3 Step Tri Tip Marinade

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Are you looking for a delicious yet simple marinade for your tri-tip? While this sort of steak isn’t as popular as rib eye or strip steak, it’s still a delicious cut that’s tender and flavorful. 

However, It’s crucial to marinate your beef tri-tip correctly. Not only does how you season it affect how it tastes, but it also aids in tenderizing it.

So follow my steps below, and you’ll turn out to be a pitmaster-worthy tri-tip!

Learn My Two Methods for Marinating Tri-Tip Steak

This article will teach two ways to marinate your tri-tip steak.

The first recipe is for a scrumptious Santa Maria marinade that’s quite simple to make.

We also have a great sesame and ginger marinade that incorporates a bit more of an Asian twist to this cut of meat.

How Long to Marinate a Tri-Tip

You should marinate your tri-tip for at least 2 hours and overnight. However, you don’t want to marinate for more than 14 hours as the connective tissue can break down, and the meat can become soft.

What You Need for The Santa Maria Marinade

• A tablespoon of kosher salt
• A tablespoon of ground black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried rosemary — you can also always use fresh rosemary and finely chop it with a knife
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper — but you can substitute this with chili powder or Chipotle chili powder if you don’t have cayenne pepper on hand
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• A tablespoon of dried oregano
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp olive oil

How to Make a Santa Maria Tri-Tip Marinade

Step 1

Pour all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix it all until it’s fully combined. 

Step 2

Apply a binder like mustard or oil, sprinkle the dry rub all over the steak, and rub it into the meat.

You want to ensure that the rub covers all sides of the cuts of meat. Place the tri-tip in a sealable 1-gallon freezer bag or airtight container, and then add the marinade.

Step 3

Massage the marinade all over the tri-tip with your hands, remove excess air from the bag, and seal it securely, ensuring it coats the meat.

Massage the marinade all over the tri-tip with your hands, remove excess air from the bag, and seal it securely, ensuring it coats the meat. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours, ideally 8-24 hours.

This will allow the flavorful marinade to penetrate the cut of beef.

 Try This Ginger and Sesame Marinade Recipe

Follow the steps above for this recipe, except this marinade doesn’t have a dry rub.

This marinade recipe is for a 3 lbs tri-tip roast, and you will need;

• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 4 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp dried minced onion
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ cup vegetable oil

(You can also add in a little tiny squeeze of lemon juice for that extra kick)

Got Leftover Tri Tip?

Leftovers are the best part of cooking! Here are some of the best ways to use your leftover tri-tip. My favorite is the sandwiches!

We hope you learned more about trip-tip steak and how to marinate it in various ways. While these aren’t the only marinade recipes available, we like them because our extremely picky friend even approved them.

Smoke On!

Charlie

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