Chimichurri is a great sauce to liven up just about anything with its freshness, acidity, and spice—but it goes particularly well with grilled or seared beef.
What Is Chimichurri?
Chimichurri is a sauce most associated with Argentina. According to Wikipedia, “Chimichurri is made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and red wine vinegar.” I first encountered the green condiment back in my restaurant days many years ago. That version strayed from the traditional in that we swapped a shallot for garlic, omitted oregano, and used Sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Both of the substitutions have softer flavors than the ingredients they replaced, which I think leads to a slightly more refined end product.
What Does Chimichurri Taste Like?
Chimichurri has a vegetal, grassy taste thanks to parsley being the main ingredient. It’s balanced with a punch of acidity from the vinegar along with a bit of spice from the red pepper flakes, and the olive oil helps to round everything out.
How to Make Chimichurri
It’s pretty simple. All you need to do is finely chop the ingredients and then mix them with olive oil, which can be done either with a food processor or by hand. (I would not recommend using a blender as it would lead to more of a purée, but you can use it if you really want to.) And that’s it—voila!
What Is the Difference Between Pesto and Chimichurri?
Making chimichurri is very similar to how one might make a pesto. The main difference is that pesto includes nuts and cheese and chimichurri does not. Chimichurri also has vinegar added to provide its signature acidity.
But that being said, you can use this technique with any manner of herbs and flavorings to come up with your own sauce. It’s also a great way to make use of any herbs you might have forgotten about in the back of your fridge that are on their last legs. Turning dying herbs into a flavorful sauce will give them new life.
What Do You Put Chimichurri Sauce On?
ANYTHING! It’s traditional served with grilled or seared steaks, but chimichurri goes great with most meats and seafood. (Back in my restaurant days, we tossed it with pieces of squid.) You can also serve it with any variety of roasted or grilled vegetables. Or as pictured here, I drizzled it over some roasted potatoes and a couple of sunny-side up eggs. The possibilities are endless.
How Long Will Chimichurri Last?
Chimichurri will last for a couple of weeks stored in the refrigerator. This is primarily thanks to the olive oil that helps keep it from turning. But note, the sauce will solidify a bit when stored in the cold, so be sure to set it out at room temperature for a little bit before serving to return the sauce to its proper consistency. And if you want to keep it for even longer, you can freeze the chimichurri for a few months (or more).
Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri is a great sauce to liven up just about anything with its freshness, acidity, and spice—but it goes particularly well with grilled or seared beef.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch parsley, washed and dried
- 1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar (or any acid)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more as needed
Instructions
- Remove about an inch or two of stem from the bottom of the parsley (the tough bits) and then roughly chop or tear the rest, stems and all. Place the parsley, shallot, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and some salt in a food processor. Pulse for a couple of minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl every now and then, until everything is finely chopped. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can also just chop everything very finely by hand.)
- With the processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil so that the sauce is well emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning and consistency (it should be easily spoonable) as needed. Serve.
Delicious but compared to the version we used to get in southern Brasil and Argentina, it is lacking.
1. You cannot take the garlic out. That is bordering on criminal to suggest taking garlic out of anything in south America. I had to put the garlic back in.
2. They make it with a mixture of parsley, fresh oregano, and the last couple of times I was there, some of the chefs had added cilantro too. I am OK with the cilantro in or out, but the fresh oregano is so much a part of the flavor that omitting it makes it parsley paste, not chimichurri.
I think you will agree once you add the oregano and Garlic back in, that they are essential elements.
I say in the beginning of the post that this is not a traditional chimichurri. I am very happy with the recipe I’ve shared – and others have agreed – but you’re free to do whatever you want in your kitchen.