When there’s chimichurri on the table, you know you’re in for a treat. The zesty, herbaceous mixture loaded with garlic, parsley, oregano, and onion may hail from Argentina, but it deserves a place on plates across the world. Similar to salsa verde or zhoug, chimichurri is a bright green sauce that combines fresh herbs with olive oil and something acidic, usually red wine vinegar or citrus. With a pop of salt and red pepper flakes, it’s spicy, tangy, and flavor-packed — perfect for brightening up savory, umami-forward dishes like next-level grilled steak, vegetables, and even some high-melting point cheeses like feta, halloumi, or paneer.
While chimichurri works perfectly well as a condiment and has a strong enough flavor profile to elevate pretty much any vegetable or cut of meat, its true power lies in being a dual threat. By using it as a marinade in addition to serving it as a sauce on the side, you can more effectively impart the salty, piquant, herb-packed flavor you know and love into your meats and other foods.
Chimichurri’s sharpness is what makes it such an ideal marinade. The salt and acidic ingredients in the mix tenderize foods by breaking down their proteins. When whipping up a batch, the trick is to be bold with your seasonings and generous with the vinegar or citrus juice — it all comes together with surprisingly little effort.
How to best use spicy, acidic chimichurri as a marinade
Marinating meat (or plant-based proteins) in chimichurri is a game-changing way to level up your culinary skills. With just a few minutes of forethought, you can saturate your cuts of steak, chicken skewers, shrimp, or seitan with impressive flavor.
Traditionally, chimichurri is made without high-powered equipment. You can simply thoroughly chop up your herbs, finely mince your garlic, and whisk in your oils and vinegars and you’re good to go. If you’d rather have a smoother texture, you can bust out the blender or food processor. Just be sure to stir in your liquids by hand after blitzing up the herbs. When prepping chimichurri as both a marinade and a condiment, you might want to work in two batches. For your marinade mixture, whisk in a little extra olive oil and vinegar to help thoroughly saturate your protein as it sits in the refrigerator. Table-side chimichurri is better at its typical spoonable consistency.
Unless you’re working with a very thick cut of meat, two hours in the fridge is plenty of time when marinating, though even 30 minutes will make a difference. When ready, grill, sear, or broil your dish as usual and prepare to be amazed.
