The Best Prime Rib Recipe
There’s nothing tastier than succulent, juicy, and flavorful roasted prime rib. The perfect roast beef for holidays and special occasions, follow my tried-and-true method for making the best Prime Rib recipe you’ve ever had!
Don’t be intimidated by cooking a prime rib roast! Sure, this cut of roast beef is pricy, but with my tried-and-true method, you’ll end up with perfectly delicious beef every time.
The Best Prime Rib Recipe
There’s nothing quite as spectacular or as delicious as this king of roasts, and when I put it out in front of my guests, they’re always delighted. I love serving this roast at Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and other special occasions.
What’s A Prime Rib?
Prime usually refers to the quality of the meat. In the US, there are 3 primary grades of meat: select, choice, and prime. Prime is restaurant-quality meat that you can usually get at butcher shops, and sometimes it’s marked as prime at grocery stores. Most beef you buy at the supermarket is select. Costco carries choice-grade beef.
Called prime, even though the roast doesn’t need to be prime quality, this roast goes by other names, including rib roast, standing rib roast, or sometimes beef bone-in rib roast. The cut itself is cut from the 7 ribs immediately before the loin, and the roasts can be bought in various sizes.
Why I love this recipe
- Prime rib – or standing rib roasts – are juicy, meaty, beefy, and delicious!
- This recipe and method of cooking turns out perfectly every time, regardless of how big the roast is!
- There’s so much flavor in this roast – from the deep caramelization of the crust to the bold pepper and garlic-infused meat. yum!
- This pepper-crusted prime rib roast can be prepped ahead of time!
Gather these ingredients
-
- Prime rib roast – About 8 pounds, cut off the bone. See my tips below.
- Mayonnaise – To slather all sides of the standing rib roast.
- Sea salt
- Garlic cloves – 24 cloves or more; pressed.
- Coarsely ground black pepper
How to make the best Prime Rib Roast
- Cover the roast – all sides – with mayonnaise.
- Generously season the roast with salt and pepper (you don’t need to season the bottom of the bones).
- Gently press the garlic into the mayonnaise (avoid the bottom of the bones).
- Wrap the beef prime rib in plastic wrap and then refrigerate it until ready to cook – and follow my cooking formula!
The cooking formula for the easiest beef prime rib
- Prepare the roast as indicated, wrap it in plastic, and pop it into the fridge.
- Count backward from when you want to serve the roast. If serving at 6:30 PM, put the roast on the counter at 10:45 AM to warm up for 3 hours.
- At 1:45 PM, cook the roast for 30 minutes at 450-F.
- At 2:15 PM, lower the oven temperature to 200-F and cook the roast for 30 minutes per pound (an 8lb roast would take 4 hours).
- 6:15 PM remove the roast from the oven and let it rest covered with foil for 15 minutes.
Tips & suggestions
- To make slicing easy, ask the butcher to cut the meat off the bone and then retie the roast.
- To ensure your roast is perfectly cooked, use a probe thermometer or check the roast’s internal temperature with a digital meat thermometer.
- Use fresh garlic, not pre-minced jarred, for the best flavor.
- Use my tried-and-true cooking formula for the best and tastiest results!
- For medium-rare roast, cook it to an internal temperature of 120-F, then rest it on the counter covered with foil, and it’ll rise to 130-F, which is perfect.
What to do if your rib roast is undercooked
If you use this method without a meat thermometer and your beef comes out undercooked, you can:
- Ask your guests who like rare, medium, etc., then slice the outer sides of the beef for more cooked slices, and serve from the middle of the roast for those who like it rare.
- Pop the roast back into the oven for 20-30 minutes.
- Slice it and finish the beef in the microwave just be careful not to overcook it!
- Don’t apologize! Most of the time, your guests won’t care – just serve it and enjoy it!
Serving suggestions
- Colcannon Irish Potatoes with Bacon
- Potato Fennel Gratin Recipe
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple and Bacon
Storage
Serve any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Check out these awesome beef recipes while you’re here
- Slow Cooker Sweet Potato & Roast Beef Dinner
- Guinness Beer Beef Chuck Roast
- Beef Marsala Stew
- Leftover Pot Roast Soup
Get the Recipe:
The Best Prime Rib Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 8 lb. prime rib, rib roast, cut off the bone
- 1 cup mayonnaise, plus more, if needed, to slather all sides of the prime rib
- Sea salt, use a lot
- 24 + cloves garlic, pressed (A LOT)
- Coarse-ground black pepper, use a lot
Instructions
- When you buy the meat, ask someone in the meat department to cut the meat off the bone and retie the roast for you. This will help make carving and serving easier.
- Cover the roast with mayonnaise. Generously season the coating on all sides with salt. Pat the pressed garlic onto the outside and heavily cover with pepper. (No need to add garlic and pepper to the bone side.)
- Rewrap the roast with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator one to three days before serving.
- Three hours before baking, remove the roast from the refrigerator and let sit on the counter.
- Unwrap the roast and lay on the bottom of a roasting pan (on the rack).
- Preheat the oven to 450F and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 200F and roast for 30 minutes per pound. If desired, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature (130F).
- Remove from the oven and cover with foil. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
- Remove the twine and set the roast on a cutting board to slice. Serve with horseradish sauce.
Count-it-backkwards Method – Sample formula for cooking an 8 lb. roast, to be served at 6:30 PM:
- 10:45 am – Put roast on the counter for 3 hours
- 1:45 pm – Cook roast 30 minutes at 450 degrees
- 2:15 pm – 8 lbs. x 30 minutes per lb. = 4 hours at 200F
- 6:15 pm – Remove roast from oven; let stand for 15 minutes
- 6:30 pm – Ready to serve
- (Always check your roast with a meat thermometer for doneness.)
Thanks for the recipe, I will try it out soon.
I have cooked enough to know to remove the plastic wrap from the roast before putting in the oven but you really should add that as a NEW cook may not think to do that! ha ha. I have never used mayo on my prime rib. I shall try your recipe at Christmas. Thank you
Good idea, added that in :)
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I used to watch Sarah Moulton on FoodTV and she always said something to the effect that “however it turns out is exactly how you planned it!” Even if it isn’t. No one needs to know.
Love your blog and so glad I stumbled on it on Pinterest.
This looks so good! And I love this post, I always worry that things won’t be perfect and I find it refreshing that I really shouldn’t. Your entertaining tips are truly priceless, and quite honestly when I visit friends, I could care less if things are perfect – I am just happy to be in their company.
Pingback: Entertaining at Home and 4 Happiness Stealers | reluctantentertainer.com Reluctant Entertainer I Sandy Coughlin - Lifestyle, Entertaining, Food, Recipes, Hospitality and Gardening
I had to pin this – it just looked fantastic! I hope it was a lovely dinner! You really are an incredible entertainer! I was fortunate enough to grow up with some of the best and I love your settings, etc! Great post and Merry Christmas, Sandy!
Thanks for this great recipe. When you say “ask the meat dept to cut the meat off the bone” yet I see bones in the pictures. Can you offer a bit more detail on what you mean?
Thanks,
Love the motto too! And I would love to make Prime Rib for a dinner party, great idea!
Love this recipe, but love the message of this series even more! You are a hostess’ fairy god mother!
Excellent, not perfect… is a fantastic motto! Gorgeous prime rib!
Pingback: No Apologizing - Laugh at Your Mistakes & Holiday Poached Pears | reluctantentertainer.com Reluctant Entertainer I Sandy Coughlin - Lifestyle, Entertaining, Food, Recipes, Hospitality and Gardening
Sandy, you’ve done it again with just the right thing! You and I are on the same page with the unrealistic expectations– love from a recovering perfectionist! You’ve helped a lot!
Blessings to you and your family this holiday season!
I am loving this series! My hubby and I have been struggling with what to serve for our family gathering on Christmas Eve — I thing Prime Rib would be perfect! These recipe and tips, schedule make it seem far less intimidating that I would suspect — Thank YOU!
Would you suggest . . . for a larger crowd that we prepare 2 8lb rib roasts rather than 1 larger 1? I think I would feel more comfortable with 2 smaller.
Great post, Sandy! Your meals look way more delicious than anything I cook!
I have totally done the “cut-into-the-chicken-whoops-it’s-not-done” microwave shuffle. I try to remember to test with a meat thermometer before I serve – especially individual pieces that aren’t being sliced. But hey, I have to remember to laugh it off and try to turn the conversation to something terribly interesting to keep people entertained for a few more minutes (and, hey, it’s better than people getting sick!)
And then there was the time that I thought I would just whip up a quick pecan pie for a weekend guest who mentioned a hankering for pie. I think I was halving the recipe (which made two pies) and forgot to half the number of eggs. Still edible, but definitely a different, eggy sort of texture. We all ate it anyway (and lived to tell the tale). At least the from-scratch pie crust was wonderful? :)
You always put a smile on my face. You are so spot on with this series. Love it!
Sandy….I really need to print out this post (and many of your others) as reminders about what is important. I have two friends coming over tomorrow for afternoon dessert and coffee…and I’m so nervous. What if my cake fails? My Christmas decorations aren’t up. Will they see the smudges on the walls? And then….that’s not what it’s about at all. I’ll be channeling you tomorrow.
You are always in my head too! :) I have a motto…what would Sandy do? Seriously, you keep me grounded sister! Love this post! (and the whole series!)
Everything Lisa said, ditto from me! You are in my head every day as I am cooking, baking and entertaining this holiday season. I have a feeling I’m going to stress less and have more fun when entertaining, thanks to you Sandy! I agree that I always seem to forget something when entertaining, but you are right- if you don’t point it out no one will know! :-)
The roast looks perfectly cooked and so delicious!
I love your blog. You were in my head all day yesterday. I made a cake for a celebration at work. It was a newer recipe and I was afraid it was baked too long and caramelized too much. I was worried it wasn’t my best because people always compliment me on my baking. All day I had to tell myself…no apologies, no excuses, just serve the cake. Well I did and it was a hit. I know they weren’t just saying that because most went back for a second piece! Thanks again Sandy for always helping me keep things in perspective while entertaining.