Living in central California, one of the cuts of meat I have cooked the most is the Tri-tip. I had actually never heard of Tri-tip until I moved to this area. It wasn’t a thing where I lived the first 13 years of my life even though I grew up around cows and a freezer full of beef.
Oddly enough, even though I cook it often, I never once had “Santa Maria” style Tri-tip which apparently is the style that made it famous. And I have to say, I’ve been missing out!
I’ve done rubs and marinades of all sorts. Over time, I’ve dropped marinades from my Tri-tip options because I feel like the meat is such a good tasting cut that it just doesn’t need the marinade.
I came across a few recipes to get an idea of what types of flavors are involved here and came up with a rub myself. Here is the final version that is oh so tasty!
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1/4 Tbsp finely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dry sage
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients into a bowl. After patting down the tri-tip, rub liberally with all of the ingredients.
- Let it sit for 1-2 hour.
- First warm up whatever you use to sear your meat.
- Sear all sides of the Tri-tip.
- Once seared, place the Tri-tip on your pellet grill at 225 and cook until the internal temperature reaches 130-135 (depending on your doneness preference) and cover for 15-30 minutes.
- Slice and serve.
