Middle Eastern Lamb Kebabs (Kabobs)

Creating flavour on flavour is the easiest thing in the world with a good marinade. These amazing Middle Eastern Lamb Kebabs (or kabobs if you’re in the US) feature juicy lamb with a unique warming spice throughout. They’re perfection!

These Middle Eastern Lamb Kebabs (Kabobs) are eaten throughout the Middle East ans Mediterranean region. Being the most widely eaten meat, lamb sees its way into many delicious preparations. None more tasty than skewered and charred over hot coals.

The success of this simple dish is the marination of the meat, which not only enhances the flavour, it tenderises it to create succulent, juicy results every time. I use lamb, because it's most authentic, and my favourite, but you can also use this marinade with other meats like goat, beef or chicken. You can also mix this marinade with ground meats to create kofta kebabs.

Marinades change from country to country, city to city, village to village - house to house! So pinning this recipe to any given place is not possible. Let's just say, it's MY Middle Eastern marinade.

I rarely grill anything other than a steak on the BBQ that hasn't been marinated - it's so important in creating a fuller flavour. The thing about marination, and we read this in every recipe that calls for it, is that you have to give it time.

Why it works?

Marination adds flavour - fact! - It's an endless source of frustration to me that I didn't get my act together to get something marinating in time for a meal. My greediness tells me that an hour is plenty time, while my head KNOWS I should have done it the day before. And it's evident in the final results if I've cut corners. I am now pretty disciplined in ensuring the meat gets a full-24 hours and if I didn't get my act together to do this, I'll often change dinner plans - because I'll just resent every mouthful!

Stuff You'll Need

Here's what you'll need to bring all the magical Middle Eastern flavour to your lamb kebabs.

• Lamb - I'll use leg or shoulder meat, cut into chunks. I'll also leave a little fat on the meat as this helps to keep everything nice and juicy when cooking.
• For the marinade - I'll add onion, garlic, cumin, yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Butter - A nice touch when grilling your lamb (especially over coals or on the bbq) is to baste it throughout in a little melted butter. It adds more flavour, keeps the meat juicy and creates smoky flare ups on the hot grill (i.e. MORE flavour).

Step by Step

This is not a difficult affair. All your time will be taken up waiting for the lamb to marinade. The longer you can wait, the better. 24 hours is your goal!

1. Step 1 - To make the marinade, blend all the marinade ingredients together until smooth.
2. Step 2 - Add the lamb pieces to a zip-lock bag and then pour over the marinade. Jiggle the bag to coat everything then seal the bag and refrigerate for as long as you can wait. 6 hours will give great flavour but longer, even better.
3. Step 3 - Remove the meat and thread onto skewers. I have flat metal skewers, but if you're using wooden then be sure to soak them for an hour or two before using to help avoid them falling to pieces on the grill. Leave the meat out for 30 minutes (covered) before cooking to come up to room temperature.
4. Step 4 - BBQ cooking - Heat a bbq grill and cook the skewers for 10-12 minutes, turning a few times during cooking. Baste the skewers by brushing melted butter over the meat with a pastry brush a few times.
5. Step 4 - Broiler cooking - To cook in the oven, heat the broiler to its hottest temperature and cook on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, turning a few times. You may also baste the meat with butter a couple of times.
6. Step 5 - Rest the skewers for 2-3 minutes then serve.

I like to serve my skewers hot, I'll typically serve with a few lemon wedges on the side to spritz over. It adds a nice bright zing of freshness to the meat and brings out even more flavour.

There are many dishes that I'll serve to accompany, usually lots of flatbreads, pickles and some kind of salad, like Fattoush. I'll also add a couple of other dishes, like a creamy dip-style dish like Beetroot Dip, Baba Ganoush, Spicy Green Ajika or Zhoug and a creamy Garlic Toum or cooling yoghurt Caçik

Ready to get started?

These kebabs really are one of the most made dishes all year round. I have even been known to stand at the bbq in a coat and gloves, grilling these in the height of winter such is my love for them. They're a go-to for me because I can set-and-forget for a while and concentrate on other dishes in the knowledge that time is doing wonderful things with the lamb in the fridge. I'm sure you'll agree when you try this simple marinade that it's time well spent. Hope you enjoy!

More Middle Eastern & Mediterranean recipes

If you liked this delicious lamb kebabs, I'm sure you'll love some more of my Middle Eastern and Med-style recipes.

• Beetroot & Feta Salad With Fresh Herb Dressing
• Sumac Onions
• Fatoush Salad
• Georgian Green Ajika
• Pilpelchuma sauce with sweet potatoes
• Zhoug (Spicy Cilantro Sauce)
• Chraime Sauce with Fish
  
• Freekeh Pilaf with Chickpeas
  
• Chicken Pilaf
  
• Jordanian Lamb Mansaf
  
• Palestinian Zucchini Dip
  
• Moroccan Matbucha – Tomato & Pepper Salad
  
• Shirazi Salad
• Shatta Sauce (Middle Eastern Chilli Sauce)

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