Prime Rib Recipes For Christmas Dinner

I’m not sure there's anything more special for Christmas dinner than a beautiful, perfectly cooked piece of roast beef. This is my version of prime rib, which is as good the next day, sliced cold right out of the fridge, as it is served warm on a plate with potatoes, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts. That was the menu I fixed for the Christmas special on Food Network and it's the menu I'll be fixing again this year.

Impressive. But in this case,  impressive doesn't need to mean complicated or difficult. All you need when roasting a nice cut of beef is a reliable meat thermometer: it's the best insurance against overcooking it… which is a tragedy of epic proportions. Here's how I make it:

Use a meat thermometer! Please, I beg of you. Don't attempt to make this prime rib without a meat thermometer. They're inexpensive and you can find one at just about any grocery store. It is the key to success, because cooking times may vary widely. And overcooked prime rib is sad. Very sad. Also, be sure to take your meat out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before you plan to cook it. This will help it cook more evenly. 

Best Roast Prime Rib

It depends on a few factors: The first is how large your prime rib is. The second is how rare or done you like your meat. I prefer really rare prime rib, so it takes about an hour to an hour and a half for my 14-pound roast that I cut in half. (This is not including rest time. Factor in about 20 minutes for that.) But if you like yours more done, you're going to want to budget for more time. Again, a meat thermometer is essential.

Prime rib is best cooked to rare or medium rare, so I aim for about 120 to 125 degrees. 125 to 130 degrees will get you to medium doneness. Don't go beyond that or it'll end up dry and tough. I'll say it once more: A meat thermometer is your best friend!

Yes... well, sort of. They both come from the same cut, but the difference between prime rib and ribeye is how they're butchered. Prime rib means a whole rib roast, like what's cooked here. A ribeye is a portion of that roast that is cut out as an individual steak, before it's cooked. 

Made Kenji's Prime Rib For My First Ever Christmas Dinner! But…no Drippings For Gravy?

A Christmas roast like this works great in so many other dishes. Thinly slice the meat for roast beef sandwiches, cube it and make beef stew or steak pot pie, or use it in beef stroganoff.

Note: Use a meat thermometer! Cooking times may vary. Also, you can buy half this quantity of meat and just proceed with the preparation instructions. You'll wind up with one prime rib instead of two.

(Note: Photos below are from a couple of different prime ribs I’ve made over the past couple of months. Don’t be confused if you see different pans/different pieces of meat!)

Garlic Butter Rib Roast

I start with a whole ribeye (boneless or bone-in), sometimes called a rib loin, about 13-14 pounds. If you were to cut this into slices, you’d have a bunch of boneless ribeye steaks. (And the price reflects this. Wow.)

Note that I am going to cut this piece of meat in half and roast it in two pieces. If you don’t have a large crowd to feed, you could easily buy half this amount!

I don’t have many step-by-step photos for this, so here’s the final photo of my salt “crust.” I just combined kosher salt, crushed tri-color peppercorns (I put them in a Ziploc bag and whacked them with a rolling pin), plenty of minced garlic, and a bunch of rosemary leaves and thyme leaves. This isn’t a hard, crack-it-open salt crust; it’s a light coating of flavor that’s both pretty and scrumptious. I absolutely love it.

Prime Rib Recipe

I made prime rib again for a dinner party a couple of weeks ago, and I chopped the rosemary and thyme rather than leaving the leaves whole. I didn’t like it as much; it was missing that “evergreen in the snow” look of the original.

Begin by heating a heavy iron skillet over very high heat. Also known as high heat. Ha. Drizzle in plenty of olive oil…

After the meat is browned, transfer it to a roasting pan with the fat side up. Pour half the salt mixture all over the top, letting it cascade over the sides a bit. Repeat with the other half of the meat.

Roast Recipes For A Prime Rib Christmas Dinner

Throw the meat into a preheated 500 degree oven and roast it for 20 to 25 minutes. This will start the cooking process and ensure that the prime rib will have beautiful, sizzly color.

After that time, reduce the heat to 300 degrees and insert the meat thermometer so that the probe goes right into the middle of the meat. Continue roasting the meat for an additional 25 to 30 minutes for rare…longer for medium rare. Just watch the thermometer and remove it when it’s 5 to 10 degrees before the temperature you want, because it will continue cooking after you remove it from the oven.

UPDATE: Be prepared to roast the meat longer than 30 minutes to get it done to your liking. (We like ours very, very rare!) Just watch the meat thermometer.

Order Online, Prime Rib Dinner For 4

Remove the meat from the pan and let it rest, covered in foil, on the cutting board for at least 20 minutes. (Never cut into roast beef immediately after removing it from the oven! It’s against the law.)

This is a really nice medium-rare and is on the verge of being too cooked for me. But it’s perfect for a crowd!

Mmmmm. Beaut-ee-ful. And again, if I were serving just my family (as you’ll notice if you watched the Christmas special) I would have gone much more rare than this.

How To Cook A Small Prime Rib Roast

Now this? This is too done. Still yummy, of course, but there’s just not enough red going on. I’d consider this medium. There’s a little bit of pink, but not enough to count. (Note that this does make yummy thin-sliced roast beef for sandwiches later.)

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Prime Rib Recipe (video)