Chimichurri

By J. Kenji López-Alt

Updated Jan. 22, 2024

Chimichurri
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
4(2,725)
Notes
Read community notes

Chimichurri is a herbaceous and vinegary sauce from Argentina that’s classically paired with grilled meats, especially beef, but its uses don't end there. You can combine it with a dollop of mayonnaise to marinate chicken cutlets. (That same mayo-and-chimichurri mixture makes an excellent potato salad dressing, or toss it with sliced scallions and grilled or boiled corn cut from the cob.) Combine chimichurri with equal parts olive oil to use as a marinade and dressing for grilled vegetables. Add a few crushed cloves of garlic to that same mixture, brush it on a split ciabatta or baguette, and grill or broil it for an oregano-packed take on garlic bread. It may be tempting to think of a chimichurri as a sort of Argentine parallel to Italian pesto, but it is not: While pesto is made in a mortar and pestle and emulsified into a creamy mixture with a base mostly comprised of olive oil, chimichurri is made with chopped dried herbs that are steeped in hot salty water (the brine is called salmuera) and vinegar, with less olive oil added. Its texture comes from the dried herbs rehydrating in salt water. Chimichurri can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks; it will lose its bright green color, but it will improve in flavor with time.

Featured in: The Secret Ingredient That Improves Meat Every Time

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe

  • Print Options

Advertisement

Ingredients

Yield:About 1 cup
  • ¼cup dried oregano
  • 1teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
  • ½teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • ½cup hot water
  • Kosher salt
  • ¼cup red wine vinegar
  • 8medium garlic cloves
  • 2tablespoons olive oil (it need not be extra-virgin, but it can be), plus more as needed
  • ¼cup fresh oregano leaves, finely minced
  • 1tightly packed cup fresh parsley leaves, finely minced
  • Ground black pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

193 calories; 15 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 3 grams protein; 369 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Powered by

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine dried oregano, paprika, red-pepper flakes and cumin, if using, in a large bowl. Add hot water and a big pinch of salt and stir with a fork. Add vinegar and stir to combine.

  2. Step 2

    Smash garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle to form a rough paste, then drizzle in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and work the garlic and oil around the mortar until it emulsifies and no loose oil remains. Scrape this garlic mixture into the bowl with the oregano mixture and stir to combine. (Alternatively, smash garlic cloves on a cutting board with the flat side of a chef’s knife. Sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt, then use the side of your knife to scrape the mixture back and forth until a paste forms. Drizzle a little olive oil over the paste and work it in with the side of the knife. Repeat until you’ve added about a tablespoon of olive oil, then scrape the mixture up and transfer it to the bowl with the oregano mixture, add the remaining olive oil, and stir to combine.)

  3. Step 3

    Add minced fresh oregano and parsley and stir to combine. Set aside at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or in the refrigerator overnight, to allow the dried oregano to rehydrate and the flavors and texture to develop. Stir vigorously before tasting, then adjust seasoning with salt and fresh black pepper. Unused chimichurri can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Ratings

4 out of 5
2,725 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.

Cooking Notes

electricdestiny

The oddest chimichurri recipe I’ve seen. This is my go/to recipe: 1 bunch cilantro chopped fine 1 bunch parsley chopped fine 6-8 garlic cloves minced 1 jalapeño without seeds minced half a white or red onion minced Olive oil til herbs are covered 2-3 glugs/splashes of vinegar. Enough to make the herbs look wet. Then salt, I’d start with one table spoon then go tsp at a time, same w/ fresh ground pepper, maybe 1 tablespoon of cumin and dried oregano, I’ve put coriander before. Always a hit!

Emily

Followed the recipe to a T and quadruple-checked the steps and proportions after finding it *completely* inedible as written. (I normally *love* Kenji's recipes!) Did so much doctoring--mostly adding a ton of olive oil and more fresh parsley to mellow it out--and was able to get it to a good place but am left baffled by this! ...a little snooping reveals really different ratios by this same author on other sites. Less garlic, less dried oregano. Maybe this one's a mistake.

Grandmadoc

Food processor?

Kirsten

Interesting... Steak with chimichurri is a go-to Sunday dinner with my family, but we make chimichurri with cilantro, not oregano. And to Grandmadoc's question, yes, we use the food processor too! But I'm psyched to proposed the mayo twist to my sister and watch her face.

steven goldblatt

If you gently heat the garlic in the olive oil, it will prolong the chimichura sauce. I’ve had it last several months, that is why I double the recipe. I hope this helps.

Charlie

Argentines don’t eat cilantro. You could call it something else if you make it with cilantro .

Amy D.

There is simply no need for so much oregano. Fresh parsley, supported by fresh cilantro, a healthy pinch of dried oregano, garlic, chili flakes, red wine vinegar, S & P to taste, and EVOO will yield a far tastier chimichurri. I agree with some of the comments below that suggest gently heating the garlic and chili flakes in the olive oil before blitzing it with the fresh and dried herbs. Chimichurri mayo is also very delicious if you are looking for a more spreadable version!

Karen

Of several chimichurri’s I’ve tried, this is my least favorite; too harsh. Mainly due to 1/4 cup rather than a tablespoon of dried oregano, I think. Also a lot of garlic but I usually like garlic.

RLZ

Gross. Grainy texture, way too much oregano and salt. Tasted and tossed right in the bin. Heartbreaking to waste the last of our parsley in the middle of a pandemic. So it goes.

Gretchen

This was really harsh. I ended up throwing most of it out. Perhaps there was too much dried oregano in proportion to the other ingredients.

Pamela

Oh my word, NO to this recipe! 1/2 c EVOO, 2 T red wine vinegar, 1/2 c freshly chopped parsley, 3-4 f. chopped garlic cloves, 1 or 2 small red chilis deseeded or sub appropriate amount of red chili flakes, 3/4 t dried oregano (but fresh is amazing in the summer), 1t salt 1/2 t pepper. Finely chop all veggies, NO food processor. I usually double or triple for bigger batch needs.

Juan

We also use chimichurri in choripan, in pizza's cover with milanesas. Cimantro aint part of argentinian culture.

Jam

This is not good. 1/4 c dried oregano makes this taste like... dried oregano. Find a different recipe. Thumbs down.

Adolph Lopez

Any problem with garlic in olive oil? I figure a week would be ok, but 5 weeks? I’m always trying to get the right answer to this question.

Sharon Lansing

NYT Notes: Once can substitute other spices for the oregano, including fresh cilantro.

Bob

I’ve taken to using as a condiment on a grass fed grilled hamburger patty. Sublime.

GAinCA

This was so gross. Dried oregano completely took over. Wish I had read all the other notes… what a waste.

Shelia

As suggested use reduced amount of oregano and parsley .

Mike Herrera

Works! We made this for a 4th of July cookout and brought 3 porterhouse steaks to grill and slice. We were dubious at first after tasting the chimichurri on its own - very garlic forward and we did add the optional cumin. However, we prepped it at 1pm, let it sit at room temp, then used it at about 7pm. It was a hit! It was the perfect amount of bite to zing up meat, particularly a well-marbled cut. You have to try it with meat or other base to truly evaluate and let it rest before using.

karvik

This is so like the chimichurri of the dozens of asados I have enjoyed in Uruguay.

whattheheck

Past the smell test, but after 16 hours in the fridge, mine came out so so bitter despite following the proportions exactly. Adding a couple teaspoons of sugar didn’t help. What did I do wrong?

leigh k

Wow, I should have read comments first. I feel validated, I did not like this sauce. Added a ton of olive oil to make it work because I needed the marinade. Chicken turned out fine.

Susan

Lauren wrote a note that noted to the readers that it was supposed to be 1/4 c of fresh oregano not dried. But the recipe calls for both. So which is it before I make it?

SG

Both.

Steph

This was extremely bitter. :(

April

I agree with countless others, this recipe is inedible. Yuck.

Sunshine

This was fine for a marinade but not as a sauce to go on top of things. Something about this just tasted like something store bought. Maybe the large amount of dried oregano?

Monica F

I have made this recipe several times and the quality of the red wine vinegar makes all the difference in the final taste.

mike la

i make my own red wine vinegar. but it didnt help this recipe.

Jessica

I like this recipe, but as others stated, it’s better with more olive oil (or maybe less vinegar/dried oregano). I’ve made it for my Latino family/friends and they have all loved it. The suggestion to add a few Tbs to mayo and use it in potato salad is delicious-my husband asks for it all the time.

courtie

Do not recommend. As some other commenters have shared, this recipe is bizarre and a rare miss by NYT Cooking. Followed the recipe, and the amount of oregano made the sauce essentially inedible. Using so much of this dried spice overwhelms the other ingredients in the dish and creates an unpleasant texture.

elliot

This recipe is awful. Followed to a T. It’s just completely wrong and gross. There’s no way to fix it either.

Private notes are only visible to you.

Recipe Tags

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.

More From Our Best Sauce Recipes

More Recipes From J. Kenji López-Alt

Cooking Guides