Perfect Prime Rib Roast

This recipe will explain how to cook a the most mouthwatering, tender, and flavorful oven roasted Prime Rib with a delicious fresh herb crust and divine rich wine sauce. Everything you need to know to get perfect results is below.

Don’t be intimidated to make this expensive roast that is perfect for any special occasion dinner! This recipe works for any size roast. This is a standing rib roast recipe, meaning the roast is sold with the bones, but it can be used to make a boneless prime rib as well.

Looking for other impressive main dish recipes? You can’t go wrong with perfectly cooked Filet Mignon, Smoked Prime Rib, or Broiled Lobster Tails.

Reasons to Make This Recipe

If you’re looking for the best prime rib recipe, look no further. This recipe has been viewed well over 2 million times and continues to be everyone’s favorite holiday recipe.

• Best Christmas Dinner: Prime rib roast is an excellent cut of beef to enjoy for a special or holiday dinner. Why? Because you can buy various sizes of the roast that will feed anywhere from 4-20 people. Plus, by the nature of how prime rib cooks, you will end up with servings that range anywhere from rare or medium rare all the way to well done.
• Worth the Cost: Prime rib is an expensive cut of meat for good reason. The incredibly tender cut is marbled with fat in all the right places to yield the most delicious beef roast you’ll ever enjoy. That being said, it can be rather intimidating to spend that much money on a roast if you’ve never cooked one before. Never fear; I will walk you through everything you need to know to achieve perfect results.
• Amazing Sauce: During the cooking process, all of that wonderful fat marbling throughout the roast and the fat cap on top will render. I add wine and beef broth to the roasting pan that catches all of those flavorful herb infused drippings. Instead of making an au jus to serve, this amazing wine sauce gets reduced while the roast is resting.
• Simple and Easy To Make: This recipe has always been my favorite because it is actually incredibly simple. You’ll find that the roast turns out flavorful and moist because of the cooking method and the herb crust. The rich red wine sauce is the perfect accompaniment.

Prime Rib Roast Explained

A prime rib roast is an expensive primal cut of beef from the ribeye section that can be purchased as boneless or bone-in. 

It is an extremely flavorful and tender, typically roasted whole, and known for its rich marbling and succulent taste.

They can usually be found at a local butcher, but during the holiday season, you can also easily find them at places like Costco and your local grocery store.

Boneless vs Bone-in Prime Rib Roast

A standing prime rib roast is sold with the beef ribs. It is referred to as a standing rib roast because the butcher separates the ribs from the roast but ties them together with kitchen twine. The roast stands on the bones, creating an insulating layer of protection.

The bones do not add to the flavor like they would if they were braised in liquid, however they do insulate the meat and are also quite delicious.

In my opinion, the perfect prime rib roast is cooked with the bones, but it is more common to find boneless prime rib sold in grocery stores and at the butcher shop.

Prime Rib Calculator: How Much Per Person

How Long to Cook Prime Rib

This recipe uses a very high heat to first sear and seal the roast which creates a flavorful crust. Then, the heat is lowered and the roast continues cooking in the oven.

For that reason, this recipe does not take that long to cook, but the total cooking time completely depends on a number of factors: 

• size of the roast
• starting temperature of the meat
• consistency of the oven
• final desired temperature of meat (rare, medium rare, etc.)

Using this recipe, a 5-pound roast will only take about 2 hours to roast, plus rest time. 

For larger roasts, estimate an additional 10 minutes per pound.

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Prime Rib Temperature

You must have a good thermometer in order to properly cook a prime rib roast. 

Because I do not want to open the oven door while the roast is cooking, or pierce the roast to allow the juices to escape, I do not recommend using an instant-read thermometer.

Instead, I recommend using a meat thermometer that is inserted into the thickest part of the roast and designed to track temperatures over an extended period of time.

• Plan to remove your prime rib roast from the oven when it is at 10 degrees below your desired final temperature.
• The final prime rib temperature for rare meat is 120-125°F, medium rare is 130-135°F, and well done is 140-145°F.
• Keep a close eye on the internal temperature as it approaches your desired temperature. The rate at which the temperature increases will accelerate the closer the roast is to being cooked.
• When you cook for a crowd, the best rule of thumb is to remove your prime rib roast from the oven when it hits 120°F and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes while loosely tented with foil.

Most people prefer rare prime rib. If you target rare, the prime rib roast will be rare in the center and the ends will always be more well done, so you should have a variety for your guests.

How to Cook Prime Rib in the Oven

Full instructions with ingredient quantities are located in the recipe card below, but here is a summary.

Step 1: Prepare the roast

Prior to cooking, set the roast out for at least an hour to allow the internal temperature to rise a bit. This will promote more even cooking.

Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan with the fat side facing up. If using a bone-in roast, place the bones underneath the roast. Pour the beef broth and and some of the red wine to the pan.

Meanwhile, mix together a mixture of olive oil, fresh garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Spread the herb mixture over the top of the roast. Insert a meat thermometer into the center of the roast.

Step 2: Roast in oven

Cook the prime rib in a preheated 450°F oven for about 20 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and, without opening the oven door, continue cooking until the desired internal temperature is met and remove the pan from the oven.

Remove the roast from the rack and transfer it to a large plate or cutting board. Loosely tent the roast with aluminum foil to keep it warm while it rests. 

Step 3: Reduce the wine sauce

Finally, you’ll add more wine to the drippings in the pan and reduce the sauce over heat to serve alongside the roast.

Side Dish Recommendations

I always make horseradish sauce to accompany prime rib. If you’d like an alternative to the wine sauce, you can make a homemade au jus. 

• Homemade lobster bisque makes a fantastic starter to this fancy meal.
• Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, or Gorgonzola Celery Root Mashed Potatoes for your starch.
• Wilted Garlic Spinach, Garlic Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus, or Roasted Green Beans as a dark green vegetable.
• Homemade Dinner Rolls or Cornmeal Yeast Rolls with butter are also heavenly!

FAQs

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This post was originally published in November 2016 and has been updated with process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!