Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce

Hiiii, friends. I come to you today with important news: This homemade cilantro chimichurri sauce with both cilantro and parsley is going to change your view on vegetables. Easy? Yes! Inexpensive? Yes! Delicious? YES YES!

This is a great sauce to top rolls, rice, pasta, and proteins and can even be transformed into a delectable yogurt dip!

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Chimichurri with cilantro?

Yes. While I do enjoy that extra grassy summer flavor parsley alone imparts in this sauce traditionally- I’m one of those team cilantro-forward people. There is some next-level star quality happening in here and cilantro IS the person to thank for it.

How To Make Cilantro Chimichurri

Think of this as pesto’s rule-breaking cousin that you can whip up in less than 10 minutes. It’s such a great way to use up fresh cilantro that is getting a little scuzzy.

To make quick work of this rustic sauce, we reach for the food processor! A blender or bullet blender can be used but the texture ends up very smooth, almost like a puree. True chimichurri is a textured sauce and for that, the food processor is best.

To make Cilantro Chimichurri you need:

Fresh Herbs: 1 bunch of each- fresh cilantro and fresh parsley. The big bunches- not the little plastic clamshells.

Garlic: 2-5 cloves of raw garlic. We like the heat that raw garlic delivers so we usually use 4-5 cloves when we make this.

Olive oil: Similar to pesto, olive oil is what marries and carries everything together.

Dried Oregano: It’s got bold, herby flavors that provide nice bassline notes in the sauce. It’s a deep herb that compliments the fresh herbs.

Red Wine Vinegar: The acid we use to balance everything out.

Here’s the deal breaker: Red wine vinegar and oregano are really key players in this recipe. In recipe testing, we tried making chimichurri without oregano and by substituting other acids instead of red wine vinegar. However, the oregano and red wine vinegar duo are what truly creates those bright herby, grassy flavors and their hidden bold, acidic undertones.

Variations & Substitutions

We’ve got options here. Options galore. Once you start making cilantro chimichurri and slathering it on everything, you’re going to want to make it all the time.

You can swap out the oregano and replace it with coriander in your chimichurri. Coriander drops delightful aromas to this chimichurri.

Not a fan of cilantro? Try replacing the cilantro in this recipe with MINT! Mint chimichurri gifts you a fresh, surprising flavor.

If you don’t have red wine vinegar, you can swap in some lemon juice. It’s a different but delicious flavor profile.

And if you don’t have olive oil, you can swap in avocado oil. Again, not the same end result but it will work in a pinch.

Uses For Cilantro Chimichurri

This sauce is a quintessential spring staple in our house and we use it everywhere: slathered on sandwiches, dip for roasted vegetables, on tacos in place of salsa, and (don’t judge) even as a pasta sauce.

Use this to make salad dressing, chimichurri pull apart bread, add it to roasted garlic bread, stir it into mac and cheese, hummus, or soup!

Related Recipes: Sundried Tomato Pesto | Roasted Garlic Butter | Parsley Pesto

Storage & Freezing

This cilantro chimichurri sauce will keep for about 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Any longer and the herbs go dull.

The great thing about cilantro chimichurri is that it freezes beautifully! The olive oil helps keep the flavor and aroma of the fresh herbs dialed in. To freeze this- place it in a sandwich-sized storage bag, spread it out, and lay it flat to freeze. It will defrost very quickly when you need it.

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