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Learn how to make a tender London broil sous vide style! This recipe for Sous Vide London Broil with a Dijon soy glaze includes all the tips you need for turning an inexpensive steak into an amazing date night dinner!
Cooking your London broil using the sous vide method results in a tender, medium-rare steak every time, not unlike this sous vide chuck roast or sous vide brisket that we LOVE. The sous vide allows you to control the temperature, so over-cooking your steak is almost impossible.
Quickly sear it at the end and slice before serving with the Dijon soy glaze!
We love ours paired with creamy garlic mashed potatoes and spicy braised green beans.
If you don't have a lot of experience cooking sous vide yet, you may want to pop over and read about the benefits of sous vide cooking.
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What is London Broil?
While London broil is often sold as a cut of steak, it’s actually the method for cooking a tough and inexpensive cut of steak. Typically, this is a top round steak or flank steak.
The traditional London broil method is simple - marinate the steak and broil or grill over high heat. While the steak is cooked quickly, it's normally marinated for a number of hours to add moisture and help tenderize the steak.
**you may also like this slow cooker london broil or this Instant Pot london broil
The steak is usually cooked to rare or medium-rare and thinly sliced against the grain before serving.
Using the sous vide method changes up this process a bit but it means you get a tender London broil without marinating as it cooks slowly in the sauce.
While the cook time is longer when you sous vide London broil, achieving the desired rare or medium-rare temperature is much easier. Just set the water bath to the appropriate temperature and the sous vide cooker does the rest.
If you're concerned about not getting the same flavorful charring on the steak that broiling creates, no worries. You simply sear the steak at the end!
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Other Sous Vide Recipes to Try
Ingredients
The full list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
You'll need 2-3 pounds of top round steak or flank steak, which can also be labelled and sold as London broil.
The sauce the steak cooks in will also serve as the Dijon soy glaze. All you need are a few basic ingredients including Dijon mustard and soy sauce.
I prefer grainy Dijon mustard but smooth works too. Some mustards are a little saltier than others, so taste the sauce and adjust the amount of salt you add, if necessary.
Cooking Temperature
London broils are normally cooked to medium-rare. This recipe calls for cooking the London broil to 132°F degrees, which will result in a medium-rare steak.
If you prefer to cook it to medium, set the water bath temperature anywhere between 133-140°F degrees. I don't really recommend rare, as the temperature will not be hot enough to allow the connective tissue to break down and become tender.
Step by Step Instructions
Heat a sous vide water bath to 132°F degrees.
Salt the London broil on each side (1 teaspoon per side) and let it sit for about 30-90 minutes at room temperature.
Make the sauce by mixing together the remaining ingredients in a bowl.
Combine the beef and the sauce in a resealable or vacuum seal bag.
Use the "wet" function on the vacuum sealer to seal the bag, or use the water displacement method (above) if using a zip lock bag, to remove all the air.
Place the bag in the heated water bath and cook for 7 hours.
Remove the bag and place it in an ice bath for 10 minutes.
Remove the beef from the bag and pat dry.
Pour the drippings from the bag into a small saucepan.
Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook until it's reduced, about 3-4 minutes.
Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over high heat until smoking and add the London broil.
Sear for about 1 minute per side. Remove, slice, and serve drizzled with the Dijon soy glaze.
Expert Tips
- For the best results, I usually salt the London broil the evening before and place it in the fridge uncovered until ready to cook.
- Removing the air from the bag is an important step that should not be skipped to avoid bacteria entering the bag.
- Taste your sauce before adding all of the salt as some mustard brands are saltier than others.
- When making the glaze, if there is not enough juice from the bag to make a sauce, add some beef broth until you have about half a cup.
- Don't sear the London broil for more than 1 minute per side as it will overcook.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make London broil you'll need a top round or flank steak. This may also be sold in some butcher shops as London broil.
You don't need to marinate the steak as it cooks slowly in the sauce in the sous vide cooker. I do, however, salt the steak and let it sit for 30-90 minutes or overnight in the fridge.
Yes, you can sous vide frozen steak for this London broil. Just add an hour to the cooking time.
Yes, since the steak is not broiled, in order to achieve the charring on the outside, you'll want to sear the steak for 1 minute on each side before slicing and serving.
You'll want to cut the steak against the grain. Doing so results in thin, clean slices and a nice presentation.
Make Ahead Instructions
You can cook the London broil in advance and store it in the fridge in the bag for up to 5 days.
To do this, follow the recipe instructions up to the ice bath. Once you remove the bag of beef from the ice bath, just transfer it to the fridge to store for up to 5 days.
To reheat the beef, place it in a 132F degree water bath for about 10-15 minutes, until the beef feels warm. Sear and make the sauce per the recipe instructions.
Freezing Instructions
After the ice bath, transfer the bag of beef to the freezer and store for up to 3 months.
To thaw, just leave it in the fridge overnight and then heat it in a 132F degree water bath for about 10-15 minutes, until the beef is warm. Sear and make the sauce per the recipe instructions.
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below and let us know your favorite thing about it. We'd also love to connect on Instagram! Follow us at @went_here_8_this for awesome recipes and all sorts of fun food stuff 🙂
More sous vide recipes
Recipe
Sous Vide London Broil
Ingredients
- 2-3 pound London broil top round or flank steak
- 4 garlic cloves smashed
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Heat a sous vide water bath to 132F degrees.
- Salt the London broil on each side (1 teaspoon per side) and let it sit for about 30-90 minutes at room temperature (see note).
- Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl to make the sauce.
- Combine the beef and the sauce in a resealable or vacuum seal bag.
- Use the "wet" function on the vacuum sealer to seal the bag, or use the water displacement method (above) if using a zip lock bag, to remove all the air.
- Place the bag in the heated water bath and cook for 7 hours (add one hour if cooking from frozen).
- Remove the bag and place it in an ice bath for 10 minutes.
- Remove the beef from the bag and pat dry. Pour the drippings from the bag into a small saucepan.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook until its reduced, about 3-4 minutes (see note).
- Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over high heat until smoking and add the London broil.
- Sear for about 1 minute per side. Remove, slice, and serve drizzled with the Dijon soy glaze.
Expert Tips:
- For the best results, I usually salt the London broil the evening before and place it in the fridge uncovered until ready to cook.
- Removing the air from the bag is an important step that should not be skipped to avoid bacteria entering the bag.
- Taste your sauce before adding all of the salt as some mustard brands are saltier than others.
- When making the glaze, if there is not enough juice from the bag to make a sauce, add some beef broth until you have about half a cup.
- Don't sear the London broil for more than 1 minute per side as it will overcook.
Nutrition
Jennifer
We didn't like this. The flavor of the marinade was so overpowering after 7 hours in the sous vide. We couldn't even taste the beef and the texture was a bit weird, probably from the rice vinegar. If I do it again, I'll just salt and pepper the top round before cooking sous vide. Then make the sauce to drizzle after searing.
Danielle
I'm so sorry you didn't like it! I'd like to hear how your method turns out and maybe I'll give it a try that way as well. Thanks for your feedback!
Lori Adamczyk
I am stuck with some very thin round steaks (maybe 1 inch thick). How would you recommend I change the cooking instructions as far as temperature and time so that my steaks don’t become over cooked?
Danielle
Because they are thin, it is harder to keep them from overcooking when searing. That said, if you could at a 130F for the time in the recipe and sear it really, really fast, the results should still be good. Try not to sear for more than 30 seconds per side. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Amanda
This was delicious but it was cold when I served it, despite coming right off the sear. Is the ice bath really necessary?
Danielle
You could skip the ice bath, just be careful not to sear it too long or you risk it overcooking.
Will
If I am going to vacuum seal my london broil and freeze it, would it be OK to freeze it in the marinade and then sous vide cook it? I vacuum seal a lot of steaks and meat, so if the pre marinade works it would make cooking much easier when needed. This is my very first time sous vide cooking, I'm excited to try it out!
Danielle
Yes, you can definitely do that! It's actually a really awesome way to cook. I hope you love it and really get into sous vide cooking. It's so fun and the food comes out awesome!
Marie
I wanted to let you know I made this for the birthday dinner and it turned out fabulous. Everyone raved about it. I didn’t use the marinade for a sauce. I made a CHIMICHURRI sauce that topped it off nicely. Great recipe. I’m going to use it with a tri tip next
Danielle
SO glad you liked it! I LOVE a good chimichurri on beef too 🙂
Marie Meagher
I’m going to be making this for a birthday dinner. Should the meat be allowed to rest after searing on the grill? If so how long?
Danielle
You don't really need to rest it after cooking it sous vide. You should be good to go!
Jim
What is the purpose of the ice bath?
Danielle
It's to cool the meat down quickly so it doesn't overcook when you sear it. It basically stops it from continuing to cook.
Yum
I did a little less sugar, used minced garlic because that’s what I had, added a little Siracha and a little extra of everything else in the marinade recipe. It was a 2lb steak that I cooked yesterday at 131.5 degrees for 8 hours and then used the reheat method you suggested and seared it tonight.. Came out great! Thanks!!
Danielle
So glad you liked it!
Liz
Very good! My steak was only 1.3 lbs so it came out medium. Used ACV instead of rice wine vinegar. Delicious, thanks!
Danielle
I'm so glad you liked it!
Matt
What I was just able to do with a $8 piece (and that’s 2022 $8 worth!) was black magic. Some sort of witchcraft! I’m blown away. Thanks so much!
Danielle
I'm so glad you liked it! The sous vide works awesome for those cheaper cuts of meat!! Perfect for 2022 🙂
Kate
I've never tried sous-vide before but your top tips make it look so easy, and that steak looks so perfect I can see why it is worth doing!
Danielle
The sous vide is totally worth getting into!
Jacque Hastert
I am sitting here drooling onto my keyboard. This glaze sounds to die for. I have everything including the London Broil to make tonight!
Danielle
LOL thanks so much! We love it too 🙂
Natalie
Wow, meat looks absolutely amazing. Tender and perfectly flavored. Plus I love that glaze. Have to make this.
Danielle
Thanks!
Lauren Michael Harris
My best friend used to make London Broil all of the time. If I remember correctly, it had soy sauce and mustard too and was really good! I can't wait to make this! It looks and sounds amazing!
Danielle
The soy sauce and mustard go so great together - enjoy!
Caroline
This looks delicious! I love using brown sugar and soy as part of a steak marinade and so I can really see all these flavors working well in sous vide. Plus that leaves the steak so juicy. Yum!
Danielle
Thanks!