Hamburger Kabobs
(This is a very old recipe that has been archived on the website, but I am leaving the printer-friendly recipe here so anyone who has enjoyed the recipe can still find it. You can use Amazing Recipes for Grilled Kabobs to find lots more ideas.)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pine nuts (see notes)
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. salt (more or less to taste)
- coarse ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (see notes)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Spray grill with olive oil or non-stick spray, then preheat grill or broiler to medium high. (On the grill, you can only hold your hand there for a few seconds at that heat.)
- Coarsely chop onions, parsley, and pine nuts. Put them in the food processor and pulse until they’re more finely chopped.
- Add the hamburger, egg, and spices and pulse until the mixture is barely combined. (Don’t over-mix.)
- Form meat mixture into four cylindrical shaped pieces.
- If you have double skewers like I used or blade type skewers, thread kebabs onto skewers.
- If you’re using pre-soaked wooden skewers, I would use two for each kabob. (I would probably just cook them on the grill without a skewer if you don’t have one of these options.)
- Brush kebabs on both sides with vinaigrette dressing. (You can let them marinate in the dressing for a few minutes if desired.)
- If you want to baste the kebabs with dressing as they cook, be very careful because the dressing that drips down will flame up when it hits the hot underside of the grill.
- Lay kabobs across the grill grates to get crosswise grill marks.
- Cook, turning a few times, until the kebabs feel firm (but not hard) to the touch and the meat is well browned.
- We cooked the kebabs in these photos about 15 minutes, but cooking time will depend on the temperature of your grill, the temperature of the meat, and even the outside temperature if you’re cooking outside.
- This would be great served with Tzatziki Sauce
NOTES
You can definitely use almonds or walnuts if pine nuts are not in the budget. I’m a huge fan of Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (affiliate link) but for basting kebabs you can use any vinaigrette with not more than 2-3 grams of sugar per serving.
This recipe adapted slightly from How To Eat Better For Less Money (affiliate link) a very old cookbook that still has plenty of good ideas.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
35 Comments on “Hamburger Kabobs”
Thanks Michelle; so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Kalyn, I made these Hamburger Kebabs today and they were SUPER! Simple and delicious! Thanks for your blog – it's great!
Michelle*
Amy, so glad to hear that you enjoyed it that much. I'm really happy that my blog is working for your eating needs too!
I just loved this recipe, as did my whole family. It might be in my top 10 Kalyn's Kitchen recipes. As always, I just have to give you a big thank you for your amazing blog and recipes. Low glycemic eating has recently become a medical necessity for me, and I don't know what I would do without your recipes. Having delicious low GI food helps me stay away from the temptations! Thank you!
Awesome! Thank you!
The rice recipe will be posted next week.
These look delicious… but what is the recipe for the rice on the plate?
Kate, so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe.
I just made these last night. They were amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them.
Kelley, ground sirloin would be wonderful for these. I do love the idea of brushing with vinaigrette, both for flavor and to keep the meat moist.
These remind me of the ground sirloin kabobs that I love at a restaurant in southern California. I bet brushing on the vinaigrette just before grilling adds a ton of flavor!
Thanks Richard; glad you like it!
Wow! What a gorgeous recipe! Inspirational
Thanks Christine. I agree, his recipes are always great!
In my experience Beard never disappoints. Very nicely updated, Kalyn. Pinned it!
Thanks CJ; same to you!
These look great … happy Sunday 🙂
Kate, so glad you enjoyed them!
Lydia, I think Greek seasoning would be a great addition to this!
Donna, you are so kind; thanks!
Shirley, I was amused by the idea of "French" dressing!
Claire, haven't tried either of those variations, but would love to hear how it works if you try it.
Wondering if anyone has tried this with ground turkey. (We can get dark meat ground turkey at Whole Foods) and using ground flax seed as a substitute for the egg (or just leaving the egg out). (I am learning to cook without egg, dairy, wheat, beef, and a few more due to some food reactivity in our family).
These look delicious! I would have never thought to make hamburgers using the kabob method. Cool that this is a James Beard recipe, and a vinaigrette is sooooo much better than "true" French dressing! 😉
Thanks, Kalyn!
Shirley
Yours is one of those food bogs that I look forward to reading because I learn something every single time. I am most definitely going to try brushing meat with vinaigrette right before I grill it. Thanks for all you have taught me over the years. May you live and blog forever!
In place of Vegesal, which is hard to find here, I think I'll use some Greek seasoning. The flavors would work very well in the kabobs, and I always have it in my pantry.
These were great! We made them for dinner tonight and didn't even add the vinaigrette. We did put them in the food processor and I imagine that made it even better. It certainly helped my 6-year-old eat them without complaint. 🙂
Thanks!
I'm not sure what you mean when you say "would help." If you thought they were too dry without basting with the vinaigrette, then I think you could add some to the mixture.
Kayln: I made these for the first time tonight. We both liked them a lot! My only question is, I didn't realize until the end that you were supposed to have basted the kebobs before they got broiled/grilled. I ended adding the dressing as an afterthought. Do you think adding a bit of the dressing to the meat mixture & letting it marinate a bit would help? I thought that might harden up the mixture a bit.
Hi Kalyn, I stopped in to tell you that I made these last evening. I made the recipe just as you stated (with some concern hubby would turn his nose up at the nuts in the meat!) and we both LOVED it. Very flavorful and not dry by any means. (I did use venison in place of beef.)
Thank you so much for your index of recipes for the South Beach Diet. We have followed this before and are following it again – so to have your index is like a God send!
Ish, don’t really know; I’ve never even had buffalo so I don’t know how it would cook up compared to beef.
I made this recipe with ground buffalo instead of beef because thats what I bought. It was ok though lacked flavor — it tasted mostly just like the meat. I must have not basted enough of the dressing on or maybe need to spice it up a bit more. Any reason why this would taste drastically different with ground buffalo?
Hi Kalyn, I found your website bc of the SB diet. It is absolutely brilliant! I wish I could come and live with you so that I could eat your recipes every day. I’ve made several things from your website and they are all super good. I think my favorite is this recipe, though. Instead of making kabobs I put it in the oven like a meatloaf. It is super good as meatloaf because it is light (thanks to the nuts and parsley) and less dense than your average meatloaf. Instead of dipping in ketchup, I made a homemade lemon vinagrette to dip in and it was delicious. I love your cooked cheese cake too! Keep up the recipes and experimentation. I love it!
Yummy! Thanks for visiting my blog Obiter Dicta by Steve.
I wish that I could come to the Utah Bloggers conference next week, but I’m in St. George.
What’s old is new again! Looks really good! I’m always happy with Beard.
What an awesome submission! Great job!
Laura Rebecca, can’t wait to see what others come up with.
Steven, You’re right, this was great retro food. I think this would have been pretty gourmet for the 70’s. Not sure about the sound of your mom’s French dressing chicken. I’ve never been a French dressing fan at all.
Some retro food is great, this is a good example. The “French Dressing” thing triggered a memory, my Mom used to make a baked chicken dish that used the nasty orange stuff from the bottle and I remember it being quite good. I was about 10 at the time so consider that before you try it, I liked Count Chocula cereal then as well.
Thank you so much for your submission — from James Beard as well, King of Cookbooks!