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My favorite topping and one I’m most known for is my Homemade Chimichurri Sauce. I get asked a lot on the ingredients, so here it is. It’s fresh, spicy, garlicky, crunchy and super simple to make. It’s the perfect topping on any protein.
Enjoy this homemade chimichurri sauce on a variety of proteins. Check out some of my favorite recipes: Grilled chimichurri spatchcock chicken, steak tacos with an avocado chimichurri salsa, or grilled citrus salmon with a lemon chimichurri sauce. All of these recipes use the base chimichurri recipe with slight ingredient modifications to fit the protein. Simple and delicious.
Table of Contents
Ingredient List for Chimichurri Sauce
- Parsley: finely chopped parsley is half the herb mix.
- Cilantro: finely chopped cilantro is mixed in with the parsley.
- Garlic: freshly chopped garlic adds a nutty and pungent flavor to the sauce.
- Olive oil: liquid base.
- Red wine vinegar: adds tanginess to break up the olive oil.
- Crushed red pepper flakes: adds a little kick to the sauce.
How to make homemade chimichurri sauce.
The steps and ingredients for this amazing homemade chimichurri sauce are super simple. I have done this hundreds of times and have perfected it over the years. Whenever I sample this sauce at events or parties, people rave about it.
It’s the perfect topping to any dish. It brings a burst of freshness, zestiness and crunch. Brighten up your plain grilled chicken breast or add freshness to a savory grilled steak.
Start off with finely chopping an entire batch of parsley and cilantro. I have seen this done with parsley only, with cilantro only or both. In my personal opinion, an equal mix of both makes it just right.
Recipe Tip
When chopping up the parsley, remove any larger stems as they can get bitter. For the cilantro, however, use the stems too as they have most of the cilantro flavor.
Next, finely chop up 6 cloves of garlic or use minced jar garlic as a substitute. For the seasoning, use crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano and salt and pepper. Add enough red wine vinegar to get the ingredients wet and finally pour in the olive oil to make the sauce runny. Mix these ingredients together with a spoon, not a food processor and you are done! Yes, it’s that simple.
This is the perfect topping for a steak. Simple and delicious dinner. Check out my Grilled NY Strip with Chimichurri recipe.
Recipe Tip
Use regular olive oil instead on extra virgin olive oil. It has a lighter and milder taste allowing the other ingredients to be the stars.
Other Chimichurri Sauce Variations
The beauty of a homemade chimichurri sauce is its versatility. Once you have the base, you can add ingredients to better fit the protein you are cooking.
Citrus Chimichurri Sauce:
This is perfect on light dishes like fish. It brings a zesty, summer like balance to the fish.
Additional ingredients include freshly squeezed orange, lemon and or lime juice. Zest the skin for extra freshness.
Try this zesty grilled red snapper with a citrus chimichurri.
Mint Chimichurri Sauce:
This is the perfect sauce for stronger proteins like lamb. The minty freshness is the perfect compliment to the earthy flavors of a grilled lamb.
Try this delicious grilled rack of lamb with a mint chimichurri.
Red Chimichurri Sauce:
This is the perfect sauce on poultry. To the base add roasted red peppers for some sweetness, a chopped shallot for a sweet savoriness and some honey to balance the zestiness of the herbs
Try these grilled chicken wings in a red chimichurri sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, if you don’t like cilantro, chimichurri can exist with just parsely or reverse. However, by combining both herbs, you get the perfect balance of flavors that add vibrance to your dish.
Yes, a homemade chimichurri sauce is not only the perfect topping on protein, but has a lot of health benefits. The herbs, garlic and olive oil contain a lot of vitamins and minerals that are good for you.
Delicious recipes with Chimichurri sauce:
If you tried this Homemade Chimichurri Sauce or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the📝 comments. I love hearing from you!
Homemade Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup Chopped cilantro
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 tbsp Dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1 cup Olive oil
Instructions
- Chop up the cilantro, parsley, garlic and add to a small bowl.
- Next, chop up the garlic. Add it to the parsley and cilantro along with the remaining ingredients. Mix it all together with a spoon.
- The chimichurri can be served right away. The longer it sits the more flavorful it will get.
Notes
- Use olive oil instead of extra virgin olive oil. It has a milder and more neutral flavor.
- Chop everything by hand instead of using a food processor. The chimichurri will have a much better texture.
- Remove any thick stems from the parsley as they can be bitter.
- After mixing everything together, adjust the heat, salt and tanginess to your liking:
- Salt – add more salt
- Tanginess – add more red wine vinegar
- Heat – add more crushed red peppers
Nutrition
Check out the Recipes Page for other tasty ideas!
Excellent chimichurri first time trying chimichurri and now I’m addicted. I don’t like adding the coriander though as a personal preference.
How long will any leftover sauce keep in the frig?
You can keep it in the fridge for up to a week.
The recipe is addicting! I can’t get enough of it – it is DELICIOUS on SO MANY things! But it is awesome when you just DIP TOASTED BREAD in the sauce! A winning staple!
Delicious sauce for steak! So happy I tried this recipe, it’s perfect just the way it is! Thank you!
Literally the best and easiest chimichurri recipe I’ve come across. I needed a quick recipe and remembered that GWD had featured one on IG. A quick google search landed me here! I’ve made it a handful of times since, and my fiancée swears she could drink this stuff. 10/10 recommend!