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Garlic butter herb prime rib is melt in your mouth tender, cooked to medium-rare perfection, and marbled with fat. The seared garlic butter herb crust is incredible!
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- Holiday Feast: The holidays wouldn’t be complete without a prime rib roast. You could pair it with Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, and Rolls.
- Easy to Make: Prime rib may seem intimidating, but with my tips and easy-to-follow instructions, you will have the most succulent, tender prime rib of your life!
Herb Garlic Butter Prime Rib Ingredients
I always buy my roast with the bone. The butcher at our local grocery store cuts the bone but leaves it partially attached and ties it onto the roast. This makes it easier to carve the meat, and the bone creates a rack for the meat to cook on. See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact measurements.
- Prime Rib: I like to get a bone-in cut and tied.
- Butter: Make sure that the butter is softened to blend well with the herbs and seasonings.
- Garlic Cloves: If you don’t have any fresh garlic cloves on hand, you can use minced garlic! 1/2 teaspoon equals about one clove.
- Thyme, Oregano, and Fresh Rosemary: I like to use freshly chopped herbs to make the flavor taste top-notch!
- Salt and Pepper: Use these to taste!
How to Cook Prime Rib
Preparing steakhouse-worthy prime rib isn’t as tricky as it seems. Enjoy this decadent recipe this holiday season with friends and family!
- Prepare the Meat: Remove the meat from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before bringing it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Mix Together Garlic Butter Herb Sauce: In a small bowl, mix butter, garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Then, rub all of the butter on the outside of your prime rib and place it in a roasting pan or large skillet with the fat side up.
- Cook Prime Rib: Cook for 15 minutes and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees. It is about 15 minutes per pound of meat. Bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 110 degrees.
- Let the Meat Rest: Remove from oven and let it rest with foil for at least 20 minutes. The temperature will rise to 130 degrees for a medium rare prime rib.
What Cut Of Meat Is Best?
A prime rib roast (or a standing roast) is cut from the back of the upper rib section of the steer. It usually is a total of 7 ribs. You will need a 3-bone rib roast to make this slow-roasted prime rib. This is cut from either the chuck or the loin end of the rib sections. Here are some tips on how to choose the best meat!
- Bone IN: You will want a bone in the prime rib. On average, a 2-6 pound prime rib has 2 to 3 bones.
- Tied: When ordering from a butcher, ask to keep the strings on it if possible. This ensures it cooks evenly and keeps its form while cooking.
- Deckle: If possible, ask to have the largest deckle. The deckle is tender and the most flavorful piece of meat.
Cooking Tips
Melt-in-your-mouth garlic herb prime rib is just what you need to celebrate the holidays this year! These quick and simple tips will help cook it to perfection!
- Use a Thermometer: Using a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat is the best way to ensure a perfect prime rib every time.
- Take it Out of the Fridge: Take your prime rib out of the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to let it rest before cooking. This will ensure an even cook time.
- Keep the Bone In: You can remove the bones before cooking, but it is unnecessary. The bone in adds to the flavor and helps keep the prime rib tender and juicy.
- Let it Rest! Remove your prime rib from the oven when it is about 5 degrees lower than your desired temperature. Cover your meat and let it rest. It will slowly cook as it is resting.
- Cooking Information Per Pound: The bones create a natural roasting rack for the meat. Cook the prime rib at a higher temperature of 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees and continue to cook until the thermometer reads 110 degrees. About 15 minutes of cooking time per pound.
Cooking Temperatures
Prime rib can be a little intimidating to make because you are trying to achieve the perfect medium-rare temperature. In the closed oven method, you roast the meat at 500 degrees for 5 minutes per pound. Then, you leave the oven closed for 2 hours, and it slowly cooks. If using this method, I highly recommend putting a thermometer inside the meat so you can check on it without opening the oven while it cooks.
- Rare: 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit
- Medium-Rare: 130 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit
- Medium: 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Medium-Well: 145 to 155 degrees Fahrenheit
- Well Done: 155 degrees Fahrenheit
Storing Leftover Prime Rib
Having leftover meat is just another way to enjoy it a little longer! You still have all the tender, juicy flavors infused. Enjoy another slice of heaven a second time around with these storing ideas.
- How Long Does Prime Rib Last in the Refrigerator? It can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days.
- Can You freeze Prime Rib? Yes! Let it rest until completely cooled. Once it’s cooled, place in a ziplock freezer bag, letting all the air out. Lay flat in the freezer for 1 month. When ready to eat, place it in the refrigerator overnight until it is thawed.
- Reheating: If it’s been frozen, let it thaw completely. Place in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until it has reached the desired internal temperature. Enjoy!
A Reader’s Review
This was absolutely amazing! The flavor was phenomenal. I like my meat well done and it was still super tender.
More Beef Recipes to Enjoy
This prime rib recipe is one of my very favorites! If you loved it as much as I do, then I have a few more that you should try! They are all so different but super delicious! Try one or try them all…. you can’t go wrong with any of them! Your family will thank you later!
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Garlic Butter Herb Prime Rib Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Remove the prime rib from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before bringing it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- In a small bowl mix butter, garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper. Rub all of the butter on the outside of your prime rib and place in a roasting pan or large skillet with the fat side up.
- Cook for 15 minutes and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees. It is about 15 minutes per pound of meat. Bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 110 degrees.
- Remove the prime rib from the oven and let it rest with foil for at least 20 minutes. The temperature will be 130 degrees Fahrenheit for a medium rare prime rib.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
An absolutely wonderful recipe! The technique and directions were easy and adaptable to my penchant for tons of garlic 🙂 Will definitely give you a shout out when I post the pics.
Amazing. Simply amazing. I really wanted to make a good Christmas meal – my vision was to cook the perfect prime-rib and that’s exactly what happened – I read and reread your recipe as well as every other that caught my eye. I decided on following your recipe – the best thing I did was to buy a meat thermometer! I was worried at the start – the temp rose so slowly – and then BAM! Resting the meat was key. The meat was perfect 👌🏼 – thank you so much!
I just made this tonight for Christmas Eve dinner and it was amazing!!! My boyfriend said that it was better than a restaurant! It was so delicious, and thank you for this amazing recipe. It will be the only prime rib recipe I make from now on!
This was absolutely amazing! The flavor was phenomenal. I like my meat well done and it was still super tender.
We love love love this recipe!! We’ve made it 4 times now. We buy our prime rib roasts when they’re on sale and freeze them. We like to use 3 lb roasts for the 2 of us and get 2 dinners from each roast. One of us likes it super rare, the other medium. We remove from the oven at very rare..After a couple minutes we slice off a beautiful end piece— microwave for a couple minutes and We both have our perfect doneness— AMAZING!
This is th best recipe for a Rib Roast. Thanks for the recipe & tips.
For the person wanting to cook a prime rib to well done really should just buy ground beef. It will be dried out and tough. Sorry but a beautiful piece of meat like prime rib should never be cooked past medium. Medium rare is preferred.
Sorry to be blunt but why spend the money on a premium piece of meat to cook it to death.
Merry Christmas.
Dee, No need to voice an individual taste choice, not everyone likes the same cooking time and it is wonderful in each persons tastebuds as to how they like their meats cooked. Merry Christmas.
I made my first prime rib last year for Christmas using your recipe. It was the best we have ever tasted! Took it out at 110 degrees and it was perfect. Will be using this recipe again this year and cannot wait. Thank you for this fabulous post!
In one place it says to remove 5 degrees before final temperature to let it rest and in two other place it says to remove it ‘essentially’ 20 degrees and let it rest/continue to cook to reach final temperature – remove at 110 and rest for 20 mins while it reaches 130 degrees.
Which is it if you know?
Thank you.
It depends on how much you would like it cooked and at what temperature. It is best to use a meat thermometer to get the right cook time you are wanting.
Loved this recipe. Easy and delicious.
I did not have fresh spices so I used the McCormick’s to blend in with garlic and butter.
Best rib roast recipe I have tried. Hubby loved it too.
Wow! I was nervous to make this because the meat cut is expensive. I paid about $54 for 3.99 lbs but it was worth every penny! I literally just got done making this and the directions could not have been more perfect!!! Everyone loved it. Thank you again for making this post, it made me look like I knew was I was doing in the kitchen tonight, ha!
For those of you who haven’t tried Sous Vide cooking you should for roasts like this especially! I had never cooked a prime rib and when I did using this method it came out perfect. Basically you get an immersion cooker (Joule or Anova) which is a cylinder that fits heats water and keeps it at whatever temperature you set. You place the meat in a food saver or sous vide bag before placing (or Plaving lol) it in the water. This allows the meat to cook evenly throughout. So for instance I cook a 6lb roast for 6 hours at 131 degrees and the best part is it can go for another 6 hours if I wanted and would be the same! No more worrying if things are delayed. Then once your ready you take the roast out of the bag and sear in the oven at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. Just before this you put the rub or whatever you want to use for the crust on and the sear makes it great. I am excited to try this rub in this recipe for this today on a roast I have. Then when you pull it from the oven you let it sit 10 minutes and it’s perfect. Sous vide is good for other things as well but large roasts it works so well to make the roast perfect throughout with no well done ends and rare middle (unless that’s what your shooting for). Can’t wait to try this run listed in her recipe.
Just fyi, I heavily covered my ribs in coarse salt, then placed on a small rack over a pan and stashed, uncovered, in our garage fridge for 3 days. The dry brining (as I call it), dehydrated the meat over those 3 days, thereby intensifying the flavors. In addition to the coarse salt already on the exterior of the ribs, I did also add coarse ground pepper before roasting.Then I cooked as you instructed, to a perfect medium rare (only had 3-4 ribs total for 3 people). It was absolutely to-die-for. I can’t even describe how delicious it came out.
Just thought you might like to try next time.
This is the best of all the prime rib recipes I have tried! thank you.
Sounds delicious, today is Easter Sunday and I’m going to cook them s for the first time ever. I pray I get it right. Or my family gets hamburgers. Wish me luck, and keep your fingers crossed.
Ruby Butler
Bakersfield CA
My family loves this recipe! Definitely use a meat thermometer, everyone’s over runs a little different. Amazing!