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Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa Recipe

Filed under Beef, Low Carb, Main Course

Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa

Have you ever come up with your own, never-before-seen recipe (at least not seen by you) and it turns out so well you just want to stand up and take a bow? Well, some of my friends do this all the time, but for me it's a rarity. My mini-triumph today is a green bell pepper salsa, the ingredients for which you probably have, which perfectly accents steak, or in this case, a grilled tri-tip steak.

Tri-tip roasts are popular here in California; it's a flavorful cut, perfect for barbecuing and grilling. Triangular in shape, it is also called sirloin tip, culotte steak, triangle steak, and Santa Maria-style. The tri-tip cut is rather lean and can get tough if over-cooked. So, don't trim the fat before cooking (it will be needed to keep the steak tender), and use a meat thermometer and stop the cooking at 130°F. This cut can be hard to find outside of California, though I understand that both Costco and Sam's Club carry it. You can also use this recipe with a flank steak.

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Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa Recipe

Ingredients

Marinade
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
A couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
A sprinkling of salt

Steak
1 2-pound tri-tip steak or roast
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Salsa
1 large green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped (if you don't have green, probably any color will do)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp chopped parsley, basil, or arugula
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

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1 Prepare the marinade in a large bowl, stirring together all of the marinade ingredients. Place steak in the bowl and coat on all sides with the marinade. Let the steak sit in the marinade and come to room temperature while you prepare the grill. (No need to marinate the steak more than 20 minutes or so.)

2 Prepare the grill for direct high heat. If you are using charcoal, use approximately 5 pounds of coals. Bank the coals so that more of them are on one side than the other, so that you have a high heat zone and a lower heat zone.

3 When the grill is ready and hot, remove the meat from the marinade and dry it all around with paper towels. Sprinkle all sides of the tri-tip generously with both salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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4 Place the tri-tip on the grill, on the hot direct heat side. Leave the cover off and watch carefully for flare-ups. As the meat browns, any fat will melt and drip on to the coals causing flare-ups. These are okay, as long as they don't get out of control. Keep moving the tri-tip around the grill away from the flames if they get too high. After one side of the meat is browned (about 5 minutes) use tongs to flip it on to the other side. When it is browned all around, move the tri-tip to the lower heat side of the grill. Cover the grill and close the vents enough so that you maintain about 300-325°F temperature in the grill. (If you are using a charcoal grill, you can place a meat thermometer through the vents to measure the heat.) If you are using a gas grill, turn off one of the burners and move the meat over that burner for indirect heating.

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5 Cook the tri-tip until a meat thermometer reads 130°F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat (15-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat). Remove the tri-tip from the grill. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

6 Prepare the salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients into a small bowl.

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7 Cut the tri-tip in 1/4-inch slices against the grain. Serve with the salsa.

Serves 6.

Note: If you don't have a grill, you can prepare the tri-tip by browning it in a hot cast iron pan on the stove top, then placing it a 325°F oven until the internal temperature of the steak/roast reaches 130°F.

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Posted by Elise on Aug 10, 2007 and indexed Beef Roast, Grill, Steak, Tri tip

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Comments

Elise,

This salsa looks wonderful! Luckily I can get tri-tip at the commissary here on base, it's the first time I've seen it since leaving California.

I'm pretty sure you could make the same recipe with brisket as well.

Posted by: Jerry on August 11, 2007 5:25 AM

Tri-Tip is my ALL TIME favorite cut! It's great for everything (you should try my recipe.) :) The thing I like most about tri-tip is that when it's grilled, it plumps up with yummy juices - ugh! Too bad it's hard to find here. When I lived in San Jose, I could just go to Costco and get a 30lb bag. :)

Posted by: Matt (Suburban Gourmet) on August 11, 2007 9:39 AM

Tri- Tip is easily found here in Utah.(At least up where I am at). I get it from our local butcher shop or Costco. I have used it in many recipes, and am so excited to try this one out.
I can't wait. Thanks

Posted by: amy mom of 5 on August 11, 2007 11:11 AM

That looks very yummy! Lovely images as always. :)

Posted by: Jess on August 11, 2007 3:43 PM

This looks mighty tasty! I sometimes feel really proud of myself for coming up with what I think is a really unique recipe only to have Google prove me otherwise! :P

Posted by: Amy on August 12, 2007 12:22 AM

Hi Amy, yeah, Google got me on this one too. But I felt brilliant for at least a little while! LOL

Posted by: Elise on August 12, 2007 12:45 AM

Living in the city (Boston) is great but delicious looking recipes like this one that makes me lust for access to an outdoor barbeque! Once the cool weather returns I’ll turn the oven back on and give this one a try! Thanks

Posted by: startcooking on August 12, 2007 4:46 AM

Green Bell Pepper Salsa - great idea, sounds really good with steaks!

"Tips" are so popular here (North Boston) that one of my local markets carries steak tips, lamb tips, pork tips and even turkey tips! You guessed it, they just cut everything into triangles - too funny.

Posted by: Tori on August 12, 2007 6:42 AM

Tri-tip is one of our favorite cuts for grilling but is almost impossible to find in Wisconsin. A spoon roast is a great substitute.

Love your green pepper salsa. It's addictive!

Posted by: CJ on August 12, 2007 7:22 AM

Just wanted to throw this in. Tri-tip is a sirloin cut which can be very tender if cooked properly. Everyone thinks that you should sear tri-tip first and then lower the heat, this is not true. Actually, it will come out more tender if you cook it at a lower temp first and then hit it with high temp before taking it off. The collagen in the meat actually constricts if you change the temp of the meat to quick at first and makes for tough meat. Only better cuts of meat like tenderloin can be seared without this happening. P.S. The salsa sounds very yummy!

Posted by: BBQ Guy on August 13, 2007 4:41 PM

Thanks for the tip, BBQ Guy!

Posted by: Elise on August 15, 2007 8:05 AM

What the heck is a tri-tip steak? I don't recall seeing that cut on a chart. Where on the steer is the steak from: and what other cut would suffice?

Posted by: lh0425 on August 15, 2007 1:10 PM

Hi lh0425 - Here is an explanation of beef loin cuts that may shed some light on tri tip.

Posted by: Elise on August 15, 2007 9:31 PM

We made this last night for company and it was awesome. The whole thing was simple and easy and delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Posted by: Frog on August 19, 2007 5:53 AM

Recipe sounds very good, well done once again Elise! Fortunately for moi, I live in Buenos Aires where high quality meat is the norm. If I'm not mistaken, tri-tip looks a lot like "colita de cuadril" down here, maybe someone can confirm / correct this...good sauce and lovely pics!

Posted by: Rodo222 on August 21, 2007 2:26 PM

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