10 Delicious Meatball Skewers You Need to Try
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A skewer is the most forgiving thing you can put on a grill. It is also the fastest way I know to use up whatever the garden handed me that morning — a few peppers, a squash that got away from me, cherry tomatoes by the handful. Thread them between meatballs and it turns into dinner instead of a produce problem.
These are ten combinations I keep coming back to. Some link to full recipes here on the site; the rest are simple enough that the description is the recipe. Mix and match freely. That is the whole point of cooking on a stick.
Four things that make skewers work
- Par-cook the meatballs. Bake them most of the way through first, then finish on the grill. Raw meatballs on a skewer either burn outside or stay pink inside, and there is no setting in between.
- Cut vegetables to match cooking time. Zucchini in thick coins, peppers in wide squares, onion in wedges held together at the root. Cherry tomatoes go on whole and go on last.
- Use two skewers, not one. Run a pair through everything, parallel, about an inch apart. Nothing spins when you turn it.
- Sauce at the end. Almost every glaze has sugar in it, and sugar burns long before the meat is done. Brush it on in the last two minutes.
1. Korean gochujang meatballs with peppers and scallion
Sweet, deep, and a little hot. Start with the Korean gochujang-glazed meatballs, thread them with wide squares of sweet pepper and two-inch lengths of scallion, and brush the glaze on at the very end so it caramelizes instead of scorching. Sesame seeds over the top.
2. Greek lemon and dill chicken meatballs with red onion
Bright and herb-forward. These Greek lemon and dill chicken meatballs already come with a feta yogurt sauce, which is exactly what you want for dipping. Skewer them with red onion wedges, and add cool cucumber ribbons on the plate rather than on the fire.
3. Chimichurri beef meatballs with zucchini
If zucchini is coming in faster than you can cook it, this is the answer. Borrow the herb sauce from the chimichurri grilled zucchini skewers and alternate thick zucchini coins with plain beef meatballs. Spoon the chimichurri over everything the moment it comes off the grill, while it is still hot enough to soak it up.
4. Cranberry-glazed meatballs with red onion and sage
The holiday one, and genuinely good in July too. Tangy savory cranberry meatballs with red onion wedges and a few sage leaves tucked between them. Glaze goes on late.
5. Caprese skewers with mini meatballs
Plain beef or pork meatballs, cherry tomatoes straight off the vine, and a small fresh mozzarella ball between each one. Grill the meatballs and tomatoes first, then thread the mozzarella on while everything is warm so it softens without melting off. Basil leaf, olive oil, flaky salt.
6. Lamb meatballs with eggplant and yogurt
Cubed eggplant brushed generously with oil, lamb meatballs seasoned with cumin and coriander, red onion between. Serve the spiced eggplant and yogurt dip alongside — doubling down on the eggplant is the entire idea.
7. Turkey meatballs with summer squash and grilled lemon
The lightest one here. Turkey meatballs with plenty of parsley, yellow squash in coins, and half a lemon set cut-side down on the grill beside the skewers. Squeeze the hot lemon over everything at the table.
8. Elote-inspired skewers with corn and poblano
Take everything good about elote-style roasted corn and put it on a stick. Corn cut into rounds, pork meatballs, poblano squares. Off the grill, hit it with lime, crumbled cotija, chili powder, and a little mayo thinned with lime juice.
9. Italian herb meatballs with peppers and olives
Beef and pork meatballs with oregano and fennel seed, sweet peppers, red onion, and a whole green olive between each. Grill, then finish with good olive oil and torn basil. This one wants crusty bread beside it and nothing else.
10. The sheet pan version, for when it is too hot to stand outside
In a Zone 9 August, standing at a grill is a choice. Thread everything the same way, lay the skewers across a rimmed sheet pan so they sit up off the surface, and roast at 425°F for 18 to 22 minutes, turning once. You give up a little char and you keep your whole evening.
What to serve alongside
Skewers want one soft thing and one sharp thing on the table. A herbed cream cheese spread with warm flatbread covers the first. A vinegary slaw or a jar of quick pickles covers the second. Between them you have a meal.
What I Reach For to Grill Skewers
Nothing exotic here. Four things that make skewer night go smoothly instead of turning into a project.
Flat blades stop food spinning when you turn them, which is the single most annoying thing about round skewers.
For the indoor version, and for the months when standing outside is not a reasonable plan.
Meatballs go from done to dry in about ninety seconds. This is the difference between the two.
For getting glaze on in the last two minutes without dragging everything off the skewer.
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Tell me which one you try, and what you had coming out of the garden that week. That is usually where the best version comes from anyway.
