This Grilled Pork Kabobs are juicy, tender and flavorful, marinated in yogurt and other savory ingredients. If you are spending Memorial Day at home, try this easy Grilled Pork Kabobs recipe that your whole family will love.
Not a big fan of pork, this recipe works well with chicken thighs but I didn’t have it.
Use boneless country style pork ribs. it is tender and juicy.
Memorial Day marks the start of summer. In my area, summer is here and guess what, it’s grilling time. Some areas in the US are slightly warm or hot already that outdoor cooking is delightful especially for folks with harsh winter.
Most likely, this Memorial Day weekend will be different for many people. We usually go for a day trip or gone for a few days. This time though, I’m not comfortable staying in a hotel or air bnb. I prefer to be in my house.
In fact, I heard in the news that for the 1st time Triple A will not have a travel forecast for Memorial Day. Not many people are travelling so no need for travel forecast. Freeways will not be as packed compared to previous years. People are still wary about spending time away from home.
Anyway, if you choose to stay at home make this delicious easy Grilled Pork Kabobs and enjoy the comfort of your backyard. It is probably ok to invite a couple of your close friends if they want to be around other people.
I know it suck. Who wants to wear a mask especially when it is hot?
Talking about mask, I was at Costco the other day and I was behind 2 families that were stopped for not wearing a mask. The guy behind me said, let’s go since we are wearing a mask.
I like to compliment Costco for their strict policy. Wear a mask to protect yourself and others. Costco provided them with mask. I’m not sure if it was free or if they were charged for it. Kudos to Costco.
I wonder if Sams is doing the same thing. I wish they are. I’ll find out next week.
My allergy is so bad that it is normal for me to use surgical mask and N95 when gardening. In fact, I wear a surgical mask when handling flour or powdered sugar or even henna for hair. It bothers my sinus. Sucks!
When my brother is here and doing house maintenance, he wears N95. Last February, as we all know, N95s were out of stock. I needed one, Lowes were out and I was going through my brother’s cabinet. I was so surprised to find 3 hazmat suits.
His neighbor, a PT at a nursing home send my brother an image of himself wearing a hazmat suit that was shared among staff. He mentioned that the nursing home only has 1 suit. Isn’t that crazy!
It blows my mind that regular people have hazmat suits and N95s, not because they were hoarding it. Some household use these when spraying chemicals.
Hospitals and nursing homes had many months to prepare and stock up. Watching what was happening in other countries as of late January, hospital administrators should have anticipated that they needed PPE’s. Oh well, hopefully by now they have all these necessities.
That reminds me to add to my list - to check if Costco or Sams have surgical mask. I’ve been recycling my mask for the last few months. Before, one use then I toss it. Now, it is precious.
Luckily, my cousin send me 2 cloth mask that I use when I go out that gets washed every use. I had a pattern and cloth ready to make one, then I got her package. A big Thanks to her. One less task to make!
Hopefully, we can soon go back to normal times. I feel so bad for those people who lost their lives unexpectedly and for people who are trying to recover from it. I’ve been following Amanda Kloots update of her husband, Nick Cordero. I hope he continues to improve #OffTheVent.
I’m off track again, let me go back to cooking.
This Memorial Day enjoy it however way you’ll celebrate.
A few years ago, I was searching online for a Mediterranean kabob recipe and I found this delicious recipe. I don’t get tired of Mediterranean food.
I usually don’t like travelling far for food but I don’t mind the trip to Persian Room restaurant. They have one of the best authentic Mediterranean cuisine in my area.
Now that I have more time to cook, I’ve been trying different kabob recipes and this one is really good and very easy.
Tips in Making Grilled Pork Kabobs
If you don’t like pork, use chicken. You can use chicken breast but chicken thighs is much more tender and juicy.
For a much flavorful kabobs, marinate for at least ½ a day, or better yet overnight.
When grilling, have charcoal in one area. This kabobs can easily burn due to the yogurt. Place kabob where there’s no charcoal then cover grill with lid. Check it once in a while and flip to cook evenly.
DO NOT DO IT THIS WAY! It will burn quick. Have charcoal in one side then place kabobs on opposite side without charcoal.
If cooking in the oven, I suggest to cover it with foil and when done, remove foil to slightly brown the exterior.
I read this suggestion from the comment which makes sense. Use the marinate as dip. This will prevent it from charring the surface. I haven’t tried this suggestion but if you do, marinate it without the yogurt. Then make half of the marinate with yogurt as dip.
I transferred my pictures from my camera to my external drive and for some reason I am missing some images when I was grilling and video clips. What a bummer!
Grilled Pork Kabobs
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Aleppo red pepper flakes substitute with regular red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ pounds country style ribs pork or boneless skinless chicken thighs, halved
- 4 long skewers
Instructions
- In a big bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, ketchup, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika, and cinnamon.
- Place cubed country style pork into the yogurt marinade and coat thoroughly all sides. Refrigerate ½ a day or better yet overnight covered with plastic wrap.
- Thread thightly pork and bell pepper. Add bell pepper in between pork cubes.
- Preheat outdoor grill on medium heat and lightly oil the grate. If using charcoal, place charcoal in one area.
- Place kabobs where there are no charcoal. Don’t put it directly on the charcoal, it can burn easily due to yogurt marinade. Cover with grill lid. Check once in a while that there are no flames. Turn only when pork unstick from the grill, maybe around 4 minutes or so. Turn kabobs until all sides are cooked. It is best to use an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center. When temperature reach 145 degrees F, remove from heat and let stand covered with foil for another 5 minutes. Kabob will continue cooking and temperature will read between 150 to 155 degrees F. Note: When grilling chicken, thermometer should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
Notes
- Put charcoal on one side of grill and cook kabobs on the opposite side without charcoal. It can burn easily due to yogurt.
- If not a big fan of pork, use chicken thighs. You can use chicken breast but chicken thighs are much more tender and juicy.
Nutrition
Adapted from Chef John and tweaked the recipe. Thank you!
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