Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce

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Cilantro chimichurri sauce is a tangy and slightly spicy olive oil and red wine vinegar-based marinade flavored with fresh cilantro, parsley, and garlic. Pair it with steak, chicken, fish, or pork.

The finished sauce is in the bowl of a food processor.

Bright green and filled with flavor, my whole family loves tangy cilantro chimichurri sauce made with fresh herbs, garlic, and a red wine vinegar and olive oil base.

I usually use this as a marinade for our favorite chimichurri steak dish but I recently discovered how tasty it upgrades our normal rice to chimichurri rise for a simple side dish.

You can blend your own marinade in minutes with a food processor or stir together a makeshift copycat in seconds with a freeze-dried seasoning packet.

Why This is the Best Recipe

It's amazing how much flavor a simple marinade can add to steak or chicken. I think this is the best cilantro chimichurri sauce recipe because:

  1. Fresh and Herby: If you love fresh cilantro and garlic, you absolutely must try this bright tasting marinade.
  2. Gorgeous Color: That bright green adds such a visual pop to your plate and is impossible to resist.
  3. So Versatile: Use it as a marinade, a salad dressing, stir it into rice, dip your bread in it, I have tons of serving options for you below.

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Ingredients

The ingredients to make the chimichurri sauce for the flank steak are on the counter.

This quick marinade takes just a few simple ingredients:

  • Fresh Cilantro and Fresh Parsley: Do not try to substitute dried herbs for this recipe unless you're using my store bought alternative below.
  • Fresh Garlic: You could substitute minced garlic if you must.
  • Fresh Jalapeรฑo
  • Lime
  • Dried Oregano
  • Red Wine Vinegar
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper

How to Make the Sauce

Add the jalapeรฑo and garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse the machine until the peppers are minced.

Wash and dry the cilantro and parsley. Slowly add one bunch of the fresh herbs at a time to the food processor and roughly chop them. Be careful not to jam the blade by overfilling it, work in small batches adding more once the previous bunch is chopped up.

The fresh parsley is in the food processor.

Add the lime juice and oregano to the food processor bowl.

With the blade running, slowly pour in the red wine vinegar and then the olive oil. Add salt & pepper to taste.

The finished green chimichurri sauce is smooth and blended in the food processor bowl.

Best Store Bought Chimichurri

If you don't have time to mix up your own homemade chimichurri sauce, I can strongly recommend this seasoning packet from The Spice House.

A packet of freeze-dried chimichurri seasonings next to the prepared sauce in a cup.

You pour the entire packet into a mixing bowl. Add warm water to rehydrate the dried herbs, and then stir in red wine vinegar and olive oil. No food processor required.

I recently used it as a busy weeknight shortcut with an air fried flank steak and chimichurri rice.

Does freshly homemade always taste better? Yes.

Is this a very close second that gets dinner to the table FAST on a random Tuesday? YES.

You can order the dried chimichurri seasoning packet here.

How to Use Chimichurri Sauce

Now to the fun part: How do you use chimichurri sauce? Your options are practically endless.

A flank steak has been thinly sliced and is served alongside cilantro chimichurri sauce with roasted tomatoes.

Marinade: I love to use it as a flank steak marinade for my grilled chimichurri steak. Dunk broiled chicken tenderloin chunks in it. Spoon it over air fryer shrimp.

Side Dish: I stirred it into a bowl of cooked jasmine rice to make my chimichurri rice.

Bread Dip: Add a touch more olive oil and it works as an amazing dip for fresh crusty bread like my bread machine Italian bread or squares of focaccia.

Vegetable Seasoning: Drizzle it over roasted vegetables like my parmesan roasted zucchini, air fryer green beans, or roasted broccoli and carrots.

๐Ÿ“– Recipe

The finished sauce is in the bowl of a food processor.

Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce

Please Rate this Recipe
Cilantro chimichurri sauce uses fresh cilantro, garlic, and parsley to flavor an olive oil and red wine vinegar dressing that can be used as a condiment or marinade to flavor steak, chicken, fish, or pork. It also makes an amazing dip for crusty bread. Tart and herby, this slightly spicy sauce adds a big boost to your dish.
TOTAL TIME 10 minutes
PREP TIME 10 minutes
YIELD 2 cups

Ingredients
  

  • 1 jalapeรฑo pepper stem trimmed off, cut into large chunks
  • 6 -8 cloves of fresh garlic
  • 2 bunches fresh cilantro washed and dried
  • 2 bunches fresh parsley washed and dried
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 cup olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Add the jalapeรฑo and garlic cloves to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse the machine until the peppers are minced.
  • Wash and dry the cilantro and parsley. Slowly add one bunch of the fresh herbs at a time to the food processor and roughly chop them. Be careful not to jam the blade by overfilling it, work in small batches adding more once the previous bunch is chopped up.
  • Add the lime juice and oregano to the food processor bowl.
  • With the blade running, slowly pour in the red wine vinegar and then the olive oil. Add salt & pepper to taste.
COURSEPantry
CUISINEArgentinian

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The photo collage shows the sauce in a food processor next to a dinner plate with it spooned over rice.

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