Marinated Tri-Tip Roast Recipe
April 2nd, 2008
Marinated Tri-Tip Roast Recipe
Spring is in the air and its time to dust off that grill! And what better way to break it in than with a good piece of red meat - an all-time favorite among our friends is tri-tip. This is primarily due to the fact that sells a particularly delicious burgundy marinaded version at nearly $9 per pound. For that reason we thought why not marinate it ourselves considering we can pick it up at on sale for under $2 per pound.
Tri-tip is a small boneless triangular muscle cut from the bottom sirloin, usually weighing in at about 2 ½ pounds. This cut of meat has a full beefy flavor, low fat content, and is relatively inexpensive. When buying tri-tip, look for a cut that has been been well trimmed but not overly so. You want a little extra fat around the outside so that it will self-baste while cooking. Give this recipe a shot and I guarantee that it will become one of your favorites as well, assuming you don't overcook it that is ;)
Formula for Tri-Tip Steak Marinade
1-1½ ~ 2½ lbs (675 to 1,150g) tri-tip beef roast
1 large onion, chopped
¼ cup melted clarified butter (very but I buy )
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup A-1 type steak sauce (Yes, there is room for A-1, but its NOT on steak!)
1 cup teriyaki sauce
3 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 cup dry red wine Chianti
Procedure for Tri-Tip Marinade
1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix well.
2. Add marinade and tri-tip to a zip top bag, being sure to remove as much air as possible. Or, if you have a fancy vacuum sealing apparatus, this is the time to whip it out. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, flipping the bag at least once during that time. The longer the better, I usually let it sit for 3 days minimum. To better incorporate flavors, massage the tri-tip through the bag twice a day.
At this point you can also throw your meat in the freezer for later use. I always buy couple roasts while on sale. You will need full 24 hours to defrost in the refrigerator.
Procedure for Grilling Tri-Tip Roast
1. Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes. Oak, mesquite, or hickory, really this is your preference. Take this time to warm up your grill. If you are using a charcoal grill you will want to build the fire on one side only, so you can later cook with indirect heat on the other. If you are using a gas grill, turn to high (half of the burners only).
2. Once your grill is preheated place the tri-tip (fat-side up) above the fuel side of the grill. Roast each side for 4-5 minutes to create a sear. Drain wood chips while you are searing off the roast.
3. After searing*, add the wood chips atop of the fire (if you are using a gas grill you will want to contain the chips in a foil packet poked with small holes). Move roast to the non-heated side of the grill, close lid and open vent slightly, continue cooking 12-15 minutes (or 130 degrees) for medium-rare. If you have a thermometer I encourage you to use it. While the roast is cooking, place marinade in a saucepan and heat over low heat, uncovered and reduce the liquid create reduction sauce.
*Once the steak is seared you can also finish in the oven.
4. Remove roast and tent with foil, let rest at least 15 minutes to allow the delicious juice to settle back into the roast. Slice thin across grain (not into 3 separate steaks - you know who you are) and serve with marinade reduction.
Do you have any stories or tri-tip recipes you would like to share? Leave a comment below.
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If you like red meat, you should also try the Slow-Roasted Beef Recipe.
Thanks for visiting!
April 7th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I am really digging this site, nice photos and excellent instructions!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Jamie! Thank you for your kind words. Have you tried any recipes yet? Let us know if there is anything in particular you would like to see in the future.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:44 am
[...] you like red meat, check out the Marinated Tri-Tip Roast Recipe. Thanks for [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
forget the beef, i want recipes with beer (or maybe some tuna)!
April 8th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Well maybe WTF Brewery needs to do some guest posting on our site!
April 8th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
[...] A fellow blogger wrote a fantastic post today on “Marinated Tri-Tip Roast Recipe”Here’s ONLY a quick extractMarinated Tri-Tip Roast Recipe Spring is in the air and its time to dust off that grill! And what better way to break it in than with a good piece of red meat – an all-time favorite among our friends is tri-tip. … [...]
April 9th, 2008 at 11:51 am
It seems in the past for me anyways that leaving site for 15 minutes = cold meat. Any suggestions?
April 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Mike, we recommend that you make a “tent” with an aluminum foil and loosely cover the meat. Also prior to cooking the meat, try to bring the meat back to room temperatures before throwing it on the grill. Let us know how this works for you.
All – Thanks for reading WB and posting feedback. We appreciate it!
April 10th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Thanks for letting the secret out homie!! yUMMM!
April 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
yup, Ricky the secret is out :) Treat your friends and family to some TTT (tasty tri-tip) this weekend.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I made this last night and I wanted to thank you! We all enjoyed it so much.. My friends want me to make it next weekend too!
Rob
June 6th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Great stuff! Is this the actual marinade from seaside market? Did you get it from the guys/gals behind the counter? I’m gonna give it a shot this weekend. Thank you.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Love the blog and info. I just grilled some tri tip with and served with grilled corn and black olive aioli. Come take a look when you have a chance.
Thanks,
Joe
July 7th, 2008 at 11:29 am
@Joe Horn
Thanks for stopping by the website. I checked out your black olive aioli tri tip recipe. I am a big fan of Tri-tip , your recipe will be added to our to-do list of all recipes we want to try out. I have a feeling the first tri tip sale that I see, we will try. Keep you posted. Thank you for sharing.
March 11th, 2009 at 2:46 am
Commenting usually isnt my thing, but ive spent an hour on the site, so thanks for the info
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:17 am
Where do you find tri-tip for 2 dollars a pound I will buy 500 pounds
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Great recipe. I usually only make 1/2 the recipe for a single 2 1/2 pound roast and it ends up being plenty.
I add a bit of heavy cream to the sauce after I boil and reduce it a bit, which makes a really good cream sauce.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Just returned from a weekend of camping at Cardiff and our camp site neighbors introduced me to this stuff! I’m totally making this it this weeking for my Chula Vista friends…. thanks, will be checking out the rest of the site soon.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Speaking of Cardiff, did you get to try Bull Taco located inside the San Elijo campgrounds? When I think of concession stand food, things like boiled hotdogs, cheap hamburgers, greasy fries, pale chicken fingers, popcorn, etc. You would never know it, but this place has amazing food! Duck torta, shrimp curry tacos, foe gras tacos are some of my favorite things served at this outdoor café with a million dollar view.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
OMG! I MISS THIS!!! SO GOOD! Wonder if Seaside delivers to Michigan?! I miss cooking with you guys!
xoxox,
Em
P.s. Just made a balsamic-fig (with fig jam) glazed chicken tonight… So good! Woulda rocked even more with fresh sliced parm or blue cheese! Whip it up!!!
November 12th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Miss you to Em Tay! The balsamic-fig glazed chicken sounds delish! Although you should try this recipe, I am certainly not opposed to sending you a care package of tri-tip in exchange for some local MI brew :D
January 16th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I slice the tri-tip and put it in corn tortillas with salsa,and sour cream. I also slice it and but it on buns topped with barbecue sauce.
January 16th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Sounds delish Karen. Also great on top of warm steamed white rice too :)
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Sounds great…but is the cooking time 12-15 minutes in total or per pound? I had seen another recipe (not as good sounding as this) that called for an hour on the grill (indirect heat), which sounded too ling. But the contrast between 15 minutes and 60 minutes made mw want to ask.
thanks
July 5th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Tri-tip roast recipe is fantastic. It’s really easy to overcook a tri-tip and quickly dry it out because of the lack of any fat in the interior of the roast. However, follow this technique and the result is truly juicy, tasty piece of meat. After searing, it took 25 minutes of indirect cooking for a 3.25 pound roast.
July 7th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
NICE JOB WITH THE TRI TIP. I COOK MINE A LIL DIFFERENT. I USE A SEASONING CALLED SUSIE Q’S SANTA MARIA STYLE SEASONING( I WAS BORN IN SANTA MARIA) WE ARE FAMOUS FOR OUR
TRI TIP. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IN COOKING IS I USE RED OAK WOOD AND START MY MEAT FAT SIDE DOWN. LET THE FAT SIDE BURN TO A CRISP, THAT WILL SEAL IN THE JUICE AND FLAVOR. SLOWLY COOK THE MEAT AND NEVER POKE IT WITH A FORK(YOU WILL LOOSE THE JUICE) ALWAYS USE A PAIR OF TONGS. 20-25 MIN. ON FAT SIDE THEN FLIP IT EVERY 10-15 MINS. AFTER 90 MINS CUT THE FAT OFF WITHOUT CUTTING THE MEAT. LET SIT FOR 10 MIN AND SLICE TO YOUR ENJOYMENT.YOU CAN BUY THE SEASONING AT SUSIEQBRAND.COM AND IM NOT AFFILIATED WITH THEM AT ALL. I JUST LIKE THIER PRODUCT
August 17th, 2010 at 11:03 am
I have been cooking Tri-tip since i was 19 at parents house introduced whole family to it, a favorite in my family now. We moved to the east coast & it is very hard to aquire tri-tip, but when found most people ask along with butchers how to cook it, i often have butchers & people come over & show them how to do it at my house.
I usually use a dry rub named PAPPIS from CA.
I let it sit on this rub for 4hrs I wrap the whole roast in aluminum foil. fat side down, i usually trim it off.
I let it cook on medium heat in grill for atleast 2hrs then open it up then toss it on the grill to give it some grill marks, Yes also please do check ur temp before serving this deliciouse cut. Enjoy.
September 13th, 2010 at 5:41 am
Cooked mine in a convection oven, so the marinade cooked with the meat to make a sauce. My husband ate the leftover sauce on bread for lunch the next next day! Incredible stuff!
September 13th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I am SO using this recipe this weekend. I’m hosting a party with about 60 people out here on the California coast and plan to cook up a couple bags of chicken along with 4 Tri Tips. Two of them are going to be incredible coffee try rubs, and two of them are going to be your awesome recipe.
Glad I found your site – this is going to be good!
Thanks!
March 12th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Do you have instructions on the marinade reduction? Take it down to a 1/3 or 1/2 or what. I’m sure I can figure it out but I like to follow directions for the first time.
Thanks
April 18th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
@Wes, the most important thing is to boil the marinade before it can safely be consumed since it contained raw meat. How much you cook down is really up to you. Hope you liked the recipe :)
June 8th, 2011 at 8:07 am
Recipe looks awesome. I have been trying to find a marinade recipe similar to the “wine and spice” marinade from Freedom Meat Locker in Watsonville,CA.I have their ingredient list but just need to do some testing to get the ratios right. They are also using a vacuum tumbler. You’re recipe here though looks damn good. What is you’re target grill and oven temperatures to cook the meat at? Also have you ever tried these on a smoker?
June 27th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Travis, sear at 550-600°F, then cook at 350-375°F to an internal temperature of 125-135°F.
July 4th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
As someone who loves to cook, my best advice on the kitchen novice is to test out spices. Try dill bud, tumeric, lemon, basil, rosemary, etc. in place of salt and black pepper. The trick to creating a scrumptious, healthy meal is to be able to layer the flavors as well as try different combinations until you find the flavors that truly appeal to your feels. Skip chicken broth in favor of homemade veggie broth as well as white wine. Dovie Brickhouse
September 26th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Travis,
What are the ingredients in Freedom’s “wine and spice”…I’ve been trying to unsuccessfully recreate it?
June 13th, 2012 at 10:54 pm
I have been making this recipe for several years now and it’s a hit everytime! I don’t change a thing….ones of my husbands favorite things!
July 4th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
thank you for your kind words, Kasey. So stoked to hear this. Thank you taking the time to commenting, it means everything to us. Happy Independence Day!
July 17th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
I’m going to try this Saturday. Love Cardiff “crack” and had it a couple of weeks ago, but, you’re right, $9 a pound is a little steep and I figured hey, I’m a cook and I can sure come up with a burgundy marinade. Actually, the one we get at Seaside is a little too salty for our taste, so we can modify and use low sodium everything for our own palate. Will report back and let you know how it turns out.
A foodie from Encinitas :-))
July 17th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Thanks for posting Lucia! This recipe has been tweaked few times but we are open to suggestions/recommendations so please let us know!
July 22nd, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Hi again,
Okay, we did the tri tip last night and it was AWESOME! I made a few changes…we had a 3 lb piece of meat and I didn’t alter the measurements, but I did substitute low sodium soy for the teriyaki, worcestershire for A-1, just because that’s what was in the pantry, and olive oil only, no Ghee. My husband is a purist and only uses a Weber and we always use Mesquite. OMG, the flavor was to die for…and not salty. We had it on the grill for 30 minutes total and it was juicy and a perfect medium rare. We won’t be buying Cardiff Crack anymore, but making our own. Now, my next question is, where do you find Tri tip for $2 a pound? The lowest price I found shopping at 4 markets was $6 a pound. So glad we have some leftovers :-))
Thanks for this site!
Lucia
October 4th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Thank you for the follow up Lucia! Glad to hear about the low sodium teriyaki, will make sure to keep that in mind for next time. We just keep our eyes open for tri-tip on sale, make the marinade and then freeze the meat in the for future use.
October 4th, 2012 at 11:28 am
Brilliant idea! That would make it so easy to already have it in the marinade. Thanks for the great tip.