Chimichurri is an Argentinian parsley sauce that is used as an accompaniment to grilled steak. The Argentinians take grade pride in their beef. Argentina’s beef is considered among the best in the world. Chimichurri can also be used as a marinade for chicken or even be lightly brushed on shrimp on the grill.
Trust me, after you taste this, you will want to forbid anyone from using A1 sauce ever again! No offense to those who like steak sauce, but in my opinion, there is no comparison. The freshness of this sauce is a burst of flavor on your palate.
Here are some tips on making a great chimichurri sauce. You can make this in a food processor or just finely chop all the ingredients. If you are pressed for time, the food processor is the way to go. I have one of those Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus
appliances that works perfectly for this sauce. At my home in Panamá we always chopped the ingredients by hand but that was my family’s preference to have a sauce that was a bit more coarse and we didn’t have a mini-chopper back then. The key idea is that you want the garlic minced as finely as possible. You want a nice garlic flavor but you don’t want to bite into large chunks of garlic. The parsley on the other hand can be a bit more coarse as it will naturally soften in the liquid. You can always adjust the amount of red pepper flakes to the heat level you like. I like 1/2 teaspoon in mine but feel free to change it.
Another variation would be to add a little cilantro to your chimichurri for a little more flavor variation. The sauce is so good slathered on top of a nice flank steak, T-bone or skirt steak (entraña) but don’t stop there. Make some french fries or tostones ( fried green plantain) and dip into this fabulous sauce!
Chimichurri makes a fantastic marinade for grilling too. Make a double batch of the recipe below and put 1/2 in a zip-top half gallon bag and drop in 6 or 8 chicken breasts and let them sit in the sauce refrigerated for a few hours. Grill the chicken and serve with the remaining sauce. You can also marinate some shrimp the same way but I would keep that marinating time to around an hour. You will never buy a store-bought marinade again!
You can freeze chimichurri into cubes. It will keep in your fridge for about 3 months without loosing flavor. Store your frozen chimichurri in a covered ice tray. Because this is made with natural ingredients it is 100% preservative free.
If you love to try new ethnic foods here are some interesting dishes that are very easy. These are some of my most popular ethnic dishes, along with their history and ingredients to make at home.
Cuban Ropa Vieja: A true comfort food of slow cooked beef served over rice.
Recaito: This is the ingredient used in many Latin soups, stews and black beans.
Sofrito: You need to have this base ingredient for Latin style beans and shredded chicken.
Latin Style Black Beans: If you have never tried these you are missing out, and they are so easy!
Tilapia Ceviche: A citrus cured fish or shrimp appetizer with some kick.
Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
A deliciously robust and flavorful Argentinian sauce to complement to steak or chicken. It is made with parsley, garlic and olive oil among other things. This spicy aromatic sauce will be a favorite for your next cookout!
Ingredients
- 2 cups parsley chopped, lower stems removed
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 3 Tbsp onion chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar *
Instructions
- Wash the parsley thoroughly and chop in three places.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds.
- Stir contents with a spatula and turn processor on again for another 30 seconds.
- Sauce should be a yellow green color with multiple green flakes. (see picture).
- *You may use freshly squeezed lemon juice in place of vinegar.
Hello I want to know is I can make, bottle and sell chimichurri? How long is shelf life? Can It be frozen?
I actually have not frozen it. As for the shelf life? I wouldn’t keep it for more than two or three days. In regards to selling it, I would speak to a private label company once you develop your own recipe. Selling food is risky, liabilities can add up to thousands of dollars. Hope this helps.
The Argentine beef is likely influenced by the weather condition of the place. It makes for a good ingredient in the sauce.
Argentine beef is among the best in the world. Yes, I also think that a lot has to do with the weather conditions, or terroir. Also what the cows eat has a lot to do with the flavor. Chimichurri is absolutely wonderful.