When it comes to steak sauces, nothing beats an authentic chimichurri sauce. It's bright, tangy, herbaceous, and pairs perfectly with red meat. You can also use it for chicken and pork! Plus, it's super easy to make.
Looking for more ideas for steak? Try my roast potatoes recipe!
About This Recipe
A few years ago, I started making chimichurri sauce to serve with steaks. My wife had never had it before, but it quickly became her favorite steak sauce! Since then, I've started serving it with so much more- pan-fried chicken thighs, grilled pork, etc.
It's deliciously bright and tangy, with a ton of herbiness from the parsley and cilantro. It's super easy to make and doesn't require any cooking. But I'll be honest; picking the leaves off the herbs can be a little time-consuming. If you're slow at cooking, this can easily take 30 minutes of time.
Key Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil: The type of extra virgin olive oil does not matter too much. Anything will work. But I recommend saving the expensive oil for other dishes because the nuances in the olive oil get lost in all the other flavors here.
Parsley: We will need an entire bunch of parsley. I prefer the texture of a flat leaf or Italian parsley. Curly parsley would work in a pinch, but it's not my favorite. Make sure you only use the leaves in both the parsley and cilantro. The stems will make the chimichurri watery.
Cilantro: We also need 1 bunch of cilantro. If you do not like cilantro, you can just double the parsley.
Red wine vinegar: In my opinion, red wine vinegar tastes the best with chimichurri because it has a bolder taste than white wine vinegar. Plus, red wine pairs better with red meats.
Dried oregano: You can also use fresh oregano, but I find dried oregano to be more convenient and affordable.
Garlic: I used 4 cloves, which ended up being about 1 and a half tablespoons.
Seasoning: Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Feel free to add more red pepper flakes if you want it to be spicy.
Instructions
STEP 1: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, dried oregano, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the parsley and cilantro leaves.
The chimichurri should have a loose and spoonable consistency. If it's not loose enough, add up to another ¼ cup of olive oil.
STEP 2: I like to give the chimichurri some time to rest and let the flavors meld. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then it's ready to be served!
📋 Recipe
Chimichurri
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup chopped parsley leaves (tightly packed; about 1 bunch)
- 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves (tightly packed; about 1 bunch)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt, dried oregano, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the parsley and cilantro leaves. Alternatively, you could blend everything in a food processor, but be careful not to over blend otherwise the texture will be mushy.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the chimichurri for at least 10 minutes.
- You can store the chimichurri in the fridge for up to 4 days. Use it on steak, chicken, or pork.
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