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Cast Iron Tri Tip Roast

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Tri Tip is a super flavorful, tender and delicious cut of beef! This recipe has just a few ingredients and is easily cooked on a stove top in cast iron or a skillet.

Cooking Tri Tip in cast iron is such an easy way to make up a quick dinner. If you enjoy cooking in cast iron check out these other delicious dinner ideas: Boneless Pork Loin Roast with Orange Glaze, Simple One Pan Chicken and Veggies, Homemade Beef Pot Pie.

tri tip cooked in a black cast iron pan topped with cooked onions

What is Tri Tip

Tri Tip is a lean, boneless triangular cut of beef that is super tender and juicy usually comes in 1.5 to 2 pounds. Cut from the Bottom Sirloin. 

It can be slow roasted, grilled, smoked or cook it in a nice cast iron skillet as demonstrated in this recipe. Tri tip is easy to cook and goes far to feed your fam.

Tri tip is doesn’t need to be cooked for hours. This tender cut can be quickly cooked and sliced against the grain for a simple way to get some deliciously cooked steak on the table!! 

sliced tri tip on a wooden cutting board

Cooking Tri tip in a Cast Iron Skillet

The first step here is to  take your Tri Tip out of the refrigerator and allow it to come up in temperature, about 10-15 minutes, while you will start making a simple seasoning.

Tri Tip Rub

Make a simple tri tip rub with the following:

  • Sea Salt
  • Ground Black Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Onion Powder

Liberally, and I mean liberally, sprinkle this tri tip seasoning all over your tri tip. Making sure it is seasoned on every side.

Press the seasoning into the meat with your hand. There’s no such thing as too much in this scenario! You want all those flavors to get in the meat.

raw tri tip with a bowl of spices next to it

Prepare Your Cast Iron

With your cast iron over medium high heat, pour in 2 tbsp olive oil and heat until shimmering. The oil should move easily along the bottom of the pan. 

Brown the Tri Tip Roast

The first step in this recipe is to brown the meat on all sides. This helps to lock in the juices and flavor.

Brown the roast on all sides to help seal in the juices, this will take about 2 minutes on each side. Once it is browned on all sides it is time to cook the roast. 

Continue cooking the roast on each side for about 8-10 minutes, turning once.

cooked tri tip in a black cast iron pan with shallots and rosemary

Beef Spices

Cook the roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 126ºF and add in the extra flavors; butter, garlic, shallots and rosemary.

As the butter melts, use a spoon to drizzle the butter, garlic and shallots over the tri tip as it continues to come up to temperature.

Depending on how you like your steak cooked, pull it about 5 degrees below your desired temperature. 

cooked tri tip in a cast iron pan with cooked onions

What Temperature to Cook my Steak to

You can easily adjust this recipe for your own fam! We like our steaks at a nice Medium temperature, so I plan on cooking to about 130ºF.

I will remove it from the pan and allow it took continue to come up to temperature while it rests for about 10 minutes.

The following is a guide for what final temperature you would cook it to from Rare to Well Done. Please note that at 10º prior to removing it from the pan, you will add the shallots, garlic, butter and rosemary and at 5º prior to your desired doneness you will remove it and allow it to rest. 

  • Rare: Final temperature 115ºF
  • Medium Rare: Final temperature 125ºF
  • Medium: Final temperature 135ºF
  • Medium Well: Final temperature 140ºF
  • Well Done: Final temperature 150ºF

The best way to check the doneness of your steak is with an instant read thermometer

Allow the Steak to Rest

This might just be the most important step of this recipe. Allow your steak to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Resting allows the juices to redistribute so that when you cut into your steak all the juices don’t run out and leave you with a dry steak! 

image of a tri tip on a wooden cutting board sliced in half with lines on the tri tip showing how to slice and the text: slicing tri tip, 1. slice roast in half 2. slice halves against the grain

How to Slice Tri Tip

Tri tip needs to be sliced against the grain. Cutting against the grain helps it stay tender, otherwise it will be chewy and hard to eat.

Because of its shape, the muscles run in different directions, it is easiest to slice the two pieces apart and then slice those against the grain like in the photo above. Slice into 1/4 inch slices and serve while still warm!

Cast Iron Tri Tip Recipe

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Cast Iron Skillet Tri Tip Roast

Tri tip is a tender and juicy cut of beef. This meal comes together so easy and is perfect for any night of the week!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Resting Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Beef, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Beef Recipes, Dinner
Keyword: Cast Iron Tri Tip Roast
Servings: 6
Calories: 331kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 2-3 pounds tri tip roast
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 shallots sliced
  • 2 rosemary sprigs

TRI TIP RUB

  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder

Instructions

  • Remove tri tip from refrigerator, season liberally with spices on all sides and allow to come up in temperature about 10 minutes while you prepare other ingredients. 
  • Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat add olive oil. Place tri tip in skillet and brown on all sides. 
  • Turn heat down to medium and cook tri tip for about 7 minutes on each side, flipping once. When the meat reaches an internal temperature of 125-126ºF add in butter, garlic, shallots and rosemary. With a spoon, spoon the melted butter over the roast as it continues to cook and come up to temperature. 
  • Remove the roast from the pan once it is 5 degrees below your desired doneness, see post above. For this recipe the roast was cooked to 130ºF
  • Allow the roast to rest before slicing against the grain. 

Notes

  • Nutrition Facts are just an estimate
  • One of my favorite easy rubs to use is this BEEF RUB from Hey Grill Hey. 

Nutrition

Calories: 331kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 1276mg | Potassium: 562mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 132IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 3mg
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25 Comments

  1. Hi I am cooking this tri tip at this very moment so I cannot comment on the flavor but I am Sur it will be delectable😄 however I have a question. Is there a reason we are using a cast iron skillet as opposed to a regular skillet??? 👍👋👏😄

    1. Hey Lisa, You can definitely use a regular skillet if you don’t have a cast iron skillet. I prefer to use a cast iron skillet because they are known to distribute the heat more evenly ensuring that meat is browned perfectly. Hope this turned out great for you. Thanks for your comment!

  2. Looks delicious! One thing though, I scrolled through like 5x and I can’t see/find the video? What am I missing?

  3. 5 stars
    Tri-tip on the grill has always been our ‘gold’ standard. But we tried tri-tip in our cast iron
    last night and it simply ‘rocked!!’ Love your post! We do a very similar method stovetop method for rib-eye steak and salmon. Appreciate the pointers and the only thing we missed last night was the smokey grapevine finish…but we don’t miss the char-infused clothing. Thanks again!

    1. So happy you enjoyed it!! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave me a comment!!

  4. What sides do you serve with this recipe? Do you use a dipping sauce with the meat or eat it like steak? Thanks for your help!

    1. I like to serve this with green beans, asparagus, baked potatoes, fruit or just a simple salad. You can definitely use a dipping sauce if you prefer, my kids like A-1. Personally, I like to drizzle the butter from the pan over the steak, it has great flavor!!

    1. Sounds like a perfect meal! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!! ❤️

  5. i love tri tip…my oven isn’t working so i cook my roast in a cast iron on the stovetop, but no matter the amt of evoo & the med – med-hi flame, my tri tip always gets very charred…why?

    1. It sounds like it is cooking too hot for too long. I would try to cook it maybe on medium low or even low and then turn it up for the last few minutes to get a nice bark on the outside.

      1. 5 stars
        even at a low flame, it still gets very charreed…how much olive oil for a 2 12 lbs in a 12 inch skillet maybe a bit more, but not too much oil would help? what do you think?

  6. i love your recipe, however, i always have this problem: i have a lodge cast iron skillet in which i make my roast tri tip, but no matter how ‘medium-low’ i make the gas flame, the roast always charrs….every time…why?

  7. 5 stars
    Always a winning main dish. Thanks for publishing this tri tip cooking method! We’re going to enjoy this tonight with homemade pesto, asparagus, and gluten free pasta with a creamy confit cherry tomato sauce!!

  8. 5 stars
    Great recipe! It was easy to follow and came out absolutely delicious. Your instructions, up to how to cut the meat in half first then against the grain was an excellent tip. Thank you!