I’ve been wanting to try a chimichurri sauce for a while now. From what I had read, it’s a traditional Argentinian sauce and marinade for grilled meats, but is used in many Latin American countries. It’s traditionally made with parsley or cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, onion and paprika with a huge glug of olive oil thrown in for good measure. I decided to try my luck with this sauce since I had a very nice looking grass-fed and organic slab o’ rib eye in the fridge. But I didn’t want to only try it out with meat. Surely, this chimichurri would be great as a salad dressing too! So I improvised with what I had and made a very delicious and maybe not so traditional take on this Argentinian classic.
The sauce itself was really easy to prepare. I just gathered the ingredients together and whizzed them up with my immesion blender. In less than a minute, I had a heavenly scented sauce that tasted like the heat of summer. It’s a really fresh-tasting condiment that tastes as green as it looks (in a very, very good way!)
chimichurri sauce
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 cloves garlic
1 hot pepper, de-seeded
lemon zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
large pinch of salt
1 – 3 large glugs of olive oil
1 shallot, roughly chopped
water, if needed to thin things outWhizzz up all ingredients in a blender. Taste and adjust seasonings & measurements if necessary. Done. Makes almost a cup of sauce.
Print This Recipe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
So while the main reason for the making of the chimichurri was as a marinade and sauce for the steak, I had sauce left over and decided that it would make perfect salad dressing. I was right. Once, the dressing is prepared, the rest of the salad is a breeze. I decided to peel the carrot into ribbons and it was a nice touch, though you could easily dice them for a different texture.
chimichurri chickpea salad
1 can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 spicy red pepper, minced & deseeded
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above)Mix up all the ingredients and serve in a pretty dish. Serves 4. Easy.
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Okay, now for the main event! If you are a meat-lover, bask in this meaty love, please. If you are not, there’s a reason I stuck this at the end of the post! Avert your eyeballs! The secret to a good steak? Start with a good steak! Really, don’t buy some cheap-ass cut from your supermarket. Splurge and get one really nice steak, grass-fed organic if you can afford it. You really don’t need a steak each…just share one steak. Trust me, with some wine, a nice loaf of bread and a salad, you’ve got a perfect meal and no one will want for more. But back to the chimichurri sauce for one last time…the quick marinade packs a punch. Reserve some of it to serve as a sauce to drizzle over top. You won’t regret it.
chimichurri rib-eye steak
1 T butter
1 rib eye organic grass-fed steak (or other fine cut)
1/4 c chimichurri sauce (recipe above) + extra for servingSlather sauce over rib eye and let sit for a few minutes. Heat up butter in a cast iron pan. When it’s good and bubbly, add steak. Cook on 1 side for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from pan and let rest for 8 minutes (I just made up that amount but it sounds about right). Dig in and serve with remaining chimichurri sauce. Serves 2.
DIVINE!! Love chickpeas 🙂
I LOVE that you pointed out the fact that one steak can feed two people. Love it. I think once with a friend’s fam we had two steaks between 6 or 7 people, and nobody went home hungry. And come to think of it, I haven’t had steak in AGES. Hmmmm…. Chimichurri also looks great 🙂
Yum! My mom is from Uruguay and her family would prepare chimichurri as well. We never blended it though–kept it chunky and used lots of fresh herbs from whatever was growing in the garden.
Thanks for sharing!
Yum! I saw this recipe and tried it out tonight – it was DELISH! Thanks for the tip!
dry aged beef is THE BEST! i made an awesome steak last week by butter basting it. and yeah, two of us split it. it was so darn good.
I had once bought a jarred chimichurri sauce at a deli. Kind of pricey at $6 for a small little jar. It was actually quite tasty considering it was the jarred variety. I would put it on everything as a condiment. Unfortunately, I was never able to find it again. Speaking of beef, I think I should get my husband an Angus certified steak from some downtown butcher and marinade it with some of this homemade chimichurri sauce. Thanks for the recipe. I’m sure it will come in handy for all kinds of foods.
HELLO!!!
I live in Rosario, Argentina and it is so nice for me to read your post.
There are plenty of ways to prepare “chimichurri”…some recipes more classic….other less….
Here it goes a Clasic chimichhurri recipe:
1/2 cup salad oil (Not olive oil, we do not use olive oil for chimichurri. So if you use it you are not preparing chimichuirri)
1 bunch parsley
garlic (what you want)
1 Tb oregano
3 TB vinegar ( You can use lemon juice)
salt
pepper
1/4 Tb chilli pepper
Regards from Argentina!!!!
chickpeas are definitely one of my faves, veggiegirl!
indeed, adrienne! i think my parents made a meal for 4 with 1 steak when we were kids.
justine, i like the idea of keeping it chunky!
flutterbyblue, glad you loved the dish!
mmmm, butter basting! sounds delish, crystal!
forget about buying now, bijoux! it’s really quite inexpensive and it packs a wallop!
eugenia210, thanks for your classic version! i’ll definitely try it out.
julia, this would be incredible with steak sandwiches! mmm, i can even imagine a chimichurri mayo alongside!
YUM! Amazingly tasty dishes there.
You must have read my mind. I have been wanting to try a chimichurri lately for spin on steak sandwiches. Thanks! Looks heavenly.
Oh lordie, when I lived in San Francisco I was addicted to the Trader Joe’s chimichurri – never thought of making it myself! Yay!
Your steak comments made me laugh! I totally agree, this isn’t an every day meat, soget something worth the money.
Thanks!
Puglette
:o)
No problem, Dawn!
Sara, it’s so easy to make yourself, why buy any it anymore!
Indeed, puglette!