Chimichurri Sauce Recipe

Here's a foolproof chimichurri sauce recipe with perfect ingredient ratios! This healthy and easy-to-make sauce can accompany so many dishes and makes a delicious marinade!

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• 🇦🇷 What is Chimichurri?
• 🌿 Ingredients
• 🥣 Instructions
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Top Tips
• ❓ FAQs
• 🥗 More from Aegean Delight
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🇦🇷 What is Chimichurri?

Born in Argentina with Basque roots, chimichurri is an uncooked condiment made with parsley, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and red wine vinegar or lemon juice.

Versions made in Uruguay also contain fresh or dried chile pepper. Chimichurri is similar to the Moroccan condiment chermoula.

The most common version is chimichurri verde (green). There also exists a red variety called chimichurri rojo that is made with roasted red peppers, smoked paprika, and much less parsley. Lastly, there's the Basque-style tximitxurri (name look familiar?) made with sherry vinegar.

This recipe is for the most common variety: chimichurri verde!

🌿 Ingredients

I've been making the internet's favorite chimichurri sauce recipe by Cafe Delites for years. Honestly, that recipe is already perfect, but I made some tweaks over time.

For example, I like a tad bit more olive oil and rarely have red wine vinegar on hand—so here's my humble take on it.

• Parsley - Use flat-leaf (also called Italian) parsley and make sure to chop it very finely. You can include the stems.
• Cilantro - I know, I know... cilantro isn't an authentic ingredient in chimichurri. But I love it! It adds more depth to the flavor and makes the sauce taste a bit citrusy. You can certainly substitute it with more parsley.
• Garlic - If you like less of a punch from garlic, mince it with a sharp knife and not a garlic press. You can also mix it with lemon juice for a few minutes prior to adding everything else.
• Lemon Juice - This condiment really needs acidity, and lemon juice works great. If you have red wine vinegar (more authentic), I suggest substituting half of the lemon juice with that.
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil - Use the best one you've got! Always look for a bottled date on the container and choose the freshest available.
• Dried Oregano - You may substitute it with fresh oregano by roughly tripling the volume. Just make sure to discard the woody stems.
• Chile Pepper Flakes - I always use Aleppo pepper flakes for more depth of flavor, but any type of chile flakes will do. You may also use minced & deseeded fresh chile.
• Salt & Black Pepper - Adjust seasonings as you wish.

🥣 Instructions

1. Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl and adjust seasonings if necessary. 
2. Let rest for at least 10 minutes for the flavors to harmonize. 2-3 hours is even more ideal.
3. Chimichurri is best when consumed within 24 hours, but you can keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
4. You can use chimichurri to marinate, baste, or top proteins like tofu or seitan. It also makes a great condiment for tacos, Buddha bowls, and even bean stews!

It's amazing how a few simple ingredients can make such a delicious, zesty condiment in no time!

👩🏻‍🍳 Top Tips

• Don't use a food processor or blender to make chimichurri. It's supposed to be a somewhat rustic, very herb-forward condiment with an olive oil base. More importantly, mixing olive oil as roughly as a blender does makes it taste bitter!
• Not a fan of cilantro? Substitute it with more parsley.
• You can also use a whole fresh chile pepper like in this version.
• If you're a big fan of alliums like garlic and onion, try mincing in half a small shallot. So good!

❓ FAQs

🥗 More from Aegean Delight

Did you make this chimichurri sauce recipe? I'd love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a star🌟 rating below. This helps me run Aegean Delight and I always appreciate it 🙂

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📖 Recipe