The Best Tri Tip Marinade

The best Tri Tip Marinade for grilled tri tip or oven roasted tri tip! This simple tri tip marinade takes only a few minutes to whip up and results in mouth-watering delicious tri tip every single time!

I recently marinated a tri tip for a family barbecue and realized I hadn’t shared my go-to recipe for tri tip marinade. 

Because I’m completely obsessed with tender, flavorful meat, I felt I needed to remedy this.

You need this in your life!

So here we are discussing the best tri tip marinade recipe that produces an amazing flavorful and tender tri tip each and every time.

While I enjoy a good dry rub or even just a sprinkle of sea salt for certain cuts of meat, I find marinating tri-tip helps enhance its savory flavor and is the best way of achieving the most tender result.

The two keys to success with any large piece of meat is first making preparations ahead of time (in other words, dry brining the meat or marinating it) and second, ensuring you’re cooking it to your preferred level of doneness (rare, medium-rare, medium, well-done).

For this reason, whip up your marinade within 24 to 36 hours of cooking your tri tip and be sure you have an accurate meat thermometer.

This tri tip marinade recipe makes enough marinade for one 3-pound tri tip, which is the typical size for a store-bought tri-tip.

If you’re cooking more than one tri tip or if you’re making a large tri tip, feel free to double (or triple, quadruple) the recipe to make more marinade.

The best part about this recipe is you can change it up in different ways to customize it to your heart’s delight. Plus, all of the ingredients can be found at any grocery store.

Let’s discuss the ingredients for this easy marinade recipe.

Ingredients for Tri Tip Marinade:

Avocado Oil

Liquid Aminos (or Low-Sodium Soy Sauce)

Rice Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)

Pure Maple Syrup (or Brown Sugar)

Fresh Garlic

Worcestershire Sauce (Optional)

Dried Oregano

Dijon Mustard

Sriracha (Optional)

This combination of ingredients yields a rich marinade full of savory, tangy flavors with a hint of sweetness and the tiniest kick. 

It is designed to nail the full spectrum of flavors to infuse your meat with a whirlwind of deliciousness.

Recipe Adaptations:

• Use olive oil instead of avocado oil.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) of ground black pepper to the marinade.
• If you don’t have fresh garlic on hand, use 1 tablespoon of garlic powder. You can also add onion powder if you have it on hand.
• Use lemon juice, lime juice, or red wine vinegar in place of the rice vinegar if you prefer.
• Add your favorite seasonings or seasoning rub to the marinade, including chili powder, paprika, lemon pepper, etc. 

Now that we’ve covered the simple ingredients for the best tri-tip marinade, let’s make it!

How to Make Tri Tip Marinade:

Add all of the ingredients for the trip tip marinade to a small blender or food processor. I use my Magic Bullet and a NutriBullet works great as well.

Blend the marinade ingredients until they are completely combined and a thick creamy marinade results.

If you don’t own a small blender, use a small bowl to mix the ingredients.

Transfer the tri tip and the marinade to a large zip lock bag or an airtight container. Seal bag (or container) and move the contents around until the meat is covered with marinade. Marinate tri tip for at least 15 minutes, ideally several hours and up to 36 hours. 

I have included three different directions for preparing tri tip below so you can use your preferred cooking method.

Spoiler alert: My favorite is grilled tri tip on a charcoal grill or a gas grill if I’m saving time.

You can use this great marinade on any cut of meat, including fish, pork, and chicken. This is great on skirt steak, flank steak and bottom sirloin as well.

Prepare this delicious marinade up to 2 weeks in advance and store it in an airtight container or airtight jar in the refrigerator. I like using a mason jar for storing the marinade.

How Long To Marinate Tri Tip:

Marinate tri tip for a minimum of 15 minutes. Ideally, you will set aside several hours to marinate the tri tip, and up to 36 hours. If you don’t have several hours, the tri tip will still taste great even if you aren’t able to give it a lot of time.

The longer you’re able to marinade the tri tip (again, up to 36 hours for the best results), the better as it will help to soften the muscle fibers for the best texture.

I typically marinate tri tip for 12 to 24 hours and have found the result to taste amazing. This is enough time for the salt in the marinade to penetrate deeply into the meat, thereby infusing it with flavor and tenderizing it.

How to Cook Tri Tip:

My three favorite methods for cooking tri tip are grilling on an outdoor grill, smoking on a pellet smoker, and roasting in the oven. 

For the full cooking instructions, check out my BBQ Tri Tip recipe, The Best Roast Tri Tip, or my Smoked Tri Tip recipe. 

I will say, when I make smoked tri tip, I usually stick with a dry brine rather than using a wet brine or marinade to get a nice crust.

After marinating tri tip in this flavorful marinade, bring it to room temperature before cooking it.

To do so, take the tri tip out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. This helps ensure the tri tip cooks evenly. 

Be sure you use an instant-read thermometer to spot check the internal temperature of the tri tip steak.

Final Cooking Temperatures for Tri Tip:

• Rare: 120 degrees F
• Medium-rare: 130 to 135 degrees F
• Medium: 138 to 140 degrees F
• Medium-well: 140 to 145 degrees F
• Well done: above 145 degrees F

After cooking the tri tip using your preferred method, transfer it to a cutting board and let the meat rest for at least 15 minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut the tri-tip steak against the grain of the meat.

Serve tri tip with The Best Chimichurri Sauce and your choice of side dishes.

I love serving tri tip with delicious sides like The Best Potato Salad, Mayo-Free Macaroni Salad, The Best Broccoli Salad, Tangy Cucumber Tomato Coleslaw, and The Best Fruit Salad. 

And that’s it! The only tri tip marinade recipe you’ll ever need!

If you love marinades, also try out The Best Salmon Marinade, The Best Flank Steak Marinade, Basil Marinade for Chicken, and Best Steak Marinade.

Employ this gem the next time you make beef tri tip roast!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.