Best Ever Chimichurri Recipe (from Texas de Brazil)
A perfect copycat recipe for Texas de Brazil's chimichurri, this is the BEST sauce or marinade for a variety of dishes. Naturally paleo, Whole30, keto, low carb, and vegan.
Yield: servings (2 tablespoons per)
Equipment
- Food processor see Notes
- Silicone spatula
- Airtight container
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh garlic approximately 6 cloves, more or less to taste
- ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 cup high-quality olive oil or avocado oil
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 4 tablespoons, from approximately 2 large lemons
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper more or less to taste
- ½ tablespoon table salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Add 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh garlic to bowl of food processor. Pulse garlic until minced.
- Add ½ cup fresh parsley leaves and ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves to food processor with minced garlic. Pulse until leaves are uniformly chopped. Scrape down sides of food processor bowl with silicone spatula as needed.
- Add 1 cup high-quality olive oil, ¼ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (to taste), and ½ tablespoon table salt (to taste) to food processor. Pulse until ingredients are well combined, being careful not to over-process mixture into paste. Scrape down sides of food processor bowl with silicone spatula as needed.
- Taste chimichurri and add garlic, crushed red pepper, and salt as needed. Add ingredients in small increments and pulse 1 to 2 times to incorporate. Taste again and continue adjusting if needed.
- When satisfied with flavor, use prepared chimichurri to marinate meat of choice, or transfer sauce to airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
- Food Processor: If you don't have a food processor, mince the garlic, parsley, and cilantro with a sharp knife, then add all ingredients to a mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Oil: Use a high-quality olive oil or EVOO, and make sure it's fresh. Low quality oils will taste bitter and oily, and older oils will taste rancid. You can also replace the olive oil with avocado oil, but that will give the sauce a slightly different flavor.
- Cilantro: This is a copycat recipe for Texas de Brazil's chimichurri sauce, which uses cilantro as the primary herb. Traditional Argentinian chimichurri typically uses parsley only. Feel free to replace the ¼ cup of cilantro leaves with an additional ¼ cup of parsley leaves if you'd prefer.
- Crushed Red Pepper: If you're heat-sensitive, start with only ¼ or ½ tablespoon of red pepper flakes. I don't consider this recipe very spicy as-written, but you might!
- Salt: I generally use 1 tablespoon of salt in my chimichurri, but I recommend starting with only ½ tablespoon, then adding more if needed.
- Consistency: This is intended to be a thin, liquidy, oily sauce. Check out the video below to get an idea of the target consistency. Be careful not to over-mix the ingredients or you'll end up with more of a paste.
- Storage: Keep the chimichurri sauce refrigerated in an airtight container. It'll keep approximately 2 weeks if stored properly. If any separation occurs, shake container or whisk sauce vigorously until ingredients are reincorporated.
Nutrition
Serving Size: 2 tablespoons | Calories: 135cal | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 33mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 329IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 0.3mg