Jamie Oliver’s halloumi and strawberry skewers thread chunks of halloumi, cucumber and hulled strawberries onto thin skewers and grill them over charcoal until charred and golden, then sit them on a platter dressed with grated raw strawberry, lemon zest and olive oil. Served with toasted pittas, a herb salad and a drizzle of thick balsamic. Four servings, 20 minutes, 544 kcal.
The recipe is from Jamie Oliver’s BBQ book, and the combination sounds unlikely until you understand the logic. Grilling caramelises the halloumi’s surface and warms the strawberries until they soften and release juice, creating a sweet-salty, hot-fruity combination on the skewer that the raw strawberry dressing echoes from the plate. It’s the same sweet-with-savoury principle behind prosciutto and melon, just on a barbecue.
The grated strawberry dressing is the cleverest detail. Four raw strawberries finely grated onto a platter with lemon zest, juice and olive oil make a vivid pink dressing that the hot skewers sit directly on, melting and mingling as they rest. It’s instant, no cooking, no reduction, and it does the job of a chutney or relish in seconds.
Jamie Oliver Halloumi & Strawberry Skewers
Course: Sides, AppetizersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes10
minutes544
kcal20
minutesJamie Oliver’s chargrilled halloumi and strawberry skewers from his BBQ book: halloumi, cucumber and strawberries grilled golden, served on a raw grated-strawberry dressing with toasted pittas and a herb salad. Sweet, salty, smoky. Serves four.
Ingredients
2 x 225g blocks of halloumi cheese
½ a cucumber (160g)
12 ripe strawberries
1 lemon
extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of mixed soft herbs (30g), such as basil, mint, flat-leaf parsley
olive oil
4 pitta breads
thick balsamic vinegar, to serve
Directions
- Prep and skewer:Light the barbecue with a graduated setup (coals high at one end, sloping to a few at the other) and brush the grill clean. Chop each halloumi block into six. Halve the cucumber lengthways, scrape out the seeds and chop into 8 pieces. Hull 8 strawberries. Thread the halloumi, cucumber and hulled strawberries onto thin skewers, alternating.
- Make the dressing:Finely grate the remaining 4 strawberries and the lemon zest onto a platter. Squeeze over the lemon juice, add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, mix and season. Pick the herb leaves into a bowl, add a few drops of oil and season.
- Grill:Spritz the skewers with olive oil and cook on the hot zone for 5 minutes until golden and charred, turning with tongs and shifting to medium or cool zones if colouring too quickly. Toast the pittas on the cool zone.
- Serve:Sit the hot skewers on the platter of dressing. Serve with the herb salad and toasted pittas for scooping or stuffing. Drizzle with thick balsamic just before eating.
FAQs
Why put strawberries on a skewer with halloumi?
It sounds odd, but the logic is solid. Grilling softens the strawberries and concentrates their sweetness, while the halloumi takes on a salty, golden crust. That sweet-salty contrast is the same principle behind prosciutto and melon, blue cheese and pear, or any classic savoury-fruit pairing. The cucumber between them adds a cool, watery crunch that bridges the two.
The thick balsamic vinegar drizzled at the end ties it together: balsamic is both sweet and acidic, so it speaks to the strawberry and the halloumi equally. Once you’ve tried it, the combination makes complete sense, and it’s one of those barbecue dishes guests remember precisely because it’s unexpected.
What is the graduated barbecue setup?
Oliver explains it in the book: pile the coals high at one side and slope them down to a thin layer at the other, creating a fierce hot zone, a medium zone and a cool zone along one continuous gradient. This gives you maximum control, since you can slide skewers along the grill to speed up or slow down cooking as you watch them.
It’s different from the 50/50 setup he uses for the romesco cauliflower, where coals are all on one half with the other half empty. The graduated slope is better for skewers and small items, since you can fine-tune the heat position by position rather than having just two zones.
Can I make these without a barbecue?
Yes. Heat a griddle pan until smoking and cook the skewers for about 5 minutes, turning often, until the halloumi is charred and golden. Toast the pittas under the grill. You lose the smoky charcoal flavour, but the sweet-salty combination and the charred crust still work.
An oven grill also does the job: thread the skewers, lay them on a foil-lined tray and grill on high, turning once, for about 8 minutes total. The grated-strawberry dressing goes on the serving platter regardless, since it’s raw and doesn’t need heat.
Why grate the strawberries for the dressing?
It’s Oliver’s fastest route to a fresh fruit dressing without a blender or a reduction. Grating ripe strawberries on a fine grater turns them to a vivid pink pulp that’s already liquid enough to dress a plate. Mixed with lemon zest, juice and olive oil, it becomes a proper vinaigrette in seconds.
The dressing goes on the platter before the skewers, so the hot halloumi and softened grilled strawberries sit directly in it and mingle as they rest. It’s the same grating technique he uses for the tomato sauce on his pizza fritte, where a halved tomato grated on a box grater gives a raw sauce faster than chopping.
What herbs work best?
Oliver calls for a mixed bunch of basil, mint and flat-leaf parsley, which is the right combination: basil is sweet and aromatic, mint is cool and fresh, parsley is clean and green. Together they make a herb salad that sits alongside the skewers and lifts the whole plate with fragrance.
You don’t need all three: basil and mint alone would be fine, or just basil. The herbs are tossed with a few drops of oil and seasoned, so they’re a dressed salad, not a garnish. Eat them with the halloumi and strawberry in the same bite for the full effect.
What else from the BBQ book works alongside this?
These skewers work as a starter or a light main, and they pair naturally with Oliver’s other BBQ dishes. His romesco cauliflower is the vegetarian main from the same book, so the two together make a complete meat-free barbecue spread: skewers to start, charred cauliflower and romesco to follow.
For a bigger spread with meat, add grilled chicken or lamb chops from the hot zone while the skewers cook on the medium zone, since the graduated setup gives you space for both. The pitta breads toast on the cool zone throughout, ready for stuffing with whatever comes off the grill.
