Easy 5-minute Vegan Chimichurri Sauce recipe made with parsley, garlic, lemon, vinegar and olive oil balances the flavors of any savory dish, not only steak! Perfect condiment for the summer grilling season!
Parsley is such a versatile herb. Its strong, distinctive flavor brightens any savory dish and simply makes food taste better.
Add it to a salad to bring up a little pungent note. Garnish anything savory with it to make a dish look beautiful. A handful of chopped parsley brings a nice herbal note to soups, stews and casseroles.
While being quite bitter and grassy on it's own, parsley enhances the flavor of savory food in a unique way.
Moreover, it helps digestion and has many more health benefits that I will talk about below.
It's amazing how simple things can improve the taste of otherwise boring food.
Things like squeezing a little lemon juice on your avocado, adding salt to your tomatoes, rubbing your grilled bread with garlic take your food to the next level. This has to do with a balance of tastes.
Since we can perceive five main tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, their balance is actually a secret behind an ideal dish.
If you haven't done it yet, download my free E-book "How to Cook Without a Recipe" for more details on that.
Bitter taste is not so pleasant by itself, but in combination with other four tastes it provides an extra flavor dimension to a dish.
That's why adding parsley, arugula, kale and other greens, mustard, citrus peel, some herbs and spices to a dish brings a balanced flavor that you'd miss if it was omitted.
Very often you buy a bunch of parsley, use a few sprigs for a recipe like Cauliflower Risotto with Caramelized Pears, Blue Cheese and Walnuts and don't know how to use the rest.
How to Use Parsley
My advice is: If life gives you parsley, make an easy chimichurri sauce out of it. Flat-leaf Italian parsley combined with lemon juice and garlic is an awesome combo. Bright, versatile flavors come together in this South American condiment perfect for summer.
Another idea is to use it for green harissa sauce, a spicy and aromatic condiment.
Seriously, when grilling season is on, make the most of it by adding this sauce to whatever you like to grill, be it meat, veggies or seafood.
One of my favorite ways to enjoy chimichurri sauce is to add it to cauliflower rice.
Health Benefits
The star of this recipe is parsley, a well-known appetite and digestive tract stimulator. Its healing properties include heart and immune system protection, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects.
It's a source of numerous vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, C, K, folic acid, iron, copper, potassium, calcium, fiber, magnesium, zinc and many others. It's a highly nutritious herb that helps you digest the food you consume along with it.
Other ingredients of this chimichurri sauce are highly nutritious as well. Benefits of extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and garlic are too numerous to site them here. These are one of the world's healthiest foods combined in a condiment that tastes great and improves your health. Not bad, right?
How to Make Chimichurri Sauce
Since my husband and I are not the biggest cilantro fans, I omit it, although you can feel free to use it if you want. Use half parsley and half cilantro or any other proportion that you want.
To make this recipe easy, I minimized the amount of ingredients without sacrificing the taste.
Fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, good quality extra virgin olive oil, oregano, cumin, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes. That's it.
Just combine everything in your food processor and pulse until combined. It won't take you more than 5 minutes from start to finish!
The name of the sauce is translated from Basque as "a mixture of several things in no particular order". Easy, quick, fun and the most important: totally adjustable to your taste!
Make sure to try these delicious mojo verde and mojo rojo sauces as well.
The chimichurri sauce is supposed to be a little grainy, but feel free to adjust the consistency and texture to your liking.
If it's not liquid enough, just add a little more oil.
I have a video recipe for you, just to show HOW EASY it is to make this recipe! Scroll down to see it.
How to Use Chimichurri Sauce
- As I mentioned before, chimichurri sauce is an excellent condiment for any grilled food you like.
- Other way to enjoy it is to add it to cauliflower (or normal) rice to add some flavor to it.
- I add it to soups and stews for an extra zesty touch.
- Add more oil to it and make it a salad dressing.
- Use it as a dip for fresh spring rolls or vegan wraps.
- Serve it with pasta instead of pesto sauce!
If you have a favorite way to eat chimichurri sauce, share it in the comments! I'm always looking for new ideas to enjoy it 😉
See the full recipe for my easy peasy 5-minute chimichurri sauce below and make the most out of the summer grilling season!
Chimichurri Sauce Video
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Easy Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley stalks removed
- ½ small red onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 120 ml or ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (or more to adjust the consistency)
Instructions
- Just combine everything in your food processor and pulse until combined. The chimichurri sauce is supposed to be a little grainy, but feel free to adjust the consistency and texture to your liking. If it's not liquid enough, just add a little more oil. Enjoy! See the usage tips above.
Notes
Cook’s Tips
- Use chimichurri sauce as a condiment for any grilled food.
- Other way to enjoy it is to add it to cauliflower (or normal) rice to add some flavor to it.
- Add it to soups and stews for an extra zesty touch.
- Add more oil to it and make it a salad dressing.
- Serve it with pasta instead of pesto sauce!
Katrina Smith says
This is the 2nd chimichurri recipe I’ve tried and I can stop looking now. It’s the best! I had some leftover so I put it on fried eggs. I couldn’t believe how delicious!
Elena Szeliga says
Hi Katrina, thank you for your feedback. I'm so happy you enjoyed the sauce! What a great idea to put it on fried eggs! I have to try it this way 🙂
Helena says
Great sauce and easy recipe - what else can you wish for? 😉 I am getting really excited every time I see a new sauce recipe - can't get enough of them!
Elena Szeliga says
You will enjoy this sauce for sure, Helena!
TraciB says
Hi, this looks great. In the video you show using some oregano and elsewhere in the article you mention using cumin, too. Neither of those items are listed in your ingredient list, though. Could you tell us how much of each to use? Thank you!
Elena Szeliga says
Hi Traci, thank you for pointing that out! Luckily, I have it written in my recipe book, so I'll update the recipe asap! I added 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. I personally like cumin flavor, so I add more sometimes, up to 1 teaspoon. Hope that helps!
TraciB says
Thank you so much for the quick reply, Elena! I look forward to exploring more recipes on your site!
Elena Szeliga says
You are very welcome 🙂 Hope you enjoy some of my recipes, Traci! Your feedback is very valuable to me!
Ellen Taylor says
Hey Elena,
Chimichurri Sauce is one of my favorite sauce that I always love to test with different kind recipes 🙂
Thanks for the awesome sharing 🙂
Elena Szeliga says
Thank you Ellen! I'm so glad to hear that! Whst is your favorite way to use it?
pavitra says
Wow, Its very easy to make Chimichurri Sauce. its very testy. Thanks for shareing.
Elena Szeliga says
Thank you! So glad you like the recipe!
Lynn | The Road to Honey says
Oh garsh! How did you know I that I buy a bunch of parsley only to use a tablespoon or two? I absolute hate all the waste that comes along with this herb. This recipe is such a brilliant way to put it to good use. And I love how versatile it is.
Elena Szeliga says
I'm so glad you found this recipe at the right time, Lynn! Hope you enjoyed it 😉 Thank you so much for stopping by!
Pallida Mors says
@Lynn | The Road to Honey,
Hi Lynn,
Did you know you can freeze parsley? Chop the leftovers (if you’re not making chimichurri, and I don’t really know why you wouldn’t be…) and portion it into an ice cube tray with just a little water, then freeze. You can store your ParsleyCubes in a freezer-safe container for a few months, so that you can use the ice cube tray for other purposes. Obviously it won’t be as good as the fresh stuff, but it’s better than nothing when you have some kind of sauce-related herbs emergency… 😉
Kortney says
This sounds like a must have for BBQ season. We are divided about cilantro in my house, so happy to hear I won't be missing out if it is omitted. Can't wait to put this on everything!!
Elena Szeliga says
Cilantro is such an ambiguous herb, right? 🙂 Happy grilling, Kortney! Hope the weather is nice in Berlin!