Bust out your steak knives, and tuck your napkin into your shirt collars my fine friends because today I have the world’s juiciest Grilled Sirloin Steak with Chimichurri Sauce. It is off-the-chain delicious!

Grilled Sirloin Steak, slices and drizzled with chimichurri sauce on a white dish cloth with black stripes.

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Why We Love Grilled Sirloin Steak with Chimichurri

This summertime steak dinner will have everyone raving. We quickly cook sirloin steak over a hot fire and serve it with a easy chimichurri sauce made with fresh parsley and garlic. You will love the flavors of the fresh ingredients in this amazing sauce!

Recipe Highlights

  • The recipe comes together in only 30 minutes.
  • It’s the perfect main course for grilling season
  • You can make a big batch of the chimichurri sauce and keep it for a week to serve with vegetables and other meat!

What is Chimichurri?

Chimichurri is a green herb sauce originating from Argentina that is served with grilled steak. The basic ingredients are parsley, garlic, olive oil, salt and vinegar. It often has hot chili or red pepper flakes and other herbs as well.

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Key Ingredients For Chimichurri Steak

sprinkling salt on steak
  • Sirloin Steak: Believe it or not, your average grocery store sirloin steak is not only one of the leanest beef steaks, but also happens to be one of the most delicious. It it is my favorite cut of steak because it is half the price of tenderloin or ribeye steaks and is great on the grill. At the grocery store, you’ll see a few different steaks with the word “sirloin” on the label. Read more here about how to buy sirloin steak. If you prefer you can use strip steak, skirt steak or flank steak instead as they are also lean options.
  • Fresh Herbs: I used both parsley and cilantro sprigs. While cilantro is not strictly authentic, it is commonly added to chimichurri, and I really enjoy the flavor it adds to the sauce. If you don’t like cilantro, just add in more parsley instead.
  • Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
  • Water: This helps the chimichurri ingredients blend together in the food processor
  • White Vinegar: This adds acidty to the chimichurri sauce. You can sub in red wine vinegar, lemon juice or lime juice instead.
  • Kitchen Staples: Garlic cloves, kosher salt, black pepper
A close up view of sliced grilled sirloin steak with green chimichurri sauce on it

Step-by-Step Instructions to Make This Steak with Chimichurri

Step 1: Preheat grill

First, preheat the grill to high heat for a gas grill or medium-high for a charcoal fire. Clean the grill grates well.

Step 2: Season steak

Lay sirloin on a clean platter or baking sheet. Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper. I like to use coarse kosher salt for sprinkling because it is easy to hold onto and spread evenly. If you do not have kosher salt, make sure you read why you can’t just go and sub in table salt instead.

Step 3: Make chimichurri

Combine the garlic, parsley, cilantro and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor. Once the herbs and garlic are pulsed several times you can add in the olive oil, vinegar and water. While water is not a traditional ingredient in chimichurri, I wanted to keep the overall calories in check so I didn’t want to add more oil to thin the sauce. Continue pulsing in short bursts until the sauce looks like a rustic sauce-like paste and the herbs are finely chopped.

Step 4: Grill steak

Grill the steak, rotating a quarter turn in the opposite direction to make those fancy hash marks after a minute or two. Let the steak cook for 3 ½ to 5 minutes on the first side. Then Flip it over and let it cook on the second side. Rotate a quarter turn again on the second side if you like.

Step 5: Serve grilled sirloin steak with chimichurri

Let the cooked steak rest on a platter, cutting board or carving board at least 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with the chimichurri sauce.

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a sliced steak on a black baking sheet with a bowl of chimichurri sauce

FAQs and Expert Tips

Storing instructions:

Store the steak and chimichurri sauce separately in airtight containers. The steak will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, and chimichurri sauce can stay good for up to 2 to 3 weeks.

How to take the internal temperature of steak with an instant read thermometer:

After three minutes on the second side, take the internal temperature of the sirloin steak. It should get to 135 degrees for medium-rare to rare.

It’s important to make sure the sensor is fully in the center of the meat. Some analog dial-style instant read thermometers’ sensors are actually about 1 inch from the tip of the probe. Look at the shaft of the probe, and if there is a little super tiny circular indentation about 1 inch up, that’s the sensor! If yours doesn’t have that, the sensor is in the end of the shaft.

For a steak like this, I like to pick it up with the tongs, then slide the thermometer into the steak horizontally so I am sure I reach the center of the steak with the sensor, and it isn’t going past the center and reading the temp on the other side!

How to make chimichurri without a food processor:

If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this chimichurri by hand. Just finely mince the garlic and herbs and then stir in a bowl with the oil, water and vinegar.

With that being said, don’t use a blender! I tried making this chimichurri in the blender, but the herbs got so finely chopped that the mixture more resembled a green smoothie than a rustic herb paste.

Can I make the chimichurri ahead?

You can make the chimichurri ahead, but the color of the green herbs will darken as they sit. It will still taste great though! I enjoyed the leftovers for a few days, and the flavors were still awesome!

Variations to try:

If you want to add a buttery flavor boost to the chimichurri sauce, try using hazelnut oil instead of olive oil.

Can you make this on the stovetop?

You can make the steak on the stovetop in a cast iron pan or use a grill pan. To mimic the sear you’ll get with a hot grill, make sure to use high heat, and turn your fume hood on. Stovetop grilling always make a lot of smoke. Timinig will vary. Make sure to check the internal temperature of the steak with a digital thermometer.

What is the difference between pesto and chimichurri?

Although they look the same, chimichurri is not at all like pesto which is made with basil, cheese and pine nuts. Instead, Chimichurri is bright and tart due to the inclusion of vinegar, and it is more liquid and oily than pesto which is much thicker.

Serving Suggestions For Beef Chimichurri

Different Types of Sirloin

  • Sirloin Tips are not the same thing as Sirloin: Tips are part of the round or leg of the steer, so they are tougher than sirloin. You’ll often see Sirloin Tips pre-marinated at the meat counter, and this is for a reason! They need to be tenderized as much as possible.
  • Sirloin, Top Sirloin or Top Sirloin Butt: Top Sirloin (or often just plain sirloin) is the type of sirloin we’re looking for in this recipe. This steak has a lot of different names, but you’ll usually see the word “top” on the label somewhere. It can be sold with or without the cap or Coulotte attached. I prefer it with the cap. Here I wanted to have a larger steak, so I bought a 2-pound steak. If your grocery store has removed the cap, it will likely not weigh 2 pounds.
  • Bottom Sirloin or Petite Sirloin: This is from the lower portion of the sirloin. It is tougher than the top sirloin. It’s made up of the ball tip, tri-tip and flap. In the supermarket, you’ll see this called the petit sirloin, tri-tip or sometimes the sirloin flap or sirloin bavette. I don’t recommend the bottom sirloin for this recipe

Additional Recipes to Try

At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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close up of sirloin steak with chimichurri

Grilled Sirloin Steak with Chimichurri

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5 from 10 reviews

  • Author: Katie
  • Total Time: 30
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Description

The world’s juiciest Grilled Sirloin Steak with Chimichurri Sauce. It is off the chain delicious!

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 large sirloin steak, about 1.75 to 2 pounds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 whole cloves garlic, smashed, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup loosely packed parsley sprigs
  • 1 cup loosely packed cilantro sprigs
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar

Instructions

  1. Preheat grill to high heat.
  2. Lay sirloin on a clean platter or baking sheet. Sprinkle all over with 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
  3. Combine garlic, parsley, cilantro and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add in oil, water, vinegar and pulse until it is moistened and the herbs are finely chopped. Scrape down and pulse again if necessary, to ensure the herbs are finely chopped.
  4. Grill, turning once, until a thermometer inserted into the center reaches 135 degrees for medium rare to medium, about 3 ½ to 5 minutes per side.
  5. Let the steak rest on a platter or carving board at least 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with the chimichurri sauce.

Notes

Cooking Tip: To take internal temperature of the steak, pick it up with tongs, then slide the thermometer into the steak horizontally so the sensor reaches the center of the steak, and it isn’t going past the center and reading the temp on the other side! You’re looking for 135 degrees to be the coolest reading.

  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Category: Main Course
  • Method: Grilling
  • Cuisine: South American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 3.5 ounces plus 2 tablespoons chimichurri
  • Calories: 217
  • Sugar: 0
  • Fat: 16 grams
  • Saturated Fat: 6 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 0 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Protein: 19 g

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