How to Cook a Perfect Prime Rib

One of our holiday traditions is to cook a prime rib (from a healthy source). At first I was a little nervous about cooking such a fancy cut of beef, but I figured I’d give it a shot.

I did a little research and found a simple, hands-off cooking method that sounded perfect. And it was! It was perfect, and juicy, and delicious.

Read on to find out how I did it.

Perfecting Prime Rib

My first step was to figure out the lingo. I learned that prime rib is also called a rib roast and can have bones or be boneless. If it has bones, it’s also called a standing rib roast. You can buy a whole prime rib, which contains seven rib bones and weighs about 13 pounds, or ask for a smaller portion.

Both boneless and standing rib roast are flavorful, tender, and delicious, but I decided to go with the roast with bones. I liked the fanciness of the look, the easier cooking method, and the idea of using the bones to make bone broth later.

Finally, I needed to figure out how much meat I would need. Fortunately, there’s a pretty universal formula for determining that. The general consensus when buying a bone-in roast  is to buy one pound of meat per adult. Usually, there’s around two pounds of meat per bone in a rib roast. So a three rib roast will weigh five to six pounds.

You’ll probably have some extra, especially if you’re serving tasty sides as well, but who doesn’t like leftovers?

Hands-Off Cooking Method

After I figured out what kind of roast to buy and how much of it, I needed to decide on my cooking method. After extensive research, I decided that I would try this simple hands-off method.

First, I let the roast rest at room temperature for an hour or so. Then, I rubbed my roast all over with olive oil, and seasoned it liberally with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence. Then I placed it rib side down in my largest cast iron skillet. Because I was using a roast with ribs, the ribs acted as their own cooking rack! If you choose a boneless roast, you’ll need to place it on a rack.

Then, I put the roast in my 475°F oven for 30 minutes then turned the oven off and left the roast in there for another two hours and ten minutes. And that’s it!

When the time was up my roast was beautifully browned and caramelized on the outside from the original high temperature, cooked to a perfect medium-rare on the inside, and didn’t need a long additional resting time because it had already done that as the oven cooled.

Pro tip: The secret roasting formula is to roast the meat for five minutes per pound with the oven on, then turn it off and leave it in there for another two hours.

Perfect Prime Rib Recipe

Learn to make a perfectly cooked prime rib for special occasions with this easy-to-follow recipe.

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Time to Come to Room Temperature 2 hours hrs

Calories 954kcal

Author Katie Wells

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Servings

6 people

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 6 lbs prime rib roast
• 6 TBSP unsalted butter (softened, or olive oil)
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1½ tsp herbes de Provence
• 1 TBSP Celtic salt (or salt of choice)

Instructions

• Defrost the rib roast in the refrigerator if frozen.
• Let the roast come to room temperature in a covered container before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 475°F.
• Coat the roast with butter or olive oil and then sprinkle with pepper, herbs, and salt.
• Place the roast in a pan with the bones down or on a rack in a pan if using a boneless roast.
• Roast for 30 minutes in the oven, then turn the oven off and leave the roast in the oven with the door closed for 2 hours 10 minutes.
• Remove roast, let sit for 5 minutes.
• Slice and serve!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Perfect Prime Rib Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 954 Calories from Fat 774

% Daily Value*

Fat 86g132%

Saturated Fat 37g231%

Cholesterol 198mg66%

Sodium 717mg31%

Potassium 677mg19%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 41g82%

Vitamin A 184IU4%

Calcium 32mg3%

Iron 5mg28%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Make a simple au jus by whisking together the juice and drippings left in the pan with 2 cups of water, and heating on the stove. Taste, and if it’s still too concentrated, add more water.

Sides to Serve With Prime Rib

The only tricky part of making a rib roast with this method is that it ties up your oven for the two hours prior to dinner time. That can make preparing the side dishes a little tricky. Here are some oven-less side suggestions:

• Apple kale salad
• Cauliflower mashed “potatoes”
• Garlic rosemary mushrooms
• Healthy cranberry sauce – a make-ahead recipe
• Lemon pepper cushaw squash
• Loaded bacon cauliflower
• Maple tarragon carrots
• Mashed acorn squash – okay, you do have to use the oven for this one, but it can be made ahead of time (like the day before!), and warmed in a slow cooker
• Roasted beet and arugula salad – make it ahead of time and chill it until dinner time
• Sesame garlic broccolini
• Slow cooker sweet potatoes

Have you ever made a prime rib? What’s your tried-and-true method?