These steak kababs start with a lively curry marinade that includes lemon juice. The end result is an incredibly flavored grilled beef kabab recipe for your Summer menu lineup. An easy recipe that your family will love and devour.
This recipe was first published June of 2012 and republished June 2021 with step by step photos.
What You Can Expect From This Recipe
To start with, this steak kababs recipe with curry marinade is one I’ve had for over 30 years and make routinely during the Summer. It’s my go-to steak recipe.
At one time I had about 5 different beef kabab recipes in my database. This one won out as simply the best of the best, and the imposters have been deleted.
I’m always confused on whether we kabob, kebob or k-bob. Most of the time I safely skewer, as to not commit a culinary faux pas. Consulting dictionary.com, kabob seems to be the norm.
However we spell it, everyone loves “small pieces of meat or seafood seasoned or marinated and broiled, often with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, or other vegetables, usually on a skewer”.
These steak kebabs are so easy to make. So easy it was one of our regulars on our Colorado camping trips menu … back in the day.
It’s also a regular for our weeknight meals at home. It’s simply delicious. And a no-fuss recipe.
The marinade is a happy combination of peppercorns, bay leaves, lemon juice, garlic and curry, which infuses luscious flavor into the beef.
And allowing a generous amount of marinating time insures maximum flavor and a tender chunk of steak.
There’s also the visual side of these skewers. Bright orange peppers, dark glossy cubes of beef separated by fresh green sticks of fragrant green onion bulbs.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Curry Marinade
- Curry Powder: There are so many curry spices and pastes to choose from. For this recipe I’ve used plain old run of the mill grocery store bottled curry spice.
- Black Peppercorns
- Bay Leaves
- Chopped Garlic
- Olive Oil: Using olive oil helps draw flavors out of some ingredients like garlic. The garlic flavor will be more prominent in the steak flavor.
- Beef Broth
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice, an acid, helps break down raw meat allowing the flavors of the spices to penetrate flavor into the beef.
Ingredients for Steak Kababs
- Sirloin Steak: Cut into large bite-sized chunks
- Green Onions: White tops only
- Orange Bell Pepper seeded and large veins removed: Cut into squares to equal the size of the beef.
Recipe Swaps and Substitutions
- Steak: Sirloin steak is such a great choice for beef kababs. It’s lean, tender, beefy in flavor and juicy. A good substitution would be a rib-eye steak or New York Steak. However, they’re both pricier.
- Bell Pepper: I like orange bell pepper for this recipe. Simply because of the brilliant color. Feel free to substitute red, yellow or green bell pepper.
- Onion: It’s fun to skewer those little bulbs of green onions for a different look and feel. They’ve got less bite in their flavor, and their appearance when grilled reminds me of grilled Mexican knob onions. If you want, substitute sweet or red onion here, cut into flat pieces to match the bell pepper. If using sweet onions, place to planks together on the skewers.
- Curry Powder: it would be fun to experiment with any exotic curry paste for this recipe. Some will pack some heat, so be careful with the amount you add.
Step by Step Instructions
This is such an easy recipe, you’ll glide right through these instructions.
- Step 1: Place all marinade ingredients into a gallon plastic bag. Add the cubed steak. Seal the bag pressing out the air, and squish around with your hands to mix and blend. Refrigerate the beef and marinade overnight.
- Step 2: Remove the steak from the marinade, reserving ¼ cup of the marinade liquid. Heat grill to 500 degrees, then turn down to 350 degrees. Grill kabobs for about 4 – 5 minutes per side, basting with reserved marinade.
Variations:
- This curry marinade would be an excellent choice for Chicken Kabobs.
Pro Tips and Tricks
- Cutting Steak for Kebabs: Cut steak cubes as uniform in size as possible and to match the size of the vegetables. This will insure even cooking. You don’t want uncooked vegetables or steak that was so large it didn’t cook through.
- Baste that steak: Reserve ¼ cup of the beef kabab marinade. Use a silicone brush to baste the steak kebabs during grilling. This will keep the steak more tender and juicy than ever.
- Preparing bell pepper for kabobs: When preparing the bell pepper, remove the seeds and cut away the large veins. You’ll have a cleaner bell pepper flavor.
FAQ’s
Try to marinate these beef kabob for the time recommended, 24 hours, but no longer, as the steak can become mushy, If you need a quick fix, marinade for at least 3 hours.
Yes, just make sure you soak them in water for 2 hours to prevent them from burning on the grill.
I have two sets of metal skewers which I prefer over the wooden skewers. Simply because they’re flat which means the beef doesn’t spin around when I turn the kabobs on the grill. Plus I don’t have to remember to soak them like wooden skewers.
Yes, but be careful. You’ll want sturdy veggies that will cook in the same amount of time as the beef. Example: avoid zucchini. It’s a soft vegetable and will cook too fast. As will tomatoes. Mushrooms will work, as long as kept whole. If you’re wanting to provide more variety of veggies, I prefer to cook those on separate skewers from the beef. I’d stick with the onions and peppers for this recipe. Save the more delicate vegetables for chicken or fish kabobs.
Steak Kabobs with Curry Marinade
You’re going to love this curry marinade for steak kabobs. Not only easy weeknight meals, but also for entertaining. So easy to easy and easy on the palate, they’ll go quick, so you might want to make a double batch.
These kabobs are a meal in themselves, but if you’re looking for more side dish recipes check out these below. Or take a look at my side dish category for even more suggestions.
Feeling kabob crazy?
And if you love a good steak recipe, you won’t want to miss this one for our favorite flank steak. Grilled Flank Steak with Horseradish Cream Sauce. One of the first flank steak recipes I ever made and it remains our favorite. Check it out, along with my Beef Recipes Category.
And if you’ve been curious about cooking with Bison, take a look at my Pan Seared Bison Steak Recipe. It’s easy enough for the beginner cook, clever enough for the adventurous and elegant enough for entertaining.
Steak Kabobs with Lemon Curry Marinade
Equipment
- Metal Skewers
- Gallon Sealable Plastic Bag
Ingredients
- ½ pound Top Sirloin Steak cubed
- ⅓ cup olive oil or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup beef broth
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 leaves bay
- 8 whole peppercorns
- 1 orange bell pepper cubed
- 6 green onions green ends cut
Instructions
- Cut beef into good sized, bite-sized pieces.
- In a large plastic zip lock bag, place beef and all of the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag, pushing out the air and then squish good with your hands to mix ingredients. Let set overnight in the refrigerator. Reserve ¼ cup marinade to baste while cooking.
- Slice bell peppers to match the size of the beef and cut off the green tips of the white onions.
- Remove beef from marinade. Skewer beef, peppers and onion and grill 4 – 5 minutes, turning and basting with reserved marinade until beef is done.
Notes
- Cut steak cubes as uniform in size as possible. That will insure even cooking.
- If using wooden skewers make sure you soak them in water for 2 hours to prevent them from burning on the grill.
- When preparing the bell pepper, remove the seeds and cut away the large veins. You’ll have a cleaner bell pepper flavor.
- Try to marinate these beef kabob for the time recommended, 24 hours. If you need a quick fix, marinade for at least 3 hours.
Nutrition
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Sirloin Steak Kebabs with Lemon Curry Marinade …It’s What’s for Dinner.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
I really enjoy kebabs-Its a great way to enjoy grilled meat and veggies. I am a fan of curry, and would not have thought to add it to my home grilled kebab. I like it!!!
Velva
These are excellent small pieces of meat or seafood seasoned or marinated and broiled, often with tomatoes, green peppers, onions, or other vegetables, usually on a skewer!!!!! 😉
LOL, thanks Chris.
I don’t care what you call them, those look delicious! I still remember the first time I tried them and it was at my aunt’s house in Denver on vacation. Love the green onions and the marinade sounds so good. Those sides have got my attention, too – what a gorgeous photo!
I was about to send out search and rescue! Good to hear from you Vickie! 🙂 You have an Aunt that lives in Denver?
Sorry – I was in Texas for 8 days with no wireless and haven’t slowed down since I got back.
And yes, I did have an aunt and uncle that lived there when I was little. They have both passed, now.
Oh goodness, I did see that you told Nancy you were going for a wedding. Did Aaron get married? Can’t wait to hear all about that.
I have not made kabobs in forever!! I bet my girls would love these and hubby loves curry!! thanks for sharing!
I’ve been on sort of a kabob kick lately. Mostly all kinds of things combined with Chicken and I’m trying to use up some of those sauces on the fridge door. 🙂
It looks so proud !
I’d love to eat!
I haven’t made beef kabobs in a long time. Yours sound so interesting with the curry flavor…very clever.
It’s good Karen. You should give it a try.
Yum! We just got some skewers this year … it makes it so much more fun to eat!
I agree Jane.
Oh, how delicious. We love kebabs. One day (hopefully soon), I will be able to eat them again,too.
oh no, don’t tell me you’re on a “soft food” diet. Hopefully you’ve been enjoying lots of ice cream. 🙂
We don’t make those whatchamacallits often enough! Great flavors!
Yum Lea Ann. I love kabobs. They make me think of my dad. Beef kabobs were his specialty.
Thanks Karen.
How ever you spell them, they look delicious.
Thanks Larry!
Great summertime meal. I haven’t “skewered” anything in a long while 🙂
The kabobs look great! I am bookmarking this so we can make it next weeeknd. YUM!
Let me know how you like them Stephanie.