These colorful vegetable skewers are perfect on the grill or baked in the oven. Easy and fun to prepare and perfect for summer outdoor meals or barbecues.
Ooooh these vegetable skewers are so pretty!
They’re colorful, deliciously baked (or grilled) and served with a satay sauce.
This is perfect summer food. It’s what you want for outdoor dinners at the pool, picnics or barbecues!
They can be cooked in the oven or on the grill so this is a totally flexible and fun recipe. We added tofu to the recipe for added protein so it makes a delicious entrée for two or a fabulous appetizer that serves four.
What To Put On Vegetable Skewers
The best vegetables to put on skewers are ones that cook quickly and at a similar speed.
We used zucchini, mushrooms, pineapple, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and tofu. The tofu had to be baked beforehand so that it just crisps up perfectly with the other veggies on the skewer instead of cooking from scratch.
How To Make Vegetable Skewers
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Bake the tofu. The first time I made these I just skewered the tofu directly on with the veggies, without baking it first. The tofu came out pretty much the same as it went in, which wasn’t all that great. So the next time I made it I cut the tofu into cubes and baked it for 15 minutes. And that was perfect!
TIP: You have to soak the skewer sticks in water anyway (so they don’t catch on fire, you know – thin sticks of wood), so you might as well bake the tofu at the same time. And while that’s going on you can get busy chopping your veggies. So it all works out perfectly and you have deliciously crispy, baked tofu to put onto your skewers.
The veg is very easy to prepare, just cut them into pieces and toss them together in a bowl with toasted sesame oil, salt and black pepper.
When the tofu is baked, brush it with sesame oil as well to keep things even and then thread the veg and tofu onto the skewers.
Cook them in the oven. These vegetable skewers are perfect to bake in the oven. Just place them onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake in the oven at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes.
Cook them on the grill. These vegetable skewers are also perfect on the grill. Preheat the grill and then cook the skewers, turning regularly until cooked and the veggies are just browning around the edges (about 10-15 minutes).
Satay Sauce
The satay sauce is a delicious blend of peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, red pepper flakes and garlic powder with a little hot water added to bring it to the perfect consistency for dipping.
It does make a lot of sauce, which works great if you have big eaters. If you have leftover sauce, this keeps very well in the fridge for around 5 days.
What to serve with Vegetable Skewers
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegetable Skewers
Ingredients
For the Skewers:
- 10 Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 Small Zucchini
- 10 White Button Mushrooms
- 1 Medium Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper
- 1 Medium Orange Bell Pepper
- 12 ounces Extra Firm Tofu (340g)
- 2 Slices Pineapple Thick slices, sliced into cubes
- 3 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Oil
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- 10 Wooden Skewer Sticks
For the Satay Sauce:
- ½ cup Peanut Butter (125g)
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
- ¼ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 4 Tablespoons Hot Water
Instructions
- Place the skewers into a shallow dish and cover with water and allow to soak for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 460°F (240°C).
- Cut the tofu into large thick squares (cutting into large squares makes them more sturdy and easier to place onto the skewers). Place onto a parchment lined baking tray and place into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
- While the tofu is baking and the skewers are soaking, chop up the bell peppers into pieces (quite large so they can easily be threaded onto the skewers), and slice the zucchini into thick slices. Chop the pineapple slices into large chunks. The mushrooms and cherry tomatoes will stay whole.
- Toss the chopped veg, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in a bowl and add 2 Tbsp sesame oil and some sea salt and black pepper and toss together so that everything is coated.
- When the tofu is ready, remove from the oven and brush with the remaining 1 Tbsp sesame oil.
- Thread the vegetables and tofu onto the skewers.
- If baking in the oven then preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and place the skewers onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake for 30 minutes.
- If cooking on the grill then preheat the grill and cook the skewers, turning regularly until the veggies are soft and just browning around the edges (about 10-15 minutes).
- Prepare your satay sauce by adding the peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, red pepper flakes and garlic powder together and whisking with a hand whisk to combine. Add hot water from the kettle and whisk to thin it out into the right consistency.
- Serve the vegetable skewers with a bowl of satay sauce on the side.
Notes
- Soaking the skewer sticks is a must. This prevents them from catching fire when baked or grilled. The tofu bakes for the same amount of time as the skewer sticks are soaking, so you might as well. However, tofu can be omitted from this recipe if you prefer.
- Use a gluten-free soy sauce or switch for tamari if you need this to be gluten-free.
- Enjoy your skewers hot and fresh from the oven or grill. Leftovers can be kept for 4-5 days in the fridge. Leftover sauce will keep for 5 days in the fridge.
This sauce is delicious !!
Thanks Trudy!
This turned out so good with all the colour and flavour! We had a pizza party at a friend’s house and I took this with me….was still warm when we ate as she lives next door ????! I used mango chunks as I had no pineapple. Also did not use the tofu as the pizza had enough cheese. I added some hot chili powder, fresh squeezed orange juice and toasted black sesame seeds for a very Indian and tropical twist to the sauce.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! It was awesome!!!
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I’ve changed the veggies around a bit but it’s really tasty and a fun little tea
Awesome! Thanks Claire! 🙂
An ideal snack for any occasion. Quick and simple – just my style!
Yummy, who needs meat?
Indeed!