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I love the smell of barbecue floating through the backyard; but not so much when it’s the neighbors BBQ. It’s too enticing. I’d be the one poking my head over the fence to see what’s cooking (good thing we have nice neighbors!). We’ve been grilling away almost daily.
I made this Pork Skewers (Shashlik) recipe twice in one day because I wanted it to be perfect for y’all. Seriously my husband grilled it in the morning, then we tweaked some things and made it again in the evening. It’s important to me to make sure I live up to my “tried and true” motto. I want you to try these pork skewers and say, yeah it’s a keeper.
This recipe was inspired by my cousin Alla of Washington. Alla you are one talented gal and thank you so much for replying to my random text messages about food!
Ingredients for Ukrainian Shashlik (Kabobs)
1 3/4 to 2 lb Pork Sirloin
1/4 cup dry red wine such as merlot
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 medium onion sliced into 1″ pieces
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 to 8 (12-inch) wooden skewers
How to Make Pork Skewers:
1. Chop pork into 1 inch pieces and place them in a large bowl. Add sliced onion and press in the 4-5 cloves of garlic.
2. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and stir everything to combine.
3. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup red wine. Stir everything to combine.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
5. About 15-30 minutes before your meat is done marinating, place 6-8 wooden skewers in a pyrex dish with enough water to submerge the sticks. Soaking them keeps the sticks from burning on the grill.
Preheat your grill and just before adding your meat, set to medium.
6. Skewer the meat and onions (don’t squish them too tightly together; they meat should be just touching on the skewer, not smashed together).
7. Grill over medium heat, turning every 4 minutes or so until all sides are browned and the meat is cooked through.
Enjoy with our favorite BBQ sauce or A1.
I’d love to hear about your grilling adventures. What’s going on your BBQ this week?
Pork Skewers (Shashlik)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Chop pork into 1 inch pieces and place them in a large bowl. Add sliced onion and press in the 4-5 cloves of garlic.
- Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and stir everything to combine.
- Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup red wine. Stir everything to combine.
- Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
- About 15-30 minutes before your meat is done marinating, place 6-8 wooden skewers in a pyrex dish with enough water to submerge the sticks.
- Preheat your grill and just before adding your meat, set to medium.
- Skewer the meat and onions (don't squish them too tightly together; they meat should be just touching on the skewer, not smashed together).
- Grill over medium heat, turning every 4 minutes or so until all sides are browned and the meat is cooked through.
Enjoy with our favorite BBQ sauce or A1.
Thank you natash, you’re awesome you know that?! :))
Oh stop. 😉 So are you! 🙂
does the pork sirloin turn out pretty tender or more chewy? I have pork shoulder in my freezer, do you think that work or its too fatty of a cut?
I think this should work. A cut with more fatty content will produce more of a tender meat. I hope you’ll love it :).
I’ve had Shashlik when I was in Ukraine. In Lugansk specifically! I’ve been to a couple of restaurants there! However one of the restaurants provided a special home made sauce to dip the thin bread and Shashlik into! The taste was amazing! I’m going back to Lugansk to visit my friends this Orthodox Christmas holiday and definitely going to have Shashlik!!!
I will try your recipe and compare!
Have a great trip Nacio. Maybe you can ask how they make that dipping sauce :).
Have you tried this with lamb or beef? If so, what cuts of meat would you use? I am going to try the pork, too. Thanks.
I haven’t tried with either one. If using beef, something like a top sirloin might work well. Get something that isn’t too tough to chew 🙂
hi!:D what if i add 1/2cup mayo? would it be good?
Yes, it would still be good. The color of the uncooked meat will be a little strange looking (pink from the wine), but I have done it this way and it tastes good. 🙂
Hi, thanks for the recipe, Can I marinade the meat for longer, like overnight?
You sure can! It will definitely be more flavorful 🙂
I love how you provide a picture to go with each step, especially showing clearly all the ingredients needed to start.
It’s what I do…. 😉
Made this yesterday on the 4th. Excellent. I used an onion that was almost too small. Plenty to flavor the marinade, but had to scramble for enough to go on the skewers. Thanks again for your fine recipes.
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Hope you had an awesome 4th of July!! 🙂
Hey one more question. Does the wine give a “wine-y” (I just made up that word) taste to the meat? For some reason, I am skeptical about using wine.
It depends on how long your marinate it. It will have a slightly stronger taste if you marinate overnight, but I did keep it marinated overnight for todays dinner and it still tasted great. I didn’t think it was “wine-y” after the four hours 🙂 It added some nice flavor!
Can i use white dry wine insted of red?
I haven’t tested it with white wine so I can’t really make that recommendation. Sorry… Anyone else tried that?
Wow, your shashlik looks delicious. I’m wondering how it would taste with the wine marinade… I usually make the marinade with beer and sometimes add some mayo, you should give it a try. I will try to make your version too. For the chicken try to marinade it in mustard, beer, onions and seasonings (don’t add too much mustard, just enough to coat your chicken 1-2 tsp for 1 lb.).
Dry or prepared mustard?
prepared.
Hey.. can this be made with chicken instead? Would it still be good?
It will be good, but I would suggest instead of wine, use juice from half of a lemon :).
This is making me hungry! I grew up eating shashlik: so many kinds of it, I wouldn’t even be able to remember! I missed the real shashlik made on smoking coals. Great post and recipe – Pinned!
Thanks for pinning; do you mean on those old school coal bbq’s?
Hello from sunny Cyprus.Natasha try to add cumming powder (about a teaspoon) in the marinade.I would also recommend oreganum 5 minutes before you take out from bbq .the recipe you added is really nice.I use it for bigger pieces of meat as well.Very good idea to add it.keep up the good work and ty for all the recipes !!!
I’ll have to try those add-ins next time. Thank you!
These look delicious. 🙂 Natasha your photos are so good I can almost smell the aroma of shashlik. I need to try your recipe╰⊰✿
Thank you Lea, they were delicious indeed :).
I’ve been looking for a great shashlik recipe and I think I have found one!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Can’t wait to grill some shashlik and share it with family and friend!
I would love to hear the outcome :).
Yes! Yes! Yes!
we used to marinade lean meat in mayo, to soften it up and make richer.
I have got to try these, would make a lovely feast. They look so good, and you are such inspirational.
Thank you Veronika :).
I’m drooling right now! I will definetly be trying this recipe this summer. Thanks!
Let me know how they turn out :).
This looks amazing. I have been waiting for someone to teach us how to make sashlik! Do you know what the red wine can be replaced with? Or is the wine a mandatory ingredient in this recipe? Thanks for the post! 🙂
Try using juice from half of a lemon instead :).