This authentic churrasco recipe is served with flavorful chimichurri sauce. Its fast and easy to make with incredible flavor thanks to a quick marinade in Cuban mojo. Churrasco is the perfect dish for your upcoming barbecues and summer cookouts.
As a kid living in Miami, Florida, I grew up eating churrasco. You can find mom and pop eateries who speak no English but make the best grilled chicken and steaks with rice and beans on every street in South Florida, and churrasco is incredibly common here.[feast_advanced_jump_to]
Churrasco (pronounced chur-rahs-co) is a Portuguese-Brazilian term for a barbecue, created by the gauchos who ran the cattle ranches, where they would gather their families and communities for a big meal of barbecued meats.
The men would dig huge pits to grill over and while they were preparing and roasting the meat, the ladies and children would bring ingredients from their gardens to make sides dishes and accompaniments.
While churrasco originated in Brazil, its made in several countries in South America: in Argentina and Uruguay churrasco is any boneless grilled steak thats sliced thin and often served with chimichurri sauce.
In Equador, the grilled steak is seasoned with chimichurri sauce and served with avocados and fries.
The dish churrasco shown here was brought to the US through Nicaraguan immigrants who came to Miami in the 1950s, served with chimichurri sauce.
Churrasco is made from skirt steak, which comes from the section of the cow known as the beef plate primal cut. A very tasty cut of beef, yet it is known to be a tougher cut, as it has a lot of connective tissue.
How long should I marinate the skirt steak?
Skirt steak is a loose muscle, you can literally kind of pull it apart when raw, so marinades permeate it very easily! You can give it a quick 30 minute soak in marinade and see a real impact in flavor, though I wouldnt marinate more than 3 hours otherwise youll relax the proteins too much and the steak will start to get mushy.
How to Make Churrasco and Chimichurri Sauce
Churrasco most popularly uses skirt steak, a cut of beef that is easily found at your local grocery store. Its a long, skinny cut that comes from the plate area of the cow, under the ribs. Its lean and can be tough, meant to be cooked to medium rare, prized more for its beefy flavor than its tenderness.
Thats where a quick 30 minute marinade in mojo comes in. Mojo is a Cuban marinade made with citrus, oil, and lots of garlic, imparting a ton of vibrant flavor and tenderizing the skirt steak.
Skirt steak does great with any marinade so if youve got your favorite marinade in mind, use it!
Next up, the chimichurri. I like making it in advance, but it tastes good freshly made as well. I have a full recipe for chimichurri sauce already, so go take a peek! Its literally just a medley of fresh herbs for a sauce and it possibly will be the best sauce youll ever have. Like, ever.
You can make this steak inside on a hot grill pan or cast iron skillet, or throw the skirt steak on the grill for your barbecues this year. Its really that simple!
Pro Tip: Let your steaks rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. Letting them shake off the cold makes sure that the steaks cook evenly and the proteins dont tense up.
Mojo Marinade, optional. Its definitely not a must, but I love me a good marinade, honey. And the flavors of mojo definitely add a nice tropical flavor with the citrus in it, tons of garlic, too.
Skirt Steak. Make sure to ask for the inner skirt from your butcher. The outer skirt is wider and has a tough membrane youll have to pull off.
Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper. Simple seasoning is all you need!
Chimichurri. If you have a blender or food processor, making this sauce is a breeze. Its still a breeze if you dont but youll be mincing and finely chopping all your herbs and garlic by hand.
PERFECT Grilled Skirt Steak (Churassco)
FAQ
What is the best cut of meat for churrasco?
What is churrasco meat called?
What is traditional churrasco?
What meat is used for skirt steak?
What is churrasco steak?
Take this simple recipe for churrasco steak, which is quickly grilled or seared, then bathed with some chimichurri sauce, as one might see it done in Argentina or Uruguay. This style of churrasco recipe often calls for skirt steak, but not always. You can use other thin, quick-cooking steaks as well.
Which steak is best for churrasco?
Skirt steak is best for churrasco. It is a relatively tough cut, which is why it’s important that you let it marinade long enough so that it becomes tender. If you can’t get a hold of it, use flank steak instead. For a steak dinner, this one’s impressively easy! Just marinate and grill it.
What is churrasco made of?
Just delightful! Churrasco is made from skirt steak, which comes from the section of the cow known as the beef plate primal cut . A very tasty cut of beef, yet it is known to be a tougher cut, as it has a lot of connective tissue .
What cuts of meat do Brazilians churrasco eat?
The favorite cut of meat for Brazilians to fire up on the churrasco is the picanha. This is hard to find outside of Brazil, because most butchers subdivide the picanha into other cuts of meat, for it is a cross- section of rump, loin, and round—the muscle that caps the rump/sirloin cut.