The All Blacks, who were missing a number of key players, ran in five tries against their determined opponents.
Rieko Loane, a last-minute replacement for the injured Anton Lienert-Brown, opened the scoring. Sevu Reece, Dalton Papalii and a Luke Jacobson double sealed the win.
Although New Zealand had nearly 70 percent possession for most of the first half, they only led 7-0 after 30 minutes thanks to some determined Argentina defence. But they scored twice in the closing stages of the first half to lead 22-0 at the break.
With Matera still off the field at the start of the second half, Beauden Barrett stepped around three tacklers before flicking a one-handed pass to Jacobson for a fourth try.
Jacobson scored his second after replacement prop Carlos Muzzio was yellow carded as Argentina again suffered disciplinary problems. (BBC)