Air Fryer Tri Tip Steak

Tender and juicy tri tip steak with a solid crunchy crust, air fried to medium rare perfection in less than 25 minutes from the fridge to your dinner table!

We love making this tri-tip all the time because of the easy use of the air fryer's convection function – this is our favorite too rainy to grill air fryer steak recipe!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Air Fried Tri-Tip

This tri tip steak is incredibly tender and juicy – we love grilled churrasco style steak, but when we can't get outside over the grill, the air fryer is the BEST way to make steak!

We love air fryer New York strip steaksand decided to try tri tip in our air fryer – what a game changer!

Air fryers are like mini convection ovens that broil at high temps (and because they are small, they direct heat more efficiently than many ovens, allowing you to get a lovely sear and crunch without overcooking the meat) – giving you solid good steak.

We love to serve this steak with chimichurri sauce – it's simple, clean, and crazy good!

How to Air Fry Tri Tip Steak

This recipe was designed to work with any air fryer model or pressure cooker (Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot) with broiler lid and basket.

We've made it in a Phillips air fryer (standard air fryer with basket), a Ninja Foodi with broiler lid, and an Instant Pot with crisping lid and broiler function.

This steak is good with a simple steak rub – we're going to show you our favorite rub with a little kick from Aleppo pepper (one of our all time favorite seasonings), but if you have a steak rub you love, use that as you wish (use 2 tablespoons)!

• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon aleppo pepper (less if you don't want it too spicy)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Method: You'll flip the tri tip after about 8 minutes, and aim for 16-20 minutes air fry time – but then leave the tri tip in the air fryer until it hits your target temperature to carryover cook in the ambient heat.

Since cuts of meat can vary in size, and different air fryers hit different temperatures, we strongly recommend on going off the temperature of your tri tip, not the time on your air fryer for solid results.

Kitchen notes

This recipe is incredibly easy to get solid air fried tri tip with a crunchy crust and juicy, tender center – but there are a few things you can do to make sure your tri tip is a knockout every time.

Bring to room temperature. For the crunchy crust and rich meaty flavor you get from a steakhouse, you want to cook steak as hot and fast as possible. Steak that has come to room temperature before cooking can crisp on the outside faster, and allows the fat to render more. let tri tip rest on the counter for 20-30 minutes before cooking while you prep the rest of your meal.

Pat dry. Steak with excess moisture or water will not crisp and risk boiling instead of broiling – giving you tougher, chewier, gray meat. pat dry with a paper towel to make sure your steak is completely dry before rubbing with oil.

Drizzle in oil. Before air frying, we will be adding a little oil to help seasoning stick and crisp the outside of the steak a bit more when air frying. Think of this as a drizzle for your steaks – they should glisten from the oil, they don't need to be soaked in oil.

Season well. Before air frying, season steak well. Use your favorite steak seasoning, herbs de provence, Montreal steak seasoning, or rub.

Give steak space. It is essential to have lots of airflow for your air fryer to properly cook steaks – don't cram into the basket and don't let steaks crowd the basket or touch.

Let steak carryover cook in air fryer. If you remove your steaks from the air fryer/broiler basket right when the machine's timer shuts off, your steak will be crispy outside, but much raw in the middle. The broiler/air fry function is great for crisping the outside of the steak, but a good deal of the cooking is done after your air fryer fan shuts off and the steaks cook in the heat of the machine. Keep machine closed (you can quickly pop in a digital thermometer to monitor doneness) for at least 5 minutes for medium rare, and up to 10 minutes for medium well to well done.

Let it rest. All steak need to rest for 5 minutes after cooking before serving and slicing (after removed from machine) to let juices set and prevent steak from drying out.)

Know what temperature to cook steak to. Since we're cooking this steak to an ideal doneness – and less for time – it is critical to know the temperature you'd like to cook your tri tip to. We personally go for “Pittsburg Rare” – charred on the outside, and fairly rare in the middle – it's our absolute favorite way to eat steaks, including tri tip! Air fryers are great at getting the solid crunchy crust on the outside of steak, without overcooking the middle, so you get a good juicy steak at solid medium rare (its great even done more, we love rare-medium rare.)

• Rare – 120 degrees
• Medium Rare – 130 degrees
• Medium – 140 degrees
• Medium Well – 150 degrees
• Well – 160+ degrees

Recipe FAQs

Can we Air Fry Tri Tip?

Tri tip steak is great for an air fryer – it comes out with a solid crunchy crust and tender, juicy meat!
The hot air circulation in an air fryer helps steak cook hot and fast, so you're left with tons of rich meaty flavor, without all the butter, oil, or splattery, smoky mess from pan frying steak at home.

What model air fryer should we use?

This recipe was designed to work with any air fryer model or pressure cooker (Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot) with broiler lid and basket.

How hot should we air fry tri tip?

Air fryer/pressure cookers with broiler functions should be set at 450 degrees.

How long to air fry tri tip?

For medium rare, broil for 12 minutes and let steak sit in machine for another 5 minutes to carryover cook until steak is 130-135 degrees Fahrenheit.

What temperature should we cook steak to?

Rare – 120 degrees
Medium Rare – 130 degrees
Medium – 140 degrees
Medium Well – 150 degrees
Well – 160+ degrees

Serve it with

Try our air fryer London broilgrilled steak with chimichurrior Dutch oven pulled pork next!

For our steak recipe archives, click here.

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Ingredients

• 1 tri tip steak, about 4 lbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon paprika*
• 1 tablespoon aleppo pepper*, less if you don't want it too spicy
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder*
• 1 teaspoon salt*
• 1 teaspoon pepper*
• ½ cup chimichurri sauce, to garnish, optional

Method

1. Remove steak from refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
2. In a small bowl, mix together herbs, spices, and seasonings.
3. Pat steak dry with paper towels.
4. Rub olive oil into steak.
5. Add spice rub to steak.
6. Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5-10 minutes.
7. Add steak to air fryer basket, set to maximum heat, and fry 8 minutes.
8. Flip tri tip and cook again 8 minutes.
9. Check the tri tip temperature – if you are within 10-15 degrees of your target, close the lid and let the tri tip continue cooking in the air fryer (it will stay hot after air frying, don't let all the heat escape when measuring temp.)
10. If tri tip is more than 20 degrees from your target temperature, cook additional 5-10 minutes.