Impress your dinner table with this moist and flavorful tri-tip roast and decadent bourbon glaze, all prepared in under an hour.
Table of Contents
The Perfect Sunday Roast
Exquisite, moist and very flavorful, this tri-tip roast comes together with almost no effort.
Your family or guests will be wowed with the seared, seasoned rind and juicy, meaty center, but the Bourbon Glaze will really have them talking. While it may not be the star (that honor goes to the tri-tip), it does accentuate the combinations of sautéed onions, beef broth and vinegar. Cooked down with brown sugar and Tabasco sauce, it’s syrupy with a subtle hint of sweetness and bite.
I recommend starting the glaze first. Once it starts to boil, you can begin roasting the beef tri-tip. In 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your wellness preference, dinner is ready.
I layered white sweet potatoes under my roast, but you can add any root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, turnips or onions, to the pan.
This roast is beautiful enough for Christmas dinner, but easy enough to make on a weeknight. Enjoy!
Roast Beef Tri-Tip with Bourbon Glaze
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb Beef Tri-tip
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. course ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 3 potatoes, diced (optional)
Bourbon Glaze
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
Instructions
- PREHEAT: Preheat oven to 425F degrees.
- SEASON: Combine the spices and rub liberally on all sides of the roast. Place the tri-tip on a roasting rack.
- ADD: Add the broth, bourbon and potatoes to the roasting pan.
- Place: Place the roasting rack with the tri-tip in the pan over the potatoes.
- ROAST: Roast uncovered 30 minutes for medium rare (130F degrees). Add 10-30 minutes for medium (140-150 degrees) or well done (150-165 degrees).
- BROIL: Increase the oven to broil and broil for 5 minutes to sear the outside of the meat.
- BRUSH: Remove from the oven. Brush or pour on the bourbon glaze.
- REST: Cover with aluminum foil and rest for 10-15 minutes.
- SLICE: Slice and serve with additional bourbon glaze and the roasted potatoes.
Bourbon Glaze
- Heat olive oil in a saucepot. Sauté garlic and onions over medium heat for five minutes, until tender.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue boiling for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients for bourbon glaze pot roast
- Beef Tri-tip. For the best cut of meat, go to the meat counter of your grocery store or visit your butcher.
- Kosher Salt and Black pepper
- Garlic. I used granulated garlic in this recipe, but garlic powder works in a pinch. You can also use fresh garlic.
- Ground Thyme. I love the mix of citrus and mint ground thyme adds to a recipe.
- Beef Broth. A great gravy or sauce has to start with broth.You could use stock or a bouillon cube.
- Bourbon. You’ll need a quarter cup of bourbon for this recipe, which means you can use the rest to make this yummy bourbon freeze.
- Potatoes. Technically, these are optional, but who doesn’t love roasted potatoes?
Bourbon Glaze Ingredients
- Olive Oil. Or any type of cooking oil you like.
- Fresh Garlic.
- Onion. I tend to use white onion or sweet yellow onion.
- Brown Sugar
- Beef Broth
- Soy Sauce. This provides richness and umami.
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Bourbon
- Tabasco Sauce
See the full recipe card for servings and a full list of ingredients.
How to make bourbon glaze tri-tip
✔️ PRO TIP
Trim the fat cap off the tri tip steak as well as any silver skin and excess fat you find.
- Preheat: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Season: Combine the spices and rub liberally on all sides of the roast. Place the tri-tip on a roasting rack.
- Add: Add the broth, bourbon and potatoes to the roasting pan.
- Roast: Place the roasting rack with the tri-tip in the pan over the potatoes. Roast uncovered 30 minutes for medium rare (130-140 degrees). Add 10-30 minutes for medium (140-150 degrees) or well done (150-165 degrees).
✔️ PRO TIP
Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature when inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
- Broil: Increase the oven to broil and broil for 5 minutes to sear the outside of the meat.
- Make Sauce: While the meat is cooking, prepare the glaze by sautéing the onion and garlic and then adding and simmering the remaining ingredients for 20 minutes.
- Brush: Remove from the oven. Brush or pour on the bourbon glaze.
- Rest: Cover with aluminum foil and rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Slice: Slice and serve with additional bourbon glaze and the roasted potatoes.
How to serve tri-tip with bourbon glaze
This roasted tri-tip with bourbon glaze is perfect for large groups. Arrange your roast on your favorite serving platter and let it be the centerpiece of your table. I think it would be perfect with side dishes like this pancetta and kale stuffing and grilled artichokes. Have a bread basket of fluffy yeast rolls and good quality butter so your guests can soak up all the glaze and gravy. Finally, I recommend pairing this with a delicious red wine to bring out all the rich roast flavors.
Storage
Store pot roast leftovers in an airtight container with any excess marinade and glaze from the pan. It’ll taste even better the next day as it continues to soak up the flavor. It can be refrigerated for up to three days or frozen for up to three months.
Frequently Asked Questions
The beauty of a roast dinner is that you have nearly endless options. This recipe calls for tri-tip, a triangular cut of tender meat from the sirloin. I like that it’s a lean cut with enough fat to provide a good flavor. This would be just as delicious with beef brisket, chuck roast or beef tenderloin. You may just need to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
This glaze is just as delicious as pork tenderloin, chicken or seafood. If making with chicken or seafood, try using chicken broth instead of beef.
I love that this recipe takes about an hour to make, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t benefit from the slow cooker treatment. You can toss all the ingredients together in your crock pot and come back to a beautiful roast dinner after work. I do recommend taking some extra steps like searing the meat in a pan before adding it to the slow cooker and using a little beef broth to get all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan to add to the glaze mixture.
I’m confused – I see two recipe cards for the tri tip, but no recipe for the bourbon glaze?
Sorry about that. Everything should be fixed now.
We have made this every single christmas for the past 4 years! It’s so delicious!
I tried this last night and it was amazing. I changed it a little by cooking the roast on my big green egg. Thank you for sharing!!!
Just made the glaze for tonight’s roast. It is very Asian tasting and super sweet. The bourbon is overpowered by the soy sauce. Wish I’d left out the soy sauce and used more beef broth instead. Asian wasn’t the style I was going for and the roast veggies and salad I have planned might not be the best accompaniments after all.
Thanks for your feedback Susanna. I’m sorry this wasn’t exactly what you were looking for. Your substitution for more broth, less soy sauce, sounds like a good alternative. You could also reduce the brown sugar, but the glaze wouldn’t be as thick.
WOW! I just stumbled on your website, and I can’t wait to try your other recipes…My roast is in the oven, and the glaze is WONDERFULLLL!! 🙂
Welcome Jessica. Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous dinner!
Made this for a birthday party tonight. First time cooking for such a large group. About thirty people. Cooked two of them together on a roasting rack with russet potatoes underneath. Turned out absolutely wonderfully!! Very easy to make as long as you follow instructions and have a meat thermometer. A lot of people who didn’t know me kept coming up and complimenting the tri tip and asking me how long I’ve been cooking professionally. I hardly ever cook so it really made me feel awesome. Give it a shot if you have the extra dough to spend on this delicious cut of meat.
Congratulations! I’m happy to hear that it turned out so beautifully!
This was incredibly delicious and very easy to make. The glaze is very addictive, it tasted good an anything!
I have made this several times now. I prefer baked potatoes, though. I do have an issue with the name of the recipe, though. At our house it is referred to as Crack Tri Tip because It. Is. The. BOMB. Even better with leftovers the next day (if there ARE any.)
I just made this tonight for a thin sliced grilled london broil. Excellent! Thanks for the recipe!
This looks incredible! That glaze would also be perfect for stir frys and swedish meatballs.