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When I say this is the absolute best prime rib recipe, I mean it! This prime rib roast turns out melt-in-your-mouth tender every single time, with that perfect crust on the outside and juicy, flavorful center.
Table of Contents
- Why This Prime Rib is the Best
- What is Prime Rib?
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Cook Prime Rib (Step-by-Step)
- Prime Rib FAQs
- Prime Rib Temperature Guide
- What to Serve with Holiday Prime Rib
- Storing, Freezing and Reheating
- Recipe Tip
- More Decadent MAIN DISHES You Must Try:
- Watch How to Make Prime Rib…
- Best Prime Rib Roast Recipe
Whether you’re cooking for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, a special celebration, or just because you’re craving something incredible, this foolproof method will walk you through every step with confidence with lots of tips, tricks, things to avoid and the secret for making it the most flavorful!
Cade and I have tested this recipe for years to make sure it’s as easy and reliable as it is impressive—and trust me, once you try it, you’ll never make prime rib any other way.
Why This Prime Rib is the Best
I don’t know what it is about prime rib, but you throw that out there and people seriously come running.
Foolproof: If you follow the instructions step by step, you’ll get a perfect prime rib every time!
Texture: It is tender, melt-in-your-mouth, juicy with a delicious crust on the outside.
Flavor: The ingredients are so simple but the flavor is next level. Just salt, pepper, butter and garlic is all you need to compliment the deep beefy flavor of the prime rib.
Showstopper: You’ve invested some money into this cut of meat, let’s make it the showstopper of your holiday feast!
What is Prime Rib?
Standing Rib Roast and Prime Rib Roast are the same exact same thing. It’s just that different people call them different things. A prime rib is a cut of beef from the primal rib, one of the nine cuts of beef. While the entire rib section comprises ribs six through twelve, a standing rib roast may contain anywhere from two to seven ribs, just depending on what you buy as there are options!
Ingredients You’ll Need
People love the tender, mouthwatering beef but for me that’s not even the best part. I’m all about the outside. It’s all caramelized and packed full of flavor. I’m telling you, it’s like the burnt ends on a brisket. It’s so, so good!!!! Here is everything you’ll need to deliver that flavor:
- Standing Rib Roast, Prime Rib: The star cut—rich, juicy, and tender.
- Kosher Salt: Draws out moisture and seasons deeply.
- Black Pepper: Enhances flavor and adds warmth.
- Butter: Build an aromatic crust.
- Garlic: Helps crisp the exterior while keeping it juicy.
Seems too simple, right?! Now let’s see how it’s done…
How to Cook Prime Rib (Step-by-Step)
I’ve shared very detailed instructions on the best way to cook prime rib in the recipe card below. But the basic steps to making the best prime rib EVER are as follows:
- Carefully slice the meat off the bones and rub kosher salt all over the outside of the roast. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 24 hours. This is the step that will change everything!
- Let the prime rib come to room temperature before searing it in an oiled skillet.
- Once cool enough to handle, tie the meat back onto the bones.
- Transfer roast to a wire rack set on top of a rimmed baking sheet. Season with pepper, then rub with garlic butter.
- Roast at 200ºF until the meat registers your desired internal temperature (see our notes below for doneness info).
- Remove roast from oven and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Let rest for at least 30 minutes before returning to oven to broil the very top.
- Cut twine from meat, slice, and serve!
Is this the best prime rib roast recipe ever?? I think it might just be! Do you feel like you can do it? I hope so!
Prime Rib FAQs
The “Prime Rib” is basically just a marketing term. It refers to a standing rib roast from that section or cut. The Ribeye Roast is a rib roast that has been carved off of the bone. It is the same piece of meat as a standing rib roast.
Most stores don’t sell very high quality Prime Rib cuts. The first thing you should do is head to a butcher that you trust. Look for a prime rib roast with an untrimmed fat cap (ideally ½ inch thick). We prefer the flavor and texture of prime-grade beef, but choice grade will work as well, just ask the butcher which he has.
If possible, buy a prime rib roast that has the bones attached. This isn’t always the case and you’ll be fine if they aren’t, but tying the ribs to the meat will give you a more even, juicy roast versus boneless.
Oh, I’m so with you, why is prime rib roast so expensive?! The more marbling, the more flavorful it will be. A full prime rib is cut from the 6th through 12th ribs of the cow, so seven ribs in total, meaning you are getting quite a lot of meat and bones. It’s one of those cuts that ends up being extra work for a butcher and extra juicy for you, also making it more expensive.
It’s so hard to know how much meat people are going to eat. I like to use the rule for prime rib of about 1 pound per adult.
– How much prime rib for 8 adults? A 4-bone prime rib will feed 8 to 10 people.
– How much prime rib for 20 adults? An 8 to 10 bone prime rib is better for 20 people.
Depending on how done you want it to be, your roast will be in the oven for anywhere from 3 ½ to 4 ½ hours. If you need prime rib done faster, try our Instant Pot Prime Rib! It’s delicious!
To remove the bones from the roast, use a very sharp knife, we prefer to only use Wusthof, and run it down the length of the bones, following the contours of the roast as closely as possible until the meat is separated from the bones.
Prime Rib Temperature Guide
Generally speaking, prime rib is served rare to medium rare, but I’ll be honest, I like mine more like medium. It’s entirely up to you and I’ll put all of the different prime rib temperatures and times below.
- Medium Rare Prime Rib — Medium rare means the meat is mostly pink with a deeper, nearly red center. The temperature should be 130 to 134ºF.
- Medium to Medium Well Prime Rib — The temperature should be 135 to 140°F.
- Well Done Prime Rib — The temperature should be 140 to 145°F.
What to Serve with Holiday Prime Rib
When it comes to a holiday dinner spread with prime rib as the star, I love to accompany it with all our favorite side dishes. Here are some suggestions:
- Potatoes: baked potatoes, roasted herb potatoes or creamy mashed potatoes
- Salad: 7 layer pea salad, spinach salad with poppyseed dressing or broccoli salad
- Bread: potato rolls, buttermilk biscuits or herbed focaccia bread
- Vegetables: roasted acorn squash, garlic butter roasted carrots or oven roasted vegetables
And it would be a holiday dinner without some decadent desserts! A few of our favorites are
Tips for Perfect Prime Rib Every Time
I’ve messed up enough Prime Rib recipes to know exactly what you should and shouldn’t do. Here are my top 3 tips:
#1 Overnight Salting!
Others may try to fool you into thinking the most important thing is the resting stage, which is up there for sure, but it’s not number 1.
Rub a good quality kosher salt all over the meat the day before you want to cook it.
Place it in the refrigerator overnight, UNCOVERED in order to enhance the beefy flavor while dissolving some of the proteins, which yields a buttery-tender, juicy roast.
#2 Keep the Oven Door Shut!
I was super worried about undercooking the roast the first time I made it so I checked it too often. This was lengthening the cooking process and ended up cooking it over medium temperature. Monitoring the roast with a meat-probe thermometer is best.
If you use an instant-read meat thermometer like this Thermopro Instant Read, open the oven door as little as possible. Also, remove the roast from the oven while taking its temperature, so you aren’t letting out extra heat.
If your roast has not reached the temperature you wanted in the time range specified, heat the oven to 200 degrees, wait for 5 minutes, then shut it off, and continue to cook the roast until it reaches the desired temperature.
#3 Let the Prime Rib Roast Rest!
Once the roast has reached the desired internal temperature, remove it from the oven and let it rest before slicing and serving it to your guests.
Heat drives juices toward the center of the meat. Think of when you cut into a steak that hasn’t rested and the juices all run out and it’s chewy versus at a restaurant where you notice that the juices are perfectly distributed. A rest gives juices the chance to redistribute themselves.
You’ll want to loosely tent the meat with foil and let it rest for 20- 30 minutes before carving.
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Prime rib leftovers store for 5 to 7 days in the fridge or up to a month in the freezer in an airtight container.
To reheat it, preheat the oven to 250 degrees F, place the sliced prime rib in a baking dish with a few tablespoons of beef broth, cover tightly with foil, and let it heat for about 10 minutes.
Recipe Tip
If this timing doesn’t work with your schedule, we also have posts for smoked prime rib and slow cooker prime rib. Check those out and see if one of those cooking methods works better for your schedule.
When you slice into that perfectly cooked prime rib and see the rosy, tender center, you’ll know all that love and patience were worth it. This recipe truly delivers every time — tender, juicy, flavorful, and worthy of any special occasion (or just a cozy Sunday dinner).
Pair it with your favorite sides, gather your people, and enjoy restaurant-worthy prime rib roast right in the comfort of your own kitchen. Once you try it, I promise — you’ll never make prime rib any other way.
More Decadent MAIN DISHES You Must Try:
- Korean Oven Braised Short Ribs
- Carolina Pulled Pork
- Authentic Italian Bolognese Sauce
- Oven Braised Short Ribs
- Smoked Prime Rib
- Oven Braised Beef Roast
- Herb Roasted Turkey Breast
- Smoked Tri Tip
- Easy Garlic Butter Steak
- All our MAIN DISH recipes!
Watch How to Make Prime Rib…
Best Prime Rib Roast
Ingredients
- 7 Pound Standing Rib Roast, Prime Rib
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt, heaping
- 1 ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
- 4 Tablespoons Butter, unsalted
- 4-6 Cloves Garlic, minced
Instructions
- Using a very sharp knife, cut slits in the outer surface layer of fat, spaced 1 inch apart, in cross pattern, much like crossing on a baked ham. Do not cut into the meat.7 Pound Standing Rib Roast
- Gently slice down through the meat, following the bones to remove them from the meat. Do not discard.
- Rub 2 heaping tablespoons of Kosher salt over entire roast and especially rub it into the slits.2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
- Place the meat back on bones and onto a plate.
- Refrigerate the meat, uncovered, at least 24 hours and up to 96 hours.
- Place the meat on the counter to rest for 2-3 hours so it takes the chill off.
- Adjust the oven rack to a middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees F.
- Heat oil in 12-inch skillet or dutch oven over high heat until smoking.
- Sear sides and top and avoid the bottom of the roast where you removed the bones (reserving bone on the plate). Place meat back on the rib bones, so bones fit where they were cut, and let cool for 10 minutes so you can touch it; tie meat to bones with 2 pieces of twine between the ribs.
- Transfer the roast, fat side up, to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and season with pepper.1 ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
- Mix the butter and garlic in a bowl, and rub it all over the meat.4-6 Cloves Garlic, 4 Tablespoons Butter
- Roast until meat registers 120 degrees F, 3 ½ to 4 ½ hours.
- Turn off the oven; leave the roast in oven, opening door as little as possible, until meat registers about 120℉ for rare or about 125℉ for medium-rare, 135-140°F for medium, and 140-145°F for well done, 30 to 75 minutes longer.
- Remove roast from oven (leave roast on baking sheet), tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for at least 30 minutes and up to 75 minutes.
- Adjust the oven rack about 8 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Remove foil from the roast. Broil until top of roast is well browned and crisp, 2 to 8 minutes.
- Transfer roast to carving board; cut twine and remove roast from ribs.
- Slice meat into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Season with coarse salt to taste along with any drippings turned to gravy, and serve.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How do you do it? You write succinctly and make the recipe so very accessible to the working mom. Thank you so much for your easy to follow directions and clever tips.
Thank you so much Marian!! I appreciate the support more than you know!
your video for the instapot rib roast doesn’t work
Hi Scott! The video for the instant pot prime rib (https://ohsweetbasil.com/instant-pot-prime-rib-recipe/) appears right before the recipe card near the end of the post. The video for this post (regular prime rib in the oven) doesn’t seem to be working so I will get that fixed asap. Thanks!
Oh boy! Tomorrow is my first time cooking prime rib and hubby ordered boneless. Any chance you might be able to save this prime-rib-cooking virgin in time not to spoil Christmas Eve dinner?
Do I need to adjust anything, other than the obvious missing ingredients- i.e. the ribs?
Hi Monica! The cooking time will be less for a boneless prime rib, but it is still going to be delicious! The meat thermometer will be your best friend. I would start checking the temperature after about 1.5 hours of cooking. These are the temps you’ll be looking for: 120 degrees for rare or about 125 degrees for medium-rare, 135-140° for medium, and 140-145°F for well done. And I highly recommend cooking it to rare or medium rare. A 4 lb roast will take like 1.5-1.75 hours to come to temperature.
Not completely happy with recipes for prime rib, I did some research and found this one by “Oh Sweet Basil.” Not always do recipes work out the way the author states but in this case, this prime rib recipe is PERFECT!!!!! Done looking! This is all I need and I am very particular! Now I get to enjoy making prime rib without hesitation! Thank you so very much!
Thank you so much Cathy! This absolutely makes my day! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for taking time to leave us a comment!
Where is the video for the Prime Rib?
Hi Richard! It’s at the beginning of the post. There’s a photo and then a short paragraph and then the video. Let me know if you can’t see it.
Great web site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find high quality writing like yours these days. I seriously appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
Thank you!
I did not waste my time or money on this recipe because the author does not acknowledge (and therefore I doubt realizes) that ‘Prime’ is a designation the USDA uses to grade the quality of beef. Specifically, the three grades of beef judged by the USDA are as follows: the best is ‘prime’, medium grade is ‘choice’, the rest is graded ‘select’. For example: a tenderloin or porterhouse steak may be graded ‘prime’, but neither has anything to do with ‘rib #’s’. In summary, the author does not know what they are talking about.
Thank you for such helpful information for our readers.
Help!I have had this at 200 in the oven for 5 + hours and it still hasn’t come to temp.! My thermometer is working as I tested it in boiling water when it hadn’t moves. I don’t want to ruin this pricy roast.
I’m so sorry for the late reply! Did it turn out ok? It may have taken longer depending on how big it was and every oven cooks a little differently.
We made this for Christmas last year and it was SO GOOD we’re having it for Christmas again this year! Thank you for sharing. Can it be cooked on a Traeger?? PS I have been following your blog for years. I love you guys!
Thank you so much Kristina! I am working on a recipe for prime rib on the traeger as we speak! I’m hoping to get it out next week!