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Chimichurri sauce in a ceramic bowl on dark wood

Chimichurri Sauce

A bright, herbaceous chimichurri sauce with parsley, cilantro, and lime. Ready in 10 minutes. The finishing sauce that goes on everything.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Rest Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Argentinian, Latin American
Calories: 180
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chimichurri
  • 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, packed
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1½ tbsp fresh lime juice
  • ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp kosher salt

Equipment

  • Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor for chopping herbs and emulsifying
  • Cutco 1738 Gourmet Prep Knife for finely mincing shallot and garlic

Method
 

Make the Chimichurri
  1. Add parsley, cilantro, oregano, shallot, garlic, red wine vinegar, lime juice, red pepper flakes, and salt to a blender.
    2. Pack in the parsley stems and all. The stems have just as much flavor as the leaves and they blend down completely. No need to spend time picking them off individually.
  2. Blend on low to combine, then slowly stream in the olive oil while blending until the sauce is smooth and emulsified. Do not over-blend.
    3. Streaming the oil in slowly while blending creates an emulsification instead of a pool of separated oil. The emulsified version clings to protein. The separated version slides right off.
  3. Taste and adjust salt, acid, and heat. Let rest 20 to 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to develop.
    4. The rest is not optional. Raw herbs straight out of the blender are sharp and one-dimensional. After twenty minutes the acids have worked and the sauce settles into something more complex and cohesive.

Notes

Plating: Spooned at the pass, never poured ahead (it dulls within 15 minutes in warm air). Warm spoon, slight puddle on the plate. Meat set into the sauce, not on top. Extra ramekin on the side so guests can help themselves without fighting the plate.
Wine pairing: Malbec from Mendoza is the classic partner for chimichurri on steak. The grape and the sauce come from the same culinary tradition. For fish with chimichurri, go to Albarino or Sancerre. Both have the acidity and minerality to match. Heavy, oaky wines fight with chimichurri.
Prep ahead: Chimichurri is better after a twenty to thirty minute rest. Make it up to two days ahead, store in an airtight container, and press a thin layer of olive oil against the surface before sealing. Pull it out of the refrigerator thirty minutes before serving. Do not freeze it.
Scaling for service: To 8: double cleanly, one batch in the food processor. To 12 plus: make in separate 1-cup batches rather than scaling in one bowl. A large volume bruises the parsley and turns army-green within an hour. Pull chimichurri from the fridge 20 minutes before service so the olive oil loosens. Spoon over protein at the pass, never in the kitchen, or the heat dulls the color before plates leave.
Dietary swaps: GF, DF, and vegan as written. Nut-free as written. This is the sauce most people at a mixed-diet table can eat. If you need to stretch it for a raw allergen-sensitive crowd, skip the red pepper flakes and confirm your red wine vinegar is GF-certified (most are, a few specialty ones are not). The lime juice in step 2 is not decorative. It changes the brightness in a way the vinegar alone cannot replicate, and it is doing real work for anyone sensitive to vinegar volume.