Cilantro chimichurri is a savory sauce of fresh herbs that's a perfect topping for cauliflower steaks, cabbage steaks, roasted carrots or potatoes.
This sauce, that's similar to the texture of a Mexican fresh salsa, is easily adjusted for the amount of heat you prefer.
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Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.
Jump to:
- 🤷♀️ What is chimichurri?
- ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
- 🔪 Recommended Equipment
- 👩🍳 Tips for Success
- 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- ⏰ Can I make this chimichurri ahead?
- 🧊 What's the best way to store chimichurri?
- 🍽 Ways to Use Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
- Easy Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce with Jalapeño
When you have freshly made sauces on hand you can dress up and add flavor to even the simplest vegetable, grains and pasta dishes. for example, I add this lemony basil pesto and this sun-dried tomato pesto to cauliflower steaks. Gribiche is perfect spooned over roasted asparagus gribiche. And a maple tahini sauce is fantastic with roasted veggies.
🤷♀️ What is chimichurri?
Traditional chimichurri sauce is an Argentine simple sauce made with fresh herbs - parsley and oregano, garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. It's always a bright green sauce, although it changes from town to town with added herbs or spices.
This cilantro chimichurri is a cilantro version of that classic sauce using cilantro, jalapeño, capers, and lemon juice.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Simple ingredients. You only need 5 simple ingredients to make this sauce.
- Fast. Make it in about 15 minutes or less.
- No special equipment required. All you need is a sharp knife, cutting board, measuring spoons, and a bowl.
- Versatile sauce. Spoon this cilantro chimichurri over cauliflower steaks or cabbage steaks or drizzled over potatoes or carrots. The possibilities are endless.
- Flexible. Easily adjusted for your own tastes.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minute meal or less.
For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions to make this easy chimichurri sauce recipe, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Fresh cilantro - if you don't care for cilantro, use fresh parsley instead.
- Jalapeño
- Garlic - fresh garlic is best or use Garden Gourmet garlic paste.
- Capers
- Olive oil - use a good quality of extra virgin olive oil.
- Lemon juice - fresh lemon juice is best, but you can use jarred lemon juice if that's what you have.
- Kosher salt - Sea salt is fine, but adjust the amount to use less.
- Red pepper flakes - or red chili flakes (optional)
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🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
- Medium bowl
👩🍳 Tips for Success
- Use only very fresh ingredients when making this flavorful chimichurri sauce. Especially the cilantro (or parsley) as this is the main ingredient.
- When measuring the amount of cilantro, be sure to measure the cilantro before chopping finely. And only loosely pack it in a measuring cup. Once it's finely chopped, it will measure 1 cup.
- Remove all of the pith and seeds from the jalapeño pepper. This is where the greatest level of heat is.
- Adjust the amount of olive oil and lemon juice for how liquidy you want the sauce.
- Mince the jalapeño as finely as possible to manage its heat in the sauce. The finished sauce with the capers, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice shouldn't be crazy spicy.
- The flavors are best if you make it one day in advance.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Use fresh Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley) instead of cilantro. Or make this sauce using only half of the cilantro and make up the difference with chopped fresh mint.
- For a more traditional approach, add some chopped fresh oregano.
- Cut the jalapeño amount in half if you prefer a sauce without much heat.
⏰ Can I make this chimichurri ahead?
Yes. In fact, the flavors are typically even better the next day.
🧊 What's the best way to store chimichurri?
- Store in the refrigerator covered in a little olive oil in an airtight container such as a mason jar for up to 1 week. Bring to room temperature before using.
- This cilantro chimichurri can also be kept in the freezer for 1 month in a freezer-safe container. If frost / freezer burn develops on the surface of the sauce, throw it away. The flavor will be compromised. It's best to thaw it in the refrigerator and then brought to room temperature before using.
🍽 Ways to Use Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce
- Add to scrambled eggs or a spoonful to egg salad.
- Stir into white bean soup.
- Drizzle over roasted veggies such as potatoes, carrots, cauliflower steaks, cabbage steaks, or butternut squash steaks.
- Whisk into a vinaigrette for a chimichurri dressing.
- Toss into rice, quinoa, and barley.
- Use as a dipping sauce for chips or roasted veggies.
Don't have time to run to the grocery store? Order the ingredients for this recipe using Instacart (affiliate link). Just click on the Instacart button in the recipe card below, and the ingredients will all be organized for you on their site. Plug in your zip code, choose the store you prefer, and select the ingredients you want delivered to your home.
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Easy Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce with Jalapeño
Equipment
- cutting board
- Medium bowl
Ingredients
- 2 cups cilantro leaves, lightly packed including some stems is fine
- 1 medium jalapeño
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon capers, minced
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice divided
- pinch red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Finely chop the cilantro using a sharp chef's knife. You should end up with about ¾ cup - 1 cup of cilantro. Transfer it to a medium bowl.
- Slice off the stem of the jalapeño and slice it in half lengthwise. Using a sharp knife, remove the light-colored pith and all of the seeds. Thinly slice lengthwise and stack the strips. Finely mince the jalapeño and place it in the medium bowl with the cilantro.
- Mince the garlic cloves and capers and place them in the bowl.
- Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice to the bowl and stir. If the sauce is thicker than you want, spill it onto a cutting board and use a chef's knife to mince it further.Return the cilantro chimichurri to the bowl and stir in the final 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Finish the sauce with a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want a little more heat.
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