Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe | GrillinFools (2024)

A tri tip roast, seasoned simply with salt, pepper and garlic and then slow smoked on my pellet grill before putting a beautiful flavor crust with that wicked hot fire on my Santa Maria cooker. The result is that coast to coast pink from this reverse seared tri tip recipe.

Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe | GrillinFools (1)

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Here at GrillinFools.com we LOVE the tri tip. My first, slightly overcooked attempt back in 2011. Three years later, I did tri tip tacos and five years later I did mesquite smoked tri tip tacos for a commercial I did for co*ke that aired on NBC during a NASCAR race. It seems I love tacos as much as I love tri tip. Moreover, tri tip makes for a fantastic sandwich, particularly with chimichurri as a condiment, which was done in late 2022. But the most iconic method, and simplest recipe for cooking tri tip, is the reverse sear method. I decided to back this up and lay that very recipe down without all the rest of the accoutrements.

Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 trimmed tri tips
  • SPG seasoning (SPG stands for Salt, Pepper and Garlic)
  • 1 ounce grape seed oil, substitute wagyu beef tallow

From the ingredients list it’s pretty obvious that this recipe is pretty basic. Traditional tri tip is not complicated – simple seasoning of salt, pepper and garlic (SPG seasoning) and open fire. To begin with let’s back up and give a little context here.

What is a Tri Tip?

Tri tip is a sirloin roast cut from the very bottom of the primal sirloin cut. It was originally cast off, bound for the grinder for hamburger. The pitmasters of the Santa Maria region of California took those cast offs and thus fed their cowboys and ranch hands high quality protein for very little money. Tri tip is traditionally cooked over red oak which is plentiful in the Santa Maria region of California. This strange triangular cut, weighing in between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds has the grain run two ways making it difficult to slice properly. Being a small roast, it is ideal for reverse searing in a short period of time.

Here are my two trimmed tri tips. These were 1.8 and 1.9 pounds before removing the fat so these are on the smaller side. The fat has been removed in the pic below:

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Indeed, leave as much or as little of the fat as you wish. Just make sure to take off the hard, dense fat.

Season both sides with the salt, pepper and garlic (SPG seasoning):

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Feel free to apply liberally here. Since we slice this, each slice only has an outer edge of seasoning so go to town.

Don’t forget the edges. Simply dab the edges on the SPG seasoning that missed the tri tip roasts and landed on the cutting board:

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How to Reverse Sear

Slow smoking the meat before searing. If the meat is seared first, it won’t take on much smoke when smoking afterward. By smoking first, we infuse that wonderful smokiness and then get the caramelized proteins from the sear. Smoke the meat to within 10F-15F short of the desired doneness, remove the protein from the grill, stoke up the heat to north of 400F and sear to get a nice flavor crust while bringing the meat up that last 10F-15F degrees.

Set the smoker to 225F. Place the seasoned tri tips in the pellet grill (or whatever grill you are using as a smoker) and shove the probe thermometer into one of the sirloin roasts in the very middle:

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Even at 225F the tri tip did not take long to get 10F-15F short of our desired doneness of 125-130F. I know some of you are aware of my love for rare steak and are wondering why I’m cooking to medium rare. Because tri tip can be stringy if only cooked to rare. I’m good with medium rare too so this isn’t a problem for me.

After about 45 minutes, the smoked tri tip roasts are 115F and ready to come off the cooker:

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Rest it Twice

Now comes for the best tip I can give in this reverse seared tri tip recipe. The normal process of reverse searing is fairly simple: season, smoke, sear, rest, serve. But I’m going to change that up with: season, smoke, REST, sear, REST AGAIN, serve.

I’m going to leave these smoked tri tips on that plate for a long rest. By letting them rest here for quite a while, I can put a fantastic sear on the outside without over cooking the meat. Conversely, if these went straight from the smoker to the sear then I can only sear so much to take them from 115F to 125F-130F. But what if the temp drops back down to room temp? Then I can sear all day and still not overcook! BOOM!

Time to build my fire on my Hooray grill which is a Santa Mara style cooker and oh so appropriate for this reverse seared trip tip recipe.

Here is a traditional tri tip I did on the Hooray Grill.

I busted out some of my Butlerwood stash of smoke wood and sparked up a pile of pecan which pairs wonderfully with both beef and pork:

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No Pecan, No Problem

If you don’t have pecan and want to know what proteins pair well with what you have access too, check this extensive list of smoke woods. Additionally, if you are disappointed in what smoke woods are available near you, check out Butlerwood smoke wood. I love this stuff so much that I ordered 1,700 pounds of it. I’m not kidding. This is in my garage:

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That’s a 4’X4′ pallet stacked five feet high with post oak on the bottom, hickory in the middle and pecan on the top. There are a couple other varieties in boxes on the very top so I can play with lots of flavor profiles. I can’t park my car in the garage, however I have lots of smoke wood. It’s called priorities!

And here is that Butlerwood in action on my Santa Maria grill:

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I slow roasted another tri tip over this wood for the other tri tip recipe I did that I will publish next week.

Here are those wicked hot pecan coals that smell soooooo good:

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After a good 45 minutes, the tri tips have gotten a little dark:

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These have cooled and come back to room temperature. Or at least to deck temperature on a 65F degree day.

Re-Season to Replace What was Lost on the Smoker

First, I hit them with a little spritz of grape seed oil. Although, any high heat fat will work here. I’m a big fan of wagyu beef tallow as the flavor crust is SICK, but this is a little less messy with the atomizer spray bottle:

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Then, a quick sprinkle of SPG seasoning as lot of that seasoning melted into the tri tip while smoking and resting:

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Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe | GrillinFools (16)

Sear, baby sear!

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Additionally, give that fat end of the tri tip a sear as well by holding it over the coals with a set of tongs:

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Remember, the target temp is 125F-130F. If you prefer more than that, place the tri tips just off the edge of the coals so they don’t continue to sear. In conventional grills, place them on the side of the grill with no coals or a lit burner. Back in the smoker works too. However, for this cook, we are done:

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Close enough.

If you prefer a different doneness, let me help with this chart:

Steak Temps

  • Rare Steak Temp:120F-125F
  • Medium Rare Steak Temp: 130F-135F
  • Medium Steak Temp: 140F-145F
  • Med. Well Steak Temp: 150F-155F
  • Well Done Steak Temp: 160F or more, but seriously, just order the chicken

Finally, after a resting period of 5-10 minutes, it was time to slice. I had planned on getting some overhead shots to show exactly how to slice the tri tip, however I forgot to get those pics. I will cook another one and take proper pics and drop them in here. In the mean time, let’s get to that reveal. And this is the first cut, From the point opposite the long flat side of the triangle, straight across to bisect that flat side.

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And a close up:

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Coast to coast, BAY-BEE!!!

Alas, the thicker end was coast to coast pink, but the thinner end had some grey banding. That’s the one downfall of the tri tip. With one end so thick and one end so thin, something has to give.

Slicing the rest involves finding the grain in each of those two halves and cutting perpendicular to it:

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Plattered on a live edge cutting board:

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Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe Recap

Simply seasoned, simply smoked, extensively rested, simply seared, rested a bit more and then simply sliced and finally served. It’s not hard to do this. If you can grill a hamburger or a bratwurst, then you can reverse sear a tri tip. This is probably my favorite way to feed a crowd steak for not a lot of money. And I have a bunch of other options there.

If you have any questions or comments about this reverse seared tri tip recipe, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

And if you could leave us a great review and five stars that would be most appreciated!

Also, you can follow us on ourGrillinFools Facebook page,Instagram, andYouTubefeeds

Recipe Card for Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe:

Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe | GrillinFools (29)

Print Recipe

Tri tip simply seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic (SPG) and then slow smoked before being seared hot and fast in this Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Course: Entree, Main Course, Steak, Steak Roast, Tri Tip

Cuisine: American, American Fare, Grilling, North American

Keyword: Black Garlic, Medium Rare Steak Temp, Medium Steak Temp, Medium Well Steak Temp, Pellet Cooker, Pellet Grill, Pellet Grilling, Pellet Smoker, Pepper, Rare Steak Temp, Recipe, reverse sear, reverse seared, Reverse Seared Tri Tip, Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe, Salt, Santa Maria Grill, Santa Maria Style Grill, Sirloin, Sirloin Roast, SPG, SPG Rub, SPG Seasoning, Steak Temps, Tri Tip, Tri Tip Roast, Tri Tip Steak, Well Done Steak Temp

Servings: 8 People

Ingredients

  • 2 Tri tips Fat trimmed off the back
  • SPG seasoning
  • Grape seed oil Substitute wagyu beef tallow

Instructions

  • After removing the thick, hard fat from the back of each tri tip, season both sides and the edges with salt, pepper and garlic (SPG seasoning)

  • Prepare the grill for two zone/indirect grilling or set the smoker to 225F

  • Smoke the tri tips until they reach 10F-15F degrees short of their desired doneness. For this cook that was 115F and it took about 45 minutes for the tri tips to hit the target temp.

  • When the tri tip roasts reach 10F-15F short of the desired doneness remove from the smoker and allow the tri tips to rest for 45-60 minutes

  • Crank up a grill to north of 500F and sear the tri tips on each side and the side of the fat end of the roast

  • Keep searing/browning the sirloin roasts until they reach your desired doneness, in this case 125F.

  • Allow the tri tips to rest 5-10 minutes, slice and serve

  • When slicing, make sure to watch for the two different grains that runs through the roasts and cut across that grain.

Video

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Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

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Latest posts by Scott Thomas (see all)

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Reverse Seared Tri Tip Recipe | GrillinFools (2024)

FAQs

How long do you reverse a sear tri-tip? ›

How Long to Reverse Sear Tri Tip. It takes around 1.5-2 hours to reverse sear tri tip. Once the meat is seasoned, slow smoke it until it is within 5-10 degrees of your final target temperature.

Should I sear my tri-tip before baking? ›

Searing Tri Tip Steak

If you want a sear that your oven isn't achieving, consider searing the tri tip steak before putting it in the oven. Just heat up a skillet with a drizzle of oil and sear the steak on each side for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, you can do the same after it comes out of the oven.

How long do you cook reverse searing? ›

Reverse Searing FAQs

It takes about 30-60 minutes to reverse sear ribeye steak, depending on the thickness of the steak and the temperature of your oven. Generally, we recommend setting the oven to 275 degrees and cooking to an internal temperature of 110 degrees before searing for 1-2 minutes on each side.

What is the best cooking method for tri-tip steak? ›

Tri tip steak usually cooks best when cooked in low heat over a long period of time, so roasting it in the oven or smoking it are excellent methods for moist tri tip. Sous vide and slow cooking also work well, as these methods lock moisture into the meat.

Do you oil a steak before reverse searing? ›

Just before steak(s) come out of the oven, add 1 tablespoon (15ml) oil to a cast iron, carbon steel, or heavy stainless steel skillet and heat over high heat until smoking. Add steak(s) and butter to skillet and cook until each side is well browned, about 45 seconds per side.

How long for tri-tip at 250? ›

How Long to Smoke a Tri Tip at 250°F: Cook the meat for 30 minutes per pound at 250°F. For your average tri tip, this means about an hour and a half.

What is the best oil for searing tri-tip? ›

Apply cooking oil as a binder (we suggest tallow, duck fat spray, avocado oil or canola oil). Season the tri-tip with Blackened Seasoning & Rub by Rainier Foods and Meat Mitch Steer Season Rub.

Is it better to cook tri-tip fast or slow? ›

When it comes to cooking tri-tip in the oven, opt for broiling the meat instead of baking to keep with the fast-cooking methods that make tri-tip recipes most delicious. As with grilling, marinating 2 to 3 hours will help to keep the steaks tender and moist, but it it's not essential.

Do you cook tri-tip fat side up or down? ›

Start with the fat side up (in truth it makes no difference. "If you put the fat side of the tri tip on the fire first, the moisture will come up through the meat and make it tender.") The problem I have with this is that, as the fat warms, it will drip down into the fire and will not evaporate until it's in the fire.

How do you reverse sear without overcooking? ›

As long you as you apply low heat for the majority of the cook, then finish with high heat, that's reverse searing. So, the low heat could be from a smoker, indirect grill, low oven or sous vide. And the high heat could be from a hot cast iron pan, blazing charcoal or a 500f oven.

Do I need a wire rack for reverse sear? ›

Start by seasoning the meat and cooking it on a sheet pan in the oven at a relatively low temperature (think somewhere between 225 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit). Lining the pan with a wire rack is not essential, but it does allow air to circulate more evenly, which will ultimately cook the meat a little more evenly.

What is the difference between searing and reverse searing? ›

Drier Surface: The main issue with exposing meat to direct heat first is that it draws moisture to the surface of the meat. You'll have a heck of a time getting a good sear on wet meat. Reverse searing dries the meats surface out to ensure a clean sear and the development of bark or grill marks.

Can you reverse sear a tri-tip? ›

The reverse searing method is particularly well-suited for tri-tip steak, a flavorful cut known for its marbling and tenderness. The slow roasting in the oven allows the heat to penetrate the meat gradually, resulting in a perfectly cooked steak with consistent doneness from edge to center.

How do I make sure my tri-tip is tender? ›

Tri-tip doesn't need to be tenderized because it's already a naturally tender cut. If you want to enhance its flavor, you can marinate it for two to three hours before cooking it. Adding acidic ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar to the marinade will help break down the muscle fibers, making the steak more tender.

Does tri-tip get tender the longer you cook it? ›

The longer you cook tri-tip the more tender it will become, so you can choose your time according to what you are trying to accomplish.

How long to smoke tri tip at 225? ›

The amount of time it takes to cook a tri tip depends on the size and also the level of doneness you're going for. At 225 degrees Fahrenheit, a 2-pound tri tip takes an hour for rare, to an hour and a half for medium-rare. A 3-pound tri tip requires about 90 minutes for rare, and 2 hours for medium-rare.

How often should I flip a tri tip? ›

Grill the tri tip and flip it every 6-7 minutes. Mop liberally with mopping liquid and a sauce mop after each time you flip the meat. Continue to grill until your roast is within 10 degrees of your final target temperature (see the next section for a list of temperatures).

How long to cook tri tip on kamado? ›

Stabilize your KJ at 425°F, mount your DoJoe or set up the grill for indirect cooking. Season both sides of the Tri tip with Lanes Bbq Ancho Espresso Seasoning and Salt. Place the tri tip in a cast iron pan, coat with tallow, transfer into the indirect grill. Roast for 1 hour, flipping the steak half way into the cook.

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