Chimichurri sauce is an easy, bright and herbaceous oil-based condiment that is the perfect accompaniment to any grilled foods, from steak and chicken to even vegetables.
**Post written by The BBQ Brothers. For all meat prep, grill set up, temperature and humidity control, recommended tools, and techniques for The BBQ Brothers recipes, check out The BBQ Brothers Beginner’s Guide To Grilling first, then get to cookin!
When it comes to condiments on almost any grilled food, I’m usually squarely on the “no way are you ruining this perfectly grilled meat with your Johnny-come-lately sauces and relishes.” Whether that’s A1 masking the smokiness of a beautiful steak, or mustard masking the spices of a bratwurst, I just don’t go for it.
The lone exception for me is the bright and herbaceous flavors of chimichurri. This South American oil-based condiment is the perfect accompaniment to any grilled foods, from steak and chicken to even vegetables. And what’s even better is that it’s as easy to make as simply chopping and stirring.
The base of the sauce is the herbs. I like to use a 50/50 mix of fresh cilantro and parsley that we finely chop, but feel free to experiment a little here. And if you’re one of those poor souls who tastes soap when they eat cilantro, just replace that with more parsley.
After that, we want to add some other strong flavors, a few cloves of minced garlic, one minced Fresno chili (or you can use red pepper flakes), and a healthy splash of red wine vinegar. When you bring these together you’ll see that it’s a bit of a sticky mess and that’s where the oil comes in. The oil is what really brings all the flavors together, as well as giving us the consistency that we want. Go ahead and add about a quarter cup of oil at a time until you get a nice loose and silky texture. You can put all these ingredients in a food processor, but then you’ll end up with more of a baby food like texture that I find pretty gross myself.
The other beauty of this condiment is that it is 100% customizable. Think this is too garlicky? Drop a clove or two out. Want it spicier? Add another pepper. It really is hard to go wrong once you get the base of herbs and oil down.
So keep the A1 in the fridge, or better yet throw it away, because there’s a new steak companion in town.
Our favorite is to pour this over top of our caveman style flank steak but you could also pair this with our smoked chicken, or slather it on our smoked burgers!
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Chimichurri Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Blended
- Cuisine: Argentinian
Description
Chimichurri sauce is an easy, bright and herbaceous oil-based condiment that is the perfect accompaniment to any grilled foods, from steak and chicken to even vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1 bundle fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 bundle fresh cilantro, finely chopped (can be substituted for more parsley if you prefer)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red fresno chili pepper, minced (can be substituted for red pepper flakes)
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¾ cup of olive oil (add as needed to get desired consistency)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
- The base of the sauce is the herbs. I like to use a 50/50 mix of fresh cilantro and parsley that we finely chop, but feel free to experiment a little here. And if you’re one of those poor souls who tastes soap when they eat cilantro, just replace that with more parsley
- After that, we want to add some other strong flavors, a few cloves of minced garlic, one minced Fresno chili (or you can use red pepper flakes), and a healthy splash of red wine vinegar.
- When you bring these together you’ll see that it’s a bit of a sticky mess and that’s where the oil comes in. The oil is what really brings all the flavors together, as well as giving us the consistency that we want. Go ahead and add about a quarter cup of oil at a time until you get a nice loose and silky texture. You can put all these ingredients in a food processor, but then you’ll end up with more of a baby food like texture that I find pretty gross myself.
Notes
The beauty of this condiment is that it is 100% customizable. Think this is too garlicky? Drop a clove or two out. Want it spicier? Add another pepper. It really is hard to go wrong once you get the base of herbs and oil down.
So let us know what you think….did this recipe smoke the competition or go up in flames? Leave a comment below! 🙂
Dean Graham says
Hi Dear Heart, what kind of marinade can I use for chicken to make it tender? Mine always gets dry and tough.,I sometimes use chicken tenders and those are small and become Very dry. Hope your plans are going well for the wedding! Is it definitely for 06/01/19? Love you bunches! Gramma Dean
cutsandcrumbles says
Hello!! Thank you, yes June 1! We don’t usually use marinades since we season during cooking but we always brine our chicken before we cook it. Just put it in a tupperware container with water (and a little pepper if you want!) for 4-8 hours in the fridge then pat it dry before cooking it! This makes a world of difference!! Hope this helps! Love you too!!
John Rhoe says
I have never used chimichuri before and have nothing to compare this with. Based the stuff here that I have comparisons for, this must be the real deal!
Caitlin says
Hope you like it! It's so easy and always tastes better than pre-made!