About This Recipe
People ask whether they can marinate tri tip in chimichurri. You can, but the raw table sauce is built to taste bright on the outside of the meat, not to soak into it. A marinade has a different job: season the beef from within and help it brown. So this version leans on a chimichurri-inspired marinade, the same parsley, garlic, oregano, and red wine vinegar, dialed in for the grill.
The changes are small but they matter. Fewer herbs, so they season the meat instead of scorching over the fire. A little Worcestershire for umami and browning, smoked paprika for color, and a touch of Dijon to hold the marinade together. It still reads unmistakably like chimichurri, but it works from the inside instead of sitting on top.
Then comes the part that makes it worth the trouble: finish the sliced tri tip with fresh chimichurri. The marinade builds flavor deep in the meat, the raw sauce lands bright and sharp on top, and you get two layers of the same herbs instead of one. Treat the sauce the way you would horseradish with prime rib, a finishing touch, not a requirement.
Cook it like any grilled tri tip, pulling at a medium-rare 130 to 135 degrees and slicing thin against the grain. The marinade does not change the method, only the depth of flavor you start from.
Which cooker to use
- Charcoal grill
This is the recipe as written. Step 3 leaves a thin coat of marinade on the meat on purpose, and that coat has herbs in it, so hold the direct-heat sear to the four or five minutes a side you’re given or the parsley blackens.
- Santa Maria grill
Raising the grate is your indirect heat on a rig with no lid. Start it higher than you would for a plain salted roast, because the herbs in that marinade coat scorch well before the beef is ready.
- Reverse sear
The low stage sets the herb coat gently instead of blasting it, which suits this marinade. Sear well under a minute a side at the end, since the coating is already dark and turns bitter if you chase a deeper crust.
The recipe
Chimichurri Marinated Tri Tip
Tri tip marinated in a chimichurri-inspired blend, grilled to medium rare, and finished with fresh chimichurri spooned over slices cut against the grain.
Ingredients
- 1 whole tri tip roast (2-3 lbs), trimmed
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup fresh chimichurri, to finish (see Chimichurri for Tri Tip)
Instructions
Whisk the marinade: olive oil, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, Dijon, garlic, parsley, oregano, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Note The Dijon is not there for mustard flavor; it emulsifies the marinade so it clings evenly. Keep the herbs lighter than a table chimichurri so they season the meat instead of burning over the fire.
Add the tri tip, coat it well, and marinate refrigerated 4 to 8 hours.
Note Overnight up to 12 hours is fine. Past about 24 hours the vinegar starts to break down the surface, so do not push it further.
Pull the tri tip 30 minutes before cooking and pat it mostly dry, leaving just a thin coating.
Note A drier surface browns. A wet, herb-caked surface steams and the herbs scorch.
Build a two-zone fire. Sear over direct heat 4 to 5 minutes per side, then move to the indirect side and cook to 130 to 135 degrees F for medium-rare.
Note Reverse sear works too: low heat first, then a hard sear. Go by a thermometer, not the clock.
Rest 10 to 15 minutes, then slice thin against the grain, carving the two muscles apart where the grain changes direction.
Note Discard the used marinade. Never reuse marinade that has touched raw meat.
Spoon fresh chimichurri over the sliced tri tip just before serving.
Note Make the finishing chimichurri 30 minutes to 2 hours ahead so the garlic mellows and the herbs infuse the oil.
Nutrition Facts
Per serving
- Calories
- 430
- Protein
- 43 g
- Fat
- 31 g
- Sat. Fat
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
- Sodium
- 700 mg
- Cholesterol
- 105 mg
Values are estimates based on standard ingredients and serving sizes.