Best London Broil Marinade
Growing up one of the meals my dad made often was London Broil. The steak was always just, ok. Until the day we had this marinade. That first bite of the steak is forever etched in my mind, it was delicious! This is The BEST London Broil Marinade.
Growing up, my dad was a hard working man. When he came home for the day, he looked forward to cold homemade iced tea and a robust dinner. We almost never had pasta growing up (Irish/Polish home), my dad is one hundred percent one of those meat and potatoes people.
The meals we had on regular rotation, to the point I never wanted to see them again for a period of my life, were London Broil Steak, whole roasted chicken almost every Sunday in the winter and fall with all the trimmings, pepper steak (made in an electric skillet), macaroni and beef (made in that same electric skillet...can anyone relate??) and chicken a la king over toast.
This simple marinade for London Broil is made with just 5 ingredients. The marinade breaks down the proteins in the muscle fibers which makes the steak more tender. It also imparts a ton of flavor to the meat as well as helps the beef retain its moisture.
I always thought London Broil was not for me. As a kid I would not eat it (If you only knew what did with the meat when we had it...I pretended to eat it and hid it or rather TRIED to hide it in various places, ugh).
However, one weekend, my parents close friends were coming to stay for a weekend (from Connecticut, one of my dads 2 Navy buddies). Susie, who had some catering clients at the time, stepped out of the car with this big see through plastic tub. It was filled with dark liquid and meat. Needless to say that particular London Broil grilled dinner forever changed my opinion of this humble cut of beef!
Table of Contents
How To Cook London Broil
- To make London Broil taste as good as possible and make it as tender as possible, marinate it 2 days if you can.
- Remove the steak from the marinade, pat it dry and allow it to sit on a rack for 30-60 minutes to take the chill off. (depending on thickness). This will allow for more even cooking.
- Pan fry or grill, to medium rare or medium (no more done than that). Pull at 115-120 degrees F for med-rare. 125-130 degrees F for medium. Remember as you let it rest for 7-10 minutes, the temp will rise another 10 degrees or so. And the juices will redistribute which is where some of the flavor magic comes from.
- Slice it thin, against the grain, this makes all the difference in the works as far as your eating experience goes.
- Enjoy the leftovers cold, don't ruin your perfect cook my nuking it! Trust me!!
- This Chimichurri Steak Flatbread is a wonderful way to use up leftover steak! If you like mushrooms, this Steak Mushroom and Roasted Red Peppers Flatbread is delish! Both of these are restaurant quality!
Give this simple marinade and cooking method a try and see what you think. You can choose to grill it or cook it on the stove fully or start on the stove and finish in the oven.
London Broil Marinade Ingredients
- low sodium soy sauce
- worcestershire sauce
- fresh garlic
- sherry or cooking sherry
- avocado or olive oil
Variations
- I really would not vary too much for this particular marinade. The only thing I would recommend is that you can use some of this marinade for mushrooms and onions as well to sauté up.
- For more of an Asian flavor add in some fresh ginger and swap the avocado/olive oil for sesame oil.
What does it mean to cut against the grain and why does it matter? Take a look at the meat below, see the lines running right to left across horizontally? After your meat rests, use a sharp knife, holding it at a slight angle and cut thin long slices against the lines that run through the meat (cut longways, vertically). This cuts up the muscle fibers giving you much more tender meat.
Tips
- This marinade works for chicken, pork and many veggies such as onions, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers etc. (perfect when making kebabs on the grill)
- Marinade time should be a minimum of 4 hours and a max of 24 hours. Longer than that for this particular cut of beef could begin to turn your beef mushy.
- Before you cook your steak, remove from marinade, pat dry and allow meat to sit at room temp for 30 minutes or so.
- Allow meat to rest for 5-7 minutes after cooking. When ready to slice, slice against the grain in long thin strips for the best enjoyment.
What To Serve With Steak
- So many great side dishes to choose from when it comes to what to serve with steak. You can't go wrong with potatoes (roasted, baked, mashed, fries or sweet potatoes), it all works!
- My favorite side dish for seat is this Steakhouse Creamed Spinach recipe. You can make it stove top, for one or 10. It comes together quickly and is so good, I often make just this for myself for lunch or a snack, mmm-mmm!
- Any roasted or grilled veggies are nice alongside steak as well. I especially enjoy roasted asparagus or grilled zucchini. We especially love these simple yet flavorful Skillet Green Beans.
Enjoy!! XO Colleen
Steak Recipes To Try
Colleen Kennedy is the author of 3 cookbooks and has appeared on QVC and other shows inspiring home cooks of all levels. She has a popular TikTok channel @ColleensCooking with hundreds of short recipe videos. Colleen lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and kids, she started the food blog, Soufflé Bombay in 2009. Read more about her here.
Best London Broil Marinade
Ingredients
- 5 fresh garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 cups low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup sherry or cooking sherry
- 2 TBS avocado oil or olive oil
- 2-3 pound London Broil Steak
Instructions
- Combine marinade ingredients in a shallow dish large enough to accommodate you steak. Whisk to combine. Or combine marinade ingredients in a strong food grade plastic bag.
- Saturate your beef in the marinade, turning meat every so often to ensure all parts get time in marinade.
- When ready to cook. Remove steak from marinade. Pat dry. Allow steak to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so (depending on thickness).
- Fire up the grill or heat a cast iron pan or heavy bottom skillet and cook steak to your desired temperature.
- Pour leftover marinade into a pot (it will bubble up) and boil for 5 minutes.
- Allow steak to rest, slice thinly against the grain and serve with your reduced merinade (be sure to boil it first).
how long to marinate? can it be marinated and frozen for later?
Marinate for 4 hours to 2 days. I have not previously marinated it and then froze. My gut feels like due to excess moisture, many ice crystals will form and compromise the integrity of the meat. If you have a vacuum sealer, maybe freeze meat and then marinate as it thaws.