Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

There are essentially two ways that we like to enjoy our steak these days. The first is with soy sauce and butter, as in our Grilled Ribeye with Soy Butter Glaze.

The second is inspired by Argentinian gauchos–a simple, well-salted grilled skirt steak topped with deliciously verdant, garlicky, and slightly spicy chimichurri.

Now a caveat before I go on to wax poetic about beef and delicious Argentinean condiments: this is not what some may see as an “authentic” recipe. Namely, we omit red wine vinegar from our chimichurri in favor of letting the pure parsley, garlic, and chili flake flavors shine through. It also makes it a much more versatile condiment.

This recipe will make about 1 cup of chimichurri. It can be used on your grilled skirt steak, as a delicious dipping oil for pre-dinner bread, or as an easy flavor agent cheat for when you’re sautéing vegetables (just add to the pan like you would add standard garlic and oil, and sauté–no need to add anything else!). So if you’re a gaucho in Argentina right now, taking a break from herding your cows and making your grandmother’s 50-year-old recipe for chimichurri, this is just a Chinese family of professional eaters’ take on it! That said, if you like vinegar in your chimichurri, feel free to use it!

Now that that’s out of the way, if you’re the type of person that eats your skirt steak plain, we implore you to try chimichurri. If steak could have a best friend–nay, a soulmate–we would bet on chimichurri. Take a little break from your A1, your Worcestershire sauce, your ketchup, whatever your chosen flavor enhancer is, and MAKE THIS CHIMICHURRI.

You won’t be sorry, and we’re betting that you’ll never look back.

*UPDATE: There was quite a lot of speaking up about the noticeable lack of oregano and vinegar in our chimichurri recipe, which left me feeling understandably conflicted about my longstanding, go-to recipe. So the other day when a craving struck for chimichurri, I plucked some sprigs of oregano from the garden and poured in a few liberal dashes of red wine vinegar. The result was indeed much, much more delicious than the original! As Sarah said, when a whole culture of people is telling you to do it one way, it can’t be bad. So I’ve amended my errant ways in the updated recipe below! :D Thanks for reading and sticking up for your food preferences, y’all. — Kaitlin 

You’ll need:

• 1 bunch of parsley
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 2/3 cup neutral oil (such as canola oil, light olive oil, or grapeseed oil)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• juice of half a lime
• skirt steak (Make however much you want! You’ll have plenty of chimichurri to go with it.)

Pick the leaves off your bunch of parsley, and finely chop them. Peel all your garlic cloves and mince finely. You can use a food processor, garlic press, or an old fashioned knife and cutting board.

In a small bowl, combine the parsley, oregano, red wine vinegar, garlic, oil, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and lime juice. Stir well to combine.

Fire up your grill to preheat. Season your steak with salt and pepper.

When your grill is extremely hot (if you have a thermometer on your grill, it should be in the range of 500-600F), lay the steaks on the grill. Skirt steaks are very thin, so this process will be quick. Do not close the grill, and don’t walk away!

When the first side has been on the grill for about 1 minute, rotate the steaks to get some solid grill marks. After another minute, flip the steak, letting cook for 1 minute, then rotating, then letting cook for another minute or two. Once you’ve established a solid criss-cross, you can start moving around a little bit more erratically. This will ensure that you get a delicious uniform grill crust–none of that fakey McFakerson neat criss cross lame-ness you see in Outback Steakhouse commercials. These instructions are for medium rare, which is in our opinion the best way to enjoy your steak. If you like it more or less well done, add or subtract cooking time.

When the grilled skirt steak is cooked, transfer to a plate and let rest for a solid 10 minutes. Don’t cut into it before then. Serve as large steaks or slice against the grain and top with generous amounts of chimichurri.

Rice cooked with a glug of olive oil and mixed with a pinch of salt and stewed black beans are excellent side dish options to serve with your grilled skirt steak and chimichurri!

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

 

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Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Grilled skirt steak with lots of chimichurri is a perfect summertime meal. This recipe gives you a simple, well-salted grilled skirt steak topped with deliciously verdant, garlicky, and slightly spicy chimichurri.

Author: Kaitlin

Recipe type: Beef

Cuisine: Argentina

Serves: 1 to 1½ cups chimichurri

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of parsley
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced
• 1 bulb of garlic
• ⅔ cup neutral oil (such as canola oil, light olive oil, or grapeseed oil)
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• juice of half a lime
• Skirt steak (Make however much you want! You’ll have plenty of chimichurri to go with it.)

Instructions

1. Pick the leaves off your bunch of parsley, and finely chop them. Peel all your garlic cloves and mince finely. You can use a food processor, garlic press, or an old fashioned knife and cutting board.
2. In a small bowl, combine the parsley, oregano, red wine vinegar, garlic, oil, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and lime juice. Stir well to combine
3. Fire up your grill to preheat. Season your steak with salt and pepper. When your grill is extremely hot (if you have a thermometer on your grill, it should be in the range of 500-600F), lay the steaks on the grill. Skirt steaks are very thin, so this process will be quick. Do not close the grill, and don’t walk away!
4. When the first side has been on the grill for about 1 minute, rotate the steaks to get some solid grill marks. After another minute, flip the steak, letting cook for 1 minute, then rotating, then letting cook for another minute or two. Once you’ve established a solid criss-cross, you can start moving around a little bit more erratically. This will ensure that you get a delicious uniform grill crust--none of that fakey McFakerson neat criss cross lame-ness you see in Outback Steakhouse commercials. These instructions are for medium rare, which is in our opinion the best way to enjoy your steak. If you like it more or less well done, add or subtract cooking time.
5. When the steak is cooked, transfer to a plate and let rest for a solid 10 minutes. Don’t cut into it before then. Serve as large steaks or slice against the grain and top with generous amounts of chimichurri.

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