Easy Chimichurri Shrimp
The easiest, most simple 20-minute dish you will ever make. And this can be served either as an appetizer or light dinner!
Chimichurri sauce is a brightly colored green sauce typically used on grilled meats, but I’ve actually been seeing them everywhere on Pinterest – from shrimp, chicken, tacos and even hot dogs!
But since shrimp can cook up in less than 10 minutes, I figured the chimichurri sauce would come in most handy here for those busy weeknights, making this to be the easiest, quickest 15 minute dinner ever.
And like making anything else homemade, you have completely control of the sauce. So if you’re not much of a cilantro person, you can substitute additional parsley, and if you like heat, you can add more jalapeno as needed. It’s up to you!
Now the best part are the leftovers. You can keep the leftover sauce in the fridge and slather this on anything and everything – a much needed condiment for all your meals!
Easy Chimichurri Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the chimichurri sauce
- 1 cup parsley leaves, stems removed
- 1 cup cilantro leaves, stems removed
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, chopped, optional
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- Juice of 1 lime
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
- To make the chimichurri sauce, combine parsley, cilantro, shallot, jalapeno, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper, to taste. With the motor running, add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
- Place shrimp in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil and garlic; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine.
- Place into oven and roast just until pink, firm and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
- Serve immediately with chimichurri sauce.
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Hello, how long can the leftover sauce be kept for? Thank you!
Do you use Italian Parsley or regulat parsley?
I recommend using Italian (flat-leaf) parsley.
I have a bag of pre cooked shrimp. Would they work with this recipe. Need an appetizer for tonite !
Yes!
I made this tonight and my boyfriend and I really enjoyed it. He insisted on keeping the leftover chimichurri for himself. 🙂 I was nervous to use that much vinegar so I dialed it back a little and used maybe all of 2 tablespoons less… I also added some cumin to the mix.
This was my first time baking shrimp. I used a flat cast iron and seasoned them as directed plus coriander and cumin.
He and I are trying to avoid grains and eat less carbs so I had a hard time decided what to serve with this… I decided on a saffron cauliflower rice with peas, blistered tomatoes and avocado. We loved it! This was fast and easy and a wonderful punch of flavor that I can see us making more often.
Thanks for keeping your posts short and straight to the point. I hate the ones who write about their cat, dog, what they said when they first woke up that takes about 2 full pages of nonsense. I dont want an essay I just want the recipe! I dont mind a few comments but some people over do it. SO AGAIN THANK YOU!
I agree with Brady 100%…. start very sparingly with the vinegar. I just made this recipe and it went to total waste because it was just too sour. I have made dozens of her recipes and this is the first time I didn’t like something! I think when I try it again I will love it with the reduced vinegar. All a matter of taste, I suppose! LOVE your site and I use it at least once a week. Thank you for all your amazing recipes!!
Note to users planning to cook this!!! Please please do yourselves a favor of not wasting ingredients and time and use red wine vinegar very sparingly. This is no shot at the chef here but I made this recipe and it went to waste. The 1/2 cup of vinegar and the juice of lime made for an irreversible acidity. I am simply posting here to make viewers aware that red wine vinegar is unforgiving so start with way less and add to your liking.
Can this be made ahead of time (like an hour ahead)? And then tossed with the sauce, and served room temp as an app?
Yes, absolutely.
Thanks for the recipe. We just made this dish and it definitely took more than 10 minutes of prep time. It took us an hour to make the sauce and that was using a food processor. Destemming the parsley and cilantro took most of the time. We followed the recipe and would suggest to anyone else who makes it to use 1/3 to 1/2 less vinegar.
You can eat the stems of parsely andcilantro….putting all that in the food processor it becomes vety fine…and they add glavor as well…but if you do not want to use the stems…just wash the parsely…let it dry and then with a sharp you can just lightly lop off the leaves…it happens very quickly
I just made this and it was fantastic! I believe I have a new go to condiment recipe.
This is such an easy, delicious, healthy dish. I have made this numerous times, following the directions to a “T” and it has never failed me. I always get rave reviews. My “anti-shrimp” son will even eat this and states it is the best shrimp EVER! I have used the chimichurri recipe on beef and chicken and it tastes equally good. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!
20 minutes would be reasonable if I had a sous chef to handle things like plucking all the leaves from the herbs…it was more like 90 minutes, because garlic doesn’t peel itself and leaves only fall off when they rot. I’m sure it will be good but I’m now waiting for the shrimp to finish. Neither fast nor easy.
Aaron, did you use a food processor? Also, the recipe only calls for 2 cloves of garlic. That should’ve taken about literally 10 seconds to peel. You can also buy already-peeled garlic cloves.
Yeah, you’re clearly SLOW Aaron in more senses than one, AND a bitch.
Aaron, there is a trick to peeling garlic. If you separate the cloves onto a cutting board, then lay a wide knife on top of each clove and use your palm to give each one a good smash, the skin comes right off. Also in a recipe like this, just chop off the top leafy section of the herb bunch and throw it in the food processor. You don’t want the long stems in there but the tender stems that attach the leaves will blend right up. I hope this helps save you time in the future. Good luck with your future cooking!
I am just making sure that the 1/2 of vinegar is correct…..very strong vinegar taste to sauce. Please confirm that is correct….thanks!
Yes, the measurements are correct. If it is too strong to taste, you can reduce the amount as needed to suit your preferences.
Did you bake the shrimp in the chimichurri or did you just dump it over the shrimp when it came out of the oven?
Kailey, as indicated in the recipe, the shrimp is cooked by itself and served with the chimichurri sauce.
Looks like your shrimp are in a skillet in your photos. Did you sautée them or bake them like the recipe directions say? If you baked them, did you warm the chimichurri sauce before putting over shrimp? Thank you!
Joan, the skillet is simply used for photographic purposes. There is also no need to warm the sauce since the shrimp is already served hot.
How long will the chimichurri keep ?
I would say at least 1-2 days but please use your best judgment on food storage and safety.
Another recipe from you that was delicious!!!!! I loved the sauce with shrimp, I served it with brown rice but couldn’t figure out what veggie would be good.. Any suggestions? 😉 thanks!
These garlic parmesan roasted potatoes goes with everything!
I try to make things ahead, how does this freeze?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
This freezes beautifully, and can be used to marinate anything. Also, Spanish sherry wine vinegar is a great authentic substitute for the red wine vinegar.
The chimichurri sauce freezes very well. I divide into individual plastic containers w/lids and pop them in the freezer. When I’m ready to use them, I put them in the fridge overnight, then bring to room temperature before serving.
This looks delicious! For those without a food processor, I’ve made chimichurri in the magic bullet before as well. Can’t wait to try this!
You come up THE tastiest recipes that really are quick. I am always
so impressed. I love shrimp cooked anyway, but I think you really
added a great little sauce for this shrimp feed.