An easy-to-make flavorful Italian condiment, Gremolata is made with fresh parsley, lemon zest, and garlic.
Perfect for spooning over osso buco, grilled fish, chicken, or beef or adding to sauteed veggies.
What is Gremolata?
Gremolata is a simple Italian condiment perfect with so many dishes. It can be used on just about anything (except maybe desserts!)
Serve with grilled fish, chicken, pork, or beef. Add a small amount to a bowl of soup. Sprinkle over a pasta salad, potato salad, or a green salad for a burst of flavor. Garnish sauteed or grilled veggies with freshly made gremolata.
But don't stop there! Sprinkle on eggs for breakfast or add to avocado toast! You could also add to roasted potatoes or baked potatoes.
Gremolata is made with just three simple ingredients; fresh parsley, fresh lemon zest, and fresh garlic!
It really can go with just about everything!
Essential Ingredients for a Classic Gremolata
You use such few ingredients in this recipe, that you want to use the very best quality you can find.
- Parsley - Use Italian loose-leaf parsley rather than the tight curly parsley. Make certain the parsley is very fresh. Wash well and dry before beginning. You don't want wet parsley or it will just become a wet sticky mess.
- Lemon - Use a fresh lemon. You will just be using the zest in the gremolata.
- Garlic - Use fresh cloves of garlic. Save your bottled garlic for another recipe. You want to taste the full flavor of fresh garlic.
How to make Italian Gremolata
- Bunch parsley together and cut off the stems. It's okay to have some stems, but remove 2-3 inches of the stems from the bottom.
- Finely chop parsley. This may take a while. Use a chef knife and use a back-and-forth rocking motion. Keep moving parsley back into a pile and chop.
3. Finely chop garlic. You want very small pieces of garlic. Add to parsley
4. Zest lemon over the chopped parsley
5. Give everything a final chop together. This helps mix everything together.
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator
Variations to Customize Your Gremolata
It's okay to make gremolata your own and mix things up a bit! Try some of these variations:
- Use a different citrus instead of lemon zest. Try orange or lime!
- Add a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper to make it more saucy. Perfect for drizzling into a soup or adding to a grilled steak. It's also delicious added to hot pasta!
- Add a few fresh herbs - try basil, mint or oregano
- Toast a few pine nuts or walnuts then finely chop and add to the gremolata
- Add green onions or shallots for a slightly different flavor
Pro Tips for Perfecting Your Gremolata
- Use very fresh, quality ingredients. Each ingredient is highlighted so you want to use fresh, high-quality ingredients.
- Fresh parsley often has dirt on the leaves. Wash well in a bowl of fresh water.
- Dry parsley before cutting. If the parsley is wet, the leaves will stick together.
- Add 1-2 cloves of garlic. This depends on your personal taste as well as how large your cloves are.
- Chop everything by hand. Don't use a food processor or mini chopper. You want to have control over the chopping and the size of everything.
- If using gremolata right away, store at room temperature. Otherwise, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Your gremolata will last 5-7 days!
Delicious Ways to Incorporate Gremolata Into Your Dishes
Gremolata can be served over just about any savory dish. Add a sprinkle or 1-2 tablespoons per person over your favorite recipe.
Some favorites to try include:
Common Questions About Making and Using Gremolata
Gremolata is best when eaten within 5-7 days.
While a food processor makes chopping easier, it tends to over-process the ingredients for gremolata.
It's best to hand-chop the parsley and garlic and then add the lemon zest.
Gremolata and chimichurri are very similar, but they originate from two different countries. Gremolata comes from Italian cuisine while chimichurri comes from Latin America.
Chimichurri has parsley and garlic, but it also has red wine vinegar and oil making it more of a sauce. The chimichurri does not traditionally have lemon zest.
Both are very flavorful condiments that can be used on a variety of dishes.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
Be certain to check out my other condiment recipes!
Easy Homemade Gremolata
Equipment
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 1 Bunch Italian parsley
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 1 zest from one lemon
Instructions
- Wash parsley well and dry thoroughly. You can dry parsley using a salad spinner and roll into a clean dish towel. Parsley needs to be dry before cutting or is will all stick together.1 Bunch Italian parsley
- Bunch parsley together and cut off the stems. It's okay to have some stems, but remove 2-3 inches off the bottom.
- Finely chop parsley. This may take awhile. Use a chef knife and use a back and forth rocking motion. Keep moving parsley back into a pile and chop.
- Finely chop garlic. You want very small pieces of garlic. Add to parsley1-2 cloves garlic
- Zest lemon over chopped parsley1 zest from one lemon
- Give everything a final chop together. This helps mix everything together.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator
Notes
- Use very fresh, quality ingredients. Each ingredient is highlighted so you want to use fresh, high quality ingredients.
- Fresh parsley often has dirt on the leaves. Wash well in a bowl of fresh water.
- Dry parsley before cutting. If the parsley is wet, the leaves will stick together.
- Add 1-2 cloves of garlic. This depends on your personal taste as well as how large your cloves are.
- Chop everything by hand. Don't use a food processor or mini chopper. You want to have control over the chopping and the size of everything.
- If using gremolata right away, store at room temperature. Otherwise,store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Your gremolata will last 1-2 weeks!
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Carl Burton says
Hi, I'm giving your Osso Bucco recipe a try tomorrow and saw this link to the Gremolata. The pictures on the recipe sure look like Cilantro instead of Italian Parsley. Are they interchangeable?
Thank you,
Kathy says
Hi Carl,
No they are not interchangeable. Italian parsley is a flat leafed parsley and looks a lot like cilantro. If you can't find it at the store, you can opt for curly parsley. Let me know how everything turns out!
Kathy
Carl Burton says
Thank you for clarifying. I'll go with IP. BTW the Elk Osso Bucco turned out just like your pictures and was super tasty.
Kathy says
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Valentina says
I love Gremolata, and how perfect (and beautiful) it is with the brightly colored salmon. I would love having this on hand to add to all sorts of things. Delicious!
Kathy says
It's so simple, but adds so much flavor!
David @ Spiced says
I remember stumbling across gremolata years ago - we were in a restaurant and the menu mentioned gremolata. I was like, "What the heck is that!?" Turns out it's an easy and delicious way to add flavor to recipes...and it sounds cool, too! Great post, Kathy!
Kathy says
Thanks!!!