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Our Perfect Prime Rib recipe takes a different approach than most other recipes you see online these days. But it’s a pro technique that results in a tender and juicy roast every single time!
Hi everyone – Jack here. I’d like to start off by suggesting that you forget everything you’ve learned about roasting a prime rib of beef.
In culinary school, two of the very first rules I learned were:
- NEVER salt a rib roast just before you put it in the oven to roast.
- ALWAYS cook the roast low and slow – and wait until the end to brown.
I know – this is completely counter to most other prime rib recipes these days, where experts have you start off by cooking the beef at a very high heat. But hear me out.
Back in school, our class roasted four very large, steamship rounds of beef. (Those are the giant sub primal cuts of beef you see a chef carving at a restaurant buffet line, with a large bone sticking out the top.) With such expensive cuts of beef on hand, there is no way our teacher was going to teach us the wrong way to cook them.
The same principles taught to us then apply to large cuts of beef, as well as the smaller prime rib roasts you would make at home – or for that matter, any roasted muscle meat.
First, we were taught to salt and season the roast the night before, and allow the roast to sit overnight, uncovered, under refrigeration. The salt draws out the moisture and then – only with time – it grabs the seasonings and infuses it back into the meat. (If you salt just before you roast, the same chemical reaction will happen, except the juices will be at the bottom of the pan, instead of in the roast where you want them to be.)
Second, always cook it low and slow – and wait until the end to brown. This guarantees the same doneness throughout, instead of the roast being red in the center and over-cooked towards the outer edge. If a prime rib roast is truly done right – only about 1/16th of an inch or so from the outer edge will be cooked more than the rest.
Why you’ll love this Perfect Prime Rib recipe!
- You’ll be following a time-tested, proven technique that yields professional results.
- You can feel confident that your expensive holiday roast will be cooked to perfection.
- The beef is cooked to a medium rare throughout – the ideal way to enjoy a prime rib dinner.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Beef Rib Roast – For the best results, choose a roast that says Prime on the label. Roasts can be sold with or without the rib bones protruding from the end. Either is fine for this recipe and it won’t affect the cooking method – just note that a boneless roast will cook faster than a bone-in roast.
- Seasonings – You won’t need much more than kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus some olive oil that will help the seasonings stick to the meat.
- Beef bones – Because this roasting method doesn’t leave much in the way of drippings (the juice stays in the meat), we like to roast off extra bones to make an Au Jus (a simple pan sauce) and Yorkshire Pudding. If you just want the beef by itself, you don’t need to purchase these.
- Red wine – Merlot, Pinot Noir, or Cabernet Sauvignon are all great options if you plan to make an Au Jus to serve with your prime rib. Most importantly, use a bottle you would enjoy drinking on its own!
- Kitchen Bouquet – This is a browning and seasoning sauce that enhances the color and flavor of gravies and sauces. It also acts as a thickener as well. Gravy Master is a popular substitute, but again, you won’t need this if you aren’t making Au Jus.
Chef’s Tips:
- If you’d like, ask your butcher to separate and tie back the bones – they will serve as the rack underneath the beef. Plus, the bones always add great flavor.
- Also, a boneless roast will cook faster, so use the internal temperature as a guide.
Special supplies needed
Roasting Pan – You don’t need the metal rack insert unless you are cooking the beef by itself, without the extra bones.
Probe Thermometer – The only way to accurately tell when your roast is perfectly done is by taking the internal temperature. An inexpensive probe thermometer like this stays in the meat the entire time it roasts. Set the desired temperature on the gauge, and the alarm will go off when it’s done!
Chef’s Tip – Allow the meat to sit on the kitchen counter at room temperature for one hour before putting the roast in the oven. This will ensure even cooking.
How do I make a Perfect Prime Rib?
- Coat the beef with oil, salt, and pepper. Place on a platter, fat side up, and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the prime rib from the refrigerator (the next day) and let rest on the counter for an hour.
- Roast the bones while the beef rests. (Do this about five hours before serving.)
- Place the roast on top of the bones, then roast until it reaches an internal temp of 125 degrees F.
- Transfer the meat to a platter to rest.
- Simmer wine, water, Worcestershire sauce, and browning sauce, along with the roasted bones, in a saucepan to make an au jus. After simmering, strain the liquid into a separate saucepan.
- Place the meat back in the oven to brown for 15-20 minutes.
- Rest the meat one more time before you slice and serve.
- Serve with hot Au Jus or our Creamy Horseradish Sauce.
Chef’s Tip – If you prefer your roast to be served at medium doneness instead of medium-rare, remove it from the oven when the thermometer reads 130-135°F. As it rests, it will continue to cook until it reaches a perfect 135-140°F when served.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should prime rib be cooked covered or uncovered? For this prime rib recipe, we leave it uncovered.
Do I need to use a roasting rack? We place the meat directly on the roasted beef bones. If you plan to skip that part, you will need to place a metal rack inside your pan first.
Will this recipe work with a boneless roast? Yes! The cook time will be less, but the finished internal temp (125 degrees F) will be the same.
Do I remove the bones from the meat? No, they can stay in, and additional bones are used to create the drippings for Au Jus and Yorkshire Pudding. Just to clarify – this recipe can be followed for bone-in roasts, or boneless roasts. If the bones are removed, ask your butcher to save them for you to use underneath while roasting the prime rib.
How big of a roast should I buy for only two people? A one-bone roast would probably be enough. They are usually sold in larger cuts, so ask the butcher to cut one down to size for you.
I don’t have a meat thermometer. How long per pound? As noted above, a probe thermometer (like this) is the very best way for you to know when your roast is done. However – generally – plan for about 30 minutes per pound at 250 degrees F. You’ll also need an hour out of the fridge beforehand, and another half hour to rest after.
What do I serve with Prime Rib?
- Yorkshire Pudding
- Creamy Horseradish Sauce
- Blender Hollandaise Sauce
- Au Jus (included in the recipe below)
You might enjoy these other roast beef recipes:
- Top of the Round Roast
- Eye of the Round Roast
- Perfect Grilled Sirloin Steak
- Perfect Pan-Seared Steak
- Pan-Seared Sirloin Steak
This 5-star recipe originally appeared on A Family Feast in 2014.
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Perfect Prime Rib
Ingredients
- 1 3-rib bone-in Prime rib roast (about 6 1/2 to 7 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 5 pounds beef bones including meat and fat, such as necks, chuck bones, etc. I found neck bones on sale as well as some fatty rib pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 1/3 cup red wine such as merlot
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon gravy color and seasoning sauce such as Kitchen Bouquette
Instructions
- Place the beef on a platter and coat with oil, salt and pepper and refrigerate uncovered overnight fat side up.
- Five hours before serving, heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Pull roast from refrigeration and let sit at room temperature while you roast the bones and fat.
- In roasting pan place beef bones and fat, salt, pepper and oil and roast 30 minutes.
- Turn the bones and fat and roast 30 more minutes.
- Reduce the oven to 250 degrees F and leave oven door open so the oven cools down to this new setting.
- Remove pan from oven and place the garlic over the top of the bones then place the roast over that, fat side up.
- Insert a probe thermometer into the fattest part of the roast and set alarm temperature to 125 degrees F for medium rare.
- Our 6 ¼ pound roast took exactly 3½ hours to cook to an internal temperature of 125 degrees F. It will continue to cook outside of the oven to the proper medium rare doneness.
- Remove beef to a platter and cover loosely with foil for 20 minutes to rest, no less.
- Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F.
- Place roasting pan with bones on stove top and add wine to deglaze.
- When wine has almost evaporated, add water, Worcestershire sauce and gravy color and simmer until liquid has reduced to about a cup to a cup and a half. Strain out solids and pour Au Jus into sauce pan to heat when needed.
- After the roast has rested for 20 minutes, remove probe and place roast back on roasting pan and into hot oven and brown for 15-20 minutes or until desired crispiness.
- Remove from oven, let sit five more minutes and carve.
- Heat Au Jus to hot and serve on the side or over the slices.
- Serve Creamy Horseradish Sauce on the side.
- With a three bone rib roast, three slices will have meat only and three will have bone in.
- One last note; your roast may or may not have the end of the rib bones protruding out of the end. Either way, no change to cooking method, just wanted to point out that it is sold both ways.
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Michael says
How do you remove the bones from the total piece of meat to cook them separately? Seems like it would be a big chore
Jack says
Hi, this is Jack. Removing and roasting the bones is certainly optional and the only reason you would do that is to make a perfect au jus as well as having fat for Yorkshire pudding. In fact I did all of this over the weekend for our family Christmas party.
If you chose to remove the bones, it’s actually quite simple. Describing it in text will be a little difficult but I will try. You may be better off watching a YouTube video. I just searched and found several. But basically, with a really sharp knife that is a little flexible, start by laying the roast down so the curve of the rib faces down. At the top part facing you, run the tip of the knife down next to that bone about a half inch deep running it from one side to the other between the bone and the meat. Then tilt the knife so that the tip is pointing towards the bone and the handle away from the bone and run the knife again from one side to the other keeping the tip against the bone. Keep making passes keeping the tip against the bone until you have enough exposed bone to grab. Pull the bone back a bit with your hands so you can see what you are doing and keep running the knife all the way down keeping it flat against the bone until you have reached the end of the rib tips. Once the ribs are off, trim up the roast of any sinew or gristle.
At this point, you could cut off the flap of fat and some meat that was attached to the bone or tuck it around the remaining roast and tie it off by making several loops of string to tie it all the way down.
Again, difficult to describe without a visual so I highly recommend searching the internet for videos. Try searching “How to remove bones from a prime rib”.
Good luck, Jack
Nicole says
Followed this method with a boneless ribeye roast and skipped the Au Jus step. I cooked it to 135 and it was perfect! Seasoning the night before definitely makes a difference!
Martha says
Thanks Nicole! Glad the recipe was a success!
Steph says
Hi Jack and Martha, Happy Holidays! We are hoping to give this recipe a go today here in the UK. We are wondering if the cooking temperatures are based on Conventional ovens or Fan/Convection ovens? At the moment we have it in on Conventional and are hoping this is correct or it may take a bit longer to cook 🙈 then our late lunch might be dinner! 😂 ours is a 9lb 3bone in roast we have it set for 4hrs with a 125f alert on the thermometer 🎄
Martha says
Merry Christmas Steph! The cooking times are based on a conventional oven (non-convection) – unless stated we assume conventional oven since many readers don’t have the extra convection feature. Either way – if you are using a probe thermometer it won’t over cook, and it won’t hurt the roast to rest a bit before slicing if it gets done sooner. Hope you love the recipe!
Marie Gunderman says
Made this in place of fish for our holy supper tonight , it was fabulous !! Made the horseradish sauce also .
Martha says
Thanks Marie! So glad the recipe was a success! Thank you for taking the time to write to us tonight. Merry Christmas!
Jim says
I have a 13 pound roast. How long do you recommend cooking it for. Going for at least medium. Also using a gas stove that is vented.
Jack says
If it is bone in and you are following our recipe, a 13 pound roast is not going to take much longer than the 7 pound roast we list in our recipe. It is all the same thickness, just longer. The cooking time may be a slight bit more just due to the fact that your oven heat is being dissipated over a larger surface and the oven is working a bit harder, but not by much. I would follow our recipe but leave yourself an additional 60 minutes.
If your roast is boneless, that is a whole other story. We don’t have a boneless roast recipe on our site but I just roasted a 17 pound boneless ribeye roast this past weekend for a family gathering and it took about five hours at 250 degrees F with some browning time at the end at a higher temperature. Plus I let it rest for 30 minutes.
Good luck Jim
Lissa says
This is probably sacrilegious but what temperature should we cook it to if we want medium as opposed to medium rare, please?
Martha says
Hi Lissa – We have some family members who love well-done prime rib so no judgements from us! 🙂 You’ll cook the prime rib at the same temperature in the oven – but you’ll cook it for longer. For a Medium level of doneness you’ll want the internal temp to be at 135-140°F when served so I’d take it out of the oven when your probe thermometer reaches between 130-135°F. As it rests before slicing, the internal temp will continue to rise/cook to your preferred level of doneness. Enjoy!
MMadigan says
Could you give time and directions for a whole prime rib on the rack still attached?
Jack says
Hi, this is Jack
Bone in or boneless, you still want to pull the roast at 125 degrees F. The low and slow method we describe took 3 1/2 hours for a 6 1/4 pound roast which is 33.6 minutes per pound. So take your total weight and multiply times 33.6. Then take that total and divide by 60 and the result will be the total number of hours. That said, as the weight gets higher, the total times doesn’t always mean longer cooking time because we are talking about something that is the same width just longer. So the minutes per pound decreases a bit as the roast gets larger. I know that sounds confusing so depending on the size of your roast, it will take somewhere between three and five hours. Again, an internal temperature of 125 F is what you are looking for. Hope this helps, if not feel free to write again.
Elizabeth says
I made this prime rib recipe, plus your Yorkshire pudding and horseradish sauce, for Christmas. Prime rib was excellent – – perfect! So many compliments that it was “the best PR ever eaten,” and I have to agree – perfectly seasoned and cooked. Juicy, tender and delicious! I’ll never roast at high temp first again! Love it all! Thanks for the wonderful recipes and tips. (AND my Yorkie Pudding was tremendous, too – puffed up like a charm! 🙂 <3
Martha says
You’re very welcome Elizabeth! I’m so glad your holiday meal was a success! Thank you for taking the time to write to us! Happy New Year!
Laura says
I had a terrible time cooking this through no fault of you. I took the roast out on Christmas eve and did the first step of seasoning it the night before. On Christmas day, I took it out for an hour before putting it in the oven. (I was skipping a lot of the instructions. I am all about the horseradish sauce so I was just following the instructions for the roast and not the added bones etc.). When it came time to put it in the oven, I found my meat thermometer was no longer in my kitchen. ANYWHERE! *sigh* I put it back in the fridge because I wasn’t going to cook it without one. Today I managed to cook it. I placed the thermometer probe, placed it in the oven at 250 degrees and cooked it until 125 degrees in the middle. I still removed it from the oven at that point and gave it a rest for 20 minutes before crisping the outside. It only remained in the oven for a total of 13 minutes before my smoke alarms went off. Again, not the recipe but my stupid oven and smoke alarms. =/ Upon removing it (and frantically turning off my oven) and waiting until the alarms stopped going off, we carved it up.
We served it with your horseradish sauce. I had high hopes for it since many recipes I have tried never seemed to be enough horseradish and I figured a full cup should be awesome. First the meat. Oh the meat! I’m not a complete novice with cooking prime rib. I have done the route with cooking it on high heat at the beginning. That is good. I’m also good enough to KNOW that it needs to cook on a low heat. I am SOLD on crisping at high heat at the end.
I’ve looked at other recipes and one commented that there was something for everyone, being well done on the ends and more rare in the middle. Following your recipe, the meat was medium rare all the way through. It was so tender I could use a butter knife to cut it and if I had no teeth, I could’ve probably gummed it. My husband even loved it and he isn’t a prime rib fan. It was amazing. The very best I have tried anywhere, including restaurants.
Now the sauce. It was sinus clearing and creamy. Probably a little bit too strong for me but it just meant that I used less of it and saved on a few calories. I will be making it again and I probably won’t change the amount. It pared perfectly with the prime rib.
Thank you Thank you Thank you for sharing this recipe. I loved it with all of my heart. 🙂
Martha says
Wow Laura – thank you so much for your very high praise! Sounds like you had quite the adventure making your prime rib – but I’m so glad it worked out in the end! Thank you for taking the time to write to us today. Happy New Year!
janelle feldmeyer says
OMGoodness, this is THE BEST Prime Rib recipe ever. May I thank you for sharing this, and absolutely making our family Christmas dinner stellar. I used this recipe last year and thought I’d made errors following your instructions, but got super lucky and had a wonderful outcome. This year, I planned, memorized, and printed, hoping I would do ok. Our dinner was remarkable. The Prime Rib is PERFECT!! You deserve all the credit and thanks for taking your time and effort to help average home cooks like me succeed in the kitchen, especially during the holidays. My family, friends and I THANK YOU!
Martha says
Thank you so much Janelle! We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe and saw great results. 🙂 Merry Christmas!