Tri Tip with a twist
Smoked Tri Tip finished with the fragrant and acidic Chimichurri make for the perfect bite. If you’ve never had Tri-Tip before, run, don’t walk, to your butcher and ask them to special order it for you- it’s a wonderful cut of meat, especially for smoking and then finishing with a sear.
Leftovers are wonderful on their own but great served on a salad, or served French Dip style on French bread with swiss, horseradish and au jus.
Quality cuts
This cut of meat is more common on the West Coast than the East, so I decided to make it worth my while and ordered Wagyu Tri Tip from Snake River Farms. Boy, was it delish!
When I want to make a memorable meal, I like to go all out and you can’t beat the marbling you’ll find in Wagyu Beef! I like to order their high-quality meat such as Wagyu Beef or Heritage Korobuta Pork for special occasions or when I want to go all out and impress my guests. Or when I’m trying to butter my husband up for something! Ha!
Tips for smoking on different types of grills and smokers
You can smoke on your charcoal or gas grill or a dedicated smoker with various methodologies. For both gas and charcoal you will create direct and indirect zones and cook the meat on indirect.
For charcoal, you will add wood to the fire. For gas grills, you will need to use a “smoker tube” to obtain smoke. This is a tube that you can fill with pellets and it adds smoke to anything you cook.
For a dedicated smoker, if you want to obtain char marks or crust on the outside of the meat, at the end you will need to finish cooking the meat on direct heat on a grill or sear in a cast iron skillet.
A smoker tube allows you to add smoke flavor on a gas grill, or to infuse extra smoke flavor on a pellet smoker.
Take a look at the guide below to help you determine what temperature your steak should reach! If you are wondering about what internal temperatures other proteins should meet, check out my BBQ Calculator! To determine what temperature your meat is at, I recommend using an internal read thermometer, such as Thermapen.
Smoked Tri Tip with Chimichurri
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 3–4 lb Tri Tip
Rub:
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
Chimichurri sauce
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar (or more to taste)
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- ½ cup fresh oregano
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Combine the rub ingredients to make a “slather” and rub all over the trip tip.
- Smoke the Tri Tip on indirect heat at 250 degrees until an internal read thermometer like the Thermapen or the Thermopop reads 125 degrees for medium rare (remember it will continue to cook when you take it off the smoker)- this will take around 2 hours, depending on the thickness of your roast.
- Finish the roast on the direct side of your smoker or grill – place the tri tip on a grill heated to 400 degrees and let sear for a few minutes on each side, being careful not to overcook.
- While the Tri Tip is smoking (first part), make your Chimichurri sauce by putting all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse the mixture only a few times to chop the mix up but DON’T PUREE (authentic Chimichurri is not a puree it is an oil based condiment).
- Let the Tri Tip sit tented under foil for 10 minutes so the juices can reabsorb and then slice the Tri Tip for serving. Serve with the Chimichurri.
Notes
NOTE: Tri Tip always produces a lot of blood when slicing- this is normal don't be alarmed!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Beef
- Method: Smoking
- Cuisine: Grilling/BBQ
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Did you enjoy your smoked Tri Tip and Chimichurri? Check out these related posts!
this looks delicious!