A show of hands, please, as to who has time to marinate a cut of beef during the week? That’s what we thought. Not to worry. If steak au poivre has been your go-to steak recipe when nothing is planned, give this summery grilled steak one a try.
Chimichurri sauce is a deceptively simple mixture of parsley, garlic, oil, and vinegar that packs a wallop of taste explosion even when simply drizzled over steak or grilled roasted chicken or fish or any vegetal object of your affection. Just douse it after grilling if you don’t have time to marinate it in the morning. To heck with planning ahead of time.–David Leite
Steak Chimichurri FAQs
While chimichurri can be made and served immediately, it can also be made in advance and kept in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for about a week. It should be served at room temperature though, so remember to pull it out about an hour before mealtime.
That depends on your preference. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of your steak. When the internal temperature reaches 120°F (49°C), the meat is considered rare. At 130°F (54°C), it’s medium-rare. At 140°F (60°C) it’s medium; at 150°F (66°C), medium-well; and at 160°F (71°C) and above, it’s well done and beyond. Once your steak reaches the desired temperature, pull it from the heat and let it rest on a cutting board for about 5 minutes before slicing and/or serving.
To achieve the pink juicy interior shown in the photo, aim for medium rare.
Definitely. Chimichurri is a versatile condiment and would be welcome atop whole grilled chicken or grilled fish.
Enjoy this grilled steak with roasted potatoes on the grill, and a succotash salad.
If the price tag of strip steak is too high, give this seared skirt steak with salsa a whirl. You’ll get a similar explosion of flavor at a fraction of the cost.
Steak Chimichurri
Ingredients
- Four (1/2 to 3/4 pound) strip or rib eye steaks, 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick
- Chimichurri
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the steaks in a large, nonreactive baking dish. Pour 1/3 cup of the chimichurri in a small dish and pour the rest of the chimichurri over the steaks. Turn the steaks to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate both the wee amount of chimichurri and the chimichurri-doused steaks, turning occasionally, for at least 2 hours or up to 6 hours.
- Remove the steaks from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over high heat.
- Grill the steaks directly over the hottest part of the grill, turning and brushing with the marinade once, until nicely charred and cooked to your liking, 3 1/2 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
- Let the steaks rest for a few minutes or more. Slice and serve with the reserved chimichurri on the side for drizzling.
Notes
Appetizer, Not Entree, Steak Chimichurri
You can improvise a starter from this steak chimichurri recipe. Just cut the steak into cubes, skewer it onto toothpicks, and serve it with extra chimichurri on the side as a dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Steak chimichurri is a classic and this turned out great. I went the distance and marinated my steaks for a full 6 hours. This really paid off—my steaks were full of flavor. Don’t forget to set aside some chimichurri to drizzle over the steaks after they’re sliced.
Those of you who just salt and pepper your rib eyes, you must consider using this chimichurri marinade at least once. You’ll be rewarded with flavor and texture that you’ve only dreamed about.
There was plenty of chimichurri sauce to marinate our steaks and to use as a dip with our grilled meat.
Fantastic! I wanted to grill something for our 4th of July celebration, and this steak chimichurri recipe caught my eye.
I searched several stores in our area for sherry vinegar, with no luck. I did an online search and several suggested substituting balsamic vinegar, so I forged ahead. Flat-leaf parsley is often hard to find in our area as well, but I found that at the second store. I also made some marinade for some chicken breasts, since our daughter doesn’t eat red meat. She loved her chicken as much as we did the steaks.
I know I’ll be making these again, hoping one day to actually find some sherry vinegar. I served the steaks with a recipe also on the LC site, green bean, tomato and mint salad, along with some garlic bread and an apple pie my daughter made for dessert. We were all happy campers.
The steak was tender and seemed lighter than other strip steaks I have had in the past. The herb flavor was subtle, with a just a hint of citrus. The balance was great. This recipe is a summer keeper.
While preparing the chimichurri, I found myself wondering if this prep could be done with a few pulses of the food processor. My husband grilled the marinated steaks over a high flame for about 4 1/2 minutes per side. They came out a perfect medium-rare. The marinade had slightly infused the meat with flavor but it wasn’t overwhelming.
This chimichurri steak recipe was truly a surprise. I typically do not favor a strip steak, but it seemed like a good idea to give it a try for this recipe. I’d like to make it again and try some different cuts of meat, like a flank steak or maybe even a flatiron.
We made this steak chimichurri recipe when we were having guests over for dinner. It was a big hit! To be honest, when I tasted the chimichurri sauce on its own, I thought the vinegar was overwhelming. However, when taken with the cooked steak, it was fantastic and cut the richness of the rib eye steaks.
We marinated 3/4-inch steaks for about 4 hours and grilled them to medium-rare and rare. Fantastic! They were so fresh and flavorful. This is a great way to feed a lot of people, and the leftovers were pretty good too. Will make this one again and again!
This recipe for chimichurri is spot on for my taste. There’s just enough heat from the red pepper flakes, the snap of the sherry vinegar, and the wonderful warmth of the garlic. Of course, this needs some cool-down from the fresh parsley and oregano. All in all, a beautiful dish at all times—while marinating, grilling, and resting on the cutting board. And it tastes even better than it looks! The suggested cooking time was also just right.
The chimichurri tasted good even before adding flank steak to the equation which is telling. Chimichurri + Flank Steak = Delicious. Sometimes chimichurri (and other marinades and sauces) can be assertively vinegary, but this combination was a great ratio
Sherry vinegar is one of my favorite vinegars ever and I’m happy to use it whenever I can. Its flavor really came through for me–in a good way. The recipe calls for 2/3 cup but I used 3/4 and also increased the 1/4 cup olive oil to 1/2 cup. Perhaps next time I will try apple cider vinegar out of curiosity. Recipes that require fresh herbs appeal to me as I grow many of our own. Fresh oregano has sort of a mustiness to it but when teamed up with the remaining ingredients it was subtle yet added that flavor so traditional in chimichurri. The red pepper flakes and garlic make this really sing!
The chimichurri is a very easy marinade to make and the smell was amazing. I ended up using T-bones for this steak chimichurri recipe. When it was time to grill, I decided to remove the smallest steak, destined for my toddler, and cleaned it to remove the chile peppers. We grilled as instructed but didn’t drizzle any chimichurri on the smallest steak. ALL of the steaks were extremely flavorful, tender, and had a slight kick, yet weren’t crazy spicy. Even the toddler’s came out amazing. Our guests asked for the recipe, as they want to do it, too!
This steak chimichurri recipe was a very easy dish to prepare. The tangy, fresh, herby sauce nicely balances the meaty steak. We served it with the first corn of the season. A summer treat!
Rib eye is a flavorful cut to begin with, but with garlic, herbs, and a bit of vinegar, the deliciousness of the beef is amplified. The fresh oregano became a little weak when cooked, but it was so wonderful with garlic. You’ll understand when you drizzle the reserved chimichurri on the cooked steak.
Fire up the grill and make steak chimichurri—you’ll have the best-smelling backyard in the neighborhood.
This steak chimichurri recipe is a great summertime grilling dish that you can prep ahead of time and then, when you’re ready to fire up the grill, can be ready to eat in 15 minutes. In my mind, this is a great entertaining recipe, because you can walk away from it and enjoy your guests.
The steak chimichurri recipe says the chimichurri should be drizzled on the top of the dish; mine was a little dense. My grocery store only had the larger elephant garlic so 6 cloves was a lot of garlic. But I imagine with a more normal garlic head, it would be an adequate amount. (I love garlic anyway, so this wasn’t a problem for me!) I marinated the meat for 2 hours, and that imparted a nice flavor to the meat. I would definitely add a sprinkling of kosher salt and black pepper to each steak after marinating and before putting on the grill.
We found out at the last minute that one of our dinner guests did not eat red meat (eek!) so I used a portion of the chimichurri to marinate a salmon filet. That turned out really well, too. This is a testament that this marinade is great with a variety of proteins! I think it would work well on chicken, pork, and even other types of seafood.
Flank steak makes frequent appearances on our patio table. My go to marinade is usually Asian inspired for the convenience and bold flavours. Move over soy sauce, and come on in red wine vinegar and fresh herbs! The chimichurri, other than rolling off the tongue with flare, doubles up as marinade and finishing sauce. Easy. Fast (6 hour marinating is totally hands off). Tasty!
Wow, Gorm3sa & SousChef! Your flank steak looks absolutely delicious.
You guys are reading my mind. Again. We don’t eat the beef we used to, except for a couple times a year we have giant porterhouse steaks. Yumm. So, I’ve been thinking about making chicken/turkey/pork (or some combination thereof) burgers instead of ground beef. Chimichurri would be just the thing to give them zing. Cutting back on beef isn’t because we think red meat is bad for us, we’re just losing our crazy rare steak cravings, so why not adapt some of the great beef “treatments” to other things. And I totally agree that chimichurri would be divine on some grilled veggies!
Gotta agree, ruthie, that this chimichurri would lend zing to just about anything. (Okay, maybe not breakfast cereal.) Love that you’re tweaking it to suit your needs and tastes.