The Perfect Prime Rib Recipe (2024)

A holiday meal to remember! Your guests will go crazy for this prime rib roast smothered in herbed bacon butter! It’s truly the perfect prime rib recipe!

Lets talk traditions…

When it comes to Christmas traditions, one that my family looks forward to is the Christmas Day prime rib roast. I grew up having ham on Christmas, but my husband was never a fan so shortly after we got married we changed our menu to prime rib and have never looked back! 🙂 It’s definitely an expensive treat, but it’s a once a year splurge that makes our holiday complete.

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So today I’m going to share with you just how easy it is to make this delicious holiday meal! It may seem intimidating but it could not be simpler, and I’m going to share with you my tips, tricks and techniques so you can get it just right! Just pretend I’m right there with ya holding your hand.

You’ve got this! 🙂

{Scroll down for the printable recipe}

First thing you want to do is to let your meat come to room temperature before doing anything else!

This is SUPER IMPORTANT!

Depending on the size and environmental temperature outside this can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to a few hours if it’s chilly in your house.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 now.

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Secondly, Notice the string?

Bakers twine is holding the bone rack to my roast. I have the butcher only half way remove it so I still get the delicious moistness and flavor that the bones provide, but it will be easier to cut the roast away from the bones and slice to serve later on.

Similar to when I’m making turkey, the next step is to take a wad of paper towels and the beef dry. On the turkey that ensures a nice crispy skin, but on the beef it’s helping our herbed bacon butter stick and create a delicious crumbly crust for that melt in your mouth beef.

Butter…More Butter…

Thirdly, and possibly the next most important is making our aromatic herbed bacon butter. So get out a small bowl, add everything in it, and give it a good mix together with a fork

Then using your best kitchen tools (clean hands) rub that buttery goodness all over your beef.

Sounds kind of dirty? Well, it is. 🙂

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450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, then lower the temp to 250 and cook for an additional 1.5-2 hours.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, now is the time to invest in one. I personally use and love THIS ONE

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(affiliate link).

120F is rare and 145+F is well done, so you’ll want thereading to be somewhere in that area when inserting the thermometer into the thickest part of the roast.

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Remove the roast from the dish and put it on a large cutting board to rest for 20-30 minutes. Tent it with tinfoil to keep it hot.

Make your Au Jus while the meat is resting.

After the meat has rested, cut and remove the string and cut the bones away from the meat. You can now slice the roast easily and effortlessly for your guests.

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Bacon Butter Prime Rib

★★★★★4.5 from 2 reviews

Author: Christine

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Description

A holiday meal to remember! Your guests will go crazy for this prime rib roast smothered in herbed bacon butter! It’s truly the perfect prime rib recipe!

Ingredients

Scale

PRIME RIB ROAST:
6lb beef rib roast (partially boned and tied by butcher)
6 tablespoons room temp. unsalted butter
2–3 tablespoons coagulated bacon grease*
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons dried Herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
* I always make bacon on Christmas morning and save the grease for the rib roast. If you don’t have it on hand then just use another tablespoon of butter in its place.

Au Jus

2 1/2 cups beef broth (low sodium preferably)
2–3 whole peeled garlic cloves
a few sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 cup red wine
2 teaspoons Worcheshire sauce

Instructions

PRIME RIB:

Preheat oven to 450
Make herbed bacon butter
Pat beef dry with paper towels and put in roasting pan
Smear butter all over beef
Before placing the beef in the oven add about 1 1/2 cups of broth to the bottom of the baking dish, and add in a few whole garlic cloves and rosemary twigs. This is going to be our base for our Au Jus later on.
Put roast into 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 250 degrees and continue cooking until desired doneness. about 1.5 hours for medium rare.

MAKE YOUR AU JUS WHILE THE MEAT IS RESTING.

AU JUS:

Put your baking dish over your stovetop burners and set them to medium low.
Carefully remove the rosemary and garlic cloves
Wisk in the Worcestershire and wine, scraping up all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add in the remaining 1 cup of broth, reduce your heat slightly to a simmer for 3-5 minutes. Serve hot.

{OPTIONAL} HORSERADISH CREAM SAUCE TO SERVE ON SIDE:

16 oz. sour cream
3-4 tablespoonsWorcestershire sauce
1 minced garlic clove
1/4 prepared horseradish
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients into mixing bowl, and mix well. Taste and adjust if needed.
Keep chilled until ready to serve with prime rib.

Notes

*Rare: 120-125°F

Red interior which may fade to pink at the outermost edges

Medium Rare: 130-135°F

Pink with a deeper, nearly red center

Medium: 135-140°F

Mauve, uniformly colored interior

Well-done: 145°F+

Brown, no pink

**120F is rare and 145+F is well done, so you’ll want the reading to be somewhere in that area when inserting the thermometer into the thickest part of the roast. I personally remove the roast from the oven right around 130F since it will continue to cook while resting, this way I’m right on the money at 135-140 each time.

Keywords: prime rib cook time, prime rib, prime rib roast, standing rib roast, rib roast, cooking prime rib, prime rib rub, how to cook prime rib, rib of beef, prime rib steak, beef rib roast, Christmas roast, prime rib cooking time

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FAQs

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? ›

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? The secret to restaurant-style prime rib is cooking the meat super slow at low temperatures. I recommend cooking prime rib at no higher than 200 degrees F. This cooks the meat very slowly, turning the fat into butter and rendering the proteins juicy and soft.

Should prime rib be at room temperature before roasting? ›

Before you begin roasting, be sure your Prime Rib Roast is completely thawed. If frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours before preparing and bring the meat to room temperature. Remove your roast from the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (but no more than 2 hours) before roasting.

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How long should prime rib sit out before cooking? ›

Preparing the Prime Rib Roast

Pull the rib roast out of the fridge and let temper on the counter for three hours. USDA guidelines requires food not be held above 33°F (1°C) for more than 4 hours. A three-hour rest on the counter is well within time constraints.

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How long to cook a 6 lb prime rib at 325? ›

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Roast in the oven until the thermometer registers 115°F for rare or 120° for medium rare, and 130°F for medium. To estimate the total cooking time, allow about 11 to 12 minutes per pound for rare and 13 to 15 minutes per pound for medium rare.

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How many hours does it take to cook a prime rib? ›

Heat the oven to 250°F with the rack in the lower middle position. Cook for 4 to 5 hours or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the roast is 125-130°F for medium-rare prime rib, or 135-140°F for medium. Take out the roast and tent it with foil.

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What is the rule for prime rib? ›

A good rule of thumb for purchasing bone-in prime rib is to buy one pound per person. A bone-in standing rib roast will feed about two people per bone. But if the roast is part of a bigger spread with plenty of other food, you can plan on 1/2 to 3/4 pound of prime rib per person.

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