Black Garlic Chimichurri

A Tasty Riff on a Classic Steak Sauce

Hey, everyone.

I originally published this recipe as part of a ribeye tutorial I did, but I’ve since refined it a bit and I think it’s worth having on its own.

This sauce is a riff on an Argentine classic and one of the all-time great steak sauces— chimichurri. A classic chimichurri is usually made with minced raw garlic, and only includes parsley and oregano. I’ve added cilantro because it’s one of my favorite herbs and I think it adds a lot of character here. But the real star of the show is black garlic. Black garlic is an aged version of garlic that's jet-black, slightly sweet, and full of umami. It provides an incredible, lightly sweet counterpoint that pairs perfectly with both the herbs in the sauce and a bunch of meats and vegetables. If you don't have black garlic you can certainly use raw garlic instead, but I highly recommend seeking it out, as it really makes the sauce extra-special.

There are two key techniques to remember here. First, I highly recommend chopping all of the herbs by hand, rather than using a food processor or a blender. It really doesn’t take much time, and the texture is much better. The second key is giving the sauce time to sit so that the flavors can meld together. I recommend letting it sit out an hour or two at room temp before you use it, or overnight in the refrigerator.

This sauce is amazing on top of steak, roasted chicken, pork chops, roasted potatoes, and so much more. It’s incredibly versatile.

Ingredients

Note: You want to use fresh (not dried) versions of all of these herbs for this sauce.

Use a good olive oil here. It’s worth it. My favorites are Graza and Herb & Olive.

• 1 bunch parsley (about 1 cup picked)

• 1 bunch cilantro (about 1 cup picked)

• 1 bunch oregano (about 1/4 cup picked)

• 1 shallot, minced

• 1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely diced

• 3-4 cloves black garlic

• 2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar

• olive oil

• salt

Process

Start by finely dicing your shallot and jalapeño. Put them into a bowl and pour the red wine vinegar over them. Set these aside for 10 minutes.

This will give the vinegar time to very lightly pickle these ingredients and mellow the shallot.

Pick your herbs. For the parsley and oregano, pick off the leaves. For the cilantro, simply cut off the bottom part of the stem and use the rest.

Finely dice all of the herbs and add them to a bowl.

Cut up the cloves of black garlic as finely as possible. Black garlic is sticky, so it tends to clump together– just do your best to get a nice mince.

Add the black garlic to a bowl with the herbs, along with a big pinch of salt.

Add in the diced shallot, jalepeño, and red wine vinegar. Add in enough olive oil to get a good sauce-like consistency, and mix everything together.

Taste test it– add in more salt, vinegar, or oil as needed until you're happy with it.

Allow the sauce to sit for a few hours before serving for the best results. Spoon over your favorite grilled meats and enjoy.