This particular recipe version of “Shashlik” kebobs has Russian roots. This recipe is a juicy flame-grilled kebab with deeply seasoned, and well-charred meat. The meat is flavored with a potent marinade with red wine vinegar, oil, onion, garlic and warm spices such as cumin and cinnamon. A sweet, tangy sauce of caramelized onion and tart yogurt provided the perfect complement to the rich, flame-charred beef. Incredibly good!
While autumn is slowing showing its arrival to our dry state of California, we still have clear skies and warm weather for more grilling. I was inspired to make this kebabs (or “Shahlik” according to Russian roots). There’s some advance planning, to make the marinade that is out-of-this-world delicious!
The marinade is loaded with so much flavor– including red wine vinegar, garlic, onion, cumin, cinnamon and more!
A blender does the trick, the majority of the marinade is poured over Sirloin Steak Tips. I have been using my FoodSaver Marinator for many years because it can speed up the marination process by half! Love it.
There’s a dipping sauce that goes with this recipe, and it was so addictive! To make the dipping sauce, a small portion of the marinade is reserved (before pouring it over the raw beef, obviously!)
Chopped onion, oil and water, along with the reserved marinade is cooked until caramelized.
To make the sauce/dip, whole-milk yogurt, fresh lemon juice and lots of cilantro is added to the onion mixture. NOTE: If you hate cilantro (I’ve read that’s a genetic thing), substitute fresh parsley. Fortunately, we LOVE the tangy flavor of cilantro– so bring it on!
Oooh, that tastes good! It’s almost time to grill… but, now, it’s time to make kebobs. Er, Shashlik.
I’ve soaked wooden skewers, in water, for at least 30 minutes. Can you use metal skewers? Of course! The meat tends to spin around with them– but by all means. You sure can!
We have both a Weber charcoal grill, and a gas grill. This time, we decided to gas grill. (I’ve provided instructions for using a charcoal grill, as well.) We preheated the grate, scraped it clean and then oiled it well. On they go!
The kebobs are turned every 2-3 minutes. We like our meat medium rare– so the target temperature is 135F – 145F.
There is sugar in the marinade, so that helps to give a beautify caramel color to the kebobs. We’re ready to eat!
TASTING NOTES: I’ve made some dishes that were lackluster in flavor. Those recipes never make it on my food blog! These were really, REALLY good! The beef was so flavorful!
Oh my. That dipping sauce was the crowning glory of this recipe! I slathered each bite with it. I’m tempted to try this with pork or lamb, as well. Once again, Cook’s Country Magazine has created a winning recipe. (As a side dish, I made a version of our Fresh Corn Succotash.)
Flavorful Grilled Shashlik-Style Beef Kebabs
Equipment
- Gas or Charcoal Grill
Ingredients
Marinade
- ½ cup coarsely chopped onion
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf crumbled
Beef and Sauce
- 2 pounds sirloin steak tips trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces NOTE: this meat is also called "flap meat"
- 1 onion chopped fine
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro substitute parsley if you don't like cilantro
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 6 10-inch wooden skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
Instructions
For the marinade:
- Process all ingredients in blender until smooth, about 30 seconds. Measure out 2 tablespoons marinade and set aside.
For the beef and sauce:
- Combine beef and remaining marinade in 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Press out air, seal bag, and turn to coat beef in marinade. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
While beef marinates
- Combine onion, water, oil, and reserved marinade in 10-inch skillet. Cover and cook over medium-high heat until liquid has evaporated and onion is beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and continue to cook until onion is well browned, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Transfer onion to bowl and stir in yogurt, cilantro, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Thread beef tightly onto skewers, leaving ends of skewers slightly exposed.
- For a charcoal grill: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter mounded with charcoal briquettes (7 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
- For a gas grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
- Clean and oil cooking grate. Arrange kebabs on grill (over hotter side if using charcoal) and cook (covered if using gas), turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until beef is well browned, charred around edges, and registering between 135 and 145 degrees, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer kebabs to platter, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with sauce.
Notes
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Love this recipe but find the ingredients are not correctly listed when compared to ATK recipe. The cinnamon is missing and the cumin is incorrect measure. Just a heads up!
It’s been fixed. Thank you!
In the recipe, you have listed under the sugar 1 teaspoon… what should that be? The ingredient is missing.
Thank you in advance.
Air? LOL So sorry. That was a line I should’ve deleted. Thank your for pointing that out!
This is a great recipe. the sauce is delicious and so is the marinade. I followed everything in the recipe with a gas grill. I used my own metal skewers. Will for sure make this again. I served this with a cucumber cold salad. It’s the same recipe that is on the Cooks Country show. They have a video online from the episode that did this recipe.
Thanks.
P.S. For some reason, my comment is all in caps, even though caps lock is not on.
Thank you for the positive feedback. Yes, it’s a Cooks Country recipe. I love that show and I own their cookbooks. Not sure why the all caps, but everything looks good on my end.