Stick with bell peppers, red onions, and zucchini

Bell peppers, red onions, and zucchini.

Those three have similar density and water content, so they cook at roughly the same rate. That’s the whole problem with most veggie skewers – the mushrooms shrivel up while the potato chunks stay raw. Avoid that by picking vegetables that are all medium-firm.

Cut everything into similar-sized pieces. That’s non-negotiable. One-inch chunks for all of them. Bell peppers should be square-ish, not those floppy strips that burn. Red onions hold together better than white or sweet onions. Zucchini is forgiving – it gets nice grill marks without turning to mush if you keep an eye on it.

Don’t overcomplicate. Cherry tomatoes look great but they burst and create flare-ups. Eggplant soaks up oil like a sponge and turns into a greasy mess. Mushrooms are fine but they shrink and fall off. Save those for a foil packet.

Pat the veggies dry before oiling. Wet vegetables steam instead of searing, and you lose that char. A quick brush of oil, salt, pepper – done.

Uniform cuts and a hot grill are the real secrets here.