How to Grill Tri-Tip Steak
on Jul 17, 2025
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Juicy grilled Santa Maria tri-tip steaks seasoned to perfection with a bold dry rub — an iconic California BBQ recipe that’s smoky, simple, and crowd-pleasing.
Grilled Santa Maria Tri-Tip is a California BBQ classic that deserves a permanent spot in your grilling lineup. This flavorful and affordable cut of beef, taken from the bottom sirloin, is known for its rich marbling, tender texture, and bold beefy taste.
This Santa Maria-style tri-tip steak is seasoned with a classic rub made up of garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. You can also add cilantro if you like. Whether you’re grilling it over red oak wood (the most traditional method of cooking Tri-Tip) or cooking it on your backyard charcoal or gas grill, this is your go-to guide for achieving perfectly juicy tri-tip with a smoky crust.
Serve with classic cookout sides, like potato salad, coleslaw, macaroni salad, and grilled corn.
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What's In This Post?
Tri-tip steak comes from the bottom, or the tip, or the sirloin. It’s especially popular on the West Coast of the U.S. The steak is rich and meaty and fairly lean. Sometimes the whole tri-tip is sold as a roast (weighing from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds), and sometimes it is sliced into steaks, both of which are terrific for grilling. You may see tri-tip steaks labeled as Santa Maria’s Steak, bottom sirloin steak, triangle roast, or California Cut, depending on where you shop for your meat.
In the late 50s, a man named Bob Shutz owned a grocery store in California called the Santa Maria market, and popularized this cut of meat. Before he promoted this cut as steaks great for grilling, this part of the cow was usually used for stew meat or ground. Because it comes from the tip of the sirloin, there are only two tri-tip roasts per animal, so it was never able to be effectively commercially marketed and sold. But once you give it a go, you’ll be searching it out — it may not be as common as sirloin or other steak cuts, but it’s worth seeking out!
Where to Buy Tri Tip Steak
Though it is harder to find outside of California, this cut of meat is definitely gaining traction in the rest of the country. You can ask for it at butcher shops, and also buy it online. I got mine from ButcherBox, a great online store for high-quality, humanely raised meat.
Substitutions for Tri-Tip Steak
There are only two tri-tip steaks per cow, one from each side of the sirloin, so it’s not a super common cut of meat. If you can’t find a tri-tip cut, you can ask your butcher to cut a 2- to 3-inch thick slab of meat from the bottom sirloin.
How Long to Grill Tri-Tip Steak
A tri-tip steak left whole is large and thick, and does best with the two-zone grilling method. This means that whether you are using a charcoal or a gas or a wood pellet grill, you want to set up one side of your grill for high heat, to get a nice char on the outside of the meat, and the other to medium low, to allow the meat to cook through without burning. Move the meat back and forth between the two zones as needed. You want a browned exterior, and the meat inside to be cooking to your liking, whatever that degree of doneness is (see below!).
These times and internal temperatures take into account carryover cooking, the fact that the temperature of the meat will continue to climb by several degrees once the steak is removed from the heat to a cutting board.
Kitchen Smarts
Let the trip tip come to room temperature before grilling. This ensures the meat cooks evenly and promotes tenderness throughout.
| Doneness | Internal Temp | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 125 degrees F | 4-6 minutes per side, then 5-10 minutes indirect |
| Medium-Rare | 130 degrees F | 5-7 minutes per side, then 5-10 minutes indirect |
| Medium | 135 degrees F | 6-8 minutes per side, then 5-10 minutes indirect |
How to Slice Tri-Tip Steaks for Maximum Tenderness
All steaks should be cut across the grain, but with a tri-tip steak, this requires a bit more thought! Let the steak rest for 5 to 10 minutes to reclaim its juices. Then, you’ll want to cut the steak into two pieces before slicing it. Here’s why:
The tri-tip steak is actually a combination of two cuts of meat, one that has the fibers, or grain, running horizontally, and one piece with the grain going vertically. So the two pieces have fibers or grains that run perpendicular to one another.
You’ll want to look for the fine line that connects these two parts of the steak. Cut the steak into two pieces, following this line. Then, cut each part of the steak into slices, cutting across the grain.
What to Serve With Santa Maria Tri-Tip
In California, the home of the tri-tip, the meat is usually served thinly sliced with salsa or pico de gallo, along with pink beans (pinquito beans), and toasted French bread.
Other sides that would go well with Santa Maria Tri-Tips:
- Steakhouse Tomato Salad
- Summer Corn, Tomato, and Bacon Salad
- Grilled Onions
- Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad
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Grilled Tri-Tip Steak
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- 1 (2 1/2-pound) beef tri-tip steak
- Pico de Gallo (or salsa to serve)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, cilantro (if using), garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper. Rub the mixture over the meat. If you have time, place the meat in a sealed container (or put it on a plate, and cover it with plastic wrap), and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. If not, just let it rest at room temp for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Heat the grill to medium-high on one side, low on the other (two-zone grilling). Place the trip tip on the grill over the medium-high heat side, fat side down, and cook for about 7 minutes until a bottom crust forms.
- Turn and cook for another 7 minutes. Move to indirect heat and continue to grill, turning the meat several times to keep it browning and cooking evenly. Cook until an internal thermometer reads 130 F. for medium-rare. Remove the meat from the grill to a cutting board.
- Let the meat rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing it thinly across the grain. Note that there are two parts to the tri-tip, and the grain runs in different directions in each piece. You’ll want to look for the fine line that connects these two parts of the steak, and cut the steak into two pieces, following this line. Then, cut each part of the steak into slices, cutting across the grain.
- Serve with the Pico de Gallo sauce or salsa.
First time cooking tri-tip, and this worked out perfectly.