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Grilled Tuna Kebabs

Grilled Tuna Kebabs

In case you haven't heard, we've been having some awfully weird weather here in Northern California. Late May and it's been windy, rainy, and (gulp) cold for weeks. Practically unheard of for Sacramento. I've been walking around in denial, refusing to wear long pants—shorts only please—or socks, even though it's in the 40s at night. The denial extends to my grill. I don't care if it's raining dagnabbit! I have a grill and I'm going to use it, even if I have to bundle up under my rain parka to do it. For your enjoyment today are grilled tuna kebabs (prepared under said rain parka) with assorted vegetables, which marinated for several hours in a rosemary garlic olive oil marinade. We had originally intended to use swordfish, but fresh tuna steaks were on sale at Whole Foods and we couldn't resist. You could use any meaty fish for these kabobs. Bon appétit!

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Grilled Tuna Kebabs Recipe

You can use either double skewers or single skewers. Single skewers are easier to load, but the food rotates around them making them more difficult to turn. Double skewers are a little trickier to load, but the food stays on them better. If you are using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for an hour or more before cooking to help prevent them from catching fire on a hot grill.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds tuna, swordfish or sturgeon steaks
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 small onion (sweet if available)
  • 6-10 large button mushrooms
  • 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Marinade Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp chopped onion
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 Tsp salt
  • 1/2 Tsp black pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves

Don't add vinegar or lemon to the marinade or you'll "cook" the fish!

Method

1 Cut all the fish and veggies into similar-sized pieces; this helps everything lay flat when it is on the grill.

2 To make the marinade, purée the onion, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil while puréeing, continue to purée until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Coat the fish and veggies in the marinade. Set in the fridge for at least an hour and up to overnight.

tuna-kabobs-1.jpgtuna-kabobs-2.jpg

3 When skewering the fish and vegetables, pierce the fish against the grain, and select pieces of veggies that are close to the same size as your fish. This is important, because if the pieces are different widths, some things will be charred and others undercooked. You also want to be careful when loading up the skewers; it's easy to stab yourself by accident!

Alternate pieces of fish with pieces of various veggies, leaving a little space between everything. Don’t crowd the skewer, or the parts that are touching will cook too slowly.

Note that by threading the skewers with assorted veggies and fish, some things will be cooked more or less than others, as some things take longer to cook than others. If you want all of your items to be cooked perfectly, use a separate skewer for the onions, one for the tuna, one for the bell peppers, etc. Put the onions and bell peppers down first because they take longer to cook.

tuna-kabobs-3.jpg

4 Prepare the grill for high, direct heat. Clean the grates and wipe them down with a paper towel that has been dipped in vegetable oil. Lay the skewers on the grill. Don't move them until the fish pieces are well browned on one side, about 3-6 minutes. Then using tongs, carefully turn the skewers over and cook them until they are seared on the other side.

Serve hot or at room temperature. Drizzle with lemon juice or serve with lemon wedges.

Serves 4.

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16 Comments

Wow, that looks fantastic! So summery and fresh. What a nice change from all the heavy grilled meat that appears each Memorial Day weekend.

Posted by: Coco @ Opera Girl Cooks on May 28, 2010 10:07 PM

it's a really bad El Nino year. if you think WAY back it was just like this in 1997. (I know it's 97 cause I had my Bat Mitzvah that May in the San Jose area. It was POURING rain.)

Posted by: moonablaze on May 28, 2010 10:10 PM

Looks like the perfect thing for my grilling this weekend.

Posted by: ciaochowlinda on May 29, 2010 5:48 AM

What a beautiful and light way to slide into the grilling season. And yes, the weather 'round here has not been cooperative, so having something quick to grill is a real plus.

Posted by: Livin Local on May 29, 2010 7:33 AM

This looks absolutely amazing! I just bought some nice tuna steaks for the grill and now I know what I will do with them. Wonderful!!

Posted by: Lisa on May 29, 2010 12:02 PM

LOVE the idea of double skewering. I have never seen that trick before and frankly the problems with single skewers are one reason I tend to shy away from them. But who doesn't love food on a stick? Thanks! I am going to try these for the Memorial Day cookout!

Posted by: Kristen (wwfoodie) on May 29, 2010 12:33 PM

May is National Grilling Month after all, so what
if the weather is not cooperating? Get you grill
on, girl! The kabobs look yummy. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Angela on May 29, 2010 1:24 PM

Okay, these look amazing. Can't wait to try these this summer. This has been bookmarked!

Posted by: Mary on May 29, 2010 4:38 PM

I love your skewers, Elise. I hate it when the meat and vegetables fall off the wooden skewer. The kebabs look great.

Posted by: Shaheen on May 30, 2010 9:19 AM

Ohhhh, these look SOOOO good!! And hey, your denial must have worked. I'm in Folsom and right now, at 11am, there are at least a dozen people at the pool! :) DEFINITELY GRILLING WEATHER!!

Yes the weather finally cleared up a bit, it's gorgeous! ~Elise

Posted by: MC on May 30, 2010 11:08 AM

Where did you get those skewers? they are soo good :D

Aren't they cool? I found them at ChefTools.com. ~Elise

Posted by: Ardorpes on May 31, 2010 12:12 AM

This recipe it's simple but at the same time seems very tasty.
Congratulations!!!

Posted by: Elisabet Figueras on May 31, 2010 7:55 AM

It's been similarly cold in Napa, Elise, although this weekend was nicely summery - I'm sure it was the same in Sacramento, too!

MC beat me to it, asking about where you got the skewers - thanks for the link. I make a similar recipe, using tapenade, homemade or even store bought, for the marinade. I serve tapenade-laced tabbouleh along side - bet your marinade would also be great stirred into tabbouleh!

Posted by: Jill Silverman Hough on June 1, 2010 9:22 AM

Wow...those kebabs look amazing. We are having a grill out with a lot of the family this weekend, I'm guessing I'll have to use them as guinea pigs to try this recipe out. I'll probably add in some Pleasoning Seasonings though.

Thanks for the great recipe.

Posted by: TheGrillingGuy on June 2, 2010 7:55 AM

I made these last night -- delicious! I know it's a simple recipe, but it would not have occured to me to combine the ingredients that way for the marinade, or to include the onions on the skewers. Thanks!

Posted by: ann on June 28, 2010 12:25 PM

Okay I finally made these and they were SOOOOOO good!! We are definitely having grilling weather in Folsom now! We will be having these a few more times before this summer is over!

Posted by: MC on July 30, 2010 8:42 PM

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