Spice Up Your Weeknight Dinner with Chimichurri Fries!
My husband recently made a homemade chimichurri sauce to go with grilled steaks we had for dinner and it was DELICIOUS.
Not familiar with chimichurri? It’s a common sauce served with meat in South America made from chopped parsley, garlic and olive oil. Think of it as a South American pesto. It is one of my absolute favorites, so when we had leftover sauce, I wasn’t going to let it go to waste!
A couple nights later I was whipping up sloppy joes for dinner and I decided we needed some fries to go with them. Fortunately, I had a bag of Ore-Ida golden crinkles in the freezer. Inspiration hit when I was pulling them out—chimichurri fries! Although I have enjoyed chimichurri fries at a restaurant many times, I’ve never attempted them at home.
It was sooooo easy! Here’s how I did it:
- Baked fries according to package instructions for about 12 minutes.
- Took them out, tossed them in chimichurri sauce and put them back in for another eight minutes or so.
They were crispy, spicy … PERFECT. Better than any restaurant’s because they weren’t greasy—just crisp and flavorful!
Below is the recipe I used for the chimichurri sauce. You can find recipes anywhere, but this one is from the Cook’s Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup packed fresh parsley (preferably flat-leaf)
- 5 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup minced red onion
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ red pepper flakes (omit if you don’t like any heat)
Directions:
- Process garlic and parsley in food processor until chopped fine. Transfer to medium bowl.
- Whisk in remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended. Allow to stand 30 minutes before serving.
Yields: one generous cup
Compensation was provided by Ore-Ida® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Ore-Ida.
