We’ve heard a lot about chimichurri steak…but what about chimichurri chicken? This random thought crossed my mind and I’ve ended up trying it out for grilled chicken skewers. The result was great and we really liked the combination of chimichurri with chicken! So I continued to experiment and ended up with this favourite combo of mine, which is Chimichurri Chicken & Mozzarella together in a sandwich.
With an added touch of jalapenos and red chillies, the chimichurri features a subtle piquant spice that worked incredibly well with the chicken. The chimichurri acts as both a marinade and a sauce. If time allows, I like to pre-marinate the chicken with buttermilk to achieve a more tender texture before marinating it with the chimichurri. I usually do that the day before and then, on the day, do the second marinade with chimichurri before cooking the chicken.
The flavour combo in this sandwich is quite light as chimichurri is refreshing to taste and mozzarella is relatively mild in flavour. This makes it an ideal summer lunch or a picnic bite. If you’d prefer a richer flavour, feel free to test it out with other stronger cheese varieties. You can enjoy the sandwich as is or put it under a panini grill to get that oozing melted cheese effect – the latter is definitely tastier in my opinion!
How to Make Chimichurri Chicken Mozzarella Sandwich
Ingredients
- Ciabatta Bread
- Chicken Breast – butterflied
- Salt & Black Pepper – to season
- Crushed Tomato
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Buttermilk – for the first marinade. Optional
- Chimichurri
- Fresh Coriander
- Fresh Parsley
- White Vinegar
- Olive Oil
- Jalapenos
- Red Chillies
- Garlic
- Shallot
Recipe Notes
- You can pre-make the Chimichurri ahead of time and either store it in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Or you can also freeze it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To freeze the chimichurri, make sure you leave some space at the top of the jar as the sauce may expand. Do make sure you defrost it in the fridge overnight before use.
- If you don’t have both coriander and parsley, you can use just one and simply double the amount. I’ve made it numerous times with just coriander and it was absolutely just fine.
- As mentioned, I like to marinate the chicken with buttermilk first before the chimichurri. This is completely optional but I would personally recommend doing so, especially with using chicken breast.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, simply mix together 1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Leave the mixture to sit for about 5 minutes until tiny curdles form.
What you’ll need
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Looking for other sandwich recipe inspo? Check these out too:
Chimichurri Chicken Mozzarella Sandwich
Equipment
- 1 Panini Press/Grill optional
Ingredients
- 4 Ciabatta Bread Roll halved
- Butter to spread on the bread
- 2 large Chicken Breast halved horizontally
- ½ cup Buttermilk
- Salt & Black Pepper
- 8 tbsp Crushed Tomatoes
- Mozzarella Cheese sliced
For the Chimichurri
- 25 g Fresh Parsley roughly chopped
- 25 g Fresh Coriander roughly chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic roughly chopped
- 1 Shallot roughly chopped
- 2 Red Chillies
- 1 Jalapeno
- ¼ cup White Vinegar
- ½ cup Olive Oil
Instructions
Making the chimichurri
- Add all the chimichurri ingredients together into the blender. Blitz until combined.25 g Fresh Parsley, 25 g Fresh Coriander, 3 cloves Garlic, 1 Shallot, 2 Red Chillies, 1 Jalapeno, ¼ cup White Vinegar, ½ cup Olive Oil
Marinating and cooking the chicken
- Season the chicken with a generous amount of salt and black pepper.2 large Chicken Breast, Salt & Black Pepper
- Marinate in buttermilk for a few hours or ideally overnight.½ cup Buttermilk
- After the first marinade, discard the buttermilk and then spread half the chimichurri on the chicken. Marinate for another 1-2 hours.
- Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side until fully cooked. Set aside.
Assembling the sandwich
- Spread butter on each side of the halved bread roll. Place the bread onto the same grill pan used for cooking the chicken, turning the heat off, and let it toast from the residual heat.4 Ciabatta Bread Roll, Butter
- Top the bottom half of the toasted bread with 2 tbsp crushed tomatoes.8 tbsp Crushed Tomatoes
- Place a slice of cooked chicken on top and then top with sliced mozzarella cheese.Mozzarella Cheese
- Spread a layer of the remaining chimichurri and, finally, the top half of the bread.
- Repeat with the remaining sandwiches.
- If using, place the sandwich onto the panini grill.
Notes
- Prep time does not include time for marinating the chicken.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, simply mix together 1 cup of milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Leave to sit for 5 minutes until tiny curdles form.
- For the chimichurri, ideally, you should use both coriander and parsley. However, you can use only either one in this recipe. Simply double the amount so that the total amount of herbs adds up to 50g.
- You can make the chimichurri ahead of time. Simply store it in an airtight jar and keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Or you can also freeze it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If freezing the chimichurri, make sure you leave some space at the top of the jar as the sauce may expand. Defrost in the fridge overnight before use.
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