Pork shashlik without marinade. The real shish kebab What to do with less fatty fish

  1. Fresh, high-quality and young meat does not need to be marinated. Before frying, simply add salt and pepper. But if you want to give this meat a rich aroma and unusual taste, use any of these marinades. Chicken can be marinated for only half an hour, and pork, beef and lamb - 1-2 hours.
  2. Old meat or meat whose quality you are not sure of needs to be marinated longer. This will soften the fibers and make the kebab juicier. The minimum marinating time for chicken is 2 hours, 4 hours, beef and lamb - 6 hours.
  3. Not only old, but also young meat can easily be marinated for a day or even two. Ingredients in marinades, in particular onions, have antibacterial properties. This means that the meat will be stored longer.
  4. You can marinate meat at room temperature. But if it must stay in the marinade for more than two hours, then it is better to put it in the refrigerator.

The best marinades for barbecue

All ingredients in the recipes are for 2 kg of meat. Marinades are suitable for chicken, pork, and lamb.

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Onions are an integral ingredient in almost all marinades. It gives the kebab a rich aroma, so there is no need for a lot of spices.

Ingredients

  • 500 g onions;
  • salt - to taste;

Preparation

Cut the onion into several pieces and puree in a blender. Salt and pepper the meat, add the onion and mix well. To prevent the onions from burning while frying, lightly pat each piece of meat with a paper towel before cooking.


tastylive.ru

Meat marinated in this way turns out very tender. And thanks to the seasonings, the kebab will smell very tasty.

Ingredients

  • 1,700 g onions;
  • 1 ½ tablespoons hops-suneli;
  • salt - to taste;
  • 1,700 ml low-fat kefir.

Preparation

Finely chop the onion, place it in a deep container and lightly remember to release the juice. Add seasonings and stir. Then add the meat and mix well again. Pour in, cover with a lid and shake until the meat is completely covered with the marinade.


povar.ru

Carbonated mineral water softens meat fibers. As a result, the kebab turns out juicy, tender and - due to the garlic and spices - aromatic.

Ingredients

  • 500 g onions;
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste;
  • 5 cloves of garlic;
  • 1 liter of sparkling mineral water.

Preparation

Cut the onion into rings and place on the meat. Add oil, spices and chopped garlic and mix thoroughly. Pour mineral water over the meat and leave to marinate.


man-advice.ru

Thanks to this marinade, the meat will acquire a subtle minty aroma and a pleasant piquant taste.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ tablespoons barbecue seasoning;
  • salt - to taste;
  • 3 bunches of mint;
  • 500 g onions.

Preparation

Sprinkle the meat with spices and mix well. Line the bottom of the container in which the kebab will be marinated with some mint. Place some of the meat on top and cover with mint. Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients. The last layer should be mint. Half an hour before the end of marinating, add the chopped rings and stir.


postila.ru

Tomato juice also perfectly softens meat fibers. It will make the kebab not only tastier, but also more unusual: the meat will acquire a beautiful reddish tint.

Ingredients

  • 500 g onions;
  • 1 tablespoon barbecue seasoning;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste;
  • 3–5 cloves of garlic;
  • 1 ½ liters of tomato juice.

Preparation

Add chopped onion, spices and chopped garlic to the meat. Pour in tomato juice, cover the container with the meat and leave to marinate.


kuhny-mira.ru

Good quality mayonnaise makes the meat juicy and flavorful. Perhaps this is why marinades are so popular.

Ingredients

  • 300 g onions;
  • 500 ml mayonnaise;
  • 1 tablespoon curry;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste.

Preparation

Using a blender, puree the onion. Add mayonnaise, onion puree and spices to the meat and mix well.


willcomfort.ru

This recipe will especially appeal to beer lovers, as the meat will acquire a slight malt smell. It's better to take a living one. Just keep in mind that a low-quality drink will spoil the taste of the kebab.

Ingredients

  • 500 g onions;
  • 3 cloves of garlic;
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander;
  • 2 teaspoons paprika;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste;
  • 750 ml beer.

Preparation

Add chopped onion, garlic and spices to the meat. Stir and pour beer.

A trip to nature May holidays- This is a good tradition that is followed by a lot of people. The main reason why people go there is not only the unity with nature and clean air, but also the opportunity to cook and enjoy delicious kebab.

There is a debate among shashlik experts about what kind of marinade to prepare so that the meat becomes tender and melts in the mouth. The right marinade will help to fully reveal the flavor of the meat. We bring to your attention 8 of the best marinades that will turn you into a work of culinary art.

Simple marinades for barbecue


With the help of these marinades you can prepare very tasty, juicy and delicious kebab. Choose the recipe you like. Your friends will be delighted with the way you cook meat.

This is a real creative laboratory! A team of true like-minded people, each an expert in their field, united by a common goal: to help people. We create materials that are truly worth sharing, and our beloved readers serve as a source of inexhaustible inspiration for us!

Shouldn't we, dear and beloved, talk about a dish of all times and peoples - shish kebab? The phrase about the days gone by and the people who tasted this dish, in this case, was not used for the sake of a catchphrase - really, try to think about when a person first cooked shish kebab? Surely our primitive relative, roasting the carcass of a shaggy beast killed with his own spear over a fire, could not have imagined that several thousand years later his followers would also roast meat over a fire, calling their dinner the delicious word “kebab.”

However, we won’t go deep into history, let’s have a heart-to-heart talk about how to cook delicious meat on the grill. Surely your family has a couple of family secrets that you would never tell anyone about. And if “Magic Food” shares its knowledge, will you give away your secrets? We won't tell anyone else, honestly!

15 tips for those who want to learn how to cook the perfect kebab

1. How to choose meat for barbecue

Not everything is barbecue that smells good.

It's no secret that if you do everything correctly, correctly and traditionally, then for cooking barbecue need to get lamb. However, firstly, this type of meat has a rather strong specific smell, which not everyone likes, and secondly, it is not so easy to find high-quality lamb tenderloin in our stores and markets, so another almost traditional option has long taken root - pork kebab.

When choosing meat, pay attention to its fat content: a piece that is too lean will be dry and tough after cooking, while a piece that is too fatty will remain unpleasantly greasy. Here, as in no other case, the golden mean is important. When it comes to pork, they usually buy the neck. Less often - a shoulder blade or a ham. They don't take loin at all– despite the fact that this is the most beautiful part of the pork carcass, it is absolutely not suitable for barbecue.

In addition to pork, you can use veal (high quality beef), chicken, turkey. In addition, kebab is also prepared from certain types of fish - catfish, salmon, sturgeon.

When sharing family secrets of delicious barbecue, most people share marinade recipes. So, don’t believe it! The key to a perfect barbecue is just the right meat. It’s impossible to make juicy, soft, appetizing kebab from cheap, stale, old pork; you don’t even have to try. And vice versa: it is very difficult to spoil fresh, high-quality meat, it is amazing and wonderful in itself, therefore a kebab made from it will most likely be perfect.

2. How to cut meat perfectly

Shashlik does not tolerate women's hands.
Film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”

To make the kebab tasty and juicy, it is important to approach the issue of cutting meat correctly. There are two key points.

The first is size, no matter how strange it sounds, of course, it matters: pieces of meat that are too small will simply dry out on the fire, turning into dry, hard “chips,” while large pieces will not have time to fry, will burn on top, and will remain raw inside. Again - the golden mean: not big and not small, even and neat and - important! - everything is approximately the same size, otherwise some of the meat will be overcooked, and some will remain undercooked.

Second, the meat needs to be cut across the grain. A simple truth that rarely follows when trying to cut meat as it turns out - instead of doing it right. And the end result, naturally, is different, but more often – tough, dry and unappetizing.

3. How to calculate the product

Make sure that neither the kebab nor the skewer burns.

There should be a lot of shish kebab! This is an immutable truth, a law and simply an axiom that does not require any reasonable evidence. There should be so much shish kebab that it will definitely remain (by the way, have you ever tried to stew potatoes on a kebab, cook pea soup or cook pilaf? no? oh-oh-oh-so-vain!). Meat is usually purchased at the rate of 300-400 g per person. More is possible, less is not worth it. Do not forget that during the cooking process this product will definitely lose weight.

4. The best marinade for barbecue

We didn’t eat shish kebab, but we were blinded by the smoke.

About the best way to marinate shish kebab, ask real professionals - those who prepare this dish constantly and regularly, who were born and raised in a country for which shish kebab has long been an element of culture, who fry it without striving to improve perfection. In many Caucasian countries, barbecue meat is marinated in its own juice, adding only salt, black pepper and onions to the chopped pieces. This minimalism has a special meaning, each ingredient is dictated by experience and common sense.

However, if you want to find a different, special marinade recipe for barbecue and try a new method every time you get ready to fry meat over a fire, do not forget that in most cases it takes time for the meat to marinate properly. Ideally, we are talking about 10-12 hours, in the minimum format – at least 4-5 hours.

5. To salt or not to salt?

If you can’t part with the lamb, you’ll be left without the kebab.

What kind of question, you ask, salt, of course! Ok, salt, but when? Before frying or after? There is a widespread belief that salt “pulls out” the juices from meat, so you should not add it to the marinade, just add salt immediately before or after frying.

Believe me (and if you don’t believe me, arm yourself with scales, a notepad and a smart look and check it experimentally!), pre-salting meat at the marinating stage in no way affects the dehydration of the product. Salting the finished kebab is quite problematic: the salt will not penetrate inside through the thick meat crust, will remain on the surface and will be felt only on the upper layers of the meat piece.

To be completely fair, it is worth noting that the dryness of the kebab is much more influenced by the cooking time (if the heat is not intense enough, you will have to “marinate” the meat over the coals, for a long time and tediously, which will naturally dry it out much more than this supposedly will make salt) and the size of the piece of meat (this was already mentioned above). Therefore, we add salt without hesitation, because like unsalted meat, this is terrible, a translation of the product and generally nonsense.

6. Seasonings: to be or not to be? That is the question!

Life is easy when you eat kebab.

In recent years, supermarket shelves have been sagging under the weight of all kinds of seasonings - for chicken, pork, lamb, just universal meat, grilled meat, barbecue and other tricks. At the bazaar, it is impossible to calmly pass by the beautiful piles of oriental herbs and spices - they will offer you anything you want, and before you even have time to look back, you will receive disposable bags of ingredients mixed from spices that are unknown to you.

If you approach the issue wisely and with restraint, it is certainly delicious. However, be very confident in your reasonableness and restraint, because otherwise you risk getting something meaty instead of kebab, but poorly identifiable behind a thick crust of all kinds of spices.

And don’t forget that everything that protrudes, sticks out and hangs on the meat will definitely burn. Herbs and seasonings succumb easily to fire—do you want to eat a lot of charcoal?

7. Skewers or grill?

A house cannot be built on seven winds; barbecue cannot cook on seven coals.

Traditionally, shish kebab is fried on skewers, turning them beautifully and confidently over the coals. However, if you prefer to place the meat on the grill grate, then do so! Why not? Of course, this is not a classic of the genre, but then, let’s say, frying pans for pancakes didn’t always exist either - this is not a reason to still fry pancakes on a hot stone.

By the way. If you decide to fry meat on skewers, try to heat them thoroughly on the grill before threading the meat onto them - this way you will not only disinfect the metal (this is important for some), but also ensure the coagulation of proteins inside the meat piece, which will allow the juices not to leak out from the kebab or flow out in a much smaller volume.

8. A little imagination - for beauty and aroma

Only a sheep can refuse barbecue.

Shish kebab is a creative endeavor; it does not require precise proportions, ingredients measured down to the gram, or strict adherence to the recipe, and that’s great! You can always improvise, try your own options, realize your own fantasies. Try playing with the marinade - who knows, maybe you will be able to discover a new component that will make your kebab famous throughout the city?

Another topic for creativity is stringing meat onto skewers in turn with additional products. Most often, of course, we are talking about onion rings, however, feel free to try everything that comes to your mind. The chicken kebab looks absolutely incredible when placed on skewers interspersed with large grapes. Zucchini and zucchini cooked over coals are amazingly tasty - maybe you should try cooking them at the same time as meat? Bell peppers, pieces of lard, pumpkin, tomatoes, eggplants, peaches, apples and everything, everything, everything that comes to your mind. Try it!

9. Fire and coals

If you love barbecue, love to light up the grill.

Experts say that the most delicious shish kebab comes out over fruit wood. Cherry, pear, and plum are considered the most suitable, and it should be understood that a rare specialist, having tasted kebab cooked, say, on cherry wood, will distinguish it from kebab cooked on oak branches.

In general, you can use any deciduous trees - linden, birch, poplar. It is worth remembering: under no circumstances should you use resinous (coniferous) wood for cooking barbecue. Resins will give the meat a characteristic taste and aroma, which will simply spoil the meat.

10. Grilling shish kebab

The shish kebab is not far from the shish kebab.

It would seem, what could be simpler? He skewered the meat, put the skewers on the grill and twisted it until the kebab became appetizing and everyone passing by came running to smell it. However, barbecue requires a careful approach; with a quick start and without experience, you are unlikely to cook tasty meat, and even a heap of various theoretical knowledge will still not be enough until you fry it yourself at least a dozen times.

The first thing to remember is that the shish kebab is cooked over coals. A banal, uninteresting truth that many people ignore. In their haste to quickly bring the meat to the table, the unfortunate cooks lose patience and begin to fry the shish kebab on wood that is not completely burnt. The result is a tough, burnt crust and a soggy, unchewable middle.

Another common mistake is neglecting the flames that sometimes appear on coals. If grease or any other flammable ingredient suddenly gets on the burnt firewood, the coals react instantly - harmful and very aggressive lights rise up, which strive to ruin your picnic. Always have a bottle of water ready (yes, always, even if you are sure that this will not happen to you). For convenience, make several holes in the lid - this will allow you to gently spray water over those areas that require your intervention, and will help not to flood the remaining coals.

11. Checking the readiness of the kebab

Communication in Russia is so important that external circumstances cease to matter. Several times I happened to barbecue in the cold and in the rain - if we decide to go to the park for barbecue, we do so, regardless of the vagaries of the weather.
Anna-Lena Lauren, “They have something wrong with their heads, these Russians”

Checking shish kebab for doneness is very simple: use a knife to cut the thickest piece of meat down to the skewer and apply light pressure. If the juice released is colorless, the kebab is ready. If blood is visible on the cut, you should wait a little longer.

12. Serving kebab

The lamb is not invited to the barbecue.

It’s beautiful, of course, if the kebab is removed from the heat and immediately placed on the table directly on the skewers - in some restaurants they create a real show from this simple action. In general, yes, it’s impressive and amazing, but... very uncomfortable. Firstly, skewers immediately take up an irrationally large amount of space on the table. Secondly, eating meat from a “skewer” is, of course, magnificent in a primitive way, but it’s hardly pleasant: even your ears get dirty.

The choice is yours - entertainment and theatricality or simplicity and comfort.

13. A little secret before the kebab hits the table

One’s beard was on fire, and the other was grilling shish kebab on it.

After you have removed the meat from the coals, it is not a bad idea to let it “cook” a little. You do it anyway - usually this is exactly the time it takes for guests to, upon hearing the signal “the kebab is ready!”, wash their hands, move to the table, fill their glasses and say the first toast. Ideally, the meat should be covered or wrapped in foil - this is how the “steam effect” is ensured, which helps the kebab to relax a little, release the juices, and completely and irrevocably soften.

For a special twist, try sprinkling the cooked meat with a little pomegranate juice (amazing!) or dry wine (zesty!). If desired, add fresh herbs and onions cut into rings to the bowl - after 15 minutes the kebab will acquire a special aroma and taste.

14. Accompaniment to barbecue

A cart breaks - firewood for a lazy person, a bull dies - barbecue for a slacker.

In our tradition, for some reason, shish kebab is always associated with vodka or beer. No one is calling you to sobriety, however, sometime in your spare time, think about whether the mentioned comrades are actually the best friends of kebab.

Again we make a mental reference to Caucasian traditions and remember that most often on the festive table of a Caucasian there is a jug of wine, we draw conclusions and try to serve dry red wine, tart and thick, with the barbecue.

Well, don’t forget about fresh vegetables and herbs. The more juicy cilantro, bright parsley, delicate dill, spicy basil, sweet cucumbers, sugar tomatoes appear on the table along with the meat, the tastier the kebab will be.

By the way, you can also lightly hold the bread you serve over the coals - it will become fragrant and crispy. If you have a couple of sheets of pita bread lying around the house, wrap cheese, tomatoes, herbs in it and fry it over the coals - it will be incredibly tasty!

15. Sense of proportion

The turkey was thinking too, until he got to the barbecue.
Film "Lock, Money and Two Smoking Barrels"

Barbecue is, of course, a very exciting and creative event, however, in your creative impulses, try to maintain a sense of proportion. Don’t throw all the tips and secrets suggested above into one huge bowl of meat. A hundred ingredients for a marinade are unlikely to make barbecue tastier - when trying to implement your recipes, think about moderation. If you want to string additional components along with the meat, you should not mix lard with grapes and strawberries with fish. If you pour wine over the meat during frying, you probably shouldn’t sprinkle it with additional lemon juice when serving. A sense of proportion, dear ones, a sense of proportion in everything!

Marinade for shish kebab - top 10 best recipes

1. Shish kebab in red wine

During the cooking process, the alcohol vapor, as in many other recipes using wine, cognac or other strong drinks, evaporates, leaving only a subtle subtle fruity flavor and an incredibly rich, beautiful color.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
300 ml dry red wine;
3-4 onions;
5 cloves of garlic;

Wash the meat, dry it, cut into portions. Place in a saucepan, add salt, pepper, squeeze out the garlic, mix everything thoroughly, add the onion cut into slices, pour in the wine. Mix again, then cover with a plate or lid smaller in diameter than the diameter of the pan, and place a jar of water or other weight on top. Leave for 6-7 hours.

2. Shish kebab in kefir

A combination that is very strange at first glance will surprise you as a result of preparing the barbecue: the meat will be very tender, the taste will be slightly creamy.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
200 ml kefir;
3 onions;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Wash the meat, cut into portions, add salt, pepper, and pour kefir. Add the onion, mix well, and refrigerate for at least 5 hours.

3. Shish kebab in mineral water

Fans of marinating shish kebab in mineral water claim that this is one of the fastest ways to pre-prepare meat for cooking over a fire. This marinade itself is quite neutral, so to give the kebab a “zest”, try adding suitable spices to the mineral water - ground hot pepper, paprika, coriander.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
250 ml mineral water;
2-3 onions;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Wash the meat, dry it, cut it into portions. Arrange in layers with chopped onions, salt and pepper at the same time. Fill with mineral water and leave in a cool place for 1-3 hours.

4. Kebab with kiwi

But this is definitely the “fastest” of all possible marinades! Thanks to the organic acids that make up the green exotic berry, the collagen in the meat protein is destroyed, as a result of which the meat becomes very, very soft. However, be careful: overcook it a little and you’ll end up with minced meat instead of kebab: kiwi thus acts on the meat quite quickly. The method is very useful in cases where you have chosen the wrong meat - tough and stringy.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
5 kiwi;
5 cloves of garlic;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Puree the kiwi and garlic, mix with washed, dried, cut into pieces and salted meat. Cover with a lid and leave for 40-60 minutes, periodically checking the condition of the meat and testing it for softness by simply piercing it with a knife.

5. Shish kebab in onion-tomato marinade

Spicy and aromatic. Meat marinated in tomato and onion dressing will be juicy and unique.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
3 ripe tomatoes;
1 large onion;
1 tsp. khmeli-suneli;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Grate the tomatoes. Cut the onion into rings.
Wash the meat, dry it, cut it into pieces. Salt, add pepper, hops-suneli. Mix with tomato puree and add onion rings. Leave for 8-10 hours.

6. Oriental pork or meat in honey

The marinade, frankly speaking, is not for everybody, however, if you are a fan of oriental trends in cooking, you will certainly like the spicy-sweet taste that the kebab gets thanks to this marinade.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
3 tbsp. l. honey;
2 tbsp. l. soy sauce;
2 tbsp. l. mustard beans;
1 tsp. dry ground ginger;
1 tsp. hot ground pepper;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Wash the meat, dry it, cut it into pieces.
Mix with honey, soy sauce, hot and black peppers, ginger, mustard, and salt. Leave for 5-8 hours.

7. Shish kebab in vinegar

Many kebab connoisseurs believe that vinegar makes the meat coarser and tougher, however, there is another opinion: thanks to this additive, the meat becomes spicy, piquant and very tasty. To understand whose camp you are in, you should try at least once to cook shish kebab marinated in vinegar.

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
4 tbsp. l. table vinegar (9%);
10 tbsp. l. water;
3-4 heads of onions;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Wash the meat, dry it with disposable towels, cut into portions. Salt and pepper. Mix water and vinegar and pour over meat. Stir, add onions, leave in a cool place for 3-4 hours.

8. Shish kebab in mayonnaise

Yes, yes, mayonnaise is a cold sauce, yes, of course, when heated it breaks down into a mountain of harmful substances, of course, it is generally bad manners to use it when cooking meat. But you can do it just once, right? And if you really like it, then sometimes, just a couple of times a year? Quietly - so that no one knows?

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
200 g mayonnaise;
4 onions;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Wash the meat, dry it, divide it into pieces. Salt and pepper. While stirring, gradually add mayonnaise. Arrange in layers, alternating with onion rings. Leave for 5-10 hours.

9. Shish kebab in pomegranate juice

Tender, juicy, bright, aromatic, berry - what else can I add to make you understand that this marinade is worth trying at least once in your life!

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
250 ml fresh pomegranate juice;
4 onions;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

We wash the meat, cut off excess, dry it, and divide it into portions. Salt, add pepper and pomegranate juice, mix well, add onion rings, leave in a cool place for 8-10 hours.

10. “Quick” onion marinade

This marinade is very... very, let’s say, not for everybody, because during the process of preparing shish kebab, the onion mass quickly burns if you don’t clean it off the meat first, however, a significant plus is the special juiciness that onion juice gives to the meat, and the mind-blowing smell that characteristic of kebab cooked with onions. It's definitely worth a try!

For 1 kg of meat you will need:
0.5 kg of onion;
salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Grate the onion or chop it in a blender. Wash the meat, dry it, chop it, mix it with salt, pepper and onion mixture. We put it under pressure for 5-8 hours. Before threading the meat onto skewers, clean the meat as much as possible from the onions.

Well, now that you're savvy in theory, it's time to start practicing? We wish you many, many sunny days, wonderful occasions for picnics, excellent companies and, of course, delicious barbecue. And yes, “Magic Food” fulfilled its part of the contract, told about the secrets - now it’s your turn to reveal family secrets.

Summer is just around the corner, which means it's time for picnics and outdoor recreation. The main character is still the kebab! Not a single trip to nature is complete without a traditional barbecue. There are many recipes on how to properly marinate and cook shish kebab. We will talk about this in our article.

Quick navigation through the article:

Which to choose marinade for barbecue and how long to keep the meat in it depends on individual taste preferences, as well as on the degree of hardness of the meat. You should not marinate meat using fermented milk products, such as kefir, if you will be traveling for a long time in the heat and do not have a cooler bag. This may be hazardous to your health. The tougher the meat, the longer it should marinate. In addition, there are some tricks and secrets cooking shish kebab, for example, how to make meat softer using marinade.

TOP 15 best shish kebab marinade recipes

Marinades are suitable for pork, chicken (see how to properly marinate chicken), lamb, beef and turkey.

    Marinade with mayonnaise

    You will need 200 g of any mayonnaise per kilogram of meat, 4 onions, spices. Mayonnaise is mixed with all spices to taste. Then the meat is coated with it.

    Pink marinade (with ketchineze)

    It is prepared in exactly the same way as the previous marinade with mayonnaise. Only a small amount of ketchup is added to the mayonnaise, due to which the entire marinade turns pink.

    Marinade with wine

    White wine is mixed with seasonings. Then the resulting mixture is poured into the meat, laid out in layers with onions so that there is a layer of onions on top. The meat is covered with a plate with a load. This will marinate the meat better. It is advisable to leave it in the refrigerator until the morning. You can also use dry red wine to prepare this marinade.

    Marinade with beer

    Here you can experiment. If you wish, marinate the meat in light or dark beer with spices.

    Marinade with port wine and prunes

    You can marinate the meat in red port wine with spices and chopped prunes. While the meat is marinating, it is recommended to stir it several times. The taste of this meat is very unusual.

    Marinade with mineral water and lemon

    An excellent marinade is obtained from ordinary mineral water with gas. Add the juice of several lemons and spices to the water and pour it over the meat. Bubbles make the meat more fluffy and tender.

    Marinade with tomato juice

    Tomato juice is mixed with spices to taste. The meat is immersed in the marinade for 6 hours. The meat turns out very juicy and tender. At the same time, you can add pieces of fresh tomatoes to this marinade, which you can then also thread on a skewer.

    Marinade with kvass

    To prepare the marinade, you will need fresh (non-bottled) kvass. Add salt, pepper, coriander, basil, rosemary. Stir and pour over the meat.

    Marinade with vinegar

    Add a teaspoon of vinegar to 0.5 cups of water. Add onions chopped in a blender to the marinade, salt and pepper.

    Marinade with honey and pineapple juice

    To prepare, you will need a teaspoon of honey, a teaspoon of soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of pineapple juice, 2 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper to taste. All ingredients should be mixed and the resulting mixture should be poured over the kebab.

    Marinade with kiwi

    For the marinade you will need half of one kiwi (no more) for about one and a half kilograms of meat. Kiwi should be blended or grated. You will also need a teaspoon of ground coriander, 0.5 teaspoon of sweet red pepper, 0.5 teaspoon of cumin, a little hot red pepper. Do not add salt to this marinade at all. Mix everything and rub the resulting mixture onto the meat.

    Marinade with pomegranate juice

    Crush the pomegranate seeds and strain the juice through cheesecloth. Add seasonings to the pomegranate juice to taste.

    Marinade with honey and mustard

    Mix 2 tablespoons mustard, 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil in a bowl. Leave the meat in this marinade for 3 hours.

    Marinade with tea

    You will need black brewed tea. Pour 3 tablespoons of tea into 300 ml of boiling water and leave for 10 minutes. Then strain the tea and add 1.5 teaspoons of salt, black pepper, dried dill, and a little soy sauce. You can keep the meat in this marinade for only about an hour, and then start cooking the kebab.

    Marinade with kefir

    Seasonings and salt are added to kefir of any fat content. Then the meat is immersed in the marinade for at least 3 hours. This marinade is not suitable if you have to travel a long time to your vacation spot.

You will need information on how to properly marinate shashlik, what spices are needed, and how to fry already marinated shish kebab.

How to marinate shish kebab

Many people do not know how to properly marinate kebab. It often turns out tough and tasteless, and if it is overcooked over a fire, it will be completely impossible to eat. For barbecue, choose fresh meat, but not fresh. It should be the meat of a young animal, without a high fat content. It can also be refrigerated meat from the store.

  • Try not to buy frozen meat for barbecue, as its taste will be completely different.

In addition to meat, we will need onions. The amount of onion is regulated by a person’s taste preferences. There are people who generally cannot stand onions in any form. In this case, it is better not to add it to the marinade at all or add it in small quantities.

  • The onion should be cut into rings so that you can then thread them onto a skewer.
  • These should not be large rings, as some people think. This only indicates the cook’s illiteracy or laziness.
  • The rings should be medium in size, not too thin so that they don’t fall apart, but not thick either.
  • You will also need garlic.
  • Slice the garlic cloves crosswise into thin slices, but do not put them through the garlic press.

The kebab should be left in the marinade for about 12 hours in the refrigerator. Then the meat will have time to marinate and become quite tender. If you don't have time, then leave the meat in the marinade at room temperature for at least 3 hours.

What spices are needed for marinating shish kebab?

To prepare marinades, you may need various spices: salt, black and red pepper, ground and unground coriander, chili, basil, dried garlic, bay leaf, fresh or dried herbs, etc. Before preparing the marinade, decide what kind you want meat. Choose one of your favorite kebab recipes and cook it. Do not mix ingredients from different recipes. It may not turn out at all what you expect. Stores also sell universal seasonings, which already have the name “For barbecue.”

How to make meat less tough

To make the meat softer, you can grate it and marinate it in freshly squeezed kiwi and pineapple juices. You can also prepare a paste from the same fruits, but it should be fresh fruit, not canned. The meat acquires its exquisite taste under the influence of pomegranate juice. Mash the pomegranate, strain the seedless juice through a strainer and grate the meat. Then it will become unusually soft and will melt in your mouth. To soften the meat, you can marinate it in grated lemon along with zest, or in lemon juice. Spices such as black pepper and cumin soften the meat a little. You should not add too much vinegar to the marinade; it can completely drown out the taste of the meat and make it tougher.

How to grill shish kebab well

Cooking shish kebab is a very delicate matter that requires skillful hands. They say that kebab does not tolerate women’s hands, but this is not entirely true. Women can also cook wonderful shish kebab, although it is customary that this is a purely male affair.

  • Thread the kebab onto skewers in advance before the fire burns out.
  • It is better to string the meat along the grain, leaving large pieces of meat closer to the middle and smaller pieces at the edges.
  • Try to get the pieces of meat do not touch each other too closely. In these places, the meat usually remains poorly cooked.
  • When stringing, alternate pieces of meat, onion and bell pepper rings, tomatoes, lemon.
  • Shish kebab should be cooked over coals at a distance of no more than 15 cm.
  • This should not be an open fire under any circumstances, as the meat will only brown on the outside and remain raw on the inside.
  • These also should not be almost cooled coals, since their heat will not be enough to cook the meat well.
  • If the fire flares up, it is better to move the kebabs or remove them from the heat, or lightly extinguish it with water.
  • The skewers should be placed tightly together. This way there will be less fire, but more smoke, which will make your kebab even tastier.
  • Turn the skewers several times as the meat cooks.
  • To make the kebab juicy, baste it from time to time with a mixture of water and lemon juice, or the remaining marinade diluted with water.

How to tell if meat is ready

  • To tell if the meat is ready or not, pierce it with a fork.
  • If the juice is clear, it means the meat is ready.
  • If the juice is pink, it means the meat is not cooked through.
  • If there is no juice at all, it means the meat is too dry.

Have a nice barbecue and enjoy your time in nature!


At the end of May, weather forecasters finally promise good weather, which means it’s time to open the long-awaited barbecue season. Imagine this situation: you marinated meat, went out into the countryside in a large and noisy group, cut salads, and suddenly it turns out that no one took the grill and skewers with them. Don’t rush to go home: you can grill delicious shish kebab without a grill...

Shish kebab in the pit

This method is one of the most technologically simple: it does not require a grill, a barbecue, or even a marinade. Meat - beef, pork or lamb - just cut into small pieces, add salt and pepper, and then wrap each piece in foil. You need to dig a hole in the ground of such a size that the meat takes up no more than half the space in it. Stones should be placed in the pit, previously heated over a fire, burdock leaves should be placed on them, and meat wrapped in foil should be placed on top. All this must also be covered with burdock leaves, and covered with earth or sand on top so that the hole is not visible.

In this way, the meat will cook rather slowly, but gourmets assure: for such a unique taste it’s worth the wait! The kebab can be dug out of the ground after about 3.5 hours. The meat turns out very soft and juicy.

Shish kebab in lemonade on coals

The grill can be easily replaced with a simple structure made of bricks stacked in a circle. You need to make a fire inside, and when the wood burns out, fry the meat over the coals in a meat grill with a clamp. You can hold such a grill in your hands and turn it over without fear that the kebab will fall out of it.

Meat marinated in lemonade is best cooked on a grill. Photo: AiF/ Stanislav Lomakin

For this cooking method, gourmets recommend an unusual marinade, which is especially suitable for pork. For a kilogram of meat you will need the same amount of red onion, a liter of cola, half a liter of mineral water, 3-4 lemons and various seasonings to taste. Pour cola with mineral water into a large container, add lemon juice, chopped onion and seasoning. Place the meat cut into pieces into the marinade and place under a press in a cool place overnight. The shish kebab should be cooked on the grill, periodically pouring the lemonade marinade over the meat. The taste of this meat is very bright and rich.

Shish kebab on an open fire

This method will appeal to those who do not like the long process of preparing meat directly for frying. In order to cook kebab on a spit, the meat does not need to be marinated and cut in advance. A piece of meat weighing about a kilogram will do - pork or lamb would be preferable. You need to skewer the meat on a spit or a regular stick and fry it directly over an open fire, slowly turning it over and pouring over the marinade: you can use any sauce you can imagine.

When the meat is covered with a golden crust, it’s time to cut the top layer into a plate with a sharp knife, and continue cooking the rest over the fire. Pieces of meat should be cut sequentially as they are cooked until you get to the very center. Fans of this method believe that this is the only way the kebab is fried evenly and turns out perfect.

Shish kebab on a stone

You can even cook delicious shish kebab on a stone, using it instead of a frying pan. To do this, you need to find a large and preferably flat stone. Pre-marinate the meat in any way and cut into small pieces.

Shish kebab can be prepared without a grill. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Afterwards you need to make a fire, and then put a stone in the hot coals. This stage is quite lengthy: the improvised “frying pan” must be kept in the coals for about an hour, and only then the meat should be placed on its surface. It will be ready in just 15 minutes. When the kebab is browned on one side, stir the kebab and turn it over - just like in a regular frying pan at home.

For cooking, you can use two stones at once: the second should cover the meat on top during frying. This way you can leave the kebab untouched throughout the entire cooking process: the heat will be evenly distributed throughout the meat.

The kebab made on hot stones turns out well-fried, juicy and with a crispy crust.

Shish kebab in a jar

If the weather does not allow you to get out into nature, you can cook shish kebab at home, and it will be no worse than on the grill. To do this you will need an oven, wooden skewers and a simple three-liter jar. Meat cut into pieces - preferably pork - should be marinated in a mixture of spices, lemon juice and onions for half an hour. When the specified time has elapsed, the meat must be threaded onto skewers, alternating pieces of pork with strips of bacon and onion rings.

Then the fun begins. The role of the barbecue will be played by an ordinary jar, which must be thoroughly wiped dry inside and outside so that the glass does not burst due to temperature changes. Place a layer of onions on the bottom of the jar, and then place skewers with meat in it. If the kebab does not fit into one jar, you can take several. Then the jar needs to be covered with foil and sent to a cold oven, setting the temperature to 180-200°C. In an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the power of the stove, the most tender kebab will be ready.