Firm veggies win every time.

Onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and zucchini (if you cut them thick enough).

The enemy of a good kabob is water. Vegetables with high water content—eggplant, summer squash, watery bell pepper slices—steam from the inside and get mushy, eventually falling off the skewer. Stick with dense, low-moisture stuff. Red onion holds together better than white. Mushrooms (whole or halved) are basically sticks of protein. Cherry tomatoes work because their skin and seeds keep them stable, but they’ll still burst if you overcook them.

Cut everything into uniform 1.5-inch chunks. Too small = falling apart. Too large = raw inside. And don’t crowd the skewer—give each piece room to char, not steam. If you want to get fancy, blanch hard veg like carrots or potatoes first, but honestly, just pick the right veggies and you’re fine.

Use two parallel skewers per kabob to stop things from spinning.