London Broil Marinade

This London broil marinade is balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire, olive oil, garlic and a spoonful of Dijon mustard. It seasons a thick, lean steak in 4 to 12 hours in the fridge. After that the meat goes under a hot broiler or over a hot grill, rests for 10 minutes, and is sliced very thin across the grain.

London broil is a way of cooking more than a single cut. The name usually goes on a thick, lean steak from the round, and sometimes on flank or top sirloin. What they share is plenty of beef flavor, little marbling and a firm texture, which is exactly the kind of steak a marinade suits.

At a glance: serves 6. Prep 10 minutes, marinate 4 to 12 hours, cook about 16 minutes, rest 10 minutes.

Asked about his go-to seasoning, Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, said:

“a lot of steaks can do fine with just a little salt and pepper.”

Gray Shipley

This page pulls against that a little, and it is fair to say so. A well-marbled steak does fine on salt and pepper. A thick, lean London broil is different: there is little fat inside it to carry flavor, and a few hours in salt and acid help it a great deal. The marinade below is still short and plain on purpose, so the beef still tastes of beef.

Ingredients

• 1 London broil, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions

1. Whisk the balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, olive oil, Worcestershire, mustard, honey, garlic, pepper and thyme in a bowl until the mustard and honey are fully blended in.
2. Put the London broil in a zip-top bag or a shallow glass dish, pour the marinade over it and turn to coat. Seal the bag, pressing out the air, or cover the dish, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 12, turning the meat once or twice.
3. Take the meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Set an oven rack so the top of the meat will sit 4 to 5 inches below the broiler, line a rimmed sheet pan with foil and set a rack on it, and heat the broiler on high for 10 minutes. To grill instead, heat the grill to high and leave one side cooler.
4. Lift the meat out of the marinade, let the excess drip off, and throw the used marinade away. Pat both sides dry with paper towels.
5. Broil or grill for 6 to 8 minutes per side, turning once, until well browned and a thermometer in the thickest part reads 125 to 130 degrees F for medium rare, or 145 degrees F to meet the USDA FSIS safe minimum. If the outside is dark before the middle is ready, switch the oven from broil to 400 degrees, or move the meat to the cooler side of the grill, to finish.
6. Move the meat to a cutting board and rest it for 10 minutes.
7. Find the direction of the grain, then slice the meat as thin as you can across it, holding the knife at a slight angle. Spoon any juices from the board over the slices and serve.

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What each part of the marinade does

Soy sauce and Worcestershire are the salt, and salt is what seasons the meat below the surface. Balsamic vinegar brings acid and a little sweetness. Olive oil carries the garlic, pepper and herbs onto the meat. Dijon mustard helps the oil and vinegar stay mixed, so every part of the steak gets the same coating, and the honey helps the outside brown under the broiler. Swap the thyme for rosemary or oregano if you like, or add a pinch of red pepper flakes for heat.

The recipe makes about 1 cup, enough for a London broil of up to 3 pounds. For two pieces, double it.

How long to marinate London broil

Four hours seasons the outside well. Overnight, up to about 12 hours, goes deeper. Much past a day, the vinegar starts to turn the surface soft and grainy, so do not leave it for days. A marinade flavors the outside of the meat; it does not tenderize the middle of a thick steak. The tenderness comes from cooking it no further than medium and slicing it thin.

Always marinate in the refrigerator, never on the counter. If you want some marinade to spoon over the sliced meat, set a few tablespoons aside before the raw meat goes in, or bring the used marinade to a full boil for a minute before serving it.

Broiling or grilling London broil

Both work, and both aim at the same thing: a dark, flavorful crust on a thick piece of meat before the center overcooks. Under the broiler, keep the oven door closed and start watching after the first 5 minutes, since the honey and balsamic brown quickly. On the grill, keep one side cooler so you can move the meat there if the outside is ready before the middle. Many cooks take London broil off at 125 to 130 degrees F for medium rare. That is below the FSIS figure, and the choice is yours.

Slicing, and what to do with leftovers

Slice thin, across the grain, on a slight angle. This is the single most important step with London broil, because it cuts the long muscle fibers short, and short fibers are what make a firm cut feel tender. Leftover slices make very good steak sandwiches with horseradish mayonnaise and sharp cheese, and they are good cold over a salad. If you would rather skip the marinade altogether, dry brining with salt alone is the other good route for this cut; the guide below explains how.

Food safety

USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef steaks and roasts. Check it in the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer. Keep raw meat and its marinade apart from food that will not be cooked, refrigerate leftovers promptly, and if you reheat them, bring them to 165 degrees F. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.