Grilled or Oven-Roasted Santa Maria Tri-Tip Recipe (2024)

The best most under-used cut of meat. This is a wonderful recipe but even if your missing any of the rub ingredients, It will still be delicious. Alternative is raise heat to 425F, skip searing (really it will be OK) and over-roast for 25 minutes; cover loosely and after 10 minutes dig in.

I cook this different than everyone else...I get a large tri tip, put some Texas bbq dry roast rub on it, wrap,it in foil and put it in the oven at 250 for about 3 hrs...low and slow....absolutely the best. My three grandsons cannot believe that’s all I do to it, nothing is better!

I usually do the tri tip on the grill - browning the fat side and then moving it to indirect for 10-15 minutes at highest temp. Rainy weather necessitated oven work. Let sit on counter 1 hour. Browned in cast iron then tried roasting at 350 but the temp was too low and after 20 mins it was at 40 degrees F. Upped oven temp to 400 and roasted another ten minutes to 130F. Highly recommend roasting at 400F or above for 15 mins then check temp. 130F was perfect medium rare and juicy!

I am born and raised in santa maria 5th generation. Along with tri tip goes pinquita beans, green salad, garlic butter french bread, and salsa. Coffee in the rub is a new one to me, but i will try it out. It is always served medium rare at best and the bread is excellent dipped in the drippings from the meat.

I would recommend that nytimes send a journalist out to Santa Maria. Maybe they can still find some of the people involved in the original, for real, Santa Maria style barbecue. Santa Maria style barbecue is not just a recipe, but an entire process. If you want to experience what we from Santa Maria have experienced, you need the entire package. A good starting point would be to contact Valley Christian high school in Santa Maria. They had one of the best stands in town.

Also, you need to grill french bread (garlic salt & butter), cook some chili beans and you need salsa. Salsa: tomatoes, onions (red), cilantro, lemon juice, garlic salt, pepper, jalapeno-diced small, mix well, taste. make a salad; use ranch dressing (must use buttermilk hidden valley ranch mix). This is known as Santa maria Style BBQ. Red oak or other wood instead of coals. Let it rest 20 minutes before cutting (don't lose the juices):make a sandwich with chili beans,salsa & bread

I wish the additional information about oven-roasting options would show up on the iPad app version of this recipe.

This is not Santa Maria style bar b que. SorryI have cooked Santa Maria Style for hundreds of people.The following is required to get it right:1. Red Oak logs for the fire, Do't let the fire go to coals, there should be some flames to lick at the bottom of the tri tip.2. the dry rub is Garlic Salt, Lawry's seasoned salt, salt, and pepper with a pinch of sugar.I would try to get choice or better for the tri tip because it is a little toughHave fun good grillin.

Suggested oven version.
Use kitchen twine to tie trimmed roast in compact loaf shape. Folding over thin edge. Coat with Kitchen Bouquet, garlic power, salt and pepper. Let marinate for 1 day or at least a couple of hours in plastic bag or glass bowl. Bring to room temp before roasting.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place on foil covered grill pan.
Put in oven for 7 mins per pound. Then turn off oven... DO NOT OPEN OVEN for 2 1/2 hrs. Residual heat will result in a perfectly cooked med-rare roast.

Several important suggestions:1. Use the dry rub of your choice and wrap in plastic wrap over night.2. Remove to room temp for about an hour.3. Pre-heat grill to medium high and DON'T over cook as many recipes suggest - you will greatly toughen and ruin a nice cut.4. For a two pounder about 10 mins a slde rotating once for those grill marks.5. Remove and rest for about 10 minutes, inspecting it so you cut across the grain.

Made tri tip for the first time following the oven instructions and it came out perfectly! I omitted coffee from the rub and poked holes in the roast for a few slivers of garlic it tasted amazing! Make sure you brown it in a pan before putting it in the oven as this is integral for a delicious BBQ-like outer crust. Inside it was moist and not overcooked. My other half loved it!

This was great except I'd recommend removing it before it reaches 130 (for medium rare) because it cooks more as it sits. It was closer to medium/medium well after sitting. Delicious anyway!

This was outstanding and I made it exactly "as is." I was concerned because it was a thick piece of meat and so I was thinking with something this thick, braising might be better. But I followed the recipe to a "t" and it came out at 140 degrees. Let it sit and then ate. Also, the rub is very, VERY tasty. Not too spicy. I will definitely make this again and it's the sort of thing I'll probably save to make for friends, especially on a summer weekend.

Outstanding. Used the accompanying rub recipe overnight. Oven method after cast iron stovetop sear worked great, but happy to have pulled the meat out at 127-128 degrees. 130 would have been a bit overdone. Good carving directions. The hints of cinnamon and clove in the coffee rub really gave the meat a mysterious and delicious flavor. I expect the same method would work just fine with flank steak when tri tip is hard to score.

I'm sure this is a good recipe, but Santa Maria style tri-tip is always done over an oak fire that has burned down to coals. That's what Santa Maria style barbeque is all about.

What happened to the coffee rub that was linked to this recipe?! I didn’t realize that links could disappear!

High heat on grill for 6minutes per side

Dear NYT A tritip needs to be dry rubbed, seared on grill, and then slow cooked at 250 with onions covered for moist delicious tender flavor…out west…we do it bestI do love a good Bronx pizza, but stay in your lane.Dr. Slow Cook, San Diego

I followed this recipe but omitted the cloves (just didn’t have any on hand); but it came out great!! Would recommend!

Use the NYT California All-purpose Beef Rub in the link. This recipe is fire.

I was really looking forward to making this. Ordered a tri-tip. In NYC. When I picked it up it wasn't even 1 1/2 lbs. Turns out it's dry aged. CA style tri-tip is fresh according to the butcher. Also, I'm thinking (with my little piece of meat) that even 2 lbs would not be nearly enough for 8-10 people. I'll keep looking for a NOT dry aged tri-tip and look forward to trying this recipe when I find one. In the meantime, I'm punting. Would've been good to know beforehand.

Attempt 1: Overnight dry rub and it was way too salty, ended up using lots of leftovers for fried riceAttempt 2: Good!Dry rubbed for 3 hours only with suggested dry rub. Kept fat layerUsed cast iron for searing. Oven-roasted as per instructions to 137, which was a good medium (pink in the middle, juicy. After resting, thought it might be underspiced, but then cut thin against the grain, and dipped in the plate of juices that accumulated from the cooling time, and was perfectly spiced..

This was my first time trying tri tip. I chose this recipe because it looked very simple. It IS !I followed it to the letter and came out with the most delicious roast ever. It was tender, flavorful and very easy. I highly recommend this one.The rub recipe made more than 1/3 cup so I've saved the leftover in a tin for next time. . . which will be soon.

Don't overcook it or slow cook it

Indirect grilling over real lump charcoal (not brickets...they are an abomination) is the best way for a perfect tri-tip that I've ever found. Try making and varying the ingredients in your rubs, too.

Best dry rub ever.

I don’t know what I did wrong, but this was so tough it was like chewing gum … flavor was great though. I cut across grain and thin sliced. Maybe some are tougher than others.

We marinate our tri-tip overnight in equal parts beer and soy sauce. Quick sear; the average tri-tip cooks in 20 minutes on the grill. Should be medium rare. Serve with salsa, pinquitos, slaw, and beer.

Made in the oven exactly as described except followed others' advice and took meat out at 127. It was perfect! Will make again

I set my oven to “roast” which has an initial high heat searing function. I roasted the meat at 400 until the thermometer read 145. The center was nice and pink for my husband and the ends well done for the kids. The best part is that the meat was incredibly juicy.