The secret to perfecting those stacked rows of deliciousness? Grilling your skewers like a seasoned pro. 

Sign us up for a kebab recipe any night of the week, but please, please let it be summertime so we can put ’em on the grill. We love the easy prep, the fun assembly, and of course, everything about chow time.

Keep these go-to grill tips in mind and you’ll be all set for kebab success. Then, start craving something skewer-worthy and get grillin’!

The Food

1. When you thread your kebabs, each piece of grub should be roughly the same size. The shrimp, the onions, the peppers — whatever it is that you’re stacking — should be chopped proportionately for consistent, even cooking.

2. Mix and match! Grill classics interspersed with surprising flavors (pineapple, anyone?) make for a beautiful skewer and a more complex flavor profile. There’s no such thing as a wrong combo.

3. Try to leave some small space between each ingredient so they can each heat fully on all sides.

The Skewers

1. You’ve got options:

• Metal skewers. PROS: durable, re-usable. CONS: consistently need to clean, usually get too hot to serve directly from the grill.
• Wood/bamboo skewers. PROS: finger-friendly right off the grill, less expensive. CONS: wood often chars with the food (you could try soaking just the skewers in warm water for about 30 minutes before putting them on the grill — that should help).
• Herb sprig skewers. PROS: naturally flavors the food, resourceful. CONS: must be sturdy (hello, rosemary) to hold heavy ingredients.

2. Double up skewers for each singular kebab with about an inch between them for easier flipping. Threading food through two means you won’t have any ingredients going rogue mid-grill.

The Heat

1. Clear your cooking space with a clean grate and wait until the grill is nice and hot before laying down your skewers.

2. Timing is everything! This is slightly less important if there’s no meat involved, but stick with your telltale safety signs to make sure you cook everything thoroughly. You can always bust out a meat thermometer to be extra sure.

• Cook veggies until charred, about 8 minutes
• Cook shrimp until pink, crisp outside and white inside, 5-7 minutes
• Cook steak until pink inside reaches desired doneness, about 10 minutes
• Cook chicken until white inside, about 15 minutes

3. As a general rule, you should turn or flip most kebabs every few minutes to distribute heat throughout the skewers. Plus, moving to a new place on the grill will give you better grill marks for those #HelloFreshPics.

Now that you’ve got the inside scoop, try a kebab recipe like the delicious Vibrant Veggie Skewers or Sriracha Turkey Lemongrass Skewers and put your skills to the test.