You know what? I’m really digging the month of May these days. I’m thinking May is one of the most underrated months. I mean, whose favorite month is ever May? Unless it’s your Birthday Month, no one. May’s got a day for margaritas (Cinco de Mayo), a day for Moms, i.e. ME!, Memorial Day, the first hints of summer start showing and it’s the unofficial start of BBQ season. What’s NOT to love? Let it be known that May is the month that BBQ’s are coming out of their long winter hibernation as well.
And do I have just the recipe to help you welcome that bad boy back into the family. These Thai Basil Beef Kebabs are just what you want and will totally wow your family and friends. I love that it takes one of our standard BBQ go-tos, the kebab, and kicks it up a notch. Perfectly cooked steak, grilled veggies, a bit of spicy and fresh basil that screams summer? It’s a winning combo.
I’ve teamed up with Chosen Foods to bring this taste of summer to you. I always have their avocado oil in my pantry (and now our Costco even sells it, so make sure to check yours next time you’re there!) but I recently was able to try their cooking oil sprays… and I am so digging them. First off, I love the connivence of the sprays and the fact that it’s all GOOD oil and fats! They have an olive oil spray, an avocado oil spray, coconut oil spray and a special blend of avocado and coconut oil. The sprays are great for roasted veggies, on salads and to coat baking pans and dishes. Most of all I love that there aren’t any chemicals or propellants added to these sprays and the bottles are designed using an air-pressure technology to create a fine mist so you can spray it directly onto your food. Boom!
For this recipe I chose the avocado oil spray because it has a high smoke point (500*) which makes it ideal to use on a grill. I used it to coat the veggies evenly and to spray on the grill prior to adding my kebabs as well. Easy as pie and no mess.
I made this recipe pretty mild because I know a lot of my readers have children to take into consideration. If you don’t and like things spicy, feel free to double up on the heat. I definitely would if I wasn’t too lazy to make a separate batch for the kids. But I am, so we went mild. Something to keep in mind when making the chili glaze is that the arrowroot will give it a bit of a sticky consistency, that’s ok! You’re going to brush the sauce on over the kebabs at the end as a glaze and that will remove any of that and give a nice glaze to the kebabs. Make sure to be generous while glazing to ensure you jamming as much flavor on to your kebabs as possible. Don’t forget to be equally as generous at the end with the basil sprinkled over the top as well.
The folks at Chosen Foods have generously offered the Whole Smiths readers 20% off of their cooking oil sprays, simply use the code “WHOLESMITHS20” to receive you discount! Head over there now to redeem it.
I hope you love these as much as my family did! Remember to Pin the recipe for your next BBQ while you’re here!
Thai Basil Beef Kebabs
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. beef cubed into 2 inch pieces best cuts to use: top sirloin, rib eye, tri-tip
- 1/4 C. Chosen Foods avocado oil
- 3 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
- 5 cloves of garlic smashed + 5 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp. minced / grated fresh ginger
- 1 Tbsp. + 1/2 C. honey
- 1/3 C. coconut aminos
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 C. water
- 1/2 C. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp. arrowroot flour
- 1 onion cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 red bell pepper cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1/2 C. basil chopped
- salt + pepper to taste
- Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Salt and pepper beef well
- Once you've let the steaks rest add 1/4 avocado oil, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, 5 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 Tbsp. of ginger, 1 Tbsp. of honey, 1/3 C. coconut aminos and 1 tsp of salt to a large plastic bag bowl and whisk together to create the marinade
- Add marinade and steak cubes to a large Ziplock bag and let rest 4-6 hours
- To make the glaze add water, 1/2 C. honey and apple cider vinegar to a pot and heat until it comes to a boil
- Lower to a rolling simmer and add garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes (add more for additional heat)
- Simmer for 5 minutes
- In a smal bowl add 1 Tbsp of water and 1 Tbsp of arrowroot power and sit until it it smooth
- Add arrowroot mix to pot and combine well
- Once arrowroot is well combined and sauce has thicken removed from heat and set aside
- Use Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray to spray onions and peppers
- Season onions and peppers well using salt & pepper
- Add meat, peppers and onion to skewers alternating each
- Once kebabs / skewers are ready, prepare your grill fire
- When BBQ is ready, spray grill grate liberally with Chosen Foods Avocado Oil Spray
- Add kebabs and cook each side for 3-4 minutes
- Once each side has been cooked, brush Thai Chili glaze onto each side and cook and additional one minute each side
- Remove from grill and let meat rest covered 5 minutes prior to serving
- Sprinkle basil generously over the top and serve
