This London broil Crock Pot recipe takes very little effort, but you will end up with a very tender, flavorful meat along with a delectable gravy that's great served over my Cheesy Mashed Potatoes or sopped up with some homemade bread like my wildly popular Easy Homemade Biscuits!
So Fork-Tender and Delicious!
If you take a less-than-tender cut of meat like London broil and slow cook it for several hours (4 hours on high 6-7 hours on low), you will be rewarded with a very tender, flavorful meat for dinner! Great paired with my Sauteed Broccoli, delicious Creamed Peas, Creamy Scalloped Potatoes or Gouda Mac & Cheese.
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💖 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Fork-Tender - As you can see in the pictures, the meat is fork-tender and falls apart easily. No real need to cut with a knife. In fact, if you wanted to you could pull it all apart (like pulled pork, except it's beef ...) and use it in soup or served mixed in with mac and cheese or mashed potatoes. Check out more of my beef recipes.
- Easy - Just put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it cook while you go about your day. Prepare the rest of your dinner around the time your meat will be done.
- Adaptable - You can use any cut of beef for this recipe, especially if it tends to be a tough cut - these tend to be more flavorful and work great for slow cooking, which tenderizes the meat and makes it fall apart.
🥘 Ingredients For Crock Pot London Broil
Ingredient Notes:
- Beef roast: London broil is the same as top round, bottom round, top blade, or flank steak. Use a low-fat 2-pound beef roast that typically would turn out tough unless cooked slowly.
- Broth: Feel free to use beef or chicken broth or stock. I have used them both, and this recipe turns out delicious with either.
- Herbs: If you don't have thyme or marjoram, feel free to substitute with other similar herbs such as oregano, basil, or your favorite Italian seasoning blend.
(Complete ingredient quantities found below in the recipe card.)
📖 Substitutions
Fried Onions - If you don't have fried onions or can't find them (the typical brands are Durkee or French's), then you can substitute dry onion soup mix instead (one packet). Don't substitute with fresh onions, as you won't get the benefit of the "gravy" at the end. The gravy is produced by the extra broth along with the thickening agent in the onions (they are coated with a flour mixture).
Meat - You can use another cut of meat if you'd like. London broil is also called bottom round, top round, top blade, or flank steak. I like to use a cut of meat that's typically tough, yet it has lots of flavor and is lower in fat. These cuts are typically cheaper, and the slow cooking process does magical things to tenderize the meat and make it fall-apart tender.
🔪 Making London Broil in a Slow Cooker
Step 1: Add oil to the slow cooker and place the beef roast on top and then flip it over to get oil on both sides.
Step 2: Add thyme, marjoram, fried onions, salt, pepper, and broth and mix it all around a bit to coat the meat.
Step 3: Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-8 hours, checking every few hours if possible (it won't burn if you're unable). Make sure that it's fork tender before you consider it done.
Once the meat is done and tender, turn off the heat and let the roast sit for 5 minutes or so to let the gravy thicken slightly.
Step 4: Serve on a platter with the gravy, slicing or pulling apart with a fork portion sizes for each plate.
Great paired with sauteed broccoli (pictured) or other vegetable of choice. Serve over or alongside potatoes, rice, or noodles if desired.
(Scroll down for printable instructions and ingredient quantities.)
💭 Expert Cooking Tips
- Adding the French fried onions is the secret to ending up with an automatic gravy when your London broil is done. A flavorful, saucy gravy to serve over the meat, over mashed potatoes, over biscuits - over veggies. Yum!
- London broil is a beef roast cut that is also called top round, bottom round, top blade, or flank steak. It's a cut of meat with very little fat or marbling and can be tough if not cooked properly. If you don't have London broil or the other cuts above, feel free to use any lower fat cut of beef that you can find.
- If you use a larger cut of meat (larger than 2 pounds), you may need to cook the London broil longer. The roast is done when the meat is fall-apart tender.
- You will also want to add more seasonings if your roast is larger. For example, if your roast is double in size, then I would recommend doubling the other ingredients.
- If you have any leftover meat, it stores well up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheating is simple by adding the meat to a medium-sized pot and adding a bit of water or broth while heating slowly.
- For reheating, note that the gravy tends to thicken more upon refrigerating, so just eye-ball the amount of liquid so you recreate a bit of broth like you had when the meat was freshly cooked. Also, if you break the meat apart into smaller pieces, it will reheat more quickly.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
No - not with this recipe. I like to make my recipes as simple as possible. This includes dirtying as few dishes as possible. I really don't like to have to cook anything on the stove top before slow cooking.
I realize that browning could increase the flavor of this London broil, but I don't believe you'll miss it. This recipe is very flavorful, fall-apart tender, and easy.
Yes, typically meat will get more tender the longer you cook it in a slow cooker. Low and slow is the way to go.
However, you need to make sure to have plenty of liquid in order for the meat to not dry out. This also depends on the tightness of your slow cooker lid. If steam is escaping, the liquid in the pot will leak out and cause the meat to dry out.
Yes, you can overcook your meat. Make sure to follow the instructions and not go over the cook time. This means adhering to the weight of the meat, liquid quantity, and cooking temperature (low or high).
You don't need to fully submerge the meat - just make sure the lower portion is in the liquid and try to flip the meat over some time during cooking if possible.
The meat will somewhat steam based on the heat and liquid on the bottom of the pot as long as you have a good seal on your lid.
🍲 More Recipes to Love
If you tried this London Broil Crock Pot recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
📋 Recipe
London Broil Crock Pot Recipe
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 pounds London broil or other lean beef roast
- 2 tablespoon olive oil (or oil of choice)
- 2 teaspoon dry thyme
- 2 teaspoon dry marjoram
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup French fried onions (like Durkee - I used a store brand), lightly crushed
- 2 cups beef broth (or chicken)
Instructions
- Turn crock pot to high heat and add oil to bottom.
- Place London broil on top of oil move it around a bit to coat, then flip over.
- Add thyme, marjoram, salt, pepper, fried onions, and broth. Mix around a bit to coat.
- Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or low 6-8 hours, checking every few hours if you're home (don't worry if you can't check - it won't burn). Make sure to cook until fork tender, even if you need to cook longer than stated.
- Once meat is cooked and tender, turn off heat and let sit uncovered for 5 minutes or so for gravy to thicken slightly.
- Serve on a platter with the gravy, slicing portion sizes for each plate. Serve with the broccoli pictured or other vegetable of choice. Serve over potatoes, rice, or noodles if desired.
Notes
- The roast is done with the meat is fall-apart tender.
- No need to brown the meat on the stove top before adding to the slow cooker.
- If you don't have fried onions, you can use a packet of dry onion soup mix, or you can chop up a fresh onion and add ¼ cup flour (to thicken the broth).
- London broil is also called top round, top blade, or flank steak. Can use any lean, very-little-fat roast.
Chris A says
Tried this recipe and absolutely Loved the results. Cooked mine for 8 hours on low, and substituted the fried onions for dry beefy onion soup mix and it still turned out wonderful. The meat was fall apart soft and the gravy was delicious. Actually going to be making this again tonight.
Sally says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your results, Chris!
Connie says
Can this be done in a instant pot. I don’t have a crockpot!
Thank you.
Sally says
Connie - An instant pot won't work the same as a slow cooker, unless it has a slow cooker feature. I'm not familiar with instant pots, so I'm sorry I can't help you with this.
Eric says
Because there I the two of us we cook half the steaks. So have a 3/4 lbs London Broil, can i use your recipe and so how long cooking times.
Sally says
Thanks for your questions, Eric! You could use the recipe - just cut everything in half - and cooking time should be shorter as well. I would cook on low for 4-6 hours and see if it's done. It could likely go longer. It will be done when fall-apart tender.
Tiffany says
I will be honest, I could not make it as mentioned. I try to always make a recipe exactly as stated first, however I have celiac and can never find the GF fried onions. (I will have to order) Anyways, I had a 2lb London broil and cooked on low for 7 hours. Fork tender for sure. Since I couldn’t add the onions, I added minced onion and garlic. I also used the oregano option. I took the liquid out at the end (was quite watery) and made a cornstarch slurry with a beef cube and water just to thicken it a bit. My husband is VERY picky. He’s a steak and lobster everyday type of guy if we could afford it. He had seconds! And leftovers! I have already written the recipe down in my book for a keeper. I look forward to trying it as mentioned when I order in some of the gluten free dried onions.
Sally says
Thanks for your feedback, Tiffany! Yes, the fried onions do make a difference - mainly in thickening to make an automatic gravy instead of having to thicken it separately.
Betty says
The recipe was easy and was great. I followed the recipe including a 6 oz container of Frenchs crispy fried onions and added 2 cups of sliced colored bell peppers. My London broil was 2.3 pounds, I cooked it in a 7 quart crock pot for 7 hours. I had doubts about it having a great gravy but in the last hours of cooking I could see the that there was a beautiful brown gravy. It was super tender and savory. Loved the recipe!
Sally says
Thank you so much for your detailed comment, Betty! So happy that you loved the recipe and that it turned out so well for you. The addition of the bell peppers sounds delicious!
Top says
The gravy was delicious, but the meat did not have as much flavor as I thought it would. If I make this again I will try puncturing and marinating the meat to infuse more flavor. Other than that, it was good and easy to make.
Chelsea says
Me and my bf tried this recipe because by the luck of YouTube, yours was probably the first video I watched after I picked up my London broil. This came out so yummy! I omitted the fried onions, and I do have a question for you about the gravy. The “gravy” left in our pot, was definitely watery, nothing like the consistency of real gravy. Can you tell me do you add flour? Or if it because of the fried onions that you get more of a thick, try gravy? Stilled loved this and made it with homemade mashed potatoes and will be eating this for a long time! Thank you for the wonderful recipe !
Sally says
Chelsea - Thanks for your feedback! The fried onions definitely add thickening to the gravy due to the flour coating, so that's why your gravy was watery. Flour is necessary for thickening. Hope you'll try it again with the fried onions!
Zeek says
What is the purpose of the oil? What does it do?
Sally says
The oil adds flavor and prevents sticking. Thanks for your question, Zeek!
Deborah says
Hello, I am using a 1 1/2 lb london broil. What size crockpot are you using for your 2lb?
Thank you,
Deborah
Sally says
Mine is either 6 or 7 quarts, but it's way bigger than I need for this roast. You could easily get by with a 5 quart or maybe smaller. Hope yours turns out fabulous, Deborah!
Deborah says
Thanks for your reply. I cut it in half and seasoned each half with oil and dry spices, stacked then added onion rings and broth using a 4 qt crockpot. I can't wait and I'll let you know how it turns out
Sally says
Awesome - please let me know!
Mike D. says
Thank you! One of the best recipes I have found! Meat was so tender that it just fell apart trying to cut it. Gravy was delicious...actually took a couple of spoonful's on it's own,,,great flavor.
Sally says
Awesome Mike - thanks for letting me know!
Kat says
I wanted this to be so good and it turned out awful. I followed recipe exactly. Only cooked it for 3 hours because I could see it was done. It’s so tough I can barely stick a fork in it. And it has no flavor. I was worried about cooking this in the crock pot because of the lack of fat on the London broil, but trusted some reviews. Super bummed this didn’t work out.
Sally says
Actually, Kat, according to what you said in your comment, you didn't follow the recipe exactly. Perhaps I should clarify that you should cook the meat until it is fork tender and falling apart. However, you specifically said you cooked it for 3 hours because it was done. To be clear, it's not done if it's not tender (and I will add that to the recipe to clarify). Also, the recipe says to cook at least 4 hours on high. Did you cook it on high? How big was your London broil? The recipe calls for a 2-pound cut of meat. Another reviewer said hers took 7-8 hours on high, but hers was about 4 pounds and double what the recipe called for. I'm happy to clarify further in the post and recipe card, but your review isn't fair since you didn't follow the recipe. Hopefully you can see that and will give the recipe another try. -Sally
lau says
Love the looks of this recipe, however I don’t have any chicken or beef broth. Any substitute for this? Maybe just water?
Sally says
Lau - You could use just water, but it wouldn't be quite as flavorful. If you have a bouillon cube to add to the water that would be a tasty option as well.
Dee says
I went step by step and mine wasn’t tender at all. I read and reread recipe.
Only thing I didn’t do right away was dry onions because I didn’t see when to add initially.
Please help me figure out what it could be.
Sally says
Thanks for your inquiry, Dee. Off the top of my head, my first questions to you would be - What type of meat did you use? How long did you cook it? The London broil is pretty lean (meaning not much fat or tough bits). My first thought is the amount of time cooked or how well your slow cooker is working. Let me know, and I will try to help you troubleshoot more.
Pama says
I see that you have French Fried onions listed as an ingredient, but nowhere can I find when you add them in the recipe??? Unless I am reading it wrong, Do you add the onions to the juice when the London broil is done?
Sally says
Thanks for your inquiry, Pama. I mention adding the fried onions in step 3 along with the other seasonings. It will cook along with the meat. Hope you enjoy it!