Chimichurri is widely used in Argentine and Uruguayan cuisine on grilled and barbecued meats, fish and vegetables like ribeye steak, salmon fillet, baked chicken and roasted potatoes.
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What is it?
It's is magic little green salsa that can be used on a wide variety of dishes. Its taste is sharp, rich and intense.
It mainly consists of vinegar, fresh herbs and olive oil.
The consistency is similar to a salsa verde or loose pesto.
Perfect to balance a fatty grilled steak yet gentle and fragrant enough to compliment fresh vegetables or seared salmon fillet.
It's most often used on meats cooked asado or churrasco style over burning embers or charcoal. Famous in most South American Countries with Spanish and Portuguese heritage.
Ingredients
Chimichurri ingredients differ slightly depending on what you use it for.
Most of the time consisting of parsley, oregano and/or cilantro(coriander) with the addition of acid, oil and other aromatics and seasonings.
- Oregano - Fresh oregano is best. If you can't find it use a small amount of dried and increasing the amount of parsley by half.
- Shallots - You could also use young sweet red onion. Just make sure shallot or onion is sweet and not old and harsh tasting.
- Vinegar - Use a soft red wine vinegar, white wine or apple cider vinegar. Again, nothing too harsh.
- Chilli - Use chilli flakes if you don't have fresh chilli.
- Ketchup(optional) - Our controversial ingredient and optional. Ketchup adds balance and umami. You won't notice the ketchup flavour in the final result. I recommend you use it for maximum flavour.
- Honey(optional) - Also optional. I like to balance my dishes. When you balance the tastes in a dish the flavour magnifies and you end up with superior tasting food.
Instructions
- Wash all your herbs thoroughly making sure there is no dirt. Shake or spin dry.
- Next, remove the leaves from the stalks. It's ok to use the tender stems close to the leaves.
- Chop up the parsley and oregano fairly finely. Here is the correct way to chop parsley.
- Next, finely dice the shallots. Here is how to properly chop shallots.
- Chop the garlic and chilli very finely.
- Place all the chopped ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk together the oils, vinegar, lemon juice, ketchup, honey and seasoning.
- Pour it over the chopped ingredients and mix.
- Taste and make sure you are happy with the balance. Adjust if needed.
- Store in a glass jar and seal airtight until ready to use.
Tips for success
- Chop the herbs by hand. Using a food processor bruises the leaves and turns the sauce into a paste rather than a loose salsa.
- Fresh oregano will make the best chimichurri.
- You can increase the intensity of the sauce by using more garlic and more chilli. Dried chilli flakes are fine but stay away from dried or pre-chopped garlic.
- If you are serving it with fatty meat add a touch more vinegar or lemon juice to cut through the richness.
- Ketchup is a controversial but necessary ingredient. Use it.
- It's best made a day in advance so the flavours can come together.
Variations
You could adjust this recipe easily to your personal liking or create a completely different condiment to use for grilled meats, fish, seafood, roasted or fresh vegetables.
- Herbs - Chimichurri with cilantro is a popular choice. Basically, just substitute the parsley with Cilantro(coriander). Fresh oregano is sometimes a problem to find so instead use a tablespoon(about2g) and increase the fresh herbs to make up the weight.
- Oil - Most extra virgin oils can be used in place of olive oil. Just be mindful of the intensity and flavour so that it does not overpower it.
- Acid - With acidity, you could go wild. Try lime juice especially when having corn on the cob or ceviche. You could even use malt vinegar and have this chimichurri with fish & chips to liven it up and give it freshness to cut through the oiliness.
- Heat - If you like it spicy you could turn up the heat by using hotter chillies or ground up chilli flakes.
- Sweetness - This is basically just for balance and I like using honey because it adds a gentle floral flavour and nuance to the dish that other sweeteners don't.
- Umami - Again, this is optional but, umami is a very important little taste that makes food very delicious. Try a touch of soy sauce or miso.
Serving suggestions
It goes perfectly well with almost everything stopping short of dessert. Try the following.
- Steak - Chimichurri sauce on a steak is probably one of the most appetising sights to behold. Slap it on this ribeye steak or bavette steak and watch the whole world drool.
- Other meat - Crispy pork belly. Sells itself no need for me to do so). These lamb koftas.
- Fish - Loves grilled food and fish is no exception. Try with this angelfish, this juicy pan-fried salmon or home-cured salmon on toasted sourdough bread.
- Vegetables - Basically any raw, grilled or steamed vegetable will benefit from a bit of chimichurri. These roasted young carrots, these roasted peppers, as a condiment to some of these grilled vegetables or simply some steamed broccoli or bok choy.
- Salads - Use a substitute dressing in this easy salmon salad or on this baked potato salad. Also great on honey roasted carrot salad or to give an edge to a classic Greek salad.
Other sauce recipes
Frequently asked questions
Can you freeze it?
Yes, it's fine freezing just remember you will lose some texture this way. the flavour will remain good. Seal air-tight and store for up to 6 months in the freezer.
How long does it last?
For best results eat straight away. However, you can easily keep it stored in the fridge airtight for up to 2 weeks. The herbs will lose their colour but it's essentially preserved because of the vinegar.
Useful equipment for this recipe
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Recipe
Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 40 g (⅔ cups) parsley - chopped finely
- 15 g (⅓ cups) oregano - chopped finely
- 10 g (1 ¼ tbsp) garlic - minced or chopped finely
- 40 g (3 tbsp) olive oil - extra virgin
- 40 g (3 tbsp) sunflower oil
- 40 g (4 tbsp) shallots or sweet red onion - finely chopped
- 15 g (1 tbsp) ketchup - Heinz or homemade
- 20 g (1 ¼ tbsp) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 20 g (1 ¼ tbsp) vinegar - red wine
- 3 g (½ tsp) salt
- 1 g (½ tsp) black pepper - freshly ground
- 20 g (1 tbsp) honey
- 15 g (1 tbsp) green chilli - chopped finely
Instructions
- Wash all your herbs thoroughly making sure there is no dirt. Shake or spin dry. Next, remove the leaves from the stalks. It's ok to use the tender stems close to the leaves.
- Chop up the parsley and oregano fairly finely. Here is the correct way to chop cilantro or parsley.Alternatively place it in a blender.
- Next, finely dice the shallots. Here is how to chop shallots correctly.
- Chop the garlic and chilli very finely.
- Place all the chopped ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk together the oils, vinegar, lemon juice, ketchup, honey and seasoning.
- Pour over the chopped ingredients and mix together. Taste and make sure you are happy with the balance. If it needs a bit more acidity, salt or sweetness ajdust accordingly with lemon lemon juice, sugar and salt.
- Store in a glass jar and seal airtight until ready to use.
Notes
- You could substitute the parsley for cilantro.
- Oregano is best used fresh.
- If you like it hot then use more chillies or add dried chilli flakes.
- Chop the ingredients by hand to avoid turning them into a paste.
- Can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freeze for up to 6 months.
- Chimichurri is best served with grilled or barbecued meats like ribeye steak, bavette steak, chicken breast and pork belly but also great with salmon fillet or baked potatoes.
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