The Perfect Summer Dinner.
We love to put chimichurri sauce—a garlicky South American herb-and-oil sauce—on just about everything, but one of our very favorite uses for it is as a fresh, tart sauce for simple grilled flank steak. Juicy, toothsome, beefy grilled flank steak, sliced into perfect strips—pink in the middle, showing off your killer grill-skills—dredged through brilliant green pools of chimichurri sauce is just about as simple and summery as dinner can get.
The Great Steak Debate: Flank Steak Or Skirt Steak?
What’s the difference? And does it matter? Can I sub skirt steak for flank steak in this recipe? So many questions! Well, not to worry—we’ve got all the answers. Flank steak and skirt steak are two very common cuts of beef that you’ll often see called for in recipes almost interchangeably. In fact, we often offer both options. However, for this recipe, we really are going to push you to use flank steak. Flank steak is leaner than skirt steak, and it’s not quite as tough, which is really important because there’s no marinade here to help deal with a cut of steak as tough as skirt steak. For this grilled flank steak recipe, we aren’t calling for a marinade because we want to just grill flank steak as simply as possible so that the delicious combination of meaty, tender steak and zingy sauce sing loud and clear. Cut from the abdominal area of a cow, flank steak can be a bit tough—especially with no marinade—if you overcook it, though, so keep a close eye on the grill and on your instant read thermometer. All that said, you could totally pair this chimichurri sauce with grilled skirt steak and still have a very delicious meal.
How To Grill Flank Steak:
For some reason, a perfectly grilled steak never fails to impress people. Master this (ultra easy) culinary talent and (basically for life) you will be able to impress your significant other / offspring / parents / friends / self. Grab yourself about ten minutes, fire up the grill, and let’s make a great steak! Here’s how:
- Salt your (room temperature) steak.
- Grill your steak! The official TMP flank steak grill time: six minutes per side on the hottest part of your grill.
- Check for doneness! 120-125°F for rare, 135°F for medium rare, and 145°F for medium. Once again, because there's no marinade here to tenderize the flank steak, we don't recommend well-done flank steak. It's likely to be quite tough. If you really want to eat a well-done steak with chimichurri sauce, chose a different cut.
- Rest your steak! The reason to rest your steak is, well, science-y—also there's still some debate in the food science world about exactly WHY it works so well—but just know that it's best if you do.
- Slice your steak! Always slice flank steak against the grain, so that the slices of steak are tender and easy to chew—if you cut with the grain (i.e. the way the muscle fibers are aligned) you’ll wind up with tough steak pieces, no matter how thinly you’ve sliced them.
And You Want Me To Put What Again On My Perfect Flank Steak?
Chimichurri sauce! Traditional Argentinian chimichurri sauce is a glorious celebration of fresh herbs—a bit like pesto—and usually includes parsley, fresh garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and spices. And it is just the little something extra that grilled flank steak needs. Serving it on the side makes a slab-o-grilled-beef feel like a fancy dinner. Plus, it’s really quite simple to make. Our chimichurri sauce recipe includes:
- One shallot.
- Two fresh garlic cloves.
- Flat leaf parsley.
- Fresh oregano.
- Extra virgin olive oil.
- Red wine vinegar.
- Salt and pepper.
- Crushed red pepper flakes.
What to Serve With Flank Steak and Chimichurri Sauce:
This flank steak with chimichurri sauce may just be the perfect summer dinner, and while it’s almost a full meal on its own, every great meal needs at least a little accompaniment. We love to serve this grilled flank steak with chimichurri alongside these warm-weather favorites:
- Blackberry Goat Cheese Salad
- Peach and Tomato Caprese Salad
- Simple Butter Lettuce Salad
- Herbed Flatbread with Whipped Feta
Tools You’ll Need:
Steak With Chimichurri: Dressed to Impress!
We hope you love this summery supper as much as we do! If you make this grilled flank steak recipe, we want to hear about it! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
