“They” say authentic Argentinian Chimichurri sauce contains only parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.  But since cilantro and I are BFF I figure I’m going to continue to break the rules and use it in my Chimichurri recipe.  Chimichurri works really well as a marinade and/or sauce for lots of different types of meats, especially beef and lamb.  It also goes great with fish or as a topping for eggs.   The following recipe makes a fairly substantial amount (about 2 cups).  I recently made it to marinate a large (1.5 lb) flank steak.  There was enough left over for use as a sauce on the meat and more to refrigerate/freeze for future dishes.  I recommend filling an ice cube tray with leftover Chimichurri sauce and freezing so you have individual servings available when you are short on time.  In fact, I packed some in our cooler for a recent weekend camping trip.  We used it on our grilled salmon and it was great – really quick and easy.

Chimichurri Sauce and Marinade

  • 3 cups fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 cup fresh oregano
  • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt (plus more for sauce)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it really spicy)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 jalapeño pepper

Roughly chop the 3 cups of cilantro (thick stems removed), 1 1/2 cups of parsley and 1/2 cup of oregano.

3 Cups of Cilantro

1 1/2 cups Flat Leaf Parsley

 

1/2 cup Fresh Oregano

Place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse until chopped.  You can puree the mixture if you prefer a smoother consistency.  Cover all sides of the meat with the marinade and store in the refrigerator for about 3 hours or overnight.

Wipe off excess marinade and season the meat with salt and pepper before grilling, broiling or pan frying to your preferred doneness.  Bring the refrigerated Chimichurri sauce to room temperature prior to serving.  I like to add a little more salt to the finished sauce as well.

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Chimichurri Sauce and Marinade

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Chimichurri sauce for steak or other meat dishes.

  • Author: Ben
  • Prep Time: 10m
  • Total Time: 0 hours
  • Category: sauce

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 cups fresh cilantro
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/2 cup fresh oregano
  • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt (plus more for sauce)
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (more if you like it really spicy)
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 jalapeño pepper

Instructions

  1. Roughly chop the 3 cups of cilantro (thick stems removed)
  2. Place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and pulse until chopped.  You can puree the mixture if you prefer a smoother consistency.  Cover all sides of the meat with the marinade and store in the refrigerator for about 3 hours or overnight.
  3. Wipe off excess marinade and season the meat with salt and pepper before grilling, broiling or pan frying to your preferred doneness.  Bring the refrigerated Chimichurri sauce to room temperature prior to serving.  I like to add a little more salt to the finished sauce as well.
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