Tri-Tip Recipe

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This Tri-Tip Recipe creates the most tender beef and creamy velvety gravy ever. Serve over warm mashed potatoes and a side of Brussel sprouts! Comfort food at its finest!

Simple Ingredients for Flavorful Tri-Tip

You might be surprised just how simple it is to get a Tri-Tip roast nice and flavorful. Here are some common ingredients used to get this recipe *just right*:

• Olive Oil, Yellow Onion + Garlic – these three are the trifecta of delicious base flavor. Don’t skip this, they make a difference trust me.
• Salt + Pepper – season as you go and then adjust at the end too.
• Beef Consomme – beef consomme is such an easy way to get flavorful beef flavor without watering down the roast too much.
• Bay Leaves + Thyme – two common herbs that pack a punch! You can always experiment here with different herbs or spices.
• Butter + Flour – all that flavor from hours of slow cooking these ingredients together are not wasted! Butter and flour are mixed together with all of the leftover juices from the meat to make the gravy!

Tender Tri-Tip: The Secret is in the Cut

Tri-Tip is usually found in larger cuts of about 2 pounds or more and sometimes in smaller steaks. It’s a triangular cut of meat that is part of the lower sirloin cut, but not yet part of the flank. Because of its location, it is on the leaner side of things. Which means that it’s more difficult to keep it tender. Well here’s the secret, you can increase tenderness in the way you cut the meat!

Repeat after me, cut against the grain. Against. The. Grain. What does that mean? Meat is technically animal muscle fiber and muscle fiber runs in grains. Do you see the parallel lines that run along your raw piece of meat? Cut perpendicular or in the opposite direction of those lines to cut against the grain.

The other thing that ensures tender meat is my slow-cooked method, more on that below!

How to Cook a Tri-Tip Roast

For full details on how to cook tri-tip, see the printable recipe card down below. Here is what you can expect when using this recipe:

Preheat Oven + Brown Meat

Preheat oven to 300° F. In a large heavy-bottomed pot (such as a dutch oven) heat olive oil over medium heat. Once the pot is hot, sauté onions for 3 minutes.

Stir in garlic and cook another minute. Season meat with salt and pepper and brown in pot. This should take about 5 minutes.

Slow Cook Tri-Tips in the Oven or in the Crockpot!

Pour in beef consommé, water, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir and cover. Place into a preheated oven and bake until the meat is fork-tender. Remove from oven.

For slow cooker directions, see the Crockpot Directions section down below.

How long to cook a tri-tip roast?

Whether you are slow cooking in the oven or the crockpot (on high setting) cook for 2-3 hours!

Remove Meat + Make Gravy

Using a slotted spoon, remove meat from the liquid in the pot.

Return to medium heat on the stovetop. In a small bowl, stir butter and flour together until smooth paste forms. Pour butter mixture into the hot liquid and whisk in to stir. Within a minute or so, the sauce should thicken to a gravy. If the gravy gets too thick, add in 1/2 cup water or until desired consistency is reached.

Add meat back in and stir to coat in gravy. Turn heat to low to keep warm before serving.

Thickening with Cornstarch

If you don’t like using flour or want a gluten free gravy, you can thicken this with cornstarch! Take 1 tablespoon cornstarch and whisk it into 1/4 cup cold water. Stir it into the gravy, bring to boil to thicken and voila! Thicker gravy.

A Note About Making the Gravy Gluten-Free

Keep in mind the beef consommé (especially the Campbell’s) is NOT gluten free. If you did want to make this gluten free, consider adding gluten free beef stock. Beef stock is a little stronger than beef broth, thus more flavorful.

Crockpot Directions

I know a lot of people will read through the directions above and think ‘wait, where’s the crock pot?’ Instead of ‘slow cooked people see ‘slow cooker’ which can be confusing. So, incase you are that person who is looking for those crockpot directions, here they are:

Brown the Meat

Start by browning the tri tips with salt and pepper in olive oil. Add those browned (not fully cooked) pieces of meat into the bottom of your crockpot.

Cook on High for 2-3 Hours

Add in the onion, garlic, seasonings and beef consommé. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Thicken Gravy

Create a paste with the soft butter and flour and stir that into the hot gravy. After 30 minutes the gravy should thicken slightly. It will not thicken up very quickly, nor will it get as thick as it would cooking this on the stovetop, but it will still give you that velvet, smooth gravy.

Can I cook this in an Instant Pot?

Yes, you absolutely can! Similar to the crockpot directions, here is how you cook it in an Instant Pot.

Brown the tri tips with salt, pepper, onion and garlic in olive oil using the SAUTE function. Once browned, add in the seasonings and beef consommé. Cover and add lid. Switch to PRESSURE COOK add 15 minutes and press START. After cook time has elapsed, quick release pressure, remove lid and switch back to SAUTE function. Add in the butter/flour mixture and boil to thicken. Once thick, switch to KEEP WARM and serve over mashed potatoes.

Tri-Tip Storage Directions

Store any leftover meat in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days.

To Freeze – allow meat and gravy to cool completely. Place in a freezer safe container. Tri-tip will stay fresh up to 3 months.

What to Serve with Tri-Tips + Gravy

This recipe is meant to be eaten with mashed potatoes so I highly recommend that (the gravy and the tri-tips go so so well with it). But I also think a good easy roasted veggie on the side would be yummy too! Here are some links to mashed potato and veggie recipes:

• Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Roasted Asparagus
• Roasted Green Beans
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Roasted Root Vegetables

More Meaty Roasts to Try!

• Crockpot Pot Roast
• Garlic Pork Loin Roast with Potatoes
• Rosemary Maple Mustard Pork Roast
• Crockpot Pork Roast
• Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
• Beef Arm Roast

The printable recipe card is down below, enjoy 🙂

If you make this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would give it a star rating and leave your review in the comments! If you have a picture of your finished dish, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.