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Our Smoked Tri Tip recipe is a West Coast Southern California-inspired version that is tender, full of flavor, and incredible when smoked, grilled, or reverse seared. Learn the secrets for the perfect Smoked Tri Tip from a professional BBQ caterer.
Smoked Tri Tip Highlights
- Smoking a Tri Tip roast adds rich smoky flavor while leaving the roast tender.
- Simple seasonings go a long way in flavor but you can use any beef seasoning.
- Smoke for an hour and it’s ready, although be sure to monitor the temperature.
- Understanding how to slice the roast is important to maintain a tender bite.
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again. We absolutely love Smoked Tri Tip around these parts!
Table of Contents
Tri Tip is the #1 requested meat we cook at catering events. And that is because it’s a much more affordable option to smoked brisket or other smoked meats, both in price and the time it takes to cook. Smoked Tri Tip averages around 60-90 minutes to cook, whereas brisket can take you 10+ hours. That’s a serious commitment! So this is a great option that is tender and delicious and done in a fraction of the time.
Ingredients
- Tri Tip Roast – Typical roasts are around 2 pounds, which is good for four people.
- Olive Oil – The olive oil acts as a binder for the seasoning.
- Seasoning – This smoked tri tip recipe uses kosher salt and coarse black pepper for an easy seasoning. We also have other seasonings and rubs you can substitute.
Marbling is key so you get the most flavor as the fat renders out while smoking. We use at least Choice-rated meat or its local rancher equivalent. If you cut in half a Select grade tri tip you quickly realize why you want to maximize the marbling in an otherwise lean cut of meat.
Preparation
A peeled (trimmed) tri tip will likely need a little additional trimming using a good boning knife. Typically there will be a small amount of silver skin on one side, and a few fat pockets along the edge and corners. Simply remove them and then season.
Coat the tri tip with a binder of olive oil and then season with kosher salt and coarse black pepper. Alternatively you can use our beef seasoning.
How To Smoke Tri Tip
Whether you use a pellet smoker or an offset the process is the same.
- Trim – Trim the silver skin and fat pockets using a sharp knife. Some cuts may have a thick sinewy layer of fat on the base (or thicker side). Remove that as it won’t render and will result in a chewy texture.
- Season – A light coating of extra virgin olive oil will help the rub to stick. Then apply equal parts kosher salt and coarse ground pepper.
- Smoke – Smoke at 225 degrees Fahrenheit using indirect heat. Fruit wood is great, or oak, because it cooks so quickly. Smoked tri tip temp is ideal when the thickest part of the meat is registering 125 degrees F with an instant-read digital meat thermometer like a Thermoworks Thermapen for rare. 135 degrees F for medium rare.
- Rest – After you hit your target temperature, wrap in foil and let rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board, then remove the foil and slice.
- Slice – Slice against the grain on the cutting board into thin slices and serve.
Related Article: For a gas grill check out our tutorial on how to smoke on a gas grill using wood chips.
Chef’s Tip – If the roast is done earlier than you want to slice and serve, take the wrapped tri tip and put into a small cooler with no ice. It will stay warm for up to two hours if you don’t open the cooler. Then slice and serve when ready.
How Long To Smoke Tri Tip
The average 2 pound roast should take no more than 60 minutes for rare, or 90 minutes for medium rare when smoking. As a reminder, always cook to temperature, not time for best results.
To best measure temperature consider at the minimum a good instant read meat thermometer like the Thermoworks Thermapen One, or a leave in Bluetooth thermometer like the Thermoworks Smoke Unit.
How To Slice Tri Tip
Tri tip will have two directions for the grains due to where it is butchered. Following the rule of slicing against the grain, place the tri tip on your cutting board.
Start slicing the thin tail end. Then as you get closer to the thicker side, rotate the tri tip 90 degrees and continue slicing.
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Slicing against the grain is important to keep the cellular connectivity which in turn helps keep the tender texture and moisture. If you slice with the grain, the taste will be slightly chewy because you are breaking the cells by slicing with the grain, and all the liquid they absorbed comes right out.
Expert Tip: If you are using a large cutting board, add a kitchen towel underneath it to prevent it from slipping while you are cutting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tri Tip is a a cut of beef and comes from the backside of the cow, specifically the sirloin. It is where separate areas of muscle come together within the bottom of the sirloin and why you have three points to the cut – thus “tri tip”. When you buy it, it should typically be trimmed and almost ready for grilling or smoking. Tri tip can be a lean cut of beef but is still very tender when cooked.
It can also be called a triangle steak or tri-tip steak. For this recipe be sure to buy a whole roast versus sliced up.
As you travel east from the west coast, it is often difficult to find this cut. It’s become more popular in big box stores, but be sure to call your butcher and see if they carry or can cut this up for you. It’s worth it. When buying for this recipe, buy the entire roast, not one already cut up into smaller steaks. It should look like a large triangle as noted above.
You’ll find them range from 1 ½ to 3 pounds. We like them somewhere around the 2 pound range. Because it’s so lean it’s important to not overcook it. We see a lot of Tri-Tip recipes where folks will smoke it for several hours.
In our experience we’ve found that is not necessary because the intramuscular tissue is not dense like brisket nor does it need hours to render large fat pockets. But if you want to do a brisket style tri tip – go for it.
No, there is no reason to wrap it because it cooks quickly. Some people smoke tri tip like a brisket, but that is not the goal of this recipe.
You can sear in a cast iron pan or a hot grill at 500 degrees if you want to reverse sear it. It adds a nice flavor crust from the browning, but it is not necessary.
Beef Temperature Ranges
Be sure to take into consideration the carry-over cooking that happens while the steak rests. For steaks remove them 5 degrees lower than your desired temperature. For roasts remove them 10 degrees lower. The steak’s internal temperature will rise as it rests.
| Black and Blue | 100 – 120° Fahrenheit (F) | 37 – 48° Celsius (C) |
| Rare | 120 – 130° F | 48 – 54° C |
| Medium Rare | 130 – 140° F | 54 – 60° C |
| Medium | 140 – 150° F | 60 – 65° C |
| Medium Well (not recommended) | 150 – 160° F | 65 – 71° C |
| Well Done (not recommended) | 160 – 170° F | 71 – 76° C |
You can marinate or use your favorite dry rub to season your Tri Tip if you wish, but we like to keep it simple and go with a liberal amount of salt and pepper. That’s it! This is exactly how we cook this for events, and we’ve always received high praise for this smoky deliciousness.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
If you have leftovers, then store the tri tip slices in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to five days.
To reheat, use a stainless steel or cast iron skillet. Over medium heat add olive oil. When it just starts to smoke add the tri tip slices and stir until just browned.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve Tri Tip with smoked collard greens or top with chimichurri sauce. You can also add perfect roasted potatoes or our no-mayo coleslaw.
Wine Pairing
One of my favorite things about Tri-Tip is its versatility with wine. One of the reasons I think it’s so popular at our events is that it’s fan-friggin-tastic with a full-bodied style Pinot Noir (and we do most of our events in Oregon wine country, aka Pinot country). Most folks just associate Pinot with pork or salmon, but it can totally work with beef, especially this cut.
It doesn’t need some big tannic wine that will work with a fatty cut. It also takes on some great savory characteristics from the smoke and rub (or salt and pepper), which are to die for with the savoriness of Pinot. Juicy, lean, tender, and delicious.
You can totally pair this with something bigger, like Syrah, Merlot, Malbec, Tempranillo, but don’t be afraid to try it with Pinot Noir (especially a bigger style Pinot).
More Tri Tip Recipes
- Red Wine Marinated Smoked Tri Tip
- Grilled Santa Maria Steak Tri Tip, from our cookbook Fire + Wine
- Grilled Tri Tip with Zinfandel Wine Sauce
- Smoked Tri Tip Sandwiches with Chimichurri Sauce
This post was originally posted in December of 2016 and updated in April of 2022 with new photos, recipe ideas, and details on the preparation of the roast.
About Vindulge
Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.
If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes.
Smoked Tri Tip
Ingredients
- 2 pound Tri-Tip beef roast
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat Smoker: Preheat smoker to 225 degrees using a fruit wood like apple or consider oak.
- Season: Cover the tri tip in olive oil. Combine the salt and pepper and sprinkle over tri tip liberally. Don't be afraid to get a nice crust on there with a liberal coating of the rub.
- Smoke: Place tri tip on the smoker, unwrapped, for 60-90 minutes. Cook until internal temperature reaches 125 – 130 degrees F for rare and remove.
- Wrap and Rest: Wrap the tri tip in foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Optional: place in a cooler (with NO ice) to keep warm for anywhere from 30-60 minutes. This will continue the cooking process for another 5 degrees. Further, I have found that it makes the cut extremely tender as the juices slowly redistribute into the meat.
- Serve: Slice across the grains in thin strips and serve with favorite sides, like smoked collard greens, or top with chimichurri sauce. See notes for slicing.
Notes
- Rare: 120-130 degrees F
- Medium Rare: 130-140 degrees F
- Medium: 140-150 degrees F
- Medium Well: 150-160 degrees F
- Well Done: 160 degrees F (and not recommended)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
That was by far one of my best smoked tri-tip so far thank you.
Absolutely fantastic!! Tri tip is one of my favorite cut of beef and I cook it 2-3 times a month. This has become my go to recipe – so easy and incredibly flavorful. Thanks for sharing this gem of a recipe!
Awesome!!! Thanks so much for the feedback! We’ll keep ’em coming!
I’m gonna try this tomorrow, do you “smoke” it the whole 60-90 mins or just partially ? Thanks
Bob we smoke the whole time. So if you are using a pellet smoker, you can use “smoke” setting, or 225. For a wood and charcoal cooker, we go for 225 until it comes up to our desired temperature. Be sure to start checking the temperature around the 45 – 60 minute mark to see how fast it is cooking.
Added a drip pan with a tiny bit of water and let it smoke at 250 for 80 ish minutes. Jesus christ all mighty was it good. I didnt use salt and pepper used a wet rub it was awesome but the tinfoil trick and temp pull out times are on point!
I prefer too sear a chunk of tri tip at high heat for 3 minutes per side Directly over red oak wood on a Santa Maria grill 1st then raise the grate too finish at 135 pull off and wrap in foil,let rest 10 minutes.using the tri tip juices inside Too pour over meat.my rub, fresh garlic and fresh grind black pepper that’s all for rub.,simply awesome flavor and juicy and tender.with a nice crust on the outside and medium rare in the middle.
Love this!!!! Life goal for me is to get a Santa Maria style grill myself. Love them and the way they can be controlled for heat element. I can smell the sear from here!!!
Does smoking two roasts at once increase cook time?
Wes, no, not with Tri Tip. They are small enough to not pull in too much of the ambient heat.
Does this recipe work with an electric smoker? I’m trying it currently and it just doesn’t the same red outer crusty look to it. What am I doing wrong?
I also put it in and the temp was at 127 degrees within a half hour. Still leaving it in cause we have kids and don’t want it too rare.
Please help, what am I doing wrong??
I don’t think you are doing anything wrong, the color will be a number of things, pellet type, etc.
Did you get a smoke flavor you like? And did you find a smoke ring?
You could always turn the temperature of the smoker down lower if it’s cooking too quickly, to get more smoke flavor.
And always check the temperature of the meat at the thickest part of the meat to make sure that is cooked to the temperature you want it. The thinner parts on the ends will likely be cooked more thoroughly, and likely the ones you would probably feed to the kiddos (though I love some of those crusty and juicy end pieces too!).
I made this for the family and they loved it. Didn’t pair it with a wine but we are doing the keto diet and this works well.
That’s awesome! We love to hear this 🙂
Cheers!
My California boy cannot wait to try this on his new smoker. He definitely can’t find a restaurant here in TX that serves Santa Maria style tri-tip. What kind of wood do you recommend using?
oh….a controversial topic for a Texan, we are big fans of local wood making great local flavor. So depending on the part of Texas, mesquite or post oak may work. We are here in the Pacific Northwest and will typically go oak or apple given it’s easy to get here. But we shy away from mesquite to avoid it tasting too smoky. But it’s all about your preference.
Mary-
Thank you for this recipe. Its insanely good. Cant believe how easy it was to prepare. You really deserve boatloads of credit for this. The only thing different I did was lace some slivers of garlic into the meat, and I like it more medium so I pulled it from the smoker at about 140 degrees.
Otherwise, Good on you!
– 341mxk
Awesome!!! Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂 I’m totally trying ours with that garlic suggestion next time (I’m a huge garlic lover!). Cheers 🙂