This high-protein, super-simple Red Chimichurri Egg Salad is my favorite lunch. It’s like a cousin to your classic egg salad, with big, bold flavors and a ton of great textures and protein to go around.
If you think you’ve tried every version of egg salad out there, this Red Chimichurri Egg Salad is here to lovingly prove you wrong. Savory, spiced, herb-forward, and deeply satisfying, this is not your typical mayo-heavy egg salad. Instead, it’s tossed in a smoky, garlicky red chimichurri-inspired sauce and bulked up with tuna or salmon for a meal that’s filling, wholesome, and wildly delicious.
This recipe is one I return to again and again for easy lunches, quick dinners, or protein-packed meal prep. It comes together fast, keeps well in the fridge, and works with just about any base—toast, rice, grains, pita, or even straight from the bowl. If you’re craving something bold but still nourishing, this red chimichurri egg salad deserves a spot in your rotation.
Table of contents
Why you should make this quick and easy egg salad lunch
- High-protein and satiating, thanks to eggs and tuna! It’s a workhorse of a nutrition in one serving, plus it keeps you full.
- No mayo required, but the salad is still rich and satisfying.
- Big flavor, minimal effort, most of the work happens in a small food processor.
- It is flexible and customizable, depending on what you have on hand. The sauce is the star, so you can really play around with the bulk of the salad.
- Perfect for lunch, dinner, or meal prep, I eat it with roasted vegetables and rice for a filling dinner, or I prep it for the week to eat in a pita with some pickled veg. It’s incredibly versatile.
It has the comforting familiarity of egg salad, but the flavor profile is closer to something you’d find served over grilled vegetables or roasted meat—smoky, tangy, herbaceous, and just a little spicy.
What is red chimichurri?
Traditional chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce made with fresh parsley, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. It’s bright, sharp, and herb-forward, usually green in color. Red chimichurri, on the other hand, leans into deeper, warmer flavors. I haven’t been able to pinpoint a true origin point for red chimichurri, but the general consensus is that it’s like mixing together a romesco and a chimichurri, which are two of my favorite sauces.
Red chimichurri typically includes:
- Tomato paste or tomatoes
- Smoked paprika or chili powder, along with additional spices like oregano, or even cinnamon
- Warming spices like cumin and coriander
- Roasted red peppers
- Garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and cilantro or parsley
The result is a sauce that’s earthy, savory, slightly tangy, and rich, with a bit more body than its green counterpart. In this recipe, red chimichurri acts as the dressing for the egg salad, coating everything in bold flavor and mimicking some of that mayonnaise creaminess.
Ingredients to make this red chimichurri egg salad
This recipe breaks down into two main parts: the red chimichurri-style sauce and the egg salad base.
For the red chimichurri sauce:
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Garlic cloves
- Smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, coriander, chili powder
- Roasted red peppers
- Tomato paste
- Fresh parsley
- Red wine vinegar
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- A splash of water (to loosen the sauce)
Cooking the tomato paste and spices briefly in olive oil deepens their flavor and removes any raw edge, especially from the garlic, which can occasionally eat a little sharp.
For the egg salad:
- Large eggs, boiled and quartered
- Thinly sliced yellow or white onion
- Tuna or pink salmon (packed in oil or water, your choice)
- Fresh parsley
The eggs and fish provide the protein and body, and the parsley keeps everything fresh and balanced.
Substitutions for these ingredients
This recipe is easily adaptable to almost any diet. Here are a few easy swaps:
- Don’t want to use eggs?
Use mashed chickpeas instead! Or use only tuna. - No tuna or salmon?
Use shredded rotisserie chicken, canned chickpeas, or even shredded seitan if you want a different texture. - No roasted red peppers?
A fresh red pepper will also work (and is pretty delicious). Frozen peppers (I get some from Trader Joe’s) also work well in a pinch! - Out of parsley?
Cilantro, dill or scallions gives a different but equally delicious flavor. - Don’t have red wine vinegar?
Sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar are great alternatives.
Storage and serving suggestions
This recipe is great for quick lunches and even better for meal prep. Here are a few ideas on how to use and store it:
Serving suggestions
- Serve it on toast for a quick lunch.
- Serve it with roasted vegetables and grains or rice for a filling dinner.
- Serve it in a pita with yogurt sauce and pickled vegetables for an extremely flavorful bite.
- You can serve this either warm or cold 🙂
How to store this egg salad
- This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I recommend storing it in individual portions.
- This can freeze, but I don’t recommend it as my first choice. It will keep in the freezer for 3 months. To thaw, move it to the fridge 24 hours beforehand and let it thaw out before serving.
FAQ
It has warmth and is seasoned, but it’s not spicy. You can easily give it some heat by adding Calabrian chili pepper paste or some red pepper flakes!
Yes, absolutely! Finely chop everything and mash the sauce ingredients together—it’ll be chunkier but still delicious.
It is phenomenal for meal prep. It’s a great high-protein option and will keep for 4 days in the fridge.
It naturally is! Just serve it with gluten-free grains or bread if needed.
And that’s it for this Red Chimchurri Egg Salad!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 teaspoon each of smoked paprika, cumin, oregano, coriander, chili powder
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
- 5 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cool water
For the egg salad
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 large yellow onion or white onion, thinly sliced
- 2 3-ounce tins of tuna or pink salmon, packed in oil or water, your preference.
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- To a small sauté pan, add 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3-4 smashed garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon each of paprika, cumin, oregano, coriander, chili powder, 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, and 5 tablespoons tomato paste.
- Place this pan over medium heat and mix, cooking for 5-6 minutes or until the tomato paste is a shade darker in color and the garlic cloves are looking lightly golden on the outside.
- Transfer this to a food processor, add 1/2 cup fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, a few cracks of black pepper, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon water. Mix until it's a nearly-smooth sauce, but still has some texture.
- Boil 8 large eggs for 8 minutes, then shock them in ice water.
- To a large bowl, add the red sauce, 1/4 of a sliced onion, and then slice in the eggs, cutting them in quarters.
- Drain the tuna cans and flake them in, add 1/2 cup of parsley and mix. Taste and season with salt and pepper as preferred.
- Serve either on toast, with rice, with your favorite grains, or in a pita. It goes well with nearly any base 🙂
Comments
Out of this world! Flavor feista in my mouth. Thank you for the tips and tricks…I was too lazy to take out the food processor. I followed exactly, otherwise but I served with sardines! Delicious!!!
Love this!! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it, and thank you for taking the time to leave a rating and review!
This was delicious! I never thought I would love an egg salad, but I do. I’ve started A Year of Ingredients and between your YouTube shorts and Justine Cooks I’ve already made a half a dozen new things. Thank you for all you do!
I’m so so thrilled you like it!!!
This was so easy and so good to whip up! I am a very amateur cook but when I saw you post this, I knew I had to make it. It’s my first time making egg salad, and wow it was delicious.
This makes me so happy!! I’m so thrilled you liked it <3
So easy and adaptable and flavorful! Only used a few of the spices, skipped the tomato paste, and used cilantro instead of parsley. Usually, with the latter, I don’t always like the flavor but with everything else going on (took the Calabrian chili suggestion), it is not as noticeable. Can confirm this chimichurri-obsessed household approves of this version.
Wow!! I wasn’t sure how the tuna would go with the rest, but it gave the perfect punch! The whole thing was insanely good together! Definitely will be a regular for me. Thanks Justine!
Used a smoked salmon and it was phenomenal. Adding this to rotation. I could eat this all day!!
Ahhhh music to my ears!! I’m so glad you liked it!
I didn’t have most of the ingredients listed, but wanted to make something as close as possible, so I improvised…I used a sun-dried tomato along with some of the olive oil from the container, sprinkled on some paprika, oregano, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder and dill, plus a garlic glove. I cooked it over low heat while I boiled one egg, then mashed with a fork and added some skyr, lemon juice and a splash of water to thin. Added a bit of kimchi, about 3/4 of a 5 ounce can of tuna, then cut in the egg. I put it on some fresh sourdough, then added salt and pepper on top, plus some mint. Overall, not very close to Justine’s, but very influenced by it 😅 The end result was SO. GOOD! I’ll have to make this correctly sometime, haha! Thank you!
OMG genius and I’m so so glad you were able to make this work for you, it sounds delicious! If you ever get to make it as written, I hope you like it just as much!
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