Learn how to make the best Chimichurri! This herby, zesty Argentinian green sauce was one of the most popular condiments in our catering business! It is easy to make at home with fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, and vinegar in under 15 minutes! Vegan.
This flavorful Chimichurri Sauce recipe comes straight from our catering business and is the result of years and years of perfecting! It is one of our most requested recipes and truly elevates what is served with it. Herby, pungent, and tangy, and it adds delicious flavor to grilled beef, chicken, fish, and grilled vegetables.
But it does wonders for vegan and vegetarian dishes too, like our Cauliflower Chimichurri Bowl! Chimichurri is one of those versatile sauces that you’ll find many uses for- everything from vegetables to tacos, to fish to meat.
The best part? It takes minutes to make; it’s vegan, and tastes amazing! It will elevate the meal you are already making!
What is chimichurri?
Chimichurri is a green herb sauce that originates from Argentina and Uruguay and is typically made with fresh parsley, oregano, olive oil, white wine vinegar, shallots, red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt. Typically served as a condiment or dipping sauce with beef, poultry, or seafood, it is popular throughout South America.
Chimichurri Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh herbs: flat-leaf parsley, cilantro and oregano (or sub dried oregano)
- Garlic cloves and Onion: fresh garlic is a must! Finely chopped onion or shallot add depth.
- Fresh chili – or sub red pepper flakes
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- Vinegar – red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
- Salt and Pepper
- Optional: lime juice and smoked paprika
How to make Chimichurri Sauce
Step one: Finely chop the herbs ( leaves and stems), onion, garlic, and chili, and place them in a small bowl. (Or use a food processor – see notes.)
Step two: Stir in the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lime juice.
Step three: Season the chimichurri sauce with salt and pepper and aleppo chili flakes. Add more olive oil if you like.
Storage
Store leftover chimichurri in an airtight container or sealed jar for up to 4 days in the fridge. Cover the chimichurri sauce with a thin layer of olive oil when storing it in the fridge to keep it vibrant green. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Freeze chimichurri in a sealed jar or ice cube trays, covered tightly in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Variations
- For a fresh, summery brightness, add lime juice along with the red wine vinegar.
- For a smoky flavor, add a 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika or 1/4 teaspoon of ground chipotle.
- Add zest- lime or lemon is nice!
- For a more authentic version, use more fresh oregano, cutting back the cilantro!
Serving suggestions
- Spoon chimichurri over grilled chicken, grilled beef or fish.
- Dip shrimp into it!
- Drizzle it over avocado toast! My favorite!
- Spoon it over Buddha Bowls
- Use as a condiment with tacos, burritos or quesadillas
- Toss with grilled veggies, roasted veggies or potatoes
- Toss with pasta for a light and flavorful pasta salad
- Use as a marinade
- Use as a flavorful side at potlucks and gatherings!
- Layer into sandwiches, paninis or wraps
Chef’s Tips
- If making Chimichurri ahead, cover the chimichurri sauce with a thin layer of oil when storing it in the fridge to keep it vibrant green.
- You can get away with using thin stems of both cilantro and parsley.
- If making big batches, use a food processor– see my recipe notes. Pulse, don’t blend!
Enjoy this flavorful Chimichurri Sauce, I know you’ll find many uses for it!
xoxo
Use Chimichurri in these recipes!
- Chimichurri Poblano Turkey Burger!
- Smoky Cauliflower Chimichurri Bowls
- Grilled Chilean Beef Kabobs with Chimichurri Sauce
- Chimichurri Shrimp
- Grilled Steak Tacos with Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
Chimichurri Sauce Video

Chimichurri Sauce Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 servings
- Category: Sauces, Condiments
- Method: Chopped
- Cuisine: Argentinean
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Chimichurri Sauce – a flavorful Argentinian herb sauce that will quickly become your new favorite condiment that can be made in 15 minutes! Chop by hand or use a food processor ( see notes)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red onion (or sub a small shallot), finely minced
- 2 fat garlic cloves, grated or finely minced
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh chili ( serrano, Fresno or jalapeno) or sub 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3/4 cup cilantro, packed (about 1 bunch) thin stems ok. Or sub with more parsley.
- 3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, packed, thin stems are ok.
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil, more to loosen
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Optional additions:
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika- (optional -only if you like a smoky flavor)
- 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo chili flakes, for garnish
- zest- lime or lemon
Instructions
- Finely chop the red onion, mince the garlic and fresh chili, and place them all in a medium bowl.
- Finely chop the cilantro and parsley, and add to the bowl.
- Stir in the oregano, lime juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add more oil, if you prefer a looser consistency.
- Drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with chili flakes (use Aleppo if you have them) and a cilantro sprig.
Notes
Chimichurri will keep up to 4 days in a sealed jar in the fridge.
Food Processor Version:
- Rough chop the red onion, garlic, and fresh chili- and place in a food processor. Pulse several times until finely and uniformly chopped.
- Add cilantro, Italian parsley, and oregano, pulse again until uniformly chopped, not too fine.
- Place this in a medium bowl, stir in lime juice, vinegar, oregano, salt , pepper, then pour in 1/2 cup of olive oil, stirring, adding the remaining 1/4 cup a little at a time, creating your desired consistency.
- Drizzle the top with olive oil and sprinkle with chili flakes (use Aleppo if you have them) and a cilantro sprig.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 104
- Sugar: 0.4 g
- Sodium: 177.1 mg
- Fat: 11.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.9 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 0.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Love this
I love this recipe. However, your site is annoying, as I have to scroll for WAY too long to even get to the recipe! Could you please condense your info somehow?
Hi Toni, I hear you -there is a “Skip to Recipe” Button at the top. 🙂
Love this recipe. Easy and uses garden herbs well. We make this with several meals but especially loved it with your turkey burgers. We eat leftover sauce with just tortilla chips too!
Oh YAY! Thanks, Kelly! Yes so good on those Poblano Turkey burgers!
I don’t have red wine vinegar. Is there anything I can substitute it with or can I not use it?:)
Apple cider vinegar or more lime juice!
This sauce is really delicious – and so versatile. Thanks again for another beautiful recipe……
thanks, laura, glad you enjoyed it!
Good sauce process. One simple comment tho:
if it has cilantro is NOT chimichurri, in fact most Argentinians hate cilantro.
Can you use dried parsley and if so how much?
I do not recommend dry herbs here.
This was amazing with our Peruvian chicken. Thanks so much for an outstanding recipe.
This was amazing! I wanted to drink it straight! I served this with chicken meatballs and was perfect. I used red wine vinegar, only 1/4 teaspoon of paprika, and white onion instead of red. Loved it!
We have made many of your recipes and have loved them all but the chimichurri cauliflower bowls with this sauce is probably our favorite. Thank you! We love the sauce so much that we have started to double it and use it on our morning eggs all week. The doubled-recipe does not exactly double each ingredient — is this intentional? The 1 cup of parsley stays 1 cup and the 2TB oregano stays 2TB. Also the lime zest does not appear in the doubled recipe. Perhaps these are typos but maybe they are adjustments to keep things balanced. Thanks for letting me know! And thanks again for your wonderful site.
Hi Judy- thanks! The recipe multiplier is not working, so I disabled it. You will have to manually double it. Sorry about that!
hi Judy, thanks! The recipe multiplier is not always accurate so I had to disable it. Please calculate manually. Thanks.
I don’t know how many Chimi recipes Ive tried…a lot of ’em…and this was by far the best and so simple. I did the lime/red wine combo and it was perfect. Thanks!
Thanks Rick!
How far in advance could I make this Chimichurri Sauce? I’m having 8 for dinner making your Peruvian Chicken with the aji verde (which is delicious, by the way) and the grilled steak tacos with some other dishes.
It should keep several days, but honestly if serving to guests, maybe make 1-2 days ahead.
Can you sub a yellow onion instead of red? Or will this change the flavor?
Lynn, this should be fine!
Thank you – I wanted to be certain I could make it as late in the day the day before or early in the morning – !! I’m every excited about our menu to celebrate a variety of events in our “social bubbles’ lives” !
Best Chimichurri recipe I’ve made. I added a whole jalapeno to the food processor which added the perfect amount of spice. Thank you!
Great to hear Charlie!
My husband raved about this! Super fresh and delicious. We tried it over grilled flank steak. A real hit in our house, thank you for sharing your recipe with us!
Love this version of this sauce because it is a bit different and for me elevated from the same old same old.
The lime really pops And I added a few chopped toasted pine nuts.
Thanks so much Susan!
Can you add Marcona almonds to this? I have some, and would pulverize fine
It sounds good to me? Give it a try?
This was so flavourful and amazing. Will definitely make it again!
Made this the other night and it was so flavorful! Love this version.
How long can this sauce be stored in the fridge or freezer?
up to 4 days in the fridge. I havent tried freezing.
Delicious, bright flavors.
Awesome, glad you liked it Shannon, thanks for sharing!
We use this all the time and thought I’d finally rate it. Thank you.
Great to hear! Glad you like it!
This is our FAVORITE chimichurri recipe! Always turns out!
what is the lime green utensil in front of the blender, is it a lime grate, if so who makes this, I would love to have a product like this
Hi Diane it is a zester! Zyliss Brand
i’ll be making this for a banh mi of sardines in olive oil, so will use the sardine oil in the chimichurri sauce. no oregano in this sandwich, but i’m definitely using the lime zest + juice, grated garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. instead of adding onion and chili flakes to the sauce, i’ll be pickling red onion and jalapeno slices along with carrot and radish matchsticks. i’ll build the sandwich on a lightly toasted baguette spread with Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, then the mashed sardines, the pickled veggies, the chimichurri sauce, thin-sliced cucumbers, then the top of the baguette also spread with a bit of Kewpie mayo.
This is the BEST Chimichurri Sauce Recipe I’ve ever made! Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
Awesome Shelley, Im so glad you liked this one!