Carols Completely Fabulous Steak Marinade and Grilled Tri-Tip Recipe

In the U.S there's a big holiday coming up, and even if you're someone who's dieting or watching your pennies, it seems like a bit of a splurge is in order for the Fourth of July. Tri-Tip steak is a cut of beef that won't break the budget, and though it may be slightly higher in fat than the cuts of steak you can eat on the South Beach Diet, I think it's okay for a once-in-a-while holiday treat. And as you can see from the title, this recipe for marinated and grilled tri-tip made quite an impression on me. So who is this Carol and how did I get her completely fabulous recipe for marinated and grilled tri tip?

Until last weekend a great family lived next door to me, and one night the mom (that would be Carol) knocked on my door and offered to bring me steak and grilled asparagus for dinner. I was working on the blog, hadn't had dinner, and when someone offers to bring you steak and asparagus, you never say no, do you? The steak was amazing, and when I told Carol how much I loved it, she gave me the recipe to share with my readers. The only slightly bittersweet part of the whole story is that a few days later Carol and Kevin found the house of their dreams, and have already moved. Luckily it's only a few miles away, and I bet they'd come to dinner at my house, especially if I promise this will be on the menu.

I got my Tri Tip at Costco, and it was already pretty well trimmed of fat, although I did cut off a tiny bit more.

Some of the steak strips were pretty large, so I cut those into what I thought was more of a serving size portion.

Carol uses Montreal Steak Seasoning and rubbed about 2 tsp. per piece into both sides of each piece of steak. (So now you know why I was experimenting with that recipe for Montreal Steak Seasoning, but you can buy it pre-made just as easily if you don't like to mix your own.)

You're going to love this next part! Carol mixes the marinade ingredients right in the zip loc bag! Then add the Tri Tip which you've rubbed all over with Montreal Steak Seasoning and let the steak marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours or more. More below about cooking the steak once you have all that great flavor soaked into the meat.


Carols Completely Fabulous Steak Marinade and Grilled Tri Tip Recipe
(Makes 4-6 servings, thanks to Carol for the recipe!)

Ingredients"
2 lbs. Tri Tip steak (half the large Costco package)
3-4 T Montreal Steak Seasoning (purchase or use the recipe for Kalyn's take on Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Marinade Ingredients:
2 T fresh squeezed lime juice (one lime unless they're puny)
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. minced garlic (can use garlic powder but I used minced garlic)
2 T olive oil

Instructions:
Trim any visible fat on outside of Tri Tip pieces, and cut into serving size pieces if desired. Rub all sides of steak pieces with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Put steak into large Ziploc bag or plastic container with tight-fitting lid and add lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. Seal bag or plastic container and turn over a few times to mix marinade ingredients. Let steak marinate in refrigerator 8 - 24 hours.

When ready to cook, take meat out of refrigerator, drain marinade, and let meat come to room temperature. Preheat gas or charcoal grill to high (you can only hold your hand there for a few seconds at that heat.)

When steak is room temperature and grill is hot, put steak on grill. For nice grill marks, place steak at a diagonal to grill slats, after about 3 minutes, rotate 45 degrees on same side and cook a few more minutes. Turn steak over and cook until desired doneness.

You can see from the photos that I like my meat fairly rare, and I cooked this tri tip just over 8 minutes, but actual cooking time will depend on grill temperature, thickness of the meat, meat temperature, and even the temperature of the air if cooking outside. With steak this thick, I recommend using an inexpensive instant-read meat thermometer to tell when it's done. (Temperatures on the thermometer say 145 F for medium rare, 160 F for medium, or 175 F for well done, but I cook it a bit less than that.) Serve hot. I in the photo I sliced some of the pieces against the grain into 2-bite sized pieces.

Carols Tips for Marinating: Carol says she has even marinated this as long as two days, and it still turned out great. She's also frozen the meat in the bag with the marinade and thawed it when she wanted to cook the pre-marinated meat.

Kalyn's Tip for Leftovers: I ate the leftover steak with a slightly kicked up version of this Chimichurri Sauce, and loved the way it paired with the steak.



Printer Friendly Recipe

South Beach Suggestions:
The South Beach Diet recommends choosing steak that's less than 10% fat, and although this is a fairly lean cut, I'm guessing it's slightly higher than that. I would still eat this, but for me it would be a "once-in-a-while treat."

More Ideas for Tri Tip Steak:
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)
Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Chimol Salsa
Marinated Tri-Tip Roast with Mushrooms and Garlic from Simply Recipes
Grilled Tri-Tip Steak with Bell Pepper Salsa from Simply Recipes
Santa Maria Tri-Tip Steak from White Trash BBQ
Marinated Tri-Tip Roast from Wasabi Bratwurst

Want even more recipes?
I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.