Chimichurri Sauce Recipe (2024)

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Chimichurri's etymology is steeped in lore, with some claiming it originated with an Irishman named "Jimmy McCurry" or a British meat man named "Jimmy Curry," while others say it's a mangled version of the phrase "give me the curry." A somewhat more convincing (if still unproven) theory is that it comes from the Basque word tximitxurri, which roughly describes a disorganized mixture of things. No matter the true backstory, it's hard to deny how much chimichurri has in common with other herb-based Mediterranean salsas like Italian salsa verde, which makes the case for Spanish origins at least a bit more credible.

One thing we do know for sure is that this tangy Argentinian sauce is a revelation with grilled and seared steak, complementing its hearty flavor with the woodsy and green herbal notes of dried oregano and fresh parsley, the punch of garlic, some chile heat, and the bright tang of wine vinegar. But chimichurri is also fantastic spooned onto roasted or grilled fish and seafood, chicken, pork, and vegetables, in each case offering a welcome wake-up call with its assertive punch of flavor.

What Is in Chimichurri?

Travel around Argentina, Uruguay, and other regions of South America and you're bound to come across many renditions of this sauce. If its name really does come from the Basque word for a disorganized mixture, it sure would make sense: Chimichurri pretty much always includes ingredients like herbs, oil, garlic, and an acid, but which ones and in what proportions are largely up to the cook. Here's a breakdown of common components:

• Herbs: The herbs you'll almost always find in chimichurri are oregano and parsley, though some recipes may call for one, some the other, and others, like this one, will call for both. The oregano is usually dried, which delivers the herb's signature flavors of menthol and woodsy underbrush with a little less intensity than when it's fresh. On the flip side, since dried parsley has barely any flavor at all, and also lacks any trace of freshness, it's best avoided here. By using fresh, we add its grassy, green mineral flavor to the sauce.
• Chiles: In many Argentine recipes, the chile goes by the generic name ají molido (literally, "ground chile"), which describes crushed or ground red chile flakes that, according to some sources, deliver a moderate but not intense heat. This tempered heat explains why some Argentine recipes go heavy on the ground chile—they can heap it in without turning the chimichurri into hot sauce. Since ground chiles can vary so much in heat and flavor, you'll need to use your judgement about how much you want in your chimichurri based on the chiles you'll be using. In the recipe I'm sharing below, I go with one tablespoon of crushed chile flakes per roughly 2 cups of sauce; feel free to add more or less to taste. Or use finely minced fresh red chile peppers, like Thai bird's eye, which some chimichurri recipes call for.
• Garlic: Minced garlic is another essential chimichurri ingredient. Try to mince it as finely as you possibly can; the finer you go, the more integrated the sauce will be, both in flavor and texture. Big, clumsy chunks of garlic are much less pleasant.
• Acid: Most of the time, the acid is vinegar, like red wine vinegar, but some recipes call for a basic white vinegar, while others go for the citrusy notes of lemon juice. The vinegar (or other acid) is essential to chimichurri's characteristic punch—one could argue that the sauce is really a kind of vinaigrette. It's not just about the garlic and chiles, the vinegar needs to pop too.
• Oil: The big divide here is between olive oil and a neutral oil like vegetable, canola, corn, sunflower, grapeseed, etc. Olive oil gives the sauce a much more distinct Mediterranean profile, whereas a neutral oil ensures just the right consistency and offsets the pungency of the herbs, garlic, chiles, and vinegar without layering a flavor of its own on top. In my test batches, I enjoyed the cleaner flavor of a neutral oil, so that's what I'm calling for, but feel free to use olive oil if you want, or some blend.

Aside from running through the key ingredients, the main technical note in this recipe involves the boiling water that's added to the dried oregano and chile flakes. It's a trick found in many chimichurri recipes, and it's helpful for speeding up the preparation time and making it easier to get the right final consistency for the sauce. That's because the dried ingredients will otherwise slowly absorb whatever liquid you add to the sauce as they rehydrate, which means you have to give them at least a few hours to absorb and swell before being able to finalize the sauce by adjusting the quantities of vinegar and oil to get a good final consistency that's sauce, not sludgy.

By steeping the dried ingredients in a small amount of boiling water, you can rapidly rehydrate them. That way, when you add the vinegar and other remaining ingredients, they won't drink it up and dry the sauce out. While the sauce will still benefit from some time to sit and have its flavors meld, it can be used right away if needed, for steak or... anything else!

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)