Grilled Veggie Kabobs

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

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.

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

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:

BBQ sauce: try our homemade BBQ sauce or sugar free BBQ sauce
Teriyaki: try homemade teriyaki sauce
Miso sauce: haven’t tried this yet, but our miso dressing would also taste incredible

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.

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!

Grilled veggie burger. Throw a Best Veggie Burger or Portobello Mushroom Burger on for plant-forward deliciousness.
Grilled shrimp. Try Grilled Shrimp, Blackened Shrimp, or Cajun Shrimp.
Grilled tofu. This Grilled Tofu is full of big flavor.
Grilled fish. Try Perfect Grilled Salmon, Grilled Cod, Grilled Red Snapper, or Grilled Tilapia.

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:

Try Perfect Grilled Corn or Elote
Throw on Grilled Peppers
Mix up meaty Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
Opt for Perfect Grilled Potatoes

Perfect Grilled Corn

Perfect Grilled Peppers

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Perfect Grilled Potatoes

These grilled veggie kabobs are…

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