A Chimichurri Recipe You’ll Want to Put on Everything

It’s the hottest time of year and I’m craving Latin country cuisine. This happens every year and I start making my favorite four: Mexican guacamole, Peruvian ceviche, Spanish gazpacho, and Argentinian chimichurri.

Jump to:

• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🌿 The herbs
• 🥩 The meat
• ♨ The heat
• 🍾 Pairing recommendation
• 📝 Recipe

So chimichurri it is today. The clash of a woodfire-grilled piece of meat and an uncooked, oil-based herb sauce. Who wins? It’s a perfect tie, with both sides shining bright.

🧾 Ingredients

• Hanger steak
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Flat leaf parsley
• Sage
• Oregano
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Habanero pepper
• Maldon sea salt
• Freshly cracked pepper 

See the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.

🌿 The herbs

I’m sure there’s a “traditional” chimichurri recipe out there. But who cares. Just go to your herb garden and grab a couple handfuls of herbs you think might make a nice herb salad. While parsley is the classic main herb in chimichurri, I also like to add some sage and oregano.

What’s important is that you don’t use a blender. Chop everything finely with your chef's knife. Chimichurri is an oil-based herb sauce...not baby food. 

Start out by mixing extra-virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar together in a bowl.

Add the finely chopped parsley, oregano, and sage. Then add the chopped garlic and shallots.

Taste it, to see if you like the balance. You can always add more but it’s really hard to do the opposite. That goes especially for the next ingredient: hot pepper. I love to use a bright orange habanero pepper. But be careful, these little beauties pack a punch. So put on some gloves and get down to work, chop as finely as possible, and you’ll probably want to leave the seeds out too. 

❗ Warning: Before you wipe the sweat off your eyebrow while chopping all the ingredients outside in the heat: Take off the glove! I didn't and I thought I was going to have to replace my eyeballs. Habanero peppers are considered Extra Hot, with a heat level of 100,000 - 300,000 according to the Scoville scale. So add some to your mix and try again. You can always add more…

Stir everything and season with Maldon sea salt  and some freshly cracked tellicherry pepper. Cover and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or overnight), to let the flavors mingle with the oil. 

🥩 The meat

Next, think about what kind of meat you’d like with the sauce. This is a no-brainer for me: It’s hanger steak. Seasoning? Maldon sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. That’s it. I usually salt the meat right before putting it on the grill. There’s a reason for that - please read Let's Talk About Salt - The Only Rock We Eat. 

I never use chimichurri as a marinade (I guess you could), but prefer to just spoon it over while serving at the table. When cooking chicken thighs, however, I would add the chimichurri during the last five minutes of cooking.

♨ The heat

I’m still experimenting with my grill with two different kinds of charcoal and all different kinds of wood. But one thing doesn’t change: Your goal is to get plenty of heat to get a really good sear. A hanger steak will cook in 2-3 minutes per side. When it’s done cooking, let it rest on a plate for five minutes, loosely covered with foil. Why loosely? If you cover it too tightly, the escaping heat from the steak will create steam inside the foil package and the steak will continue cooking. After five minutes of rest, finely slice the meat against the grain and serve with your favorite side dish. 

🍾 Pairing recommendation

We enjoy chimichurri with a medium-bodied Malbec from the Mendoza region in Argentina. It pairs perfectly with grilled meats and spicy sauces. You’ll find a good Malbec for about $12-15.

Did you make this Chimichurri recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

📝 Recipe

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