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In the theme of keeping things simple and clean, today’s post is all about chimichurri.
So what is chimichurri?
Well, put simply, it’s a condiment that is widely served over grilled meats in countries like Argentina and Uruguay. Made using only a handful of fresh herbs and spices, this oil-based sauce packs a lot of piquant flavor. Flavor that becomes even more amplified as it sits and marinates in itself, so take my advice and, if possible, make this sauce a day in advance so that you can coax the maximum amount of zing out of it as possible.
So, how do we make this sauce?
Well, we’ll gather our ingredients including some…
- Very finely chopped parsley: this makes up the bulk of our chimichurri and acts as the vessel that will absorb all the potent flavors of our other herbs and spices.
- Olive oil: I’m using an extra light olive oil for its neutral flavor but you can use any other neutral clean label oil of preference.
- A finely diced and deseeded red chili pepper: feel free to leave the seeds and the white interior in if you like a lot of spice and heat.
- Finely chopped fresh oregano: you can use dried if you’re in a pinch.
- Salt: I’m using my favorite pink Himalayan sea salt but you can use a sea salt if you prefer.
- Black Pepper: Fresh or preground, you can use whichever you prefer.
- Freshly minced garlic: I’m afraid garlic powder won’t be able to cut it for this particular recipe and will muddle the flavor and the texture of the sauce.
- Fresh lemon juice: While this isn’t considered the “traditional” acid, I much prefer that bright freshness that the lemon gives. If you’d like to make a pure and traditional chimichurri use a red wine vinegar in place of the lemon juice.
With Our Ingredients Gathered, Let’s Make Our Chimichurri!
Making the sauce is as simple as combining the parsley with the oil, the red chili, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice, and mixing it all together. That’s it! It’s so simple, just the way things should be, don’t you agree?
Look at how fresh and bright it looks! This is the main reason I prefer to prep all my ingredients by hand over the method that involves blitzing everything together into a green puree in a food processor. In doing it all by hand, I’ve found that the flavors are more prominent, more vibrant and much fresher since the ingredients remain individually intact but they still bleed their essence into the oil which in turn flavors everything around it giving you the best of all worlds. Guys, really, I can’t stress this enough, this sauce is sooooo good. 😍
Whether you use it as a condiment or a marinade (I use it as both for these Grilled Beef Hearts which while an unconventional are positively delectable!) the fresh, garlicky, earthy-herbed smell of this sauce alone is going to be enough to get your mouth watering. 🤤
Fresh and Simple Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- ½ cup extra light olive oil
- 1 small red chili finely diced (or sub 1/2 tsp red chili flakes)
- ½ tbsp oregano finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (approx ½ lemon)
- 3 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt (to taste)
- ½ tsp ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Once all ingredients are washed, prepped, and diced as finely as possible, add them all together and mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Let your chimichurri sauce marinate for at least 3 hours (overnight is ideal) for the flavors to release and seep into each other which leads to a more enriched and flavorful sauce.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight jar or container for up to three weeks in the fridge. Or you can also freeze it (you can use an ice tray for easy portioning) for up to three months.
Notes
- Note that a traditional chimichurri sauce uses red wine vinegar in place of lemon juice however I use lemon juice simply as a personal preference.
- For a less spicy sauce, remove the seeds and internal white of the red chili or reduce the amount of chili flakes if substituting.
- While you can simply throw all ingredients into a food processor and blitz them all together, I recommend against that method since there is a noticeable difference it the flavor quality. With a processed sauce the flavors are almost muddled whereas with incorporating each ingredient you are able to create and add layers of flavor that all becomes unified in the oil while still remaining fresh and whole in themselves.
- This sauce is completely customizable in terms of flavor preference. You can adjust the levels of spice, salt, acid, and garlic to suit your taste.
