The best way to serve a steak apart from simply grilled with a touch of lemon juice, salt and pepper, is to have it with chimichurri sauce. The famous Argentine chimichurri slathered all over a perfectly cooked ribeye or bavette steak. It's perfection in the steakhouse and grill world served with simple sides like creamed spinach or mashed potatoes.
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What is chimichurri
44 million Argentines can't be wrong. That's where chimichurri comes from.
It's the perfect green sauce for steak. Closely followed by Italian salsa verde and garlic compound butter.
Perfectly cooked top-quality steak needs little else apart from salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice, but chimichurri sauce takes it to the next level.
It's got the perfect balance of sweet, earthy, spicy, salty and sour that works wonders with the rich flavour and texture of good steak.
The best steak should be succulently soft, but with texture, you can sink your teeth into.
Perfectly caramelised with a rich, deep brown crust that makes you salivate even before you take the first bite.
Best steak to use
I used ribeye steak for this recipe but you could also use the following cuts when making chimichurri steak.
- Flank steak - Sometimes falsely referred to as bavette, taken from the bottom sirloin. Cut in thin strips across the grain of the meat. Delicious and flank chimichurri is very popular.
- Hanger steak - Also known as skirt steak. One of the cheapest tastiest steaks you'll find.
- Sirloin - Medium/high priced, juicy and worth it.
- Rump steak - From the rear of the steer. Otherwise known as a tasty piece of butt.
- Picanha - Where the back and butt meat. Excuse the pun.
- Top blade - The most tender part of the shoulder or chuck.
- Flat iron - Top blade with the central connective tissue removed.
- Filet mignon - Most tender of steaks but less flavourful and expensive.
- Prime rib or Tomahawk - Both ribeye on the bone. Tomahawk just has a longer piece of bone.
Useful equipment
Cast Iron Skillet
Wooden Chopping Board
Temperature Probe
Gyuto Japanese Chefs Knife
How to make chimichurri
Full chimichurri sauce recipe. Otherwise follow instructions below.
- 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.
How to cook steak
- Heat a large skillet with canola oil.
- Sear steak turning often until the internal temperature reaches 48°C or 118°F measured with a temperature probe.
- Add a knob of butter to the pan and let it brown. When done, remove and reserve along with the steak.
- Let the steak rest for 10 minutes. The temperature will rise and settle at around 55°C or 130°F. The perfect doneness for any steak.
- Cut the steak across the grain. Pour the brown butter over it followed by chimichurri sauce and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Video instructions to cook steak
Recommended side dishes
A nice full-on Malbec is what you want to drink with this chimichurri steak. Get messy and get involved. You only live once. So, treat yourself. You deserve it. Also, the following goes well with chimichurri steak.
- Sourdough baguettes and butter.
- Caesar salad
- Georgian salad
- Honey roasted carrots
- Mashed potatoes
- Baked baby potatoes with rosemary and garlic.
Frequently asked questions
Seal airtight and store in the fridge for up to two weeks or freeze for longer storage.
No. Get good quality marbled beef and you don't have to worry about tough meat that needs marinating.
Yes, slice the meat nice and thin with plenty of chimichurri.
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Recipe
Steak With Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
For the steak
- 400 g (⅞ lb) ribeye steak - note 1
- 20 g (1 ½ tablespoon) cooking oil
- 20 g (1 ½ tablespoon) butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the chimichurri
- 40 g (⅔ cups) parsley leaves - chopped finely - note 2
- 15 g (⅓ cups) oregano leaves - chopped finely - note 3
- 10 g (1 ¼ tablespoon) minced garlic
- 40 g (3 tablespoon) olive oil - extra virgin
- 40 g (3 tablespoon) sunflower or other neutral oil
- 40 g (4 tablespoon) shallots or sweet red onion - finely chopped
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) ketchup - Heinz or homemade - note 4
- 20 g (1 ⅓ tablespoon) lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 20 g (1 ⅓ tablespoon) red wine vinegar
- 3 g (½ teaspoon) salt
- 1 g (½ teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper
- 20 g (1 tablespoon) honey - note 5
- 15 g (1 tablespoon) green chilli - chopped finely
Instructions
For the steak
- Heat a large skillet with canola oil.
- Sear steak turning often until the internal temperature reaches 48°C or 118°F measured with a temperature probe.
- Add a knob of butter to the pan and let it brown. When done, remove and reserve along with the steak.
- Let the steak rest for 10 minutes. The temperature will rise and settle at around 55°C or 130°F. The perfect doneness for any steak.
- Cut the steak across the grain. Pour the brown butter over it followed by chimichurri sauce and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Chimichurri
- 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 fine.
- Next, finely dice the shallots and herbs.
- Continue by chopping the garlic and chilli.
- 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 up. 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.
Notes
- Other steaks like flank, bavette, striploin, picanha and skirt are all popular choices. Use whatever steak fits your budget or taste.
- Parsley can be substituted with cilantro or used with parsley.
- If no fresh oregano is available use a small amount of dried instead.
- Ketchup is not traditional in chimichurri but it adds extra balance and umami the classic version very much needs. Only use a good quality version.
- Honey is for balance and also an optional ingredient.
- Once cooked the steak and sauce can be stored in the fridge and served in a salad the following day.
Andrew
Great post, this sounds super tasty!