Santa Maria Grilled Tri-Tip Beef

I am from Santa Maria,CA and I can tell you that Santa Maria tri-tip experts are purists, with the simplest of seasonings being used, powdered garlic, salt, pepper and maybe some parsley. One of the other things about Santa Maria-style tri-tip is that it is cooked over red oak wood. The oak and the simple seasonings are what brings out the excellent flavor of the meat.

Very tasty as is, but If you have the time and a smoker this can be amazing! First, salt with kosher salt and refrigerate for 24 hours. Next, coat meat with olive oil and rub with dry ingredients, minus black pepper. Also, I like chipotle way better than cayenne. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (yes, that makes two days). Preheat smoker to 165-180 degrees and place cold meat straight from the fridge over active smoke (for this I like roughly 50% oak, 40% cherry and 10% mesquite). Smoke until internal temp reaches 100-105 degrees, then place the meat on the grill over a bed of hot coals. Baste with vinegar sauce. Sear but try not to burn the meat too much. Grill to 130 degrees internal then remove from the grill and hit all sides with a little freshly ground black pepper, tent with foil and let stand for about 5 minutes or so. Slice 1/4 inch thick cross grain. Magnificent!

Wow! This was great. I followed the directions exactly however I cut the crushed garlic down to one clove. Wife and kids loved it. Will definitely make again. I don't really care if The Santa Maria residents state that it doesn't taste like Santa Maria style. It was delicious.

We loved this recipe. I am going to save the spice list for other meats it was such a great combination. The meat was a little hotter on the inside than stated but it may have been because it sat out longer than 4 hours. I will take that into consideration next time. The left overs are tender and can be used a variety of ways. The next day I sliced thin against the grain and made steak salads topped with homemade shoestring french fries...yum. I seriously cant wait to make this again.

This was the most fabulous beef I can remember ever eating! We had dinner for 7 with rave reviews from all. My only change in Chef John's recipe was crushed fresh garlic, rather than powdered, and chopped fresh rosemary, rather than dried. Being concerned about blacked beef being carcinogenic, however, I followed Chef John's grilling directions only until the tri-tip was totally browned and sealed. Then the heat was lowered, allowing the meat to cook more slowly until it reached Chef John's recommended inside temp of 130 degrees. With an electric knife, I sliced the roast on the diagonal & arranged with wedges of B Follick's marinated Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Yum!

freaking awesome!!

I am a big fan of Chef John's recipes and being born & raised in Santa Maria, CA i was skeptical of this change from the traditional Santa maria style seasonings of garlic salt w/parsley, black pepper, and beer(optional). I BBQ'd 2 tri-tips this weekend, 1 traditional and 1 using this recipe. Both were delicious, but heavily critiqued, as is the Santa Maria way when it comes to such serious business as tri-tip! Many people said this 1 tasted as if i had used seasoned salt instead of garlic salt, others disliked the mustard/ vinegar flavor. I personally think this recipe tastes more like San Luis Obispo (SLO) style which is usually served w/ bbq sauce than Santa Maria style which is usually served with homemade salsa.

Made this exactly as directed, but it charred so badly that the flavor of the meat was lost.

Best. Tri Tip. Recipe. EVER.

Very good Recipe. However if you wanyt true Santa Maria Style TriTip your rub should consist of Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Salt. However this Rub is very good as well.

I've grilled tri-tips for years and years. I've used more than a few different rubs and marinades over that time. I've now made this version quite a few times. I've shared this recipe (and the grilling technique) with my brother and with my parents, and they've all made it multiple times. Not only is it my favorite; it's theirs, too. This is a go-to summer grillin'/BBQ recipe that we all simply love! Superb as usual, Chef John! Kudos, and many thanks!

It's an okay trip-tip recipe.

Amazing! The recipe was simple and the flavor was amazing. All around great recipe. Best Tri-Tip I've had yet and I've had a few in my time. Again, flavor was amazing!

This was amazing!! Simply awesome! I cooked the tri-tip to be more on the rare side, since that's how we like meat. And it was perfect! The rub and marinade would be awesome on other meats! :) Will be making this 100 times again!

The BEST tri-tip I have ever made! I made the rub and the sauce as directed then hubby watched the video and grilled it exactly as Chef John instructed. VERY VERY GOOD!!!

We loved this. I used 1 T fresh rosemary instead of dry, and omitted the mustard. For the marinade, I pulverized the vinegar, oil and garlic in the blender, using double the garlic, to make a paste. Instead of grilling, I pan browned each side for 4 about minutes at medium high heat, and finished in oven at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes. (About 10 minutes per pound.) It came out rare which we like. Make sure to let the meat rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing against the grain. The seasonings are great. Phenomenal recipe. I will next try the recipe with the Oregon Rub but do not see how it can top this. With the Roast Potatoes (on this site) with Rosemary and Garlic, and salad, this was a very delicious meal. Thank you very much for this recipe. I cannot remember a better Tri Tip roast.

Living in central California I have to say this recipe is right on... During the summer the air permeates with the scent and smells of BBQ tri-tip/oak. Of course tri-tips are plentiful here. I have my oak branches (also plentiful here) dried and cut, ready for the summer grilling. Good one Chef John. I do marinate much longer though..at least 24 hours. Also I take the meat off the grill at no more then 120 degrees F.

This was phenomenal. I made it exactly to the recipe except I ran out of propane for my grill and had to finish it under the broiler. So fricken' tasty! Mom raved about it, saying it was seasoned perfectly, and the boy and I thoroughly enjoyed it thinly sliced on a sandwich the next day. Will definitely make again!

Exceptional! Tasted like steakhouse steak! We used Tri-Tip steaks from Costco and they were delicious... will definitely make again - no brainer.

I found it to be very salty, especially at the tail ends of the tri-tip. We can get a pre-marinated Santa Maria tri-tip form our local small specialty grocer and it's amazing. This wasn't what we were expecting.

Wow! This was as easy as it was delicious. I used a tri-tip that was a bit smaller than the recipe called for so I reduced the dry rub ingredients by one half, which turned out to be plenty. The flavor was wonderful, although next time I will reduce the salt a bit. My husband loved it. This is definitely going into the recipe box.

The seasoning is very good, but it does need to be grilled over Red Oak chips. That's what brings the wonderful flavor out in the meat.

Terrific results! Followed the recipe exactly and grilled the tri-tip on a Weber charcoal grill. It turned out juicy and had wonderful beefy flavor. This was a real winner!

Made it tonight, we loved it!

I had a hankering for SMBBQ (grew up in Lompoc, CA, just a half hour south) so I used this recipe to make a dinner for the family. Boy, did we all scarf it down! Today I did a repeat. In the past I've just done 'dry SMBBQ' with the garlic salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and oregano, but since finding this, I guarantee I'll be finishing it hot off the grill with the red wine vinaigrette. It is awesome.

Omg! I'm in heaven right now. I grew up on the central coast of California and always enjoyed tri-tip BBQs. Since moving to Oregon several years ago, I have been looking for an authentic Santa Maria style tri-tip. I just found it! I made this exactly as the recipe said, and it turned out just like back home. I can't wait to try Chef John's Santa Maria style beans. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!

Been getting our Tri-Tip from a restaurant that features Tri ONLY.I've used this recipe four times now and it just gets better and better.Would never get the restaurant meat again.I felt like taking pictures of last nights meal but thought that might be 'bragging'.It wasn't me..it was the recipe.

My husband and I think this is the best tri tip recipe ever. We would not change a thing.

I made this recipe and added a teaspoon of parsley, as suggested by some of the reviewers. I also added a teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning. Just my little addition. I also modified the cooking process a little (or a lot) by cooking it with a sous vide for 6 hours. I mixed all of the ingredients, dry and wet, in a bowl. I reduced the amount of oil in the recipe and then placed them all in a sealed bag. Allow it to sit at room temperature on the counter while the sous vide warmed up. Then cooked it for 6 hours in the water bath. I then placed it on a super hot grill to sear the outside on both sides. Everyone agreed that this was one of the best Tri Tip Roasts ever!!!

I was raised on SM style BBQ & absolutely love it..pinquito beans(a bean from Lompoc), garlic bread, salad & salsa..the best. I use Suzie Q seasoning for it (& use it in everything else I cook) over red oak (it's just not the same without it). The vinegar basting mixture just adds that much more flavor to all the seasonings. Us Santa Marian's are very passionate about our BBQ & nothing else compares!

Or You can place your beef in an oven pan and pour McCormicks garlic and peppercorn packet on top of the beef ...and have a delicious never fail dish...saves lots of measuring and effort..and better than putting the ingredients together yourself...is my opinion...used it for years

Threw all the ingredients in a glass baking dish, mixed them up and put the tri tip in for 24 hours. Turned it over in the morning. Delicious! My kiddo who only likes the costco marinade asked for seconds :)

My whole family enjoyed this. It was a real treat and worthy of a special dinner. Thank you Chef John :-)

This SM Grilled Tri-Tip Beef was incredible. We BBQ'd it and the only complaint I had was we should have taken it off the BBQ sooner. But even with that we couldn't get enough of it. I loved the rub and the marinade was also delicious. I can hardly wait to do this again but take it off the BBQ sooner. Turn the meat 4-5 times only if you like it Medium Rare. Thank you Chef John, another wonderful recipe.

I don't care about he history lesson. This is great! I put it on the smoker until it hits 110°-115° internal temp and then sear it until rare-medium rare. So good.

Delicious marinade with many layers of flavor. Very good detailed instructions about how to grill this for the best results. However, cooking on high started a fire with black billowing smoke. Probably from the oil in the marinade. My advise is to lower the flame a bit after getting it on the grill. It was very delicious!

I absolutely LOVED IT!! I was a little afraid of that I had charred it too much and finished it the oven, but it was absolutely AMAZING!! I plan on finishing it on the upper rack off the grill after I get some good char on it next time. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Great recipe! I used a 3.0 lb cut and trimmed the excess fat. It is very difficult to keep it over a hot direct fire for so long (I cooked it 24 total minutes, 4 minutes a side basting every turn) if you're like me and usually cook a ribeye but my oh my it sure was worth it. I let it rest a full 20 minutes after I pulled it from the grill tented in aluminum foil and it was worth the wait. Don't forget to cut across the grain! I ended up cutting mine into two pieces because the grains on my cut changed direction. P.S. if you're hesitant to use rosemary because it isn't a favorite spice like me just go for it! The rosemary flavor is very subtle and pairs perfectly with the red wine vinegar baste!

Always a winner! I follow the recipe exactly. Our guests always rave about how delicious this tri-tip is. Many of these folks have never had tri-tip so we or they don’t give a rip what the Santa Maria purists think! On that note - I’ve had tri-tip in California and it is great. This is altogether a different outcome but it is none the less awesome. Give it a try!

I can't speak to if this "the way they make it in Santa Maria" since I have never eaten tri tip in that zip code.... However this recipe is great, I was shocked at how delicious the tri tip turned out and the combination of ingredients brought out the flavor. Don't change the recipe it is perfect as is. Another great recipe by chef John, thank you.

My family loves tri tip and we really enjoy this recipe. I use 1 tsp of Dijon mustard. I also used balsamic vinegar too when I was out of red wine vinegar. Both are great!

I have made this recipe several times and it received great reviews from my dinner guests. Follow the recipe exactly for consistent results. Twice I cooked this in the oven using the broiler mode for the direct heat, trying to mimic the grill. Both times I set off the smoke alarms... keep the exhaust fans running on high !!

So I had every intention of making this the other night, bought all the ingredients, put the rub together, coated the meat then read it needed to rest for 4 hours... bummer. Didn't want to eat at midnight so I just set it in the fridge. Planned on grilling it the following night only to get rained out. Ok 48 hours for it to rest should be fine. Was informed I had dinner plans that evening... So long story short I ended up having to cook this in a pan on the stove.. Holy Cow! I followed the flip and baste for 35 minutes and this was by far the best piece of beef we have ever had! I will probably let it sit for longer than needed next time too but I really want to grill it. Simply delicious... Oh and I roasted some garlic heads to go with it...mmm

I made this last night and it was the BOMB! My husband said I have to make the next tri tip this way again. I love that all the ingredients are all natural. The only thing I did different was mince the garlic and I didn't have paprika so I used chili powder. I also didn't cut the meat as others have suggested and it still came out super juicy!

Everyone we've ever served this too loves it. Thanks!

Recipe had great flavor, used fresh rosemary vs. dried. Cooked it on our Traeger and reversed seared on the grill. Hubby liked so much we are making it again.

I've never grilled a ''whole'' Tri-Tip before... I followed the recipe to the ''T''.... It's amazing how moist & delicious this is with all the spices.. I did leave the seasoned roast overnight in the refrigerator.. I took it out about an hour before grilling to bring it to room temperature.. then on the grill it went... I turned it every four minutes, basted, then turned after 4 min... It ''blackened'' up nicely and had great flavor, even the next day! Will definitely make this again... Thanks Chef John for the video too... was very helpful for me!!

Taste is as expected ... GREAT! I only sliced tri tip as we ate. Saved the rest as bulk an sliced to desired thickness as to how I was going to use it. Got a li'l too much char but next time I will turn direct burners down a few

This is a great Grilling recipe. Not to be confused with bbq.

I would not change anything it was perfect it had a lovely char to the meat and nice and juicey

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING exactly as written! Best TriTip EVER. Would highly recommend this recipe and know I'll be making again and again.

We love this recipe just as is. The flavors are so good and we rarely have any leftovers. This is my go to tri-tip recipe!!’n

Chef John is simply amazing.

Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. Love the flavor the red wine vinegar basting gives.

Family favorite! My husband still brags about it!

The tri-tip was delicious. Very tender with a crisp crust of flavor.

I found this recipe with the video years ago. Remember Springpad? I saved this video recipe to that pretty awesome web clipping app that grabbed the video and the recipe nicely formatted. Then went belly up w/o silicone valley investors. Evernote/OneNote and recipe software apps like AR/BO nicely format recipes, though. So glad it's here on AR! This is DELICIOUS! The part I have to remember is to start the rub and get the meat up to room temperature before it's time to start cooking it on the grill. The mix of spices just get into the meat and it's so darn good. It's amazing when I follow the directions. Better than any restaurant! Yummy!!!! I've used this for years, now!

I've made this once before for my brother in law. We bother really liked it. I served it with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I followed the recipe and it came out tender and juicy, perfectly cooked inside with crust on the outside. I'm making this again this weekend. I've coated the meat this time with olive oil, then applied the rub. This will sit for 24 hours in the fridge. I'll repost how this one comes out. Tri Tip is not readily available here in north Texas, but Market Street carries it at $7.99 per pound. Good quality as well.

This might have been good had my husband not killed it on the BBQ. The flavor was good, the crust was good, but he choose to cook it for the full 30 minutes and it was over done, not what I was going for, but perfect for him (I wonder if that was his plan all along?). I will use this rub again, but use a meat thermometer, 20minutes would have been better for our tri-tip.

Great history behind this recipe. Cook as instructed and make sure you don't let the heat get away from you on the grill (it is all to easy to do with propane). You can EASILY up the spices if you want a little more flavor, but don't skimp on the basting each time you turn it over and do that at least as frequently as they advise.

Made this tonight and everybody loved it. Tender, moist and full of flavor. I will definitely make this again.

Best steak I have ever eaten!! The rub was tasted in every bite. Just WOW. We’re having this again this weekend.

This was great. We used fresh rosemary but did everything else the same. Can’t wait to make it again.

Have made this several times and it is excellent. I think the key is in the oil/vinegar/garlic sauce used during grilling. The crusty outer layer adds great texture and taste.

Made this last week, and it was perfect! Super simple, and incredibly tasty!

Loved it! It was great tasting on its own but I actually sliced it, put it in corn taco shells with cheese, tomatoes, onions and green peppers... IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOD!

This roast was amazing. I was concerned that it would be too tough since my roast was about a pound larger than what the recipe called for. It came out great. I cooked it on a gas grill at about 500*F for about 30 minutes turning and basting just like the recipe called for. I will definitely cook it again. it was incredibly juicy and had a range if levels from medium well at the edges to medium rare in the center.

Our family loved the flavors of this recipe! Instead of grilling, I decided to try cooking it sous-vide. I coated the tri-tip with the dry rub for 4 hours in the fridge, as instructed, then added the vinaigrette to the sealed plastic bag when I put the meat in the water bath. I let it cook for 6 hours at 130F, then finished it by searing all sides in a very hot pan and letting it rest 10 minutes. It was perfect! We will be making this again.

Excellent recipe. I only had about 3 hours for it to sit with the rub on it and that was plenty of time for great flavor. I used smoked paprika instead of paprika, so it had a smoky flavor even though cooked on a gas grill.

Made it exactly as written and the meat turned out perfect the flavors were all there and mouthwatering!

First time grilling a tri tip! Worked out great didn’t use the cayenne pepper and only used 2 garlic cloves in the bast. Let it sit for about 20 hours in the fridge with the seasoning. When flipping every 4 mins I rotated just a tad. I had a water gun ready for flare ups. Grill heat was high till 8 mins then med high for another 24. Came out med well juicey and perfect for my family tastes. Didn’t cut into till after a 10 min rest. Served with grilled potatoes, grilled zucchini and maple baked beans.

Made this last weekend and it was delicious. Only had the dry rub on for 2 hours but still had a ton of flavor. Had a 5 pound tri tip so ended up doubling the recipe.

Fantastic! I've used the same Tri Tip rub for years and saw this and tried it for a change. My family loved it! I was unable to grill the trip tip, so I roasted in the oven at 425. (I did use a roasting pan and rack.)

followed it exactly, GREAT

I’ve made this several times, usually with a bit more garlic than called for but it is really excellent as written.

I made the rub exactly as described. I used it on a 3# tri tip and loved it so much I made a batch 6x larger to save for later use. I imagine this will go great on beer can chicken.

I can't say whether this recipe approximates the taste of Santa Maria tri tip beef , but we have enjoyed Morton's of Omaha Steakhouse Classic Tri Tip roasts from our local Costco. When they were no longer available, (after a brief period of mourning), I went on a hunt for a home remedy. Eureka! This recipe is the solution for us. I followed the recipe EXACTLY and was very pleased with the results. For our taste however, the next time I will cut the salt to 1 teaspoon instead of 2. So very happy to have found this recipe. Thank you Chef John!

Lord help me, I'm a country girl at great. this was delicious! hubby loved it.

I didn't "love" the flavor of the rub/baste combo. It was fine but just fine. I will not use this recipe again. I truly appreciate the folk(s) who took the time to upload everything, thank you (all) just wasn't thrilled by the flavor.

This is a great recipe with a lot of flavor! I love the addition of the red wine/oil/garlic mixture while cooking it.

Simple and awesome. I did experience 'charring' mentioned in another review, but it was on the very fatty side of my cut only and easily removed. The rub and sauce are perfect, though I had no dijon, so I just used a little mustard powder. I recommend making more of the marinade. I cooked mine on the standard Weber charcoal BBQ and found it probably took 5-6 flips to get the meat to an internal 130... Also, keep a little water bottle for flare ups when you baste.

This was so so good!

Very tasty but also very labor intensive.

We loved this and will make it again.

Easy and enjoyable recipe to make.

Another great recipe by Chef John

I started off to make this recipe exactly as described. Unfortunately life got in the way and I was unable to grill it after only 4 hours marinating time. Instead it marinated over 24 hours! I then grilled it as described using the sauce that was also made the day before. It was delicious! So don't worry if you have to leave this Tri-Tip marinating in the rub overnight. The recipe is very forgiving.

Followed the recipe exactly. However, I didn't have onion powder so I left it out. I did double the vinegar oil mixture and used a mop to apply it throughout the cooking process. At 130 internal temperature, the center is about medium rare(which we love) but if you want it well done might want to cook longer than 30 mins.

My wife loves this recipe! I don't change the recipe but I do marinade with the wine vinegar/oil mixture about an hour before starting to grill. The flavor is amazing.

I -- a not very talented cook -- have now made this 5 times or so. It's not only outstanding, it's easy to make and incredibly tasty as a BBQ tri-tip. Maybe 25 minutes prep with easily accessible ingredients. Rub and brush on marinade are terrific. We're major tri-tip fans (California!) and often get Santa Maria style from market. This is better and with a cheaper cut, where you cut away the fat, it's easily better than marinade TT you get in store. Make sure you pull Tri Tip off grill at about 120 - 123 F. After about 115 temp rises rapidly after that so keep an eye on it. No more than 2.5 minutes at that point.

I did a 3.2 pound piece, adding only parsley to the rub, and everyone thought it was fantastic. The spices are great for beef. My roast had a thick fat layer on one side which we left on top and it made a crispy flavorful crust. However it was pouring rain n this day, so we switched to the oven roasted version Chef John has on here, and skipped the basting sauce. It was just wonderful and we can’t wait to try it again on the grill with the sauce. We will be using this rub for other beef, too!

Excellent way to cook tri tip. Way quicker than I normally bbq it. Thank you for sharing!

This was absolutely delicious. Followed directions exactly. Let rub set on meat for about 4 hours and then grilled over a med-light charcoal. The RWV baste was perfect! Yes - you need to watch it because the baste will burn. But a little burn was perfect as it added a nice flavorful crust on the outside, perfectly moist med-rare on inside!

My family loved it. I had a large tri tip planned on making tacos tomorrow. Not a chance it was gone. I did one slight change. I added cayenne pepper I used just under a teaspoon It was not spicey at all next time I may add 1/4 more cayenne pepper. Even my 3 year old granddaughter ate it up. I was so unsure of the vinegar mix. I just wanted to follow the recipe, so I actually made a special trip to buy apple cider vinegar. When I returned I looked up recipe... UGH Red wine. Lucky I had it on hand.. Thank you Chef John love your videos. I doubt you read these reviews. Do you make new viedos on a regular if so how do we sign up to receive notifications?

Excellent and relatively simple. I don't care for Rosemary, so I left it out and it still turned out great, the whole family loved it.

Excellent as usual, Chef John!

Well...I made a mistake that turned out to be just fine. I added the spices (used Red Pepper flakes and some black pepper, too) to the red wine vinegar and oil. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Marinated a Sirloin Tip Roast for 4 hours in the frig and then grilled it according to the instructions. Yum.

I made it using bottom sirloin steaks and it was excellent. I will definitely make it again. I cooked about 5 minutes to long so we didn't have any rare. It was very easy!

Turned out great! I cooked a 3 pounder along with mesquite smoke. I actually added all the ingredients, even vinegar, garlic and oil together in a gallon bag and marinated the meat for 24 hours In fridge. Saving this recipe. Easy and delicious.