The key to flavorful grilled meat is in the marinade. This tri tip marinade flavors roasts and steak in the best way and is made with 4 simple ingredients! You’ll love the savory, sweet, and umami flavors that you’ll get with this marinade mix.
The Best 4 Ingredient Tri Tip Marinade For Grilling
Tri tip roast and steak is one of my favorite cuts of beef and this delicious marinade makes it mouth-watering good! Ever since we discovered this easy recipe to marinade tri tip, we have not looked back.
It’s incredibly easy and made with minimal ingredients that you can find at the grocery store, plus, everyone in our household loves it!
But not just our house, we’ve made this for so many friends and they can’t get over how flavorful it is.
The coconut aminos adds a sweetness to it that gives the steaks a nice crust when grilled. So good!
The reason this flavor combo works so well is because it hits three of the five tastes which are sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami.
In Japanese, umami means “essence of deliciousness” – it’s often described as the meaty, savory deliciousness that deepens flavor.
Once you try this easy recipe, you’ll want to repeat it over and over again too.
Why you’ll love this marinade recipe
Works with many favorite cuts of meat – While this marinade recipe was developed for tri tip steak and tri-tip roast, it works with any lean cut of beef! For a thicker cut of meat, be sure to marinade longer to really let the flavors soak in. Feel free to try this recipe with triangle steak, New York strip steak, flank steak, bottom sirloin, and other beef roasts!
Flavorful marinade – With a nod to an Asian palate paired with savory, sweet, and umami, this marinade has the best flavors. You really can’t go wrong with it on any cut of meat, but it’s especially good after a 3-day marinade with tri-tip!
Kid Approved – It seems like we never have enough tri-tip for our family when we make this. Everyone devours it and sneaks little bites as I cut the meat. Once it’s served up, it is the star of dinner!
What you need for this tri-tip marinade recipe
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- coconut aminos
- sesame oil
- garlic
- sea salt
How to make the best tri-tip marinade
Step 1: In a small bowl combine the coconut aminos, sesame oil, and minced garlic. In a large dish add the roast and season both sides with sea salt. Pour the marinade over it, flip it a few times to fully coat it, then cover it with plastic wrap and marinade it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 4 days (the longer the better!). You can also use a ziplock bag instead of a dish for this step.
Step 2: After at least 1 hour of marinating, or up to 4 days for extra flavor, remove your beef from the fridge and place it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking to take the chill off of it.
Step 3: You can cook your tri-tip in many different ways! If you have a Traeger, follow my Traeger tri tip recipe that uses this marinade. You can also cook it on a gas grill or electric grill until the internal temperature of the roast or steaks is at 140 degrees F for medium when inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.
Step 4: When it is done, place the beef on a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes covered in aluminum foil. This is the best way to end up with a juicy roast!
Step 5: Using a sharp knife, slice the beef and serve!
NOTE: Remove at 130 to 135 degrees F for medium rare, 140 to 145 degrees F for medium, 150 degrees F for medium well, and 160 degrees F for well done.
Watch me make this flavorful marinade
The full how to video of my tri tip marinade cooked on the Traeger can be watched below, or on my YouTube channel!
More ways to flavor your tri-tip steak
While this is my go-to marinade, there are lots of different ways you could mix up the flavors. Here are some ideas to try:
- Herby Italian – Mix olive oil with Italian seasoning, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Lemon garlic – Mix olive oil with lemon juice and fresh minced garlic (dried garlic works here too!).
- Rosemary citrus – Mix olive oil with orange juice and fresh (or dried) chopped rosemary.
- Coffee lime – Mix olive oil with lime juice, coffee (or espresso) grounds, sea salt, pepper, and a little chili powder.
- Barbecue sauce – Pick your favorite barbeque sauce and marinate your steak in that before cooking for a nice crust when grilled!
How to store
You can prep the marinade up to 5 days in advance and then have it ready to use when you want to marinade your beef cut!
It can also be frozen in individual small amounts so that you have the best marinade ready whenever you want it.
If you have silicone ice cube trays, feel free to freeze small amounts in those and remove as many as you need for your next steak!
Substitutions, optional variations & dietary adjustments
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this easy marinade recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Coconut aminos – Don’t have coconut aminos on hand? Try using a combination of soy sauce with a little brown sugar, coconut sugar, or honey. Coconut aminos have a sweetness to them that soy sauce doesn’t have, so you’ll need to add a sweetener to get the best results. Tamari and Worcestershire sauce are other alternatives, but just like with soy sauce, you’ll need to add a little sweetener to match what you’d get with coconut aminos.
Sesame oil – Olive oil or your favorite cooking oil can be used instead of sesame oil, however, it won’t have the same flavor profile you’d get from sesame oil.
Fresh garlic – Out of fresh garlic? Use garlic powder in its place – works great too! Onion powder is another alternative.
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The Best 4 Ingredient Tri Tip Marinade For Grilling
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the coconut aminos, sesame oil, and minced garlic. In a large dish add the roast and season both sides with sea salt. Pour the marinade over it, flip it a few times to fully coat it, then cover it with plastic wrap and marinade it in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 4 days (the longer the better!). You can also use a ziplock bag instead of a dish for this step.
- After at least 1 hour of marinating, or up to 4 days for extra flavor, remove your beef from the fridge and place it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking to take the chill off of it.
- You can cook your tri-tip in many different ways! If you have a Traeger, follow my Traeger tri tip recipe that uses this marinade. You can also cook it on a gas grill or electric grill until the internal temperature of the roast or steaks is at 140 degrees F for medium when inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat.
- When it is done, place the beef on a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 minutes covered in aluminum foil. This is the best way to end up with a juicy roast!
- Using a sharp knife, slice the beef and serve!
Nutrition
If you try this flavorful tri-tip recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
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