No.66 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Grilled steak with chimichurri

Made famous by Francis Mallmann

Photo: Dominic Lockyer, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, 2009.

Argentina's asado is the world's great grilling tradition, and chimichurri is its sauce; both are among the most searched grilling recipes anywhere.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Seven Fires.

Ingredients

• 2 thick (1 1/2-inch) ribeye or strip steaks, or one 2-lb skirt steak (about 2 lb, 900 g total)
• Coarse salt
• For the chimichurri: 1 cup tightly packed flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp red chile flakes
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, warmed, with 1 tsp coarse salt dissolved in it (salmuera)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

Steps

1. Make the chimichurri: mix the parsley, oregano, garlic and chile flakes in a jar. Add the vinegar and salt water, then the olive oil. Stir, cover and let it sit at least 1 hour.
2. Take the steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Prepare a hot charcoal or wood fire, letting it burn down to glowing embers, or heat a gas grill to high.
3. Salt the steaks generously on both sides just before grilling.
4. Grill 5 to 7 minutes per side for 1 1/2-inch steaks (3 to 4 minutes for skirt), turning once, until a deep crust forms and the inside reads 125 to 130F for medium-rare.
5. Rest the steaks on a board 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Slice across the grain and serve with the chimichurri spooned over and more on the side.

Chef's tips

• The sauce is better a day later.
• Argentines cook mostly over embers, not flames; let the fire burn down.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Seven Fires by Francis Mallmann: get the book, No. 77 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 65Ceviche→ No. 67Chicken tagine with preserved lemons and olives