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Learn how to make a delicious and flavorful Brazilian smoked tri tip on a Traeger grill. This easy recipe is perfect for summer BBQs and will be a hit with your friends and family. The meat is tender, juicy and packed full of flavor!
We love to make this Traeger recipe with a side of roasted herb potatoes and a fresh spinach strawberry and feta salad. It’s the perfect summer meal!
I know most of us may feel intimidated at first when we start talking about smoking meat and other foods after hearing about those seasoned grill masters and neighbors that smoke their meats like it’s going out of style. Traeger has made it so easy for all of us.
What is Tri Tip?
Tri tip roast is a cut of beef that is part of the bottom sirloin. It is triangle-shaped and one of my favorite cuts of beef. It is a great option for smoking and grilling. You will usually find tri tip has already been trimmed before it is packaged, but if it’s not, you can easily trim it yourself. It is a beautiful marbled cut of beef.
Ingredients for Smoked Tri Tip
We are going to make both a marinade and a dry rub for this tri tip recipe to pack it full of flavor. The marinade infuses the meat with flavor and tenderizes it. The dry rub gives the tri tip a delicious crust around the outside. Here is what you will need:
- Tri Tip Roast
For the Marinade
- Brown Sugar
- White Sugar
- Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Garlic
- Onion Powder
- Lemon Juice
- Soy Sauce
- Vegetable Oil
For the Rub
- Kosher Salt
- Brown Sugar
- Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Chili Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Thyme
- Cumin
- Nutmeg
The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Smoked Tri Tip
Before you begin smoking any of your meats, decide whether or not you want to let the meat marinate and how long. We decided for this specific tri tip that we would marinate it just over night.
Make the marinade and place the meat in the plastic container or big ziploc bag with it over night in the refrigerator. When you take your meat out of the marinade, give your tri tip a light covering with your favorite seasoning, if you need a rub you can use ours below or just use salt and pepper if you prefer.
Read More: Looking for Traeger recipes? Try our Smoked Chicken Breast Recipe next!
Preheat the Traeger to 225 degrees F. Place the tri tip right on the grate in the smoker and let it smoke for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You want the internal temperature to be between 130-135 degrees. Pull the tri tip off the smoker, cover it with foil and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. Slice against the grain and serve.
What Temperature to Smoke Tri Tip
When you are ready to start smoking your meat on your Traeger, begin by turning the grill on to Smoke, lid open until the fire is established, this can take about 5 minutes for the box to ignite the pellets. You can experiment with what pellets you like most, We tend to use hickory, mesquite or cherry with the tri tip. You will set the Traeger to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
How Long to Smoke Tri Tip
You will need about 1 to 2 hours, depending how well done you like you tri tip. Here are your internal fresh beef temperatures. For rare (120-125 degrees Farenheit), medium rare (130-135 degrees Farenheit), medium (135-140 degrees Farenheit), medium well (140-150 degrees Farenheit and well done (when you start getting above 155 degrees Farenheit). If you don’t have a probe get one :). If you have a meat thermometer you can use that. We usually check the meat internal temp about 1 hour and 45 minutes in from cooking. We like to pull the meat off the smoker once it hits 130-135 degrees Farenheit.
The Secret to Juicy Brazilian Smoked Tri Tip
The secret to juicy Brazilian smoked tri tip is to wrap it in tin foil and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. After you let it rest, take out the tri tip and cut it against the grain, the thickness of the cut is to your liking.
More Decadent MAIN DISHES You Must Try:
- Best Prime Rib
- Smoked Pulled Pork
- Oven Braised Short Ribs
- Smoked Prime Rib
- Smoked Apple Pecan Turkey Breast
- Traeger Beef Brisket
- Korean Oven Braised Short Ribs
- Smoked Chicken Wings with Glaze
- Easy Garlic Butter Steak
- Traeger Smoked Pork Ribs
- All our MAIN DISH recipes!
Brazilian Smoked Tri Tip on a Traeger
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Pounds Tri Tip
For the Marinade
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 Cup White Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Black Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
For the Rub
- 1/4 Cup Kosher Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
- 1 Pinch Nutmeg
Instructions
For the Marinade:
- Mix ingredients in a mixing bowl.1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, 1/4 Cup White Sugar, 2 Tablespoons Black Pepper, 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt, 2 Cloves Garlic, 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder, 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice, 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce, 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- Place in ziploc bag or plastic container.
For the Rub:
- Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl or mason jar for storage.1/4 Cup Kosher Salt, 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Pepper, 1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder, 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder, 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika, 1 teaspoon Thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons Cumin, 1 Pinch Nutmeg
- After mixing your marinade ingredients in a bowl, place the marinade and meat together in a ziploc bag or plastic container. Let it marinate 1 hour or up to over night.2 1/2 Pounds Tri Tip
- When you are ready to begin cooking, remove your tri tip from the fridge
- Turn your Traeger to smoke (allow about 5 minutes)
- Take your tri tip out of the marinade and lightly dust all sides of the tri tip with your favorite rub
- Turn the temperature to 225.
- Place tri tip on Traeger until the internal temperature reaches 130-135 degrees Farenheit, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Remove tri tip from grill and wrap in tin foil
- Let it rest in the tin foil for 20-30 minutes
- After it has rested, cut slices against the grain and enjoy
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We are marinating ours as we speak! We can’t wait to dig into this! We have a traeger and will be using mesquite with this this time around! I have a question though… I am not too familiar with searing… do you recommend cooking it to 130, wrapping and letting it sit for 30 min, THEN searing? Or cook to 130, sear, THEN wrap?? I just want to maintain the crispiness on the outside after searing and I was thinking it might go away and soften while wrapped in the foil! Might be a dumb question, but we aren’t very experienced with searing!
Hi Brittany. I’ve used this recipe many times and have always immediately seared the meat after taking it off of the smoker. I sear it on the grill at a high temperature for three minutes on each side and then wrap it. It comes out perfect each time.
One other tip – I cut a corner of the meat off before smoking it so that I know where to slice it (you always want to slice the meat against the grain).
Thanks for the tips Tina!
This was a fantastic recipe for tri tip. We used a Masterbuilt electric smoker cooking at 225f for about 2 hours. We crutched it for about 30 minutes. We did not have any lemons so we used fresh squeezed orange juice. The tri tip turned out delicious. We are going to try it with the lemon juice this time.
Yummm! I bet it was delicious with the orange juice! Thanks for the feedback!
Is it possible to use a regular grill to make your tri tip? The recipe sounds soooooo delicious I would really like to try it. Thinking maybe I would burn it with the rub going on after it has marinated. I do follow you and love so many of your recipes. I have a very picky husband who is hard to cook for so I am happy to be a regular!
Yes absolutely! On a regular grill, heat it on high heat and then so a quick sear on each side (about 5 minute on each side). Then turn off the heat on one side of the grill and move the tri tip to the no heat side. Grill it on indirect heat for about 30-45 minutes depending on how big the tri tip is. Enjoy!!
What type of pellets do you use for this recipe?
We tend to use hickory, mesquite or cherry.
Love, Love, love, this rub!! Since trying it on a tri-tip, I have made jars full. Used it on chicken, New York Strip and Rib eye. Love the salty, spicy paprika flavor. Real does great on my smoker. Thanks for the recipe. Now to add a few ingredients and experiment. Thanks Again
Yay! happy to hear that!
We made this tri tip recipe on Easter. Everyone raved about the flavor & tenderness of the meat. This is now our “Go-To” recipe for tri tip. I make extra of the rub to keep on hand. P.S. the rub is excellent on chicken too. I made chicken strips in the oven they turned out sooo tasty!
We just had it on chicken on Sunday! It really was so good. Maybe we will have to do another post for it on the chicken!
This was quite spicy, unfortunately.
Hi Sarah,
I’m sorry yours turned out spicy. I don’t like spicy, so I’m assuming there must have been some heat for you. You can change ingredients.
What temperature should I set my traeger?
Leave it on the smoke setting. Other recipes call to set it at 225, which takes about 1.5 hours for a 2.5 pounder. Pull it at 130 and do a high sear for 3 mins on each side. Reverese searing creates a nice crisp char but still allows it to be juicy.
Yes, what Chuck said! We love having a crusty sear on the outside! Yum!!
We just bought a new Traeger and this sounds delicious! I can’t wait to try it! Can you sear on the Traeger or do you do it on the grill?
You can sear on a Traeger, just turn it up to high heat. Happy Traeger-ing! Enjoy this tri tip!!
I have a different brand of smoker, what temperature should i set it to? Mine has several temps in the smoke range.
No! You really dont need a Treager! A Weber kettle is a terrific smoker that produces exquisite results!
Great recipe though…THANK YOU!
Oh I’ve never heard of that one, and thank you!