This Churrasco Steak Sandwich from Chile features delicious churrasco steak. You can cook the steak in a cast iron skillet and then layer it on a sandwich with avocado, tomatoes, and mayonnaise!

Churrasco steak Sandwich on a plate with tomatoes and avocado

Hello Reader! I try my hardest to research recipes as best as I can before posting to ensure I am representing each culture correctly. If this recipe is from your country and I have made a mistake or you have suggestions for how to make it more authentic, I would love to hear! Please leave a comment below letting me know what should be different, and I will rework the recipe. It is always my intention to pay homage and respect to each cultural dish that I cook. Thanks for reading!

This sandwich is a popular option in Chile (almost as popular as this Pastel de Choclo), but Chile is not the only place that you’ll hear the word “churrasco”. In fact, “churrasco” is a popular term in South America, particularly Brazil, for grilled steak.

Typically, churrasco steaks in other South American countries are marinated in red wine vinegar and topped with chimichurri sauce (I have a fantastic Red Chimichurri sauce that would be good smothered all over a churrasco steak or steak sandwich)!

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What Type of Meat is Churrasco?

In Latin America, the name “churrasco” essentially refers to any steak that is cut very thin to be eaten. Steak houses serve this dish on skewers, and cut beef off of the ends of the skewers to serve churrasco on your plate (similar to meat being shaven very thin for gyros in Greece!).

The term churrasco normally refers to thin beef, and most of the time, this beef has chimichurri sauce to go with it. In this recipe for a Churrasco steak sandwich, you can add chimichurri if you wish.

I used Sirloin Tip Steak as my cut of choice from churrasco, but you can use anything cut finely. Another popular choice is skirt steak.

Toppings for Churrasco Steak Sandwich

All of the recipes I could find online for churrasco steak sandwiches from Chile were a bit different from the other churrasco recipes. None of them were marinated or had many seasonings at all. And none (that I found at least) were topped with chimichurri either!

Instead, the internet tells me that churrasco steak sandwiches normally come topped with avocado and tomato. If you want, you can add mayonnaise as well!

If you’d like to top your steak with chimichurri, it sounds delicious to me! Use this recipe for Chimichurri from Argentina.

How to Prepare Churrasco Steak

To make this dish, you will be cooking the steak “a la plancha” (instructions below) with a hot cast iron skillet.

In Uruguay or Argentina or Chile, the cut of beef cooks over hot coals. It can also cook on a hot skillet like we plan to do today.

How to Cook my Steak A La Plancha

This recipe calls for cooking your steak “a la plancha”. Cooking a sirloin tip steak “a la plancha” gives it a crispy outside and a yummy inside! I used a cast iron skillet to cook my steaks.

First, take your steaks out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and garlic.

Use a cast iron skillet for this recipe. Put the cast iron skillet on the stove and bring to a very high heat. Your skillet should almost be smoking with the heat.

Before you put any steak on the skillet, sprinkle the skillet with a ½ tsp of salt and allow the salt to heat up.

When you put the steak in the pan, this salt combined with the heat will create a beautiful crust on the steak that keeps the interior juicy. With such thin steaks, you need only cook them for about 30 seconds-1 minute on each side depending on desired doneness.