)
  • Mushrooms, either baby bella (cremini) or white button
  • Cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes

Other ideas? Pineapple adds a nice sweet and savory combination. Small 1 to 2-inch sections of corn on the cob works, and so does diced eggplant. You can use cauliflower, but we recommend steaming them first (see Grilled Cauliflower).

What to avoid? Broccoli and asparagus are too hard to skewer. Carrots and potatoes should be avoided, or parboiled. Brussels sprouts also aren’t ideal for skewers, as they take slightly longer than the above veggies.

Veggie kabobs

Tips for chopping for vegetable skewers

Once you’ve selected your veggies, here’s what to note for the skewering process:

  • Chop the vegetables into relatively similar sizes. You’ll want them to be bite-sized for easy eating once they’re grilled to perfection. Keep in mind, they’ll shrink quite a bit once they’re cooked.
  • If using wooden skewers, soak them while you’re chopping. You only need 15 to 20 minutes for soaking, which is about the time it will take to preheat the grill and chop.
  • Or, use metal skewers! We purchased some metal skewers to save us from the soak. (Worth it.)

Seasoning for veggie kabobs

How to season veggie kabobs? You can make marinated veggie kabobs, but we prefer just throwing them on the grill with olive oil and seasonings. Here’s what we’ve found makes a killer seasoning blend. Throw on equal parts of:

  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Dried oregano
  • Smoked paprika (a smoky version of regular paprika you should be able to find at your local grocery; see more info here)
  • Kosher salt
Grilled vegetable kabobs

Or, brush with BBQ sauce or teriyaki

A variation we often take on these veggie kabobs? Brushing the veggies with a sauce! Skip the seasonings above and just go with the sauce. You’ll want to do it twice: once before they go on the grill, and then a generous slather afterwards. Here are a few sauces we’ve tried and loved:

Heat and grill time for veggie kabobs

Once you’ve cut and seasoned the veggie kabobs, throw the them on the grill! Here are the specifics on timing and heat level (or jump right to the recipe):

  • Preheat a grill to medium high heat. That’s about 375 to 450 degrees.
  • Chop and skewer the veggies and season. See the recipe below.
  • Grill on the grates for 10 to 12 minutes. Cook until charred and tender, turning every few minutes.
Vegetable skewers

Make it into a grilled meal!

These vegetable kabobs (aka skewers) are a fantastic side to round out a grilled meal. Here are a few ways to pair it!

More grilled veggies

Of course, there are lots more grilled veggies to throw on too! These vegetable skewers are part of our grilled vegetable series, which has all of our favorites:

These grilled veggie kabobs are…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

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Vegetable kabobs

Grilled Veggie Kabobs

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

These grilled veggie kabobs skewer all the best vegetables and are easy to throw on the grill! They’re an ideal healthy side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 red onion
  • 3 multi-colored bell peppers
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 8 ounces baby bella (cremini) mushrooms (or button mushrooms)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon each* garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, smoked paprika, and kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
  • Optional: lemon wedges

Instructions

  1. Preheat a grill to medium-high heat (375 to 450 degrees).
  2. If using wooden skewers, soak them at least 20 minutes.
  3. Chop the onion into large pieces. Cut bell peppers into chunks. Slice the zucchini into rounds 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch thick. Add the sliced veggies to a bowl with the whole mushrooms and tomatoes toss everything with the olive oil, spices, and salt.
  4. Skewer the vegetables and place each skewers on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a few more pinches kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.
  5. Place the skewers directly on the grill. Grill 10 to 12 minutes until tender and blackened, turning every few minutes. If desired, spritz with lemon wedges before serving.

Notes

*You can also brush the skewers generously with BBQ sauce or teriyaki sauce before grilling and then after grilling.

  • Category: Side dish
  • Method: Grilled
  • Cuisine: Grilled

Keywords: Veggie kabobs, grilled veggie kabobs, vegetable kabobs, veggie skewers, vegetable skewers, grilled vegetable skewers

A Couple Cooks - Recipes worth repeating.