Chimichurri Sauce
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Fresh, tangy, and packed with herbs, this easy chimichurri is the kind of versatile sauce you’ll want to keep on hand all season long—perfect for drizzling over anything off the grill.
Chimichurri is one of those sauces that instantly wakes up everything on your plate. It’s a simple mix of olive oil, sherry vinegar, lemon juice, aromatics, and lots of fresh herbs, pulsed together into a bright, slightly chunky sauce. It’s delicious drizzled over grilled chicken or steak, used as a marinade (my grilled chimichurri chicken thighs are a family favorite), or served alongside roasted vegetables. However you use it, it adds a big pop of flavor with very little effort.
What You’ll Need to Make Chimichurri Sauce
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Provides a rich, smooth base that carries the flavors of the sauce.
- Sherry Wine Vinegar & Fresh lemon juice: A mix of both gives the sauce a bright, balanced tang.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Offers bright acidity, enhancing the overall flavor.
- Garlic Cloves and Shallot: Garlic for bite, shallot for a milder, slightly sweet onion flavor.
- Salt, Pepper & Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Season the sauce and add a touch of heat.
- Fresh Parsley, Cilantro, and Mint: A fresh, herby combo that makes the sauce aromatic and flavorful.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Blend the chimichurri. In a food processor, combine the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, parsley, cilantro, and mint. Pulse until the herbs are finely chopped, and the mixture is well combined but still textured. Add the remaining herbs in two separate additions, puréeing until almost smooth after each addition.
Pro Tip: Pulsing the food processor in short bursts rather than running it continuously keeps the herbs from turning into a paste and maintains the coarse texture of the sauce.
Step 2: Serve or refrigerate. Cover and chill until ready to serve. The sauce keeps nicely in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons sherry wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 2 small cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 medium shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1½ cups stemmed fresh parsley
- 1 cup stemmed fresh cilantro
- ½ cup stemmed fresh mint
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic cloves, shallot, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a third of the herbs in a blender; blend until almost smooth.
- Add the remaining herbs in two separate additions, puréeing until almost smooth after each addition.
- Cover and chill until ready to serve. The sauce keeps nicely in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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