Best Grilled Tri-Tip Recipe (2024)

It takes an amazing marinade, a great cut of Tri-tip beef, and a hot grill to create the BEST Tri-tip you’ll ever have! It’s the perfect Santa Maria Tri-Tip Recipe!

A few years ago I was introduced to “Tri-Tip”! I had never heard of this particular cut of beef, and wasn’t really sure what it was?

Where did we meet? Costco. I was standing in front of the pre-packaged marinated meats when this very nice younger man said to me “Have you tried that tri-tip?”. Nope! He highly recommended it, so I purchased one, threw it on the grill…and we fell in love! The rest, as they say, is history!

It’s now a summer-time favorite for us… and many of you across this country!

For Father’s Day “Mr. Nest” (as he is now lovingly referred too…which I’m sure is fulfilling a lifelong dream of his! Lol) requested “Surf and Turf” for dinner! I didn’t have any steaks in the freezer and with the current price of Steaks… I decided to do a little freezer diving to see what we had on hand. Up I came with a beautiful Tri-tip in hand! (It was similar to Arthur pulling the sword out of the stone!)

Rather than creating a “wet” marinade I decided to go with a rub that would create a scrumptious “crust” when grilled. The results were amazing! Mr. Nest hasn’t stopped talking about this recipe. Don’t bother setting the steak sauce on the table…you’re not going to need it with this Beef Tri-Tip!

What is Beef Tri-Tip or Santa Maria Tri-Tip?

Let’s talk “Beef”!

The tri-tip is a triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin subprimal cut with three tips. (Yes! I had to look that up! “Subprimal” isn’t a daily word I toss around!) Untrimmed, the tri-tip weighs around 5 pounds. It’s known as “Santa Maria Steak”, “Triangle Tip”, “Triangle Steak”, and “Newport Steak”.

It became well-known in Santa Maria, California, in the 1950s when a store manager began grilling it! It was well received by customers. (It’s well received at this nest too in 2022!)

How To Make The Best Easy Tri-Tip Marinade

What you’ll need for Grilled Tri-Tip

• 2.5 – 3.5 pounds of Tri-tip
• 1½ tsp garlic salt
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp Lawry’s Season Salt
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp dried, or fresh, parsley
• 4 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil

Preparing Rub for Tri-tip

In a small bowl add garlic salt, onion powder, season salt, salt, black pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder and parsley.

Using a small whisk, or fork, mix until well combined.

Preparing Tri-Tip for Cooking

This recipe is for grilling the Tri-tip, however you can oven roast it as well. I will include tips on how to do that below. Grilling produces a beautiful crispy crust and smokey flavor to your roast. If you’re able to “grill” the tri-tip I highly recommend grilling.

Trim the fat cap from the roast. However, if you are oven roasting, leave it on.

Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce over both sides of the Tri-tip. About 2 Tablespoons per side. Worchestershire sauce adds a depth of flavor to this beef roast that can’t be replicated with any other ingredient.

Rub the Worchestershire sauce into the meat. A little massage before you throw it down on the hot grill.

Drizzle half the olive oil on one side and the other half of the olive oil on the other side.

Using a large tablespoon sprinkle half the seasoning rub over the top of the Tri-tip and massage it into the meat. (Right now with all this massaging going on…you’re wishing you were Tri-tip! Lol)

Carefully turn the meat over and sprinkle the other half of the seasoning rub into the other side of the meat. Yep…massage again!

Both sides should have a nice thick coating of the seasonings rubbed into the oil and Worcestershire sauce meat. I love how beautiful this piece of meat looks coated in this rub! So pretty!

Place the seasoned meat in a large Ziploc bag, pushing as much air out as possible before sealing. Store the meat in the refrigerator and marinate, turning a couple of times, for about 8 hours.

TIP: You can leave this in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Best Way To Grill Tri-Tip

Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30–45 minutes before you plan to cook it. It is always best practice to grill beef at room temperature.

Preheat your grill to high heat. About 600°F. Give it a good 15–20 minutes to preheat. Place the roast on a plate or baking sheet. Grease the grill to prevent the meat from sticking.

Sear the roast over high heat for 2–3 minutes, until it is nicely browned. Flip the meat over and sear on the other side for 2–3 minutes. Keep the lid shut as much as you can. (This may mean locking your husband up in his room! He will want to peek!! Constantly!!! I speak from experience!)

Turn off the heat on the side of the grill that your meat is on. If there are flames under the meat, extinguish them with a spray water bottle. This will be grilling via INDIRECT heat. Lower the other side of the grill to low heat. If you are cooking with charcoals, arrange the meat and charcoals so that the meat is not cooking directly above the coals.

TIP: If your grill is large enough, place the meat in the center with NO flame underneath it, and turn the burners on each side to low. This will give you more even cooking results all around the meat.

Temperature for tri-tip roast

Grill without opening the lid for about 20–25 minutes (I peeked every 10 minutes because I have no patience! Don’t be a Norine!), or about 10–15 minutes per pound, depending on the level of doneness you are trying to achieve. Rare is 135 degrees F. Medium rare is 145 degrees F. I went a little higher to 152 degrees F.

TIP: 145° is perfect if you want a little pink inside.

Look at that beautiful Char! The seasonings will seal the juices inside the meat with that quick beginning sear! Embrace the sear!!!

Finishing the Tri-Tip

Carefully remove the Tri-tip from the grill. Watch it…it’s HOT!!! Place on a rimmed serving dish or an aluminum disposable casserole container. Cover meat tightly with aluminum foil. Let the meat rest 10–15 minutes.

Slice the meat against the grain and serve.

Important Tips for slicing Tri-Tip:

A little known fact about this lean steak is that it comprises two different grain directions, making slicing it correctly a little more tricky…but not impossible! The tenderness of tri-tip relies on how it is cut after grilling. Incorrectly slicing it can lead to a very chewy piece of meat. If you’re half alligator…don’t pay attention to these tips!

Within the tri-tip, two different grains intersect. Half the steak contains fibers running vertically, and the other half contains long muscle fibers coming in at an angle. This can be easily seen when the meat is raw.

Locate where the two grains intersect and cut vertically, splitting the roast in half. One side will be longer than the other. (Generally the side with the longest point).

Inspect the grain of each piece of severed tri-tip; slice perpendicular to the grain of each half. For maximum tenderness, thinly slice the tri-tip with the knife slightly angled. This is called cutting on the Bias. (Remember sewing class…similar principal!)

The flavors of the spices from the rub infuse into the meat spectacularly! The crispy outer crust is sublime! We were all in agreement that steak sauce would ruin this tri-tip recipe.

Tender and juicy, this is seriously the BEST Tri-Tip Steak I’ve ever had!

How to Roast Tri Tip in the Oven

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place an oven-safe roasting rack on top. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Place the roast in the pan, fat side down, and sear the roast for about 3–4 minutes, until a brown crust forms. Flip and sear the other side.

Place the roast on the cooling rack. Put the roast in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for about 20–30 minutes, or about 10–15 minutes per pound. Remember rare is 130–135 degrees F. Medium rare is 135-145 degrees F. Remove the roast from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 10–15 minutes. Slice to serve. See above instructions for carving the meat.

Other Favorite Grilling Recipes

• Grilled Honey Garlic Pork Chops with Apples
• Grilled Jerk Chicken Recipe with Pineapple
• Grilled Salmon with Green Apple Slaw
• Grilled Cilantro Citrus Shrimp
• Grilled London Broil
• Hawaiian-Style Kalbi Grilled Beef Short Ribs
• Best Grilled Chicken Marinade from Soulfully Made

I hope you enjoy this wonderful summer grilling recipe! It’s going to make several appearances on our patio table this year…and next…and next! Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me today! Have a great day and…

Happy Nesting!