Easy Chimichurri Sauce Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Chimichurri Sauce made of? ›

Chimichurri sauce hails from Uruguay and Argentina. It's commonly made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, finely chopped parsley, and dried or fresh oregano.

Chimichurri can become bitter if the ingredients aren't balanced properly. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways to fix bitter-tasting chimichurri. Adding more acidity, like citrus or vinegar, can counteract bitter flavors. You can also add a touch of sweetness in the form of honey or sugar.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

It's important to let the chimichurri rest for at least 20 minutes before using it; this allows the garlic, fresh herbs, and crushed red pepper flakes meld with the oil so your chimichurri is extra flavorful.

You an also substitute it with 1-2 teaspoons of dried red chili flakes. Red wine vinegar is the best vinegar for chimichurri. Use lemon juice as a substitution.

3 tablespoons dried oregano leaves. 3 tablespoons dried basil leaves. 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes. 2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves. 2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt.

Dried-herb chimichurri can last up to a week unrefrigerated and 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. For a shortcut, consider our dried Chimichurri Spice Blend, which needs just olive oil, salt and vinegar to make a long-lasting sauce.

Sweetness: From sugar, honey, fruits or otherwise, sweetness will counteract bitter and sour flavours. It can also be used to cut down the heat of a particularly spicy meal. Saltiness: Salt plays two very important roles in flavouring a dish.

Spices mask bitter flavors, so don't be shy. Add some spicy peppers or powders to your cooking, or sprinkle some onto your dishes for a little bit of extra heat. Black pepper in particular has compounds that counteract bitterness. Some other great spices include cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and chili powder.

Adding the vinegar too early can cause your herbs to brown and makes the appearance of the chimichurri dull. If you plan on using this sauce throughout the week, store your shallots, pepper flakes, oil, and vinegar in a separate container from the fresh herbs. Then when ready blend everything together.

Is chimichurri bad for cholesterol? ›

Improves heart health: The olive oil in chimichurri seasoning is a healthy fat that can help reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol levels, and improve heart health.

Because it is made with fresh herbs, chimichurri sauce should be refrigerated. How long does chimichurri keep in the fridge? Chimichurri can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. But I guarantee you're going to use it all WAY before then!

To fix a bitter chimichurri, you can try adding a bit of honey or sugar to the sauce to counteract the bitterness, or you could add more of the other ingredients to balance out the flavour. If the sauce is too bitter to salvage, throw it away and start over.

Try swapping the red wine vinegar for fresh lemon juice – the acidic effect is similar but some prefer the lemon flavor, particularly for use with chicken.

If we could only use one word to describe chimichurri sauce, it would be “bright.” The combination of fresh cilantro and parsley pack an herbaceous flavor, while the red pepper flakes bring a hint of spice. Add in the garlic's spicy, pungent flavor and the vinegar's acidic tang, and that's chimichurri.

And from a health standpoint, chimichurri is loaded with good-for-you benefits, including calcium, carotenes, iron, and vitamins A and C (from the parsley) and calcium, fiber, iron, and vitamins E and K (from the oregano), as well as heart-healthy garlic and the monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, which may help to ...

The origin of its name is uncertain, though it is probably derived from the Basque tximitxurri, which means something like “a hodgepodge.” It has long since been internationalized, however, with a taste that reflects the manifold flavours brought by immigrants from different European countries.

Pesto is an Italian sauce made with basil, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil. Chimichurri is an Argentine sauce made with parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and red chili peppers or flakes. Chimichurri doesn't contain nuts or cheese. Basil pesto is smooth, salty, and slightly nutty.