Tradition
Traditional Chimichurri (Green Version) is a staple of Argentina. The sauce is piquant, herbal, fresh, and perfectly compliments any grilled meat. Many in the United States will add cilantro/mint/dill/lemon zest to give it a complex, citrusy flavor. This recipe is a traditional Argentinian version, but feel free to add those additional ingredients if you wish. Traditional Argentinian chimichurri is a wonderful condiment on any wood-grilled meat. Equally as good on beef, chicken, pork, or seafood.
Tradition Continues
There is also a red or Rojo version of this sauce that is even spicier than the green. I will put that version out soon as well. However, each is worthy in its own right and a sauce you should try.
Luxurious wood-grilled meat with traditional Argentinian chimichurri Verde is an explosion of flavor!
Traditionally flat Italian style parsley is used, but the grocery store on the day I went was out. So, I substituted curly parsley, and the results were good.
Look for fresh, tender, young oregano, but you can substitute dried oregano if you need to. To start, strip the leaves and discard the fibrous stems. Next, give the oregano leaves a rough chop.
Rough-chop the parsley and loosely pack a measuring cup.
Peel and roughly chop fresh garlic.
Add the parsley, garlic, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes to a blender.
Overhead view of the ingredients.
To this, add the red wine vinegar.
With the blender on the low setting, grind the mixture whilst adding olive oil slowly to emulsify the chimichurri.
Prepare steak, chicken, pork, or seafood as you would normally.
Drizzle the steak with the traditional Argentinian chimichurri and serve extra sauce on the side.
A traditional Argentinian masterpiece. Grilled steak for dinner!
Absolutely delicious!
Wine and Beer pairings:
Wine: Argentina makes some great wines at a terrific value. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah all pair well with Chimichurri.
Beer: Amber Ale or Pilser’s work best.
Traditional Argentinian Chimichurri
Equipment
- measuring cups and spoons
- Blender
- chef knife
- storage container with lid.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup parsley, cleaned and chopped (Italian)
- 4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 tbsp oregano, fresh (woody stems removed), or dried
- 2 tbsp pepper, red, crushed
- 4 tbsp vinegar, red wine
- ½ cup oil, extra virgin olive oil (preferably Spanish)
- 1 tsp salt, kosher, or sea
- 1 tsp pepper, black ground
Instructions
Prepare the Herbs and Spices
- Roughly chop the parsley to fit the measuring cup. If using fresh oregano, strips the flavorful leaves from the woody stems and roughly chop.
- Peel and trim garlic cloves as needed and roughly chop.
- Measure out the salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Add all of the above ingredients to a blender and add the red wine vinegar.
Process the Sauce
- With the blender running on low, slowly add the olive oil to emulsify the sauce.
- Serve the traditional Argentinian chimichurri at room temperature.
Storing traditional Argentinian chimichurri
- You can store the chimichurri in a container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Alternatively, you can freeze the sauce for up to a month if you need to.