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Chimichurri is a green sauce, originally from Argentina, that is traditionally used as an accompaniment to grilled meats. It is somewhat similar to pesto, though it doesn’t contain any nuts or cheese, and is by default a vegan sauce.
Most versions contain chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, pepper, chili flakes, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. This recipe courtesy of Manuel Villacorta from Whole Body Reboot replaces the green component with cilantro and substitutes sacha inchi oil instead of olive oil for an omega-3 boost.
Manuel says:
By volume sacha inchi has more than 48 percent omega-3s – that’s more than 84 percent of the recommended daily intake of total essential fatty acids. And those highly concentrated omega-3s fight disease-causing inflammation.
Chimichurri sauce offers a healthy way to infuse a lot of flavor into vegetable dishes. Here are a few ideas of how to use it:
- Salad dressing.
- Dip for raw vegetable crudites.
- Top sliced tomatoes with chimichurri sauce.
- Drizzled over grilled or roasted vegetables.
- Garnish for raw or cooked vegetable soup.
- Simple sauce for pasta, kelp noodles or spiralized vegetables.
- Topping for baked sweet potato.
- Flavor booster for quinoa or brown rice.
- Mix with cashew or almond cheese.
As you can see it is quite a versatile sauce and it may become a staple in your kitchen. With a food processor, it is also very simple to prepare.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup sacha inchi oil or olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and homogeneous.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this recipe let me know what you think. I’d love to hear about the different ways you like to use chimichurri sauce.
Yum! I love this sauce because you can add it to anything. I tend to go easy on the garlic because I lather everything in it. It’s a really nice change to tomato based sauces for zucchini pasta or seaweed noodles, though it does go well with a few chopped sundried tomatoes. Over baked sweet potatoes is the best, as the heat of the potatoes release the fragrance of the cilantro. Great recipe! Thanks Mizpah!
All your ideas sound delicious. I also like the idea of going light with the garlic since I too tend to be generous with my saucing 🙂
Would organic apple cider vinegar work instead of the white wine vinegar?
Yes absolutely. Apple cider vinegar would be an acceptable substitute.
Perfect! Thank-you! I never make these kind of sauces – but im definatly trying this one!
I would like your comments on this please; would it be acceptable to change it abit and still have it work like the recipe you outlayed above? I will do 1 of the original recipe and try to experiment with whats below maybe at a later time – unless you have done this and find a flaw such as too much ingredients dont work as well..
1 bunch cilantro
1 garlic clove (i like garilc but its very strong so i think 1 or 1 1/2 would do)
1 light handfull of fresh Basil
2 pinches pink himalayan sea salt
1 palmfull fresh oregano
2 table spoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 or 1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon dryed thyme
1 teaspoon chilli pepper flakes
And optional sun dryed tomatoes (either blended with the sauce or separetly chopped and added ontop – luma got that into me 😀 Thanks!
Since i have never made this kind of herbal olive oil blend – “Would it be acceptable and would it work If i blended the sun dryed tomatoes with it? or is it best to chop and add separetly? This would be my own interpretation of the recipe. This sounds like it would be great on roasted vegitables like you mentioned.
Thanks so very much for your help!
Hi Tyson,
Your adjustments should work though you might be a bit more cautious with the dried thyme. Start with a teaspoon and add more if you like. I would chop the sun-dried tomatoes otherwise the sauce may be a bit “muddy” but it would probably taste fine either way.
yeah i suppose that would be alot of dryed thyme. if it was fresh it might be the right ratio. – Thanks for the advice, i very much appreciate it!
Will be making this and the zucchini spaghetti Today! Will let you know how it turns out.
Warm regards <3
Another Great one! i added 2 garlic cloves but found it too garlicy but still very very yummy.
I added it to both broccoli and sweet potatoes and added alittle to the zucchini spaghetti.- (which was spectacular! btw)
I Love it, it goes great on almost anything even to dip organic sprouted bread in. (the only bread i can eat and feel fine)
I ended up doing the changes to the recipe. Worked out very well.
I suggest everyone try this and the Zucchini spaghetti. The Spaghetti is ssooo Goooddd! And this cilantro chichurri sauce is a great addition to many things.
Thank-you Mizpah.
I absolutely love this. I eat raw vegan all meals of my day until dinner. I love this sauce over sliced tomatoes mixed with raw chopped/soaked walnuts! Can’t get enough, I only use Apple cider vinegar with the mother instead of the white. So tangy, fresh, and cleansing to the blood!
Wonderful!