Classic Prime Rib

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

21 Comments

5 from 6 votes
16 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
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Prime Rib Roast is a classic holiday dinner that is easier to make than you think with just 4 ingredients. Oven, pressure cooker and slow cooker options included.

Skip the steakhouse this year, and make a delicious Prime Rib at home you can serve with out Steakhouse Creamed Spinach and Dinner Rolls.

Holiday Prime Rib

PRIME RIB

One of the most classic main dishes to serve during the Holiday season is a Prime Rib Roast, yet it can be daunting for a home cook. Never fear, this will be your new go-to recipe for a perfect Prime Rib every time.

This herb crusted Prime Rib Roast will rival any fancy dining experience, especially when served with step-by-step Au Jus.

The key to a juicy Prime Rib recipe is to make sure that you fully crust your beef with seasonings like salt and black pepper to keep the moisture and flavor in.

You also don’t want to skimp on your quality of meat, because the cut is going to be more expensive than a steak or regular roast regardless. Make sure you use a bone-in cut with a nice fat cap so every bite is tender and melt-in-your-mouth.

Make your holiday meal complete by serving your Prime Rib Roast with steak house sides like Creamed Spinach and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Easy Roasted Prime Rib

STEP-BY-STEP BEEF AU JUS

  • Liquid from roasting pan
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 2 cups beef broth
  1. Place your roasting pan over stovetop burners on medium low.
  2. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and red wine.
  3. Scrape up brown bits from the bottom of pan with a silicone whisk or wooden spoon.
  4. Reduce slightly for 5-7 minutes then whisk in the beef broth.
  5. Bring to a simmer and reduce slightly for 5-7 minutes.

HOLIDAY MAIN DISH RECIPES

HOW TO MAKE PRIME RIB

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
  • Pat roast dry with paper towels.
  • Season with salt, pepper and garlic cloves and place onto roasting rack, fat side up, in a large roasting pan.
  • Place an oven safe thermometer into the middle of the roast (not touching a bone).
  • Cook for 20 minutes then turn the temperature down to 325 degrees.
  • Cook for 12 minutes per pound (for rare) or 15 minutes per pound (for medium).
  • Tent the roast with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

How to Make Prime Rib - the rub

HOW TO SERVE LEFTOVERS

  • French Dips: Use your leftovers to make French Dip sandwiches. Slice prime rib thinly and warm a skillet. Place in a hoagie roll. Make them even more delicious by topping with caramelizing onions. Dip in leftover Au Jus.
  • Salad: For a fancy steakhouse style salad, top butter or romaine lettuce with leftover strips of your meat and adding gorgonzola, sliced red onions, and a balsamic vinaigrette. 
  • With Eggs: Go late night diner by serving with eggs cooked to your liking and a side of crispy Hash Browns. You can also swap in the prime rib for Breakfast Casserole for an elevated Christmas morning brunch.

COOKING TEMPERATURES FOR PRIME RIB

To know when your meat has reached the desired level of doneness you like, use a meat thermometer to measure the correct internal temperature.

  • Medium-Rare: (Mostly pink with red center) 135 Degrees F
  • Medium: (Pink throughout) 140 Degrees F.
  • Medium-Well: (Mostly brown with pink center) 145 Degrees F. 

Sliced Prime Rib

SLOW COOKER PRIME RIB

Roasting isn’t the only way to make this dish. With a few alterations, you can make this recipe in a crockpot.

  • Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray.
  • Prepare butter, spice and herb mixture.
  • Rub your beef rib roast with oil and sear for 4 minutes on one side.
  • Flip and sear for 1-3 minutes on the remaining sides.
  • Add 1 cup beef broth to slow cooker.
  • Add roast ribs side down to cooker and rub all over with butter mixture.
  • Cook on low for 3-5 hours, depending on the temperature you prefer.
  • Place roast on cutting board and tent loosely with foil.
  • Let rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.

Top of Perfectly Easy Prime Rib

INSTANT POT PRIME RIB

This method works better with a smaller cut of meat, a 3-4 pound roast is best.

  • Prepare butter, spice and herb mixture.
  • Rub your butter mixture evenly on all sides of the meat.
  • Pour a cup of beef stock at the bottom of your Instant Pot,
  • Add the trivet into the pot.
  • Place your roast on the trivet.
  • Secure the lid and lock it with the pressure valve sealed.
  • Cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
  • After time is up, on keep warm for 35 minutes.
  • Remove from Instant Pot and place on cutting board, tenting loosely with foil.
  • Let rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • What cut of meat is the prime rib? Also known as a standing rib roast, prime rib is part of the upper rib section of a steer.
  • Is prime rib and ribeye the same thing? While they are cut from the same section of upper rib, a ribeye is cut into a steak before it is roasted or cooked.
  • What is a prime rib called at the grocery store? If you are having trouble finding prime rib in the grocery store, you want to look for “Beef Bone-in Rib Roast”. 

HOLIDAY SIDE DISH RECIPES

How to Store:

  • Serve: You can keep the meat at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
  • Store: Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to three days in a sealed airtight container.
  • Freeze: Allow to cool completely and freeze in air-tight container for up to 3 months.

Prime Rib with Mashed Potatoes

 

Tools Used in the Making of this Perfect Prime Rib:

Roaster with Rack: A perfect sized roasting pan with rack for your prime rib to sit on.
Oven Ready Meat Thermometer: This is a perfect tool to keep in your kitchen for large roasts and it isn’t expensive. I’ve had mine for years.

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Dinner, then Dessert

Prime Rib

Prime Rib Roast is a classic holiday dinner that is easier to make than you think. Generously covered in herbs and spices, and slow roasted to perfection.
Yield 16 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Classic Prime Rib on Roasting Rack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 8 pound rib roast , (4 bones)
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
  • Pat roast dry with paper towels.
  • Season with salt, pepper and garlic cloves and place onto roasting rack, fat side up, in a large roasting pan.
  • Place an oven safe thermometer into the middle of the roast (not touching a bone).
  • Cook for 20 minutes then turn the temperature down to 325 degrees.
  • Cook for 12 minutes per pound (for rare) or 15 minutes per pound (for medium).
  • Remove the roast when it reaches 115 degrees (if you want it rare) or 125 degrees (if you prefer medium).
  • Tent the roast with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving (this helps the roast finish cooking - the temperature will rise during this time).

Nutrition

Calories: 678kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 973mg | Potassium: 507mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 3mg
Keyword: Prime Rib

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Classic Prime Rib Roast collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. We don’t need a holiday for this prime rib. It’s fantastic! I’m using this recipe for a family gathering for Thanksgiving, too. I love each of the many recipes of yours that I’ve used. Keep them coming.

    Reply

    1. Peggy, thanks so much. Makes all the effort in the Test Kitchen worth it! And…thank you for the 5 star rating!

      Reply

  3. This is a wonderful recipe. The au jus caught my eye, and I like having the three different cooking options. I also need the temp & times references so big thanks for those. All in all, this is a very thoughtful and thorough recipe for which I thank you. I’m keeping this one.

    Reply

  5. Sabrina,

    I love your CrockPot Crispy Turkey Breast recipe! Use it all the time! I’m trying to make the Rib Eye Roast in the Crockpot, but don’t see the “herb butter” part of the recipe. How do you make the herb butter?

    Reply

    1. Sorry about that! Mix 4 tablespoons unsalted butter with 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (chopped), 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (chopped), 1 tablespoon fresh parsley (chopped), and 2 cloves garlic (minced).

      Reply

  6. We’re at home and I’m desperate for a nice, rare prime rib. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t care for it so I’m contemplating preparing it just for myself. I can usually manage a 16 -20 oz cut. Does anyone have any suggestions?

    Thank you

    Reply

    1. It’s tough to do in such a small amount. I’ve never tested it so I would recommend googling how to cook single pieces of prime rib. A few articles might give more insight as to achieve it. Good luck!

      Reply

  7. Love the tips on coating the meat thoroughly with pepper and salt to ensure moisture. My family prefers a roast a little more on the “done” side. The medium was really good but I would really like to have it a little more done for my family’s preference. Was wondering how long should I cook it for medium-well? I don’t want to OVER cook it. 🙂 Thanks!

    Reply

    1. It might be around 17 minutes per pound but I would rely on the meat thermometer and wait for a reading of 145 degrees F. Enjoy!

      Reply

  11. We like to serve Prime Rib on special occasions. I always make little slits in the meat, and then insert thin slices of garlic cloves, so that the garlic flavor goes deeper into the meat. We usually serve it to company, but LOVE the leftovers.

    Reply