Kitchen Sink Chimichurri
Chimichurri is a bright, simple sauce that requires no cooking, and is infinitely customizable to what you have on hand. Got carrot tops from your CSA? Make chimichurri! Radish tops lying around? Chimichurri! Herb garden growing over? Chimichurri! Chimichurri! Chimichurri! The formula is simple: It’s a handful of greens, olive oil, vinegar, and garlic. We add a bit of shallot and hot pepper for texture and heat, but you can easily swap onion for the shallot, or leave the chile out altogether, or add some dope thing we haven’t even thought of. Make it your own, and share your creations with us on Instagram, won’t you?
Oil, vinegar, and whatever else you have.
Don’t get too worked up about the exact recipe below. Use your head, your nose, and your tastebuds to land on the perfect sauce for whatever you’re making, or to use up whatever you have on hand. The key is this: Keep the oil and vinegar mostly balanced (a little more oil than vinegar), and add everything else to taste. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s a pretty bright green, textured mixture that flows easily as a sauce, and has a bright, salty flavor. Don’t like hot chile? Skip it. Have onion and no shallot? Replace away. Up to you, boss.
Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 10 minutes
1. Combine all ingredients besides oil in a bowl
Toss all your ingredients into a bowl and mix them up.
2. Slowly add oil while whisking
Adding the oil in a slow stream helps emulsify the sauce. Whisk away until it’s well-incorporated.
3. Season to taste
Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
4. Serve!
Use it as a garnish for steak, chicken thighs, or seafood, or as a simple marinade for your meat.
Um, excuse me?
Can I really use any herbs/greens/fronds?
Pretty much, yep! We’ve made chimichurri with carrot tops, radish greens, parsley, mint, fennel fronds, dill, scallions—you name it.
What should I serve this with?
You can use chimichurri as a sauce to pretty much any steak, chicken, or seafood dish, and with its oil-and-vinegar base, it also works well as a marinade. Just put it in a bag with your steak or chicken thighs, and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge.
I have extra greens to use up, but don’t have a use for chimichurri right this minute.
If you have the goods to make chimichurri, but don’t have an excuse to use it, you can easily refrigerate or freeze it for later.
