Easy Argentinian marinated Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce is bursting with bold savory flavors and just a hint of heat. This quick-seared steak is so tender and juicy it will melt in your mouth.
Have a totally Argentinian dinner party theme by pairing this incredible chimichurri flank steak with my Mexican Street Corn Chicken Pasta Salad or try my Argentinian Chimichurri Chicken Recipe OR make up a big batch of my Chimichurri Sauce and enjoy whenever the mood hits!
About 6 months ago I visited Austin, TX, for the second time. The first visit was when I was a freshman in high school. The second trip was for work. I spent 3 days eating my way around town including the best donut I’ve ever had and my first encounter with flank steak mingled with chimichurri sauce. That steak melted in my mouth.
The juicylicious flank steak combined with the tangy garlic chimichurri sauce had been on my mind ever since, so of course I had to recreate it at home!
Why This Recipe Works
A good marinade — This steak marinade is super simple, and only involves a couple of pantry staple ingredients. You let the steak sit in the marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours or overnight for sheer steak perfection.
Chimichurri sauce — If you’re a steak-and-sauce combo fan, may I suggest you back away from the A1 and make this super simple, garlicky chimichurri sauce ASAP. It will change the way you think of steak forever.
Universally loved — I don’t know many people who don’t like steak and if they don’t then maybe they just haven’t tasted this one yet! I promise, if you’re a steak lover, then you’ll love this flank steak recipe.
Perfect for guests — Steaks are great to cook for one sure, but it’s even more fun to grill them out for a crew. Wow last-minute guests or your monthly couples’ dinner party with these amazing chimichurri steaks.
Here’s How You Make It
There are three little steps to making this chimichurri steak, but don’t be put off by that, they’re all super easy and when you put it all together you’ll be so grateful you did!
- First, make the marinade by combining all the ingredients together in a jar or in a bowl. Either shake the ingredients together or whisk them together and then pour them over the steak in a large, air-tight bag. Seal it up and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to all night long.
- Now combine the chimichurri ingredients together in a blender or food processor. You want these ingredients to be chopped and mixed together well, but stop mixing way before you hit “smoothie” level blending. Use the “pulse” button on your food processor for best results.
- Now, preheat a skillet with some oil in it on your stovetop or heat up your grill to medium-high heat. Add the steak and sear on each side for 6-8 minutes. You want the steak to be browned on the outside and light pink on the inside.
- Let the steak rest for a few minutes, then when you’re ready to eat it, slice it across the grain, add chimichurri sauce over the top and dig in!
What is Chimichurri Sauce Made Of?
Chimichurri sauce is typically made of parsley, garlic, some kind of vinegar, and spices such as salt, pepper, oregano, and red peppers in olive oil.
I based mine off the sauce I had in Austin. As most foods go, “standard” sauces can vary across regions. That’s why mine also includes cilantro, onions, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar and Italian seasoning. But feel free to experiment with herbs and spices till you find the perfect combination of chimichurri sauce for you!
Expert Tips and Tricks
- When grilling/searing your steak, you want to watch for a blackened outside and a juicy, barely-pink (but not red) center. As soon as the pink starts to disappear, your steak is ready. The other really important step is to cook the steak quickly at a high temperature. If you cook it too long it will get tough and lose that melt-in-your-mouth quality.
- Be sure to let the steak rest for about 5 minutes or so on a cutting board (so when you cut it the juices don’t run out everywhere), and then cut across the grain in very thin strips.
- If you don’t know what it means to cut “across the grain,” it’s easy as can be. Just look at the steak and you will see that it has parallel lines running in one direction – cut across the lines, in the opposite direction. This is called cutting across the grain. It makes a huge difference in how tender your meat will be when you eat it and trust me, you can definitely tell the difference when you’re chewing juicy and super tender steak instead of chewy tough flank steak.
Try These Recipes Next
- Best Quick Steak Marinade
- Mushroom Sauce for Steak
- Sirloin Steak Recipe
- Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Tiger Sauce
- Flank Steak Marinade
- Best Chimichurri Sauce
- Argentinian Chimichurri Chicken
- Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chimichurri Butter
- Grilled Tri Tip Steak with Tiger Sauce
- Chimichurri Sauce
Did you try this flank steak with chimichurri sauce? EXCELLENT! Please rate the recipe below!
Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds flank steak
Marinade
- ¼ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- juice of 1 lime
Chimichurri Sauce
- ½ cup cilantro
- ½ cup parsley
- ½ onion - diced
- 1 teaspoon salt - or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper - or to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- ½ teaspoon Italian blend seasoning
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ⅓ cup oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar - or apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Whisk together marinade ingredients. Combine marinade and steak in a large ziplock bag. Seal and chill for 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Combine all chimichurri ingredients in a blender or food processor, and pulse until smooth.
- Preheat a an oiled skillet or grill to medium-high heat. Sear steak for 6-8 minutes on each side until heavily browned on the outside and slightly pink in the middle.
- Thinly slice steak across the grain and serve with chimichurri sauce on top.
Notes
- When grilling/searing your steak, you want to watch for a blackened outside and a juicy, barely-pink (but not red) center. As soon as the pink starts to disappear, your steak is ready. The other really important step is to cook the steak quickly at a high temperature. If you cook it too long it will get tough and lose that melt-in-your-mouth quality.
- Be sure to let the steak rest for about 5 minutes or so on a cutting board (so when you cut it the juices don’t run out everywhere), and then cut across the grain in very thin strips.
- If you don’t know what it means to cut “across the grain,” it’s easy as can be. Just look at the steak and you will see that it has parallel lines running in one direction – cut across the lines, in the opposite direction. This is called cutting across the grain. It makes a huge difference in how tender your meat will be when you eat it and trust me, you can definitely tell the difference when you’re chewing juicy and super tender steak instead of chewy tough flank steak.
I had been looking for a chimichurri recipe for a while and tried this tonight. I had cilantro only so that’s what I used. instead of chilli flakes, I used a fresh Thai pepper, used a lemon, rice vinegar and apple cider bcz I didn’t have red wine vinegar. Nevertheless, the sauce was absolutely amazing!!! My family raved about it and kept asking for more. Definitely better than the sauces I have had in restaurants. Thank you!!
Awesome job, Noah!! Happy to hear your family enjoyed your sauce so much!
I think my tastebuds just rejoiced. Im only sad my chim sauce isn’t the same vibrant green as yours!
Glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Jessica, MINE turned greener once I warmed it up in a pan for a few mins before putting it on the steaks. It looked more whitish green when it was cold.
Glad to have found your site! I can’t do full keto because I’m a dialysis patient but can do low carb on my non dialysis days. Your recipes look awesome!
And yes, we do love our football, here in texas. glad you enjoyed your visit…come back to visit us again!
Thank you!! 🙂
How i get the recipirs
They are at the bottom of every page!
The mariNADE is awesome. Chimichurri sauce adds another layer to the DELICIOUS taste. I did not use blender, just chopped finely.
Awesome!!! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
The chimichirri sauce Had PERFECT FLAVOR, but mine was too thin. I think ill use a food processor instead of the blender next time
Hoping that fixes your issue! Glad you enjoyed this recipe, Malissa
I TRIED THIS RECIPE A FEW WEEKS AGO AND IT WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. the chimichurri sauce was soooo good. I used it on literally everything!
Homemade chimichurri is the best! Glad you enjoyed this recipe, Tiara!
The Steak was AWESOME!! Served it with peruvian rice, sliced AVOCADO,and roasted veggies… Yum!
Fantastic pairings, Ellen! Sounds delicious. Thanks for your feedback!
This came out great. It had levels of flavors. First we got a strong but not too over powering onion flavor then the Punch from the aCv then the CILANTRO at the end. Husband and kid approved. Tastes better over hot steak, we let our steak cool a bit but now we know. But we were wondering how long will the sauce keep?
Husband AND kid approved- alright!! 😉 Super excited to hear that you and your family enjoyed this recipe, Val! Honestly, as far as how long the sauce can keep, I’ve never kept it longer than 5 days in my fridge because we crave it so much after using this recipe that it never stays for longer!
This recipe was perfect as is! I love onion so it was not too strong for me. I will def be making this again! Thank you!
Glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe so much, Lena! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Tiffany, this recipe is amazing!!! I decided to cook it sous vide… OMG!!!! it was out of this world!!! I will defenitely make it like this, over and over. i’ll defenitely share it in spanish. cheers!
Awesome job, Dora!!
Holy wow! This recipe Was deliCious! I read the reviews and started small with the onion thinking i could just add more if it wasnt enough. I used 1/4 onion and it was perfect. I made bbq veggie skewers as a side and it paIred PerfEctly 🙂
So happy this dish turned out so great for you, Christina! This is one of my absolute favorite, non traditional ways to eat steak! Thanks for sharing your input on the onion flavoring!
Awesome. The family all gave it a thumbs up. It’ll be in the weekly rotation
Hi Carlos! That makes me so happy to hear that your entire family loved this! The homemade chimichurri sauce is the best! Right?!
The onion flavor OF the chimchurri was too much. :/ Wish i read the reviews first. had to TOss as well after the effort. i wonder what it would have tasted like without it! meat had a good flavor though.
Sorry that you didn’t have a fantastic outcome, Julie! Not sure what caused such the strong onion flavor for you. I hope you enjoy it next time with perhaps a little less onion. 🙂
Great recipe! Amazing taste…
Thanks, Lisa!