This tri tip marinade with whiskey is a super easy to whip up and makes an incredibly delicious roast in the oven or on the grill. You’ll even skip the steak sauce.
When you cook for big group, you learn quickly that everyone has an opinion on what to eat for dinner. And in my family, they are all opinionated and freely express these opinions to me. Lucky me!
Some dinners are a hit, others are a miss. More common is some like the meal and others grumble about it. It is difficult to find something that everyone agrees on and loves to eat.
Well, one of those always welcomed meals is a roast. I prepare a beef roast and serve it with a variety of side dishes so each person can customize their own meal. And one of our favorite and easiest roasts is this whiskey tri-tip.
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Recipe highlights
- Family friendly: This tri tip marinade is super simple: whiskey, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. It is still kid friendly because the alcohol is burned off.
- Texture: A tri tip roast is actually a pretty tender cut of meat. The acid in the cider vinegar marinade helps tenderize the meat even more.
- Flavor: This cut of meat is also very juicy on its own, even without a marinade. The whiskey marinade gives the meat an additional yet subtle flavor as well. The whiskey taste is not overpowering. It just offers some undertones of the marinade.
Ingredients you need
- Tri tip roast: You can buy a tri tip roast trimmed or untrimmed, which affects the cost. Know that even the trimmed roasts still have a lot of fat on them. Fat marbled in the meat is great as it adds flavor and moisture, but any big chunks of fat will need to be removed.
- Whiskey: Since this is where your meat will get a lot of its flavor, so choose a high quality whiskey. We happened to have Jack Daniels, so I have used that a lot. I have also tried other brands, too.
- Cider vinegar: You can use any brand of cider vinegar, but I personally prefer Bragg’s apple cider vinegar.
- Salt and pepper
Step-by-step directions
- Trim the roast. The amount of fat you need to trim off your roast depends on how you are cooking it. Trim off any large deposits of fat surrounding the tri tip. For grilling you want a little bit of fat, but nothing larger than ½-inch thick. For oven roasting, I tend to trim off more of the fat, leaving only small bits that will melt in the cooking process.
- Marinate the roast. Coat tri-tip with salt and pepper and place in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour in whiskey and apple cider vinegar. Your roast needs a minimum of 3 hours of marinating time. I have also marinated it for 8-12 hours and it tastes amazing.
- Bring to room temp. About 30 minutes prior to cooking remove meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Allow meat to rest at room temperature.
- Oven instructions. For oven roasting, preheat the oven to 450º F. Place the tri-tip fat side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes and begin checking the internal temperature on a meat thermometer: for medium-rare, 135º-140º F and 140º-145º F for medium.
- Grill instructions. If grilling, heat grill to 275ºF temperature and place roast on the grill, fat side up. Close grill and cook until the temperature of the meat reaches 135ºF inside. Remove roast from grill and place meat directly on the coals and sears each of the roast.
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Recipe tips and FAQs
This cut of meat didn’t just evolve into cows. New cuts are discovered by butchers by continuing to cut more common meats down by muscle groups. This juicy and tender cut of meat was quickly loved and became more popularly known as “California’s Cut” or “Santa Maria Steak”.
You can easily find tri-tip roasts in major supermarkets here on the west coast, but may find it difficult to locate on the east side of the US. It is also called a Bottom Sirloin Roast or a Triangle Roast because, well it looks like a triangle. The tri-tip is growing in popularity and it is delicious roasted in the oven or on the grill.
I have tried this recipe both on the grill and in the oven and it is really delicious. Either way you prepare it, once it reaches 125ºF internal temperature, transfer roast to a platter and let rest 10 minutes.
Resting helps the roast retain its juices. Slice thinly across the grain and serve immediately. I like to serve it with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts, but feel free to add your favorite sides with this roast. If you want a sauce, this would be terrific with cilantro chimichurri.
If you want to try another tri tip recipe, check out my oven roasted tri tip with chili lime seasoning.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover roast in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You could also freeze leftovers, but I suggest not to do this as the texture does change when frozen and thawed.
The tri tip roast is cut from the bottom sirloin. You can easily find tri-tip roasts in major supermarkets here on the west coast, but may find it difficult to locate on the east side of the US. It is also called a Bottom Sirloin Roast or a Triangle Roast because, well it looks like a triangle.
Tri-tips weigh approximately 2-3 pounds, depending on size and how much fat is on it. When I am roasting a tri-tip in the oven, I trim most of the fat off the roast. I like to cook this bad boy at a high temperature, 450ºF. This creates a nice crust around the roast. The roast is done after approximately 45-minutes, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 135º-140ºF for medium-rare and 140º-145º F for medium.
I do trim the tri-tip a little bit even for grilling, especially since the grocery stores sell these roasts untrimmed and with a huge amount of fat surrounding it.
I do not cut the fat from the tri-tip as cleanly for the grill as I do for the oven. So leave some of that fat on for flavor. It will melt and burn off while on the grill.
We grill a tri tip roast at 275ºF temperature until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 135ºF inside. Then take the roast off the grill and gives the outside a nice sear by placing the meat directly on the coals.
Tri Tip Marinade with Whiskey
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lb tri tip roast
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup cider vinegar
- 1 cup whiskey
Instructions
- Trim off any large deposits of fat surrounding the tri-tip. For grilling you want a little bit of fat, but nothing larger than ½-inch thick.
- Coat tri-tip with salt and pepper and place in a large resealable plastic bag.
- Pour in whiskey and apple cider vinegar.
- Marinate in refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours.
- About 30 minutes prior to cooking remove meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Allow meat to rest at room temperature.
- For oven roasting, preheat the oven to 450º F.
- Place the tri-tip fat side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
- Roast for 30 minutes and begin checking the internal temperature on a meat thermometer: for medium-rare, 135º-140º F and 140º-145º F for medium.
- If grilling, heat grill to 275ºF temperature and place roast on the grill, fat side up. Close grill and cook until the temperature of the meat reaches 135ºF inside. Remove roast from grill and place meat directly on the coals and sears each of the roast
- Transfer roast to a platter and let rest 10 minutes.
- Slice thinly across the grain and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
