Smoked Tri Tip
On June 27, 2022 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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Smoked Tri Tip is a flavorful and juicy steak that will soon become one of your favorites. When cooked correctly, it’s incredibly tender and completely delicious. In today’s post, I’ll teach you how to cook tri tip like a pro!
What is Tri Tip?
Tri tip roast is a triangle-shaped cut of beef roast that comes from the lower part of the bottom sirloin. Most tri tips are purchased trimmed from the butcher and weigh around 2-3 pounds. Untrimmed, a tri tip will have a large fat side and layer of silver skin and can weigh nearly 5 pounds.
Tri tip is most popular in Western America, with possible origin ties to California, but it is becoming much more available (and popular!) across the rest of the United States.
Smoked Tri Tip
Smoked tri tip is an incredible way to prepare the steak, with good smoke flavor infused in a well-seasoned, perfectly cooked cut of meat. Feel free to use this recipe as a guide, and add your own favorite seasonings or sauces as you see fit. BBQ is all about making food that tastes good, so by all means, play around with this smoked tri tip a bit.
There are three steps to mastering the perfect smoked tri tip. First is seasoning, the second is smoking, and the third is searing. Do not skip any of these, as they are all key to making the most flavorful and juicy tri tip you’ll ever have.
How to Season Tri Tip
Whenever I am cooking a cut of meat for the first time, I like to keep my seasonings simple and pure. Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic powder sprinkled liberally on all sides is a great starting point for this tri tip.
If you like your tri tip with a bit more oomph, you can’t go wrong with a more complex seasoning. My Signature Beef Seasoning was made to compliment all cuts of beef without overpowering the flavor. Best of all? It’s delivered straight to your door!
If you don’t have any Beef Seasoning on hand and you just can’t wait to make your tri tip, feel free to make something from scratch! My Steak Seasoning or Montreal Seasoning recipes would both be delicious!
How to Smoke Tri Tip
You can smoke a tri tip on any kind of smoker you have available, however, you need to be able to maintain a pretty solid 225 degrees F for the second step of the process. I made this steak on my Camp Chef SmokePro pellet smoker and had great results.
During this stage, the tri tip will slowly raise in temperature, creating an even cook from edge to edge, and helping to retain moisture inside of your meat. You want to pull your meat off the smoker when the meat is within 5-10 degrees of your final target temperature (see the table below).
How to Sear Tri Tip
The final step is a high heat sear to lock in all of those juices and get a gorgeous crust on the exterior of the meat. I like to do this step in a really hot cast iron skillet with some sizzling butter, but you can also sear your smoked tri tip on a gas grill to get some lovely grill marks on the exterior.
If you’re up for trying something new, and you want to cook tri tip from start to finish in a cast-iron skillet, check out this recipe for Cast Iron Tri Tip Roast.
How Long to Smoke Tri Tip
Plan up to 2 hours for smoking tri tip, plus an additional 5-6 minutes for searing and 15 minutes of rest time for a medium-rare steak. The times will vary slightly based on the doneness you’re trying to achieve in the center of your meat.
I recommend using an internal thermometer to check the temperature of your meat throughout the cooking process. It is the only fail-proof way to perfectly cooked steaks. I recommend investing in a thermometer that will last, like the Thermapen MK4. I’ve had mine for years and take it with me everywhere.
I follow the guide below for smoking and then searing meat to ensure I end up with it perfectly cooked in the middle:
For the first smoking step, pull off your tri tip roast at the following temperature:
- Rare: 115-120 degrees F
- Medium Rare: 125-130 degrees F
- *Medium: 135-140 degrees F
- Medium Well: 145-150 degrees F
- Well Done: 150-155 degrees F
For the second searing step, pull off your tri tip at the following temperature:
- Rare: 125 degrees F
- Medium Rare: 135 degrees F
- *Medium: 145 degrees F
- Medium Well: 155 degrees F
- Well Done: 160 degrees F
Once your steak reaches your desired temperature during the searing phase, remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes.
*I do not recommend cooking steak past medium, as it is the most flavorful and juicy from medium-rare to medium.
Best Tri Tip Recipes
Tri tip your jam? You’ve gotta try these other popular tri tip recipes from Hey Grill Hey. They’re all super juicy and bursting with good, beefy flavor.
- Smoked Coffee Rub Tri Tip. Coffee and beef come together for a rich and buttery tri tip experience.
- Tri Tip Cooked Like a Brisket. Don’t knock this one till you’ve tried it!
- Grilled Tri Tip. A quick and easy dinner option your whole family will enjoy.
- BBQ Tri Tip
- Smoked Tri Tip Chili
You can find all our Tri Tip Recipes at Hey Grill Hey!
Smoked Tri Tip Recipe
Follow the recipe below and let’s make this tri tip recipe together! I’m all about helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. If you want to see more of my recipes, tips, and behind-the-scenes action, follow along on my social channels. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!
Smoked Tri Tip
Video
Equipment
- 1 Smoker I highly recommend this one!
Ingredients
- 1 2-3 pound tri tip roast fat cap and silverskin removed (may be done already by your butcher)
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Beef Rub or equal parts salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Season the meat. Season the tri tip on all sides with the Beef Seasoning or equal parts salt, pepper, or garlic powder. Lightly press the seasoning into the meat.
- Place in the tri tip directly on the grill grates of your smoker. Close the lid and smoke until the internal temperature is within 5-10 degrees of your target final temperature (115 degrees F for a rare roast, 125 for a medium rare roast, 135 for a medium roast, 145 for a medium well roast, or 150 for a well done roast).
- Preheat a cast iron skillet for searing. When your tri tip is near the correct internal temperature, preheat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Remove your tri tip from the smoker.
- Sear the tri tip. Put 2-3 tablespoons of butter into the cast iron skillet and let it melt. Drop in the sprig of rosemary and then place the tri tip into the sizzling butter. Sear the tri tip for 2-3 minutes per side, spooning the butter and rosemary over the steak as it cooks.
- Rest, slice, and serve. Pull your roast out of the pan and move onto a cutting board. Allow the roast to rest for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain and serving. The grain changes in a tri tip, so I always start at the smallest point end and angle my knife as needed to keep my slices going against the grain.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
stupid question. I was wondering…..usually when smoking tri tip you see the fat portion down, but I have always cooked meats fat side up when roasting; should tri tip be up or down?
That’s totally up to you! I’ve cooked them both ways and they turn out pretty much the same!
I’ve made tri tip several ways over the years, mostly on the rotisserie, but I wanted to try it on my Smoke Hollow Smoker.
I used my own rub and left what little fat cap was on (the rest was trimmed by our butcher). I used a combo of oak and alder, since I didn’t have much oak left. I pulled it early, as directed, and then seared it with butter in my trust stainless steel pan (my cast iron ones were too small). It ended up resting for more like 45 minutes before slicing. I browned leftover baby potatoes in the butter sauce after the tri tip was done.
Wow. Delicious.
It was PERFECT medium rare and had a fantastic flavor. It wasn’t too smoky and was super juicy and tender. I can’t wait to have tri tip sammies tomorrow 😉
Thank you!
(PS I didn’t realize you were “Susie on Michael Symon’s Team” until after I started working on the recipe. Thank you for showing such determination and pure skill on the BBQ challenge show. They all underestimated you, but I had a feeling you were going to knock it out of the park! Congrats on being a finalist and good luck with whatever your next challenge is :))
Thank you so much!
We are doing this today on my Pit Boss. Can’t wait!
Btw, you are doing awesome on that new BBQ show Flay vs Syman! At this point in the show, you are in the finals. We are pulling for you!!
Thank you so much!
Did it just like the recipe & everyone I cook this for swears it’s the best Tri Tip ever !!! Thank you for the recipe .
That’s awesome! Way to nail it!
Great plan that works. My campfire chef is amazing !!!
This is so easy that I don’t think you could mess it up.
help please.. i’m smoking TWO Tri-Tips.. each 2.5 pounds each in the same smoker pit.
do i smoke for 30 minutes per pound of ONE of them ? or do i budget 30 minutes per pound for 5 pounds.. ??? help please
thanks!!!!
Smoke them to temperature, for sure but it’ll be closer to 30 mins per pound for 2.5 pounds.
The hardest part of this recipe is explaining what a tri-tip is to my fellow Texans. Most have never heard of this lol.
Came out perfect! However proper cutting is essential.
Use the words “Triangle Steak” and they may better understand you.
Thanks for the advice. I followed the recipe to medium with butter sear on my cast iron oven grill. I am positive this is the best meat i have ever cooked! No BS!
That’s awesome! Way to nail it!
Can’t wait to try this!!!
What did you mix in with your salted butter for searing? your video shows some sort of mixed butter in a small bowl.
It’s Chef Shamy Garlic Butter!
Used McCormick Cowboy Rub with hickory wood for smoking. 2hrs was the perfect time for medium well, and seared on the grill after. Amazing!