Perfect Prime Rib

Recipe video above. The juiciest, tastiest, BEST roast beef in the world is Prime Rib!! Also known as Standing Rib Roast, this is slathered in a herb and garlic butter, then roasted to juicy perfection. By using a lower but not super low oven temperature, we can be assured of a beautiful even cook throughout the whole roast, yet still have it on the table in a couple of hours. Bonus: lower temp = more forgiving!
Meat thermometer is a MUST!
Ingredients
Cups
Metric
▢2.5 kg / 5 lb standing rib roast / prime rib , bone in (Note 1)
▢1 onion , unpeeled, quartered (brown, yellow, white)
▢1 head of garlic , unpeeled, halved horizontally
▢5 sprigs thyme
▢3 sprigs rosemary
GARLIC HERB BUTTER:
▢150g/ 10 tbsp unsalted butter , softened
▢5 garlic cloves , minced
▢2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
▢2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
▢2 tsp salt
▢1 tsp black pepper
RED WINE SAUCE:
▢1 1/2 cups beef broth/stock , low salt
▢2 1/2 cups dry red wine (Note 2)
▢1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (optional, Note 3)
Instructions
PREPARE BEEF
Bring Beef to room temp: Take beef out of the fridge 2 – 3 hours before cooking to bring to room temp (key tip for even cooking). Pat dry with paper towel.
Preheat oven to 240°C/460°F (220°C fan). Adjust shelf so beef will be sitting in the middle of the oven.
Garlic Herb Butter: Mix together.
Roasting bed: Place onion, garlic and herbs in a heavy based oven proof skillet (or use a roasting pan).
Slather 1: Spread a thin layer of butter on the underside of the beef (ie the bone side). Place beef on onion etc, butter side down. Spread about 2/3 of the butter on the top and sides (reserve some for Slather 2).
Hot oven: Roast 20 minutes.
Slather 2: Remove, spread over remaining butter. Turn oven down to 120°C/250°F (100°C fan).
Slow roast: Roast for a further 1 1/2 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the juices in the pan, until the internal temperature is 51°C / 123.8°F in the centre (for medium rare, Note 4). Start checking the internal temp early.
Rest: Transfer beef to plate. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 20 – 30 minutes. Internal temperature will rise to 56-58°C / 133-136.4°F (which is medium rare).
Slice beef and serve with Sauce! For a classic high-end Steakhouse experience, serve with Paris Mash and Garlic Sautéed Spinach.
RED WINE SAUCE:
Place skillet with onion and garlic left in it on the stove over high heat. Add wine and beef stock, rapidly simmer for 10 minutes until it reduces by 2/3 or so, down to 1 1/2 cups or liquid.
Lower heat to medium. Mix cornflour with 2 tbsp water. Drizzle in half and stir. Sauce will thicken in 1 minute or so. Add more cornflour water mixture if you want it thicker.
Strain into bowl, pour into sauce jug.
Recipe Notes:
1. Standing Rib Roast – also known as Prime Rib. Use any cut of prime rib – with the bones attached, trimmed and frenched (pictured ie bones scraped clean of meat and excess fat, excess fat mostly trimmed away). OR with bones removed but then reattached by tying it with string, with or without a thick layer of fat. The choice is yours!
Get the best quality you can afford. We don’t have standardised quality ratings here in Australia, but if you can, ski the supermarket and opt for your butcher instead. Get a smaller piece of better quality beef, rather than a large piece of lower quality!
In the States, prime rib is graded: Prime is best, then Choice then Select.
Boneless rib eye or scotch fillet roast – this is just Prime Rib minus the bone. Cook per recipe but start checking internal temp 30 minutes earlier, as boneless meat cooks faster.
2. Beef stock/broth – important to use low sodium here otherwise the sauce might end up too salty. If it’s too salty, fix as follows: Add 2 to 3 cups of water and 2 potatoes chopped into 2.5cm/1″ pieces (or small enough so they are submerged). Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes – ensure potato doesn’t start to break down. Potato will absorb salt. Scoop out potato, reduce sauce again.
3. Wine – Use any red wine that’s not sweet or too oaky that’s good enough to drink. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlots are all good options. I always rummage in the discount bins at liquor stores for bargains where you can get good bottles discounted up to 90%!
Win sub: If you cannot drink red wine, skip the wine and just use beef stock to make a terrific beef flavoured garlic-gravy.
4. Internal Temperature of Cooked Prime Rib: The internal temperature will rise by ~5°C / 5°F while it is resting so it needs to be taken out of the oven before it reaches your desired doneness.
Doneness Pull Temp
out of oven Target Temp
after rest
Rare 49°C/120.2°F 53°C/127.4°F
Medium rare (recommended) 51°C / 123.8°F 56°C / 133°F
Medium 55°C/131°F 60°C / 140°F
Medium well done 59°C / 138.2°F 65°C / 149°F
Well done Never! n/a
Pull temp is the temperature at which it should be removed from the oven;
Target temp is the final temperature of the beef for each level of doneness, to which the beef will rise after resting for 20 minutes.
COOK TIMES for different sizes: Doesn’t increase that much with increased size because of the shape. Add 10 -15 minutes for each 1 kg/ 2 lb, but start checking the internal temp early just to be sure.
TIP: Once the internal temp hits 40°C/104°F, the internal temp increases by 5°C/10°F every 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Cornflour/cornstarch is optional. This thickens the sauce slightly to a maple syrup consistency which is how I like it. But this sauce is essentially a Red Wine Jus and they are actually quite runny as they are not thickened in this way. It’s a personal preference – so if you don’t mind a runnier sauce, you can skip this.
6. Make Ahead: Best made fresh. Keeps warm for 1 hour and can be blasted in hot oven for a few minutes to freshen up the crust. For leftovers, I like to keep it whole then slice thinly. Microwave very gently until just warmed (and still pink!). Or slice thinly, bring to room temp, pile of rye bread with mustard and pickles and make the BEST Roast Beef Sandwich EVER!
7. Unpeeled onion and garlic: I leave them unpeeled because then they hold together better so they keep the prime rib elevated off the base of the skillet. Unpeeled onion collapses into a soft pile very quickly. The onion is strained out later when making the sauce.
8. Nutrition per serving. Calculated using an estimation of the bone weight, and assuming most of the fat is trimmed. Includes sauce.
NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Calories:671cal (34%)Carbohydrates:2g (1%)Protein:64g (128%)Fat:44g (68%)Saturated Fat:19g (119%)Cholesterol:193mg (64%)Sodium:941mg (41%)Potassium:885mg (25%)Vitamin A:85IU (2%)Vitamin C:3.5mg (4%)Calcium:34mg (3%)Iron:5.7mg (32%)