London Broil didn’t come from London. You probably wouldn’t find it there. And in fact it doesn’t really refer to a specific cut of meat, but to a technique for cooking ordinarily tough cuts: Top Round Steak, Chuck Shoulder Steak, Flank Steak, Sirloin Tip, etc. So the term “London Broil” should be used like “pot roast” — a technique, not a cut.
But if you’re in the U.S., you’ll probably see plenty of “London Broil” in the meat counter or at the butcher’s. Whichever cut it actually is, here’s the basic process to turn it into a great summer dinner. (Oh, and great leftovers.)
Ingredients
4-5 pounds “London Broil”
1 head garlic
1 cup chive vinegar (or white wine)
1-2 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 large onion
salt and pepper
Directions
Marinade
Peel the garlic and cut the stems off. If you’ve got a mini-chopper handy, throw them in and process until they’re a fine mince. (Or mince by hand, and don’t blame me for how you’ll smell.)
Season the beef generously on both sides with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper.
If you have really large zip-top bags that will fit your cuts of beef, mix everything in there. Add the garlic, vinegar (or wine) and ginger. To get all the garlic juice left in the chopper, I poured the vinegar in there first.
What should be happening here is adding the beef and diced onions to the bag. But it wasn’t as big as I thought it was. Or the meat was bigger. Either way, it didn’t fit. So I poured the marinade over the beef in a baking dish before adding the onions.
You want the marinade to come into contact with as much of the meat as possible. Since I wasn’t doing this in a bag — where you can squeeze out all the air and keep the marinade right up against the whole cut — I added a beer to the baking dish. If I had white wine on hand I’d have used that. (If you’re starting to think this is not an exact science, you’re right.)
Turn each piece over several times as you let it rest for two hours or more. Some people insist on overnight, or up to 24 hours. Someday I’ll plan that far ahead. Make sure the last two hours are not in the fridge, so it comes to room temperature before you start cooking.
When you’re ready to cook, pour off all the marinade and pat the beef dry. Don’t worry that it’s not red any more. The vinegar (or wine) actually starts to cook the meat.
Grilling
Pre-heat the grill so the bars are hot, and make sure they are clean and well lubed with bacon fat, lard or olive oil. Cook over a medium flame for two or three minutes, then turn each piece 45 degrees. This will give you the nice grill marks, but it’s more about cooking evenly. Flip it over when the bottom is well browned.
Once the second side is browned, turn the flame down low and flip it again. Cook over low heat until some juice starts to rise to the top of the beef, then turn it over again and repeat for the other side.
If you can’t get the flame down low enough, the edges could burn before you get any juice on top. Don’t just let it sit there and turn into charcoal, move it off to the side so it’s not directly over the flame.
When it’s done, transfer the meat to a clean plate. Don’t use the same one you carried it out to the grill with, unless you wash it first. Or unless you like food poisoning.
Serving
The thicker a cut of meat is, the longer it should rest after you cook it. While cooking, the heat creates a lot of pressure. If you cut into it, all the juice will run out onto the plate and you’ll end up with dry meat no matter how perfectly it’s cooked. I like to cover it with a piece of aluminum foil. This helps the temperature equalize from the outside to the inside.
After letting it rest for about 15 minutes, the heat will have pushed lots of juice out.
The cuts used for London Broil are typically large cuts of large muscles, with the fibers running the length of the cut. The shorter you cut these fibers the more tender the meat will be. So slice as thin as you can across the fibers.
Return the sliced beef to the plate with all the juice, and spoon it over the top.
Serve family style, so everyone can dip their slices in the juice as they serve themselves.
If you did everything right, you should have a super-flavorful crust around a warm, medium-rare center.
And that’s it.
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33 Comments
We ate a LOT of London Broil during the Broke Law School Days. Our supermarket frequently had “buy one get TWO free” sales on it. A scary thought to contemplate that they had so much of whatever this meat was they were selling it that cheap. I also used to cut it up for stew and things that braised a long time, which is not actually standard procedure with these kinds of cuts, but worked well enough.
Down here they call it “Texas Broil”, but then they do that a lot down here.
My hubby will do something similar, but it’s more like he smokes it (again, a Texas thing). Always good, but if I ever get enough for leftovers, I’m amazed.
Kristin, the kids actually like it better than some other cuts of steak. Well, ones that are called steak, anyway.
Stephanie, thanks to you I just realized Texas is the Microsoft of states. You take things other people invented, put your name in front of it, and act like it was your idea all along.
Wow Drew that is hilarious. When you get an original thought, let us know. As we say in Texas, Fuck You and the horse you rode in on . . .
Did you come up with that insult all on your own? Or did your mommy help you?
I am sorry, I have never been that belligerent on a post. But could you not slam Texas so hard ? It’s not our fault we are the one of greatest states in these troubled times. And for the record, my mom died when I was eleven. Cancer of the lymph nodes.
I have always avoided London Broil… just haven’t mastered the art of cooking it without it being tough… Will have to try again now!
So, listen to this. The Beloved and I were sitting on the porch the other evening, when I guy stopped in front of our house and asked us if we like good meat. We were startled, of course, because we were expecting just a “hey,” or a “welcome to the neighborhood,” or at least, “where’s the nearest gas station.” So, we said yes, and he pulled up in our driveway with cases of cryovacced (sp?) beef and organic chicken. Usually selling the beef for $9+ a pound, a case went for about $540. He was at the end of his run and offered us 2 cases of beef and 1 of chicken all for $160. And us, with wall to wall wedding cake in the fridge and absolutely zero room in the freezer. We regretfully passed. But we’ll remember that guy when we’re feeling the need for a grilling party. Omegameats.com (I think).
Anyway, just had to share that; we were very sad not to be able to divest him of all that protein-y goodness. At any rate, when next we have some Meat, I will make a London Broil a la Drew, for sure!
Barb, just remember: slice thin across the grain.
Jenni, that’s so … sad. Did you cry?
Wow the London briol looks fantastic, I need to show my hubby this!
Omega Meats is a scary racket which has horrible reviews all over the internet- mostly for a hard sell approach and lousy meat, plus double charging cards, etc. They rent trucks of meat to whoever on a day-by-day basis. They are even in trouble for a sexual assult that one of their “independent contractors” committed on the job.
We were a bit despondent, I must admit. Sigh.
Jenni, you might have gotten lucky. I checked out the anonymous tip and it ain’t pretty.
Bunny, I guess he’s the grillmaster in your house? Why do so many men who think they can’t cook, think they can cookout?
Drew, don’t group me with the whole “Texas” thing. I just live here with my Texan husband, and 2 Texan kids. I grew up in San Francisco. The home of Irish Coffee, protests, and Rice a Roni. Of course I never had Rice a Roni until I moved to Texas.
I saw that, Drew–thanks, Anonymous. Will definitely do some research before we spend any money, even if it sounds like a good deal. Disappointing, especially because they started in Greensboro, only about an hour or so from here. Sigh.
Looks so delicious!
http://www.ahacook.com
My London Broil always turns out awful so I am going to give this a try! Thanks for the tip.
Thanks so much for the tutorial. I honestly never knew what London Broil was – and kind of felt intimidated (like Beef Wellington or something!!). I'm making a dinner for my FIL on Sunday and this is what we'll do – great post!!
Oh, so you're intimidated by Beef Wellington are you? (Go follow that link. I dare ya.)
The person that had the 'meat man' stop by with the 'just some left at the end of his run'…you were almost scammed. Those folks selling stuff out of freezers from the backs of their vehicles carry 'who knows what kind of meat it really is' and ask too much for what they are selling. You got lucky!
ObNitpick: Not 45 degrees, 90.
Judging from the perfect squares in that griddle-marking on the meat in the picture, you must have managed to turn your meat pretty much *exactly* ninety degrees.
Easy mistake to make: First, the chunks are 45 degrees "slantwise across" the grill one way, then you shift 'em so they're 45 degrees "slantwise across" it the other way. Lots of "45 degrees" there to get confused by, and make you think you've turned them through 45 degrees.
Christian, you're right of course. Truth is I usually try for 45-degree marks, but generally end up with the square ones anyway.
I will have to say, I have been cooking "London Broil" as some know if for several years. My wife and I are proclaimed steak junkies on a budget…
This was by far the tastiest L.B. I have ever eaten. I think the secret is to tenderize it well, let is sit for 15 minutes after cooking and DEFINITELY cut the slices against the grain. I put the thin slices in the juice that had pooled after cooking and it perfect. Thanks!
John, the thing with beef is you're usually trading tenderness for flavor. "London broil" is usually one of the tougher cuts, which means it's more flavorful. The marinade, the preparation, and slicing thin across the grain give it the tenderness.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Looks awesome. Man, I wish I could have a grill. Since last single month I was searching for the same trick for grilling… Thanks.
My favorite marinade for Flank Steak (or London Broil) is:
1/4 cup Olive oil or Canola oil
2 Tb. lemon juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tb. green onions, sliced
1–2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. celery salt
Great site— the instructions blew away the other cooking sites. And, Drew, your comments are hilarious, and yes, Texas does pretty much suck.
Another recipe i’m trying is marinating in terryaki and garlic for a couple days. very good.
Oh jeez, don’t pick at that scab. I almost wish I’d never said it. (Almost.)
Will try this tonight! Although, I admit, I’m using a bottled marinade.
I suggest using a GrillGrate to cook the the london broil on! I bought it over Memorial Day weekend at Ace Harware and it actually kept the meat juicy! I highly recommend it!
Check out their website http://www.grillgrate.com
Courtney, that looks interesting. I just wrote them to see about doing a review.
Your recipe sounds great and the pics are mouth watering! London broil is my favorite type of steak. I would recommend trying grass fed Black Angus beef when cooking your london broil steak. It is absolutely delicious and a healthier option. I work with La Cense Beef and because our beef is 100% grass fed it is higher in omega 3 acids and lower in calorie and fat as opposed to traditional grain fed beef. Try grass fed Black Angus Beef and you will be
Kara, I reviewed LaCense’s steakburgers last spring.