My Shrimp, Sausage and Vegetable Kabobs

Shrimp, sausage and vegetable kabobs on the grill. I love seafood, being most especially fond of shrimp. Unfortunately though I’m not very good at cooking shrimp in house. (I’m very particular with how I like my shrimp and I always seem to over cook them unless I use the air fryer.) Fortunately for me though my kabob recipe is absolutely fool proof. Unfortunately for me though its very labor intensive so I only make it a few times a year.

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To do this “right” you would make separate kabobs for each individual ingredient because everything takes its own exact time to cook. Of course, you can combat that by cutting your potatoes super thin or your squash a little thicker etc.

Obviously not all vegetables are going to work on a skewer. I did eggplant once and it worked great but it turns out I’m not a big fan of eggplant. I include mushrooms when I make these for anyone besides me as I’m told they’re awesome in this recipe whether I like them or not.

Potatoes do great especially if they’re getting older and not very crisp. (Super fresh potatoes just means you have to be more careful or they’ll break when you spear them.)

Usually I don’t include potatoes here though because they can go from raw to charcoal real quick. (Or, even worse, raw charcoal.) If I do grill potatoes they get their own skewer and as much personal attention as I generally give a protein. Or, to save myself the worry, I’ll cook them in the microwave first and just seer them on the grill quick before serving.

Other vegetables are much more forgiving.

I use vegetables in this kabob recipe that can be cooked to death or not at all so I can focus entirely on my shrimp. And that’s the same reason why I don’t use raw sausage.

Everything on the skewer, except for the shrimp, is technically already “done”

I like a combination of yellow squash, zucchini, onion and bell pepper for my kabobs and I like to marinate everything overnight including the smoked sausage because its flavor adds to the marinade.

It would seem obvious that you would just cut the squash from end to end in big coins but that’s actually not great for grilling. Medallions mean the skewer is going through the softest part of the squash so they tend to spin.

Not great for when you want to flip them to get even color on all sides.

So I cut my squash in rectangles and make sure the skewer goes through the skin.

I used to go to all the work of breaking a part every single individual onion layer. That was dumb. I do big chunks of onion now and its a tender enough vegetable that it still gets plenty of cooking time. (I like these kabobs enough that finding ways to make them LESS labor intensive is a priority.)

I love shrimp.

It may actually be my favorite protein but I am super particular on how I want it. I hate being served shrimp with the tails on. When I order shrimp its generally giant, broiled, expensive and at a fancy place so I find it strange if I have to tear it apart to get to the tail meat like I’m at Red Lobster.

So I don’t serve shrimp with any shell on.

Which makes this recipe even MORE labor intensive.

I thaw them in cold water and then carefully clean them. I always buy raw frozen shrimp. (Here in northern Minnesota “never” frozen isn’t a thing as far as I know or, at least, not in my budget.)

On the grill already cooked shrimp turns to concrete before anything else on the kabob has a chance to seer…

In fact I’ve actually never really found a use for already cooked frozen shrimp as shrimp cocktail is one of my least favorite things and even a light toss in warm butter can make them tire-like. If it has any texture at all (which this recipe absolutely does) shrimp should never remind anyone of rubber.

This is my go-to marinade for just about everything. I use soy sauce and avocado oil as my base it addition to a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and a few drops of liquid smoke. (Yes, I said drops, liquid smoke is the ace up my sleeve in a lot of my recipes but you have to be careful with it as it is very strong.

I used to add minced garlic until I discovered everything bagel seasoning and I’m lazy so I just use a tablespoon of that now instead. I don’t add any additional salt but I do add plenty of black pepper and sometimes a dash of red pepper for some heat. (A little kick of spice on shrimp can really be a nice balance to the sweetness of them.)

I marinade everything over night and always try to get anything I’m cooking out early so it can come to room temperature before I cook it especially when I’m grilling.

Now for the labor intensive part.

These are the skewers I use now after having been unimpressed with wood skewers in the past because of splinters and them starting on fire. The amount of burns I’ve gotten from these skewers I’m using here though make them kind of suck too… Clearly I’m unimpressed with my options.

(I’m told that if I soak my wood skewers in water over night all of my issues with them will disappear but again I’m trying to make this recipe LESS labor intensive. I’m frugal too so being able to throw these in the dishwasher and use them forever is appealing.)

I pull everything out of the bag, reserve the marinating liquid in a bowl and then get to stabbing. You can see I go through the tail and the back of the shrimp. The size I cut everything to is about the size of the shrimp so everybody gets to actually touch the grill.

My go-to mode for grilling is pretty simple. I have four burners on my grill and I turn them all on high and leave the lid down and wait for it to get up to around 500 degrees. I then turn all of my burners off except for one burner which I leave on high. (The one on the far right.)

I put my kabobs on the burners that are off and close the grill cover. Remember the only thing I need to focus on here is the shrimp, everybody else is just along for the ride. (Yes, those are ribeye steaks I was cooking right along with my skewers using the exact marinade and cooking method. Its practically fool proof.)

I microwave half a stick of butter with my reserved marinade for basting.

When the grill marks are good on one side I flip them, baste them with the marinade, close the grill for awhile and then just repeat until the shrimp are done. (Remember, every time you open the grill, just like with your oven, you’re letting the heat out.)

At some point in this process I generally turn my one burner down to low because I have an outrageously HOT grill and I want to keep the temp around 400 degrees.

I’m not sure why but I’ve never had shrimp turn out badly in this method though I have absolutely over cooked the hell out of them. Maybe its the marinade or the high and dry heat but they always come out beautifully tender. Having all of the ingredients on each kabob makes these a crowd favorite. Ready to eat? Just grab a kabob – its an entire meal on a stick and aren’t they just beautiful?

Shrimp, Sausage and Vegetable Kabobs
• 1Lb raw jumbo shrimp
• 1Lb smoked ring sausage
• 2Bell peppers
• 1Large onion
• 1Medium zucchini
• 1Medium yellow squash.
•  
• 2Cups Soy sauce
• 1/2Cup Avocado oil
• 1/2Cup Worcestershire
• A few drops Liquid smoke
• 1Tbsp Everything bagel seasoning
• 1Tbsp Black pepper
•  
• 1/2Stick butter

Cut everything into equal sized pieces and marinade over night. Skewer everything on kabobs and microwave the leftover marinade with the butter for basting. Grill and baste the kabobs until shrimp is cooked through.

Shrimp, Sausage and Vegetable Kabobs
• 1Lb raw jumbo shrimp
• 1Lb smoked ring sausage
• 2Bell peppers
• 1Large onion
• 1Medium zucchini
• 1Medium yellow squash.
•  
• 2Cups Soy sauce
• 1/2Cup Avocado oil
• 1/2Cup Worcestershire
• A few drops Liquid smoke
• 1Tbsp Everything bagel seasoning
• 1Tbsp Black pepper
•  
• 1/2Stick butter

Cut everything into equal sized pieces and marinade over night. Skewer everything on kabobs and microwave the leftover marinade with the butter for basting. Grill and baste the kabobs until shrimp is cooked through.