11 Easy Kebab Recipes You'll Want to Grill Before Summer's Over

When hosting a cookout, the main thing you have to worry about is making sure that everyone eats both well and enough, which can be a tricky feat when you're dealing with varied diets. But kebabs, those skewers of grilled meat and vegetables, might just be the perfect solution. They are crazy easy to put together, have a bunch of different ingredients and textures, and cook up quickly. Plus, they look a whole lot fancier than they actually are. So the next time you're tasked with cooking for a crowd, consider these kebab recipes.

Grilled chicken, tomato, and artichoke skewers

It's best to marinate the chicken overnight, but if you're strapped for time, 30 minutes is totally acceptable. Shortcuts won't matter once you pair that poultry with artichoke hearts and a creamy yogurt goat cheese dressing. Serve 'em up with warm grilled pita and a simple salad for an easy summer dinner. Get the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Chicken thighs
• Artichoke hearts
• Tomatoes
• Goat cheese
• Greek yogurt

Balsamic beef kebabs

What makes these beef skewers special is the easy balsamic vinegar, mustard, oil, and herb marinade. Add red onion to your skewers before they hit the grill -- the heat will sweeten them up! Recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Sirloin roast beef
• Balsamic vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Garlic
• Red pepper flakes

Coconut honey lime Filipino chicken adobo skewers

Dress the breasts in coconut milk, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, and vinegar, then simmer down the remaining marinade into a sticky sauce. Find the recipe here!

Key ingredients:

• Chicken breasts or thighs
• Soy sauce
• Canned coconut milk
• Rice vinegar
• Honey

Grilled jerk chicken and peach skewers

These chicken kebabs start with spicy-and-sweet jerk flavors -- brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, Scotch bonnet -- and are then complemented with fresh sweet peaches. Learn the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Chicken thighs
• Peaches
• Cilantro
• Molasses
• Spices

Chili lime-rubbed chicken kebabs with watermelon mango salsa

If semi-homemade is your style, here's a little secret: this chili-lime spice rub is totally store-bought -- Trader Joe's has an excellent version, but so do the standards like Mrs. Dash and McCormick. Find the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Chicken breasts
• Chili-lime seasoning
• Watermelon
• Mango
• Jalapeño

Sriracha lime grilled shrimp

These Sriracha butter-grilled shrimp-and-lime skewers couldn't be easier. We've already told you all the ingredients. Check out the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Shrimp
• Lime
• Sriracha
• Butter

Wild salmon skewers with ginger scallion relish

The simple salmon-and-squash skewers can stand on their own, but paired with a sweet-and-salty ginger scallion relish and lemongrass rice, they really sing. Use two sticks per skewer so that the fish and vegetables stay in place. Recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Shrimp
• Zucchini
• Lemon
• Scallions
• Ginger

Grilled Chilean beef skewers with smoky chimichurri sauce

Alternate the steak with sweet onions and cherry tomatoes on the sticks before grilling, and then double down on the smokiness with paprika-spiked chimichurri sauce. Recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Sirloin steak
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Lime
• Scallions

BBQ chicken kebabs

Forget everything you know about ordinary BBQ chicken, because this meat is marinated in a blend of BBQ sauce, sugar, and spices, and then coated with a pulsed bacon paste that'll make everything extra crispy and salty. Here's the recipe.

Key ingredients:

• Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• Paprika
• Bacon
• BBQ sauce

Hawaiian BBQ skewers with Sriracha lime butter

Toss the chicken, pineapple, and peppers in your favorite BBQ sauce, and then finish it all off with a brush of Sriracha butter. Get the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Chicken breasts or thighs
• BBQ sauce
• Cilantro
• Pineapple
• Poblano pepper

Grilled tandoori skewers with cucumber mint raita

The tandoori marinade can be paired with just about any meat or vegetarian alternative, and the cool cucumber yogurt raita will temper any heat from the chiles. Get the recipe here.

Key ingredients:

• Greek yogurt
• Spices
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cucumber

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