If you bought a large quantity of chimichurri sauce, perhaps as a wholesale item, you may be looking for creative ways to use the extra sauce. Luckily, you have a lot of options. Chimichurri is very versatile, and below, you'll discover some creative ways to incorporate it into your meals.
Pasta Salad
Pasta salad seems to be traditionally made with Italian dressing, but there's no reason you need to stick to this standard. A pasta salad made with chimichurri will be very fresh and herbal, making for the perfect light summer lunch. Just use the chimichurri in place of the dressing in your favorite pasta salad. Or, follow the recipe below.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked rotini pasta
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup cucumber slices
- 1 tablespoon minced green onion
- 1/2 cup diced provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup olives
- 1/2 cup chimichurri
Stir all of the ingredients together, and let it rest for 10 minutes for the flavors to develop. Serve and enjoy. This recipe makes about two servings, or four servings if you're serving it as a side dish.
Fish Tacos
Fish tacos are an ever-popular option on the west coast, but you can make them wherever you live. Basically, you want to layer pan-fried white fish, fresh coleslaw, and a little cheese into a taco shell. Finish it off with big scoop of wholesale Chimichurri sauce, which will give the tacos an herbal, savory note. You can add some pickled onion, sliced tomato, and even salsa for more complexity, if you wish.
Marinated Pork or Chicken
Chimichurri can also be used as a marinade, as the herbs it contains are excellent for imparting flavor into meat. It pairs really well with chicken and pork, but not as well with beef. Place your cuts of meat in generous portions of chimichurri, and let them rest for at least 4 hours in the fridge. Drain the marinade and discard it, and then cook your meat according to your preferences. (It is delicious on the grill.) Once the meat is cooked, you can top it with a little more fresh chimichurri for added freshness. If you want to cut the herbaceousness a little, you can drizzle a little lemon juice over the meat, too.
Having extra chimichurri is not a bad thing. You can make fish tacos, a delicious pasta salad, or marinated pork or chicken, and enjoy a delicious meal while using up this ingredient.
