Grilled Marinated London Broil
On March 19, 2024 (Updated December 06, 2024)
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This London Broil Marinade is simple, and perfect for the grill. This flavor-infused marinade is loaded with garlic, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. The marinade is the secret to a London broil that’s both tender and flavorful.
What is London Broil?
London broil, despite sold under that label at the grocery store, isn’t actually a cut of beef. London broil is a method of roasting a piece of seasoned beef under high heat. This method of cooking browns the beef beautifully, and also brings out the natural, savory flavor. The beef itself is typically top round steak, which comes from the rear leg of the cow and is quite tough naturally.
That’s where the London broil cooking method comes in. By marinating your beef, before grilling it and slicing it thin, you can turn this affordable cut into a taste of the good life. You can also use this method for flank steak, flap steak, and skirt steak as well, if for some reason your grocery store doesn’t carry a specific London broil or top round steak. Remember, it’s a method, not a specific cut. You can work with what’s available and affordable.
London Broil Marinade
A good, flavorful marinade made from quality ingredients is crucial for the best London broil. When you’re working with long, thin cuts of beef like this with a lot of surface area, a marinade is a great way to get flavor everywhere. A simple, balanced marinade will do wonders for economic cuts of beef. I like to use what I’ve already got on hand for this marinade:
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Don’t be afraid of making substitutions, if you want. Use vegetable oil for olive oil, balsamic or apple cider vinegar instead of red wine, honey for brown sugar, fresh rosemary for dried (or even other herbs entirely). This marinade is designed as a framework for delicious results. Customize it based on what you like and what you’ve got available.
How Long to Marinate Beef
When it comes to marinating beef, the longer you can marinate the better. When you’re marinating tougher cuts of beef like the top round I use in this recipe, you want to give them at least 2 hours to marinate in a zip top bag in your refrigerator. If you have the time, I recommend giving your London broil meat a full 24 hours in the fridge to marinate. This will give your marinade even time to infuse your beef with all those yummy flavors, as well as make it nice and tender.
How Long to Grill a London Broil
As I mentioned earlier, London broil is a method for high heat cooking a thin piece of beef. Nothing does that better than a grill. I like to get my grill fairly hot, around 450 degrees F. This high heat cooks the beef quickly while getting delicious flavors of caramelized and marinated beef inside with a kiss of char on the outside.
A 1-1.5 inch thick piece of beef will cook in about 15 minutes or less on a high temperature grill. I like to keep my steaks moving, as necessary, to prevent burning, and cook the exterior evenly. Use a good instant read thermometer like my Thermapen ONE to track the internal temperature of your meat, and pull it off the grill at about 130-135 degrees F for medium rare.
Let your steaks rest for a good 10 minutes before slicing thin and serving. You’ll be able to taste all of the flavors from the marinade and a kiss of that char-grilled flavor in each bite.
How to Make a London Broil on the Grill
You’ve learned what it is, you’ve read how to marinate it, the time has come to make your own London broil. Here’s how to use the cooking method for tender and savory beef:
- Make marinade. In a gallon size zip-top bag, combine your olive oil, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, Kosher salt, black pepper, and fresh rosemary sprigs.
- Marinate meat. Place your meat into your marinade and then seal the bag. Massage your meat to work the marinade in evenly. Place in your refrigerator and allow to sit for 2-24 hours. While a full 24 hours is going to give you maximum flavor, you don’t want to go any longer than that or your meat will start to break down.
- Grill London broil. Preheat your grill to 450 degrees F for direct heat cooking. I’m doing this recipe on my Weber 22” Original Kettle Charcoal Grill, but any charcoal or gas grill will work great. Once your grill is up to temp, remove your beef from the marinade and grill directly on the grates for 4-6 minutes per side. You want to rotate your meat regularly to get a nice, even cook.
- Rest, slice, and enjoy. When your steak reaches your desired level of doneness (135 degrees F for medium rare), remove from the grill and place on your serving platter. You want to give your meat 10 minutes to rest. This will make slicing your beef a whole lot easier, resulting in a tantalizing finished product for your guests to dig in to. I like to sprinkle my sliced London broil with a little more fresh salt and pepper before serving.
More Marinated Steak and Broil Recipes
If you love this marinated London broil on the grill, then you’ll love all the other amazing recipes available on the Hey Grill Hey app. It’s loaded with over 600 BBQ recipes, including more mouth-watering marinades and savory London broils.
- Smoked London Broil
- Marinated London Broil with Cilantro Gremolata
- Marinated Grilled Flank Steak
- Perfect Steak Marinade
- Steak Fajita Roll Ups
Grilled London Broil Recipe
Wow your guests with your Grilled London Broil, as well as your London broil trivia knowledge. If you want to bone up on all things steak, then check out The Grill Squad. Susie and some big time guests teach in-depth Pitmaster Classes on steak, buying meat, and tons more. If you want to learn everything about making the perfect meats, from buying to biting, then you don’t want to miss out on these classes.
Hey Grill Hey is here to give you the tools to become a backyard BBQ hero, and feed the people you love. Make sure you’re following us on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. We’re always dropping tips and tricks to elevate your game, no matter where you are on your BBQ journey.
Simple Grilled London Broil Marinade
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1 1/2-2 pound beef top round roast also labeled "London Broil"
London Broil Marinade
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Marinate steak. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a zip top gallon bag or a large lidded container. Submerge the steak in the marinade and press all of the air out of the bag. Massage and turn the bag over several times to ensure the meat is coated. Marinate for 2 hours at least, or overnight for better flavor.3/4 cup olive oil, 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 8 cloves garlic, 1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 1 1/2-2 pound beef top round roast
- Grill steak. Preheat your grill to 450 degrees F for direct heat cooking. Sear the steak for approximately 4-6 minutes per side, rotating regularly, until the internal temperature reads 130-135 degrees F for medium rare.
- Rest and serve. Remove the steaks from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing against the grain and serving. I like to sprinkle with a little more coarse salt and some fresh cracked black pepper right before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published in October 2017, but we recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. However, the recipe remains the same.
When is the sauce applied? After cooking at the table?
This recipe doesn’t use a BBQ sauce. There’s Worcestershire sauce in the marinade, which is step 1 in the recipe card. You can serve with any sauce you like though.
Great flavor! We let it sit in the marinade the full 24 hours, plus I tenderized it before. We used thee recipe as printed. Next time I might cut back on the brown sugar plus add a little more spicy kick. Hank you for the recipe!
This marinade is delicious!
Question about London Broil. I bought a couple at Walmart and they are much much thicker than the pic or video here show. It looks more like a roast. Should I slice it in half and then cook on grill?
A lot of butchers and grocery stores will cut them up to 2 inches thick, and this recipe will work for those. If you get much thicker, you could cut it down to 1½-2 inches. You’re grilling to temp, so it will still work if it’s thicker, but can take longer.
How would this marinade work for a smoked venison roast?
It would probably taste great. Give it 8-12 hours in the fridge.
Excellent recipe…..loved it !!!!
This is one of the most requested recipe in my family.