What is Tri Tip? How to Cook This Incredibly Underrated Cut

Tri Tip is a tender, juicy, flavor-packed cut of beef that’s incredibly versatile. Best of all, according to the USDA average prices, Tri Tip is a whopping 55% cheaper than Ribeye!

I love grilling and smoking tri tip, and have even ground one up to make amazing burgers.

There are a few things you need to know about this cut before you start cooking though.

What is tri tip?

Tri Tip is named for its somewhat triangular shape. This boneless cut of beef comes from the Bottom Sirloin area and is technically known as the tensor fasciae latae.

It’s known by a ridiculous number of different names, including California cut, triangle steak, bottom sirloin butt, and Santa Maria steak.

You can find tri tips ranging in weight from 1.5 to 3 pounds, and you can expect to feed around four people with one.

Why we love tri tip

There are a few reasons we enjoy barbecuing with tri-tip:

• Because of the triangular shape, it’s a great beef cut for families that want their meat cooked at different donenesses. The narrow tip naturally cooks faster than the fatter end.
• It’s a really rich and flavorful cut of beef with dense marbling and a tender texture.
• It’s very versatile and you can cook it using several methods, including smoking and grilling

While there is a trend to smoke tri tip low and slow brisket style, I think the best way to cook it is medium rare like a steak.

Preparing tri tip for cooking

Depending on how your tri tip was butchered, you will need to trim it to remove extra fat and silver skin.

If your tri tip comes with the fat cap intact, you can leave it on or remove it. I prefer to remove it so that I can get more seasoning on the meat.

I also like to remove any silver skin or bits of loose fat until it looks like the picture below.

How to cook tri tip

My favorite way to cook tri tip is to smoke it until it’s almost done and then finish with a quick sear. This is known as the reverse sear method and it’s the easiest way to get a perfectly cooked medium rare with a nice crust on the outside.

You can get the full recipe here, or follow the steps below.

• Get your smoker ready to cook at 225°F and add your favorite smoke wood. Hickory and oak both work great for tri tip.
• Season your trimmed tri tip with a salt, pepper and garlic powder, or your favorite steak seasoning
• Place the seasoned tri-tip on the indirect heat side of your smoker and cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of 115°F. Remember to place your thermometer in the thickest part.
• Sear the tri-tip over the direct flame until it reaches 127°F. Flip it every couple of minutes.
• Place it on a rimmed baking sheet, cover it with foil, and let it rest for about 15 minutes before serving, so the juices have time to settle and redistribute. During this time, expect the temperature to rise another 5 to 10 degrees. 

As various factors can affect your cooking times, we recommend using a thermometer.

How to slice a tri-tip

So, you’ve seasoned it, cooked it, and rested it; don’t ruin it now! 

How you slice your tri-tip is essential to its texture and can make a huge difference in how it tastes. Here’s how to slice your tri-tip correctly.

The tri-tip actually has two grains running through it. As you always slice against the grain, you’ll have to locate these grains and where they meet. Approximately half of your steak will contain horizontal muscle fibers, the other half will run vertically.

The best way to learn is to see it done, so give my video a watch.

Wondering what’s the difference if you slice with the grain rather than against it? 

Well, put simply, slicing against the grain helps to shorten those long muscle fibers. If you slice with the grain, the meat will be tougher as the fibers will be much longer. Longer fibers take a lot more chewing to break down, resulting in a more chewy texture. 

How to serve tri-tip

There are many ways to cook tri-tip and many ways to serve it:

• Go against the grain and make tri-tip cheeseburgers.
• Shred the tri-tip to make sandwiches. Serve it on toasted buns with Texas-style barbecue sauce.
• Slice your roast and serve it with your favorite barbecue side dishes.
• Serve it Santa Maria barbecue-style with pinquito beans, tomato salsa, and garlic bread.

Where to buy tri tip

While tri tip has become more popular in recent years, it’s still not always available from your local butcher, but you can always order it online.

I’ve ordered tri-tip from both Snake River Farms and Porter Road and found both online butchers’ quality excellent.