Red chimichurri (chimichurri rojo) is a wonderful Argentinian sauce that is easy to make and perfect for topping steak and chicken. It has so much flavor and is so easy to make.

About This Red Chimichurri Sauce

Chimichurri rojo, or red chimichurri, is very similar to a chimichurri but it has a few ingredients added and a couple of slight modifications that make it so amazing and just a little bit different. It's basically like a tomato chimichurri.

This recipe was taught to me by my sister-in-law who is a chef who has studied South American foods. She knew I would like this easy recipe and she was right! We make this recipe as often as possible and it is always on our Summer meal list for all of our grilled meats.

This red chimichurri recipe is made with cumin, paprika, vinegar, garlic, oil, and a few other spices that help round out this delicious Argentinian sauce. There are many versions of this classic Argentinian steak sauce. The most obvious difference is the color and the addition of paprika.

The sauce is so easy to make. I will show you how to make this so you can add this to your summer meal rotation the way we have and enjoy it for all your BBQs.

Ingredients

Apple cider vinegar: You can also use red wine vinegar.
Tomato paste: Forms a delicious and slightly sweet base for your chimichurri sauce.
Fresh flat-leaf parsley: Gives your sauce a bit of herbal flavor.
Sweet paprika: Smoked paprika can be used if you prefer a smoky flavor, but I love the subtlety of sweet paprika.
Kosher salt and pepper: Help bring out the other flavors.
Garlic: Deepens the flavor profile.
Cumin: Provides a warm and savory taste with a slightly nutty note.
Lemon: Cuts through all of the savory spices with some bright acidity.
Olive oil: Helps the sauce come together to form a smooth and delicious consistency.
Red pepper flakes: For just a little bit of spicy heat.

This chimichurri rojo sauce is not smokey since it uses regular sweet paprika. It will have a little bit of heat from the red pepper flakes but nothing overly spicy. If you like a smokey red chimichurri flavor, you can substitute smoked paprika for the sweet paprika in the recipe below.

How to Make

This red chimichurri sauce is so easy to make and it is literally just chopping a few ingredients and assembling. Here is what it looks like:

Blanch the parsley by adding it to boiling water for just a minute. This helps take the bitterness out of the parsley.
Now chop the parsley and garlic.
Add that to a bowl along with the rest of the ingredients (vinegar, tomato paste, paprika, salt, pepper, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil, and red pepper flakes) and mix well.
Taste for additional seasoning.
Let it rest for about 30 minutes to let the flavors of the chimichurri come together.

How to Use

I like to serve this over grilled steak tips and to make things even easier I will add this sauce to some green beans and roast those in the oven to serve alongside the steak. It is all so delicious together.

This red chimichurri sauce would also make a wonderful addition to chicken wings, hummus, vegetables, and just about anything you can think of that needs a savory punch of flavor.