Italian Salsa Verde Recipe

This vibrant Italian Salsa Verde is a flavorful green sauce packed with fresh herbs and a briny kick from anchovies. Perfect for drizzling over your favorite baked fish, grilled meats, or tinned seafood sandwich. This is the sauce that will make you feel like a 5-star chef in your own kitchen.

Different versions of salsa verde can be found in varying corners and villages of Italy. While parsley is the star of the show, some recipes feature hardboiled eggs to help with emulsion, others prominently feature capers, and still others add in basil or thyme.

After making this Italian green sauce for years, I've perfected the flavors and textures into this foolproof formula.

It's the perfect finishing touch for your restaurant dinner at home, but equally impactful on your everyday breakfast and lunch dishes.

Pair it with Broiled Scallops, Grilled Shrimp, Tuna Crudo or Broiled Cod for a restaurant-quality seafood dinner at home!

Ingredients for salsa verde:

Before we get to the step by step instructions, a few notes about the ingredients.

Herbs: flat leaf parsley and chives are the perfect combo for this flavorful sauce. Substitute green scallions for chives. Parsley is the flavor backbone of this Italian sauce.

Garlic and Shallot: adding both alliums to your green sauce packs a metric ton of flavor and texture. You can choose one or the other, if needed.

Anchovies: a traditional part of Italian salsa verde, anchovies add gorgeous, deep flavor to our sauce. Substitute 1 ½ teaspoons anchovy paste, if needed. If you prefer a vegetarian sauce, substitute diced capers.

Oil: choose a quality extra virgin olive oil for the sauce. Nothing fancy, but you will taste the flavor, so we want it to be a good one!

Vinegar: red wine vinegar is the perfect choice. Substitute white wine vinegar or lemon juice, if needed.

Spice: though not traditional, a bit of finely diced red chili or dried chili flakes adds a lovely layer of spice to the sauce.

Full ingredient list and measurements included in the printable recipe card below.

How to make Italian Salsa Verde:

Step 1: Prep herbs

Dicing the herbs by hand takes a minute longer than using food processor, but it will give you a better consistency. If you must use your machine, be sure just to pulse until a chunky consistency - we don't want to pulverize the herbs to a pesto.

Step 2: Mix sauce

Combine diced herbs, minced anchovy fillets, garlic and shallot, with the dijon, lemon juice and olive oil.

Taste and add salt (start with ½ teaspoon). If using chilis, add now. Stir well, then taste and adjust seasoning.

Let the green sauce sit for about 30 minutes so the flavors grow. Serve with seafood, meat, veggies or eggs.

How to use Italian Salsa Verde

This Italian green sauce is one of my go-to condiments that make every simple dish a little tastier. While I started off using this recipe for dishes like Broiled Scallops and Cod with Salsa Verde, I quickly graduated to using it drizzled over roasted veggies, crispy potatoes and even over my eggs in the morning. It's truly the sauce gift that keeps on giving.

How to store salsa verde?

Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Is salsa verde the same as chimichurri?

Think of Italian Salsa Verde and Argentinean chimichurri as first cousins. Both feature fresh herbs in an olive oil and and citrus (or vinegar) sauce. But the Italian version relies on anchovies for a rich depth of flavor (and sometimes capers), while chimichurri relies more heavily on chili peppers for a spicy kick.

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