Chimichurri Sauce Recipe {Most Flavorful!} - Cooking Classy (2024)

FAQs

How do you get the bitterness out of chimichurri? ›

Chimichurri can become bitter if the ingredients aren't balanced properly. Thankfully, there are a few easy ways to fix bitter-tasting chimichurri. Adding more acidity, like citrus or vinegar, can counteract bitter flavors. You can also add a touch of sweetness in the form of honey or sugar.

Let the sauce age a bit.

You can use this sauce right away. But for an even better chimichurri, let it sit at room temperature for a few hours (or overnight). This will give it some time to let the flavors meld together!

If we could only use one word to describe chimichurri sauce, it would be “bright.” The combination of fresh cilantro and parsley pack an herbaceous flavor, while the red pepper flakes bring a hint of spice. Add in the garlic's spicy, pungent flavor and the vinegar's acidic tang, and that's chimichurri.

chimichurri, sauce of Argentine origin that typically includes parsley, oregano, garlic, and red wine vinegar. The people of Argentina, purveyors of some of the world's best beef, allow little save salt and pepper to come into contact with their steaks.

Spices mask bitter flavors, so don't be shy. Add some spicy peppers or powders to your cooking, or sprinkle some onto your dishes for a little bit of extra heat. Black pepper in particular has compounds that counteract bitterness. Some other great spices include cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and chili powder.

Add Some Baking Soda

If your tomato sauce is too acidic and verging on bitter, turn to baking soda, not sugar. Yes, sugar might make the sauce taste better, but good old baking soda is an alkaline that will help balance the excess acid. A little pinch should do the trick.

And from a health standpoint, chimichurri is loaded with good-for-you benefits, including calcium, carotenes, iron, and vitamins A and C (from the parsley) and calcium, fiber, iron, and vitamins E and K (from the oregano), as well as heart-healthy garlic and the monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, which may help to ...

Recipe Tips

Use the sharpest knife in your kitchen when making this recipe. A dull knife can pulverize the herbs making the chimichurri look kind of brown.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

It's important to let the chimichurri rest for at least 20 minutes before using it; this allows the garlic, fresh herbs, and crushed red pepper flakes meld with the oil so your chimichurri is extra flavorful.

One possible cause is an overuse of parsley stems or garlic, which can have a slightly bitter taste. Another reason could be the use of spoiled ingredients. So, make sure you use fresh ingredients and stick to the listed amount in the recipe.

What if I add too much vinegar to my chimichurri sauce? ›

If you find that your recipe has too much vinegar, there are a few ways to balance it out. One method is to add a small amount of sugar or honey to counteract the acidity. You can also add more of the other ingredients in the recipe to dilute the vinegar flavor.

Red wine vinegar is the best vinegar for chimichurri. Use lemon juice as a substitution. We don't recommend balsamic or white vinegar.

This unique take on classic chimichurri is as close to freshly homemade as you can get. Our family recipe is a delicious blend of cilantro, garlic, and olive oil.

But this is only the beginning of chimichurri's many uses. It's amazing on roasted or grilled vegetables: asparagus in spring, vegetable kebabs in summer, potatoes or butternut squash in fall and winter. We pour it onto fish, buffalo (aka bison) burgers and steaks, salads, eggs ... you get the idea.

Combine parsley, cilantro, oil, oregano, garlic, vinegar, salt, cumin, red pepper flakes, and black pepper in a blender.

Like salt, acids such as vinegar or lemon juice compete with bitter flavor compounds, lessening our perception of these tastes as they “brighten” remaining ones. We use vinegar to enliven the flavor of everything from soups and stews to sauces.

Add a little butter or cream or cream cheese, to taste. It will smooth it all out. Make sure you mix it in really well. I have read that you can add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup of sauce to cut acidity, but I wouldn't try that myself.

Leaf states that this can be due to burning the sauce in the pot or simply dealing with a batch of produce that are overly acidic or metallic from canning or cooking. This can also come from under-ripe or low-quality tomatoes, as well as stirring in a hefty amount of tomato paste, per Boss The Kitchen.