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Parsley · Garlic · Oregano · Red wine vinegar · A day’s wait
Authentic Chimichurri Recipe: The Argentinian Sauce, Chopped by Hand
Authentic Argentinian chimichurri is flat-leaf parsley, garlic, dried oregano, ground chilli, coarse salt, red wine vinegar, olive oil and a little hot water, all chopped by hand. Soak the oregano and chilli in the hot salted water first, add the oil last, and leave the sauce for at least two hours, ideally twenty-four. It goes on the table, never on the grill.
- Hot water first, oil last: the order is the recipe
- Two hours minimum, twenty-four for the real thing
- No coriander, no tomato, no blender
The recipe at a glance
- Makes: a half-litre jar, which is what a barbecue for eight gets through
- Work: knife work, plus five minutes of soaking
- Wait: two hours at least, a day if you can
- Keeps: two to three weeks in a glass jar in the fridge
Chimichurri from a jar tends to mean colouring, tired oregano and too much vinegar. The real one is a short shopping list and a wait. The third column of the table is what to look for on a Spanish shelf.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity | On a Spanish shelf |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped very fine | 1 cup (250 ml) | Perejil fresco, the flat-leaved kind |
| Garlic, chopped, not crushed | 4 cloves | Ajo; a clove is a diente |
| Dried oregano | 2 tablespoons | Orégano seco |
| Ground dried chilli, or hot paprika | 1 teaspoon | Ají molido if you can find it; otherwise pimentón picante |
| Coarse salt | 1 teaspoon | Sal gruesa |
| Red wine vinegar | 1/2 cup (125 ml) | Vinagre de vino tinto |
| Olive oil | 1 cup (250 ml) | Aceite de oliva virgen; not a strong virgen extra, which would smother everything else |
| Hot water | 1/2 cup (125 ml) | From the kettle |
Method
- Dissolve the salt in the hot water. Add the oregano and the chilli. Wait five minutes.
- Add the garlic and the parsley. Stir.
- Add the vinegar. Stir.
- Last of all, the oil, in a thin stream, stirring as you pour.
The step almost nobody does: the hot water
Dried oregano used as it comes stays hard and gritty. Soaked for five minutes in hot salted water, it releases its essential oil. That is the difference between a chimichurri that tastes of something and one that scratches.
Why the oil goes in last
Oil seals whatever it touches. Put it in at the start and the dried herbs never take up the water. Poured in at the end, it carries flavours that are already there.
Now wait
Two hours at the very least. Twenty-four is how it should be done. Freshly made chimichurri tastes of its ingredients one by one: raw garlic, then vinegar. Rested, it tastes of chimichurri.
Keep it in a glass jar in the fridge, where it lasts two to three weeks. Take it out half an hour before you need it, because olive oil sets when cold.
What does not go in
- Coriander (US: cilantro). That is a different sauce, and a very good one, but it is not chimichurri.
- Tomato. Neither chopped nor puréed.
- A blender. Everything is cut with a knife. Blended, it becomes a green paste that oxidises within a day.
How to use it
Put it on the table, not on the barbecue (US: grill). Chimichurri is not a marinade: over the fire the vinegar and garlic burn and turn bitter. The meat is cooked with salt alone and the sauce goes on afterwards, on the plate.
The apparent exception is the basting of large cuts during an asado a la cruz, and even there the brush carries brine, not chimichurri.
What to spoon it over
The classic partner is skirt steak, entraña, a cut with enough character to need no other sauce; the method is in how to grill skirt steak. It sits just as well beside the rest of an Argentinian grill: vacío, which is flank steak; tira de asado, the short ribs cut across the bone; picanha with its cap of fat; and criollo sausages. A tomato and onion salad is all the table needs besides.
Something to put under it
Retinto skirt, flank and asado short ribs, a whole picanha, or the criollo asado box, which brings sausages, flank, short ribs and more for eight to twelve people: the same number the half-litre jar is made for.
Skirt steak (entraña), retinto yearling beef, 1.5 kg
Entraña Añojo Retinto 1,5 KG29,90€ VAT incl.Add to basketWhole picanha (rump cap), 100% retinto, 1.5–2 kg
Picanha 100% Retinto, pieza completa 1,5 a 2 kg59,90€ VAT incl.Add to basketCriollo asado box (approx. 5.6 kg)
Kit Parrillada Criolla del Maestro95,00€ VAT incl.Contains processed meat: ask us for the allergen listView product
Chimichurri questions
Does authentic chimichurri contain coriander?
No. The herb is flat-leaf parsley, with dried oregano. A coriander sauce can be very good, but it is a different sauce.
Can I make chimichurri in a blender?
No. Chop everything with a knife. A blender turns it into a green paste that oxidises within a day.
How long does chimichurri keep?
Two to three weeks in a glass jar in the fridge. Take it out half an hour before serving, because the olive oil sets when cold.
Can I use chimichurri as a marinade?
It is a table sauce. On the grill the vinegar and garlic burn and turn bitter. Cook the meat with salt and add the sauce on the plate.
What can I use in place of ají molido?
Hot paprika, which in Spain is pimentón picante. Use the same amount: one teaspoon.