How Long Does Prime Rib Take To Cook In Oven

perfect prime rib roast recipe

Prime Rib Roast is a favorite for holiday dinners. If you want to know how to cook a the most mouthwatering tender bone-in roast with a flavorful crust and divine rich wine sauce, everything you need to know to get perfect results every time is below.

prime rib roast with herb crust

Why this recipe works:

Prime rib roast is an excellent cut of beef to enjoy for a special or holiday dinner. It is an expensive cut of meat, so you don't want to mess it up by not knowing how to properly cook it.

This recipe has always been my favorite because it is actually incredibly simple. You'll find that the roast turns out flavorful and moist because of the cooking method and the herb crust. The rich red wine sauce is the perfect accompaniment.

This recipe has been viewed well over 2 million times and continues to be everyone's favorite holiday recipe.

Here's how to make it:

Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan with the fat cap facing up. Add beef broth and red wine to the pan. Meanwhile, create a mixture of olive oil, fresh garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Spread all of the herb mixture over the top of the roast.
Insert a meat thermometer into the center of the roast. Cook the prime rib in a 450 F oven for about 20 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 F and continue cooking until the desired internal temperature is met.
Remove the roast from the pan and loosely tent with aluminum foil to keep it warm while it rests. Finally, you'll add more wine to the drippings in the pan and reduce the sauce over heat to serve alongside the roast.

Cooking tips for perfect results:

Allow meat to sit at room temperature for at least an hour prior to cooking.
Keep a close eye on the internal temperature as it approaches your desired temperature. The rate at which the temperature increases will accelerate the closer the roast is to being cooked.
Any kind of dry red wine will work. I will typically use a Pinot Noir.
When you cook large roast in a roasting pan, you have to ensure you get the roast the the exact desired temperature and you have to let it properly rest if you want a perfectly cooked, tender, juicy roast.
A 4-5 pound roast should take approximately two hours to cook. There are many factors impacting total cook time including the size and starting temperature of the roast, the accuracy of your oven temperature, and how consistently your oven cooks.
Slicing the roast is easiest with an electric knife.

Prime Rib temperature:

Plan to remove your prime rib roast from the oven when it is at 10 degrees below your desired final temperature.
The final prime rib temperature for rare meat is 120-125°F, medium rare is 130-135°F, and well done is 140-145°F
When you cook for a crowd, the best rule of thumb is to remove your prime rib roast from the oven when it hits 120°F and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes while loosely tented with foil.
If you target medium rare, you'll most likely please everyone's preferences for how they like their prime rib roast cooked.

Prime rib roast that has been sliced

Side dish recipe recommendations:

A feast like a perfectly cooked prime rib roast deserves side dishes that are equally amazing. Here are a few recommendations that are perfect.

Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, or Gorgonzola Celery Root Mashed Potatoes for your starch
Wilted Garlic Spinach or Garlic Parmesan Oven Roasted Asparagus as a dark green vegetable
Homemade Dinner Rolls or Cornmeal Yeast Rolls with butter are also heavenly!

Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think!

This holiday season, serve your friends and family a Perfect Prime Rib Roast for dinner. Its an elegant yet easy to make main dish.

▢ 1 4-5 pound beef prime rib roast (I prefer bone-in where the bones are cut and then tied to the roast (the bones give extra flavor))
▢ 1 750 mL bottle red wine
▢ 2 cups beef broth (Might need more, see note below)
▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
▢ 2 tablespoons garlic
▢ 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (minced)
▢ 2 tablespoons fresh thyme (minced)
▢ 1 tablespoon kosher salt
▢ 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

optional:

▢ ¼ cup sour cream
▢ 1-2 teaspoons creamed horseradish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and ensure top rack is low enough such that the roasting pan will be in the middle of the oven.
Using a roasting pan with a rack, add 2 cups of wine and the beef broth to the pan. Reserve the remaining wine for later. Set the roast in the rack, rib side down and fat side up. Mix olive oil, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper in small bowl and spread on top of roast.
Insert meat thermometer into meaty part of roast avoiding contact with the bones.
Roast in 450 degree oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 115 to 120°F for medium rare (125 to 130°F after resting), or 125 to 130°F for medium (135 to 140°F after resting). And remember, a roast will continue to rise by 5 to 10°F as it rests. I removed my roast from the oven when it hit 125°F. Total cooking time will depend on size of roast and initial temperature. Once removed from oven, transfer roast to plate and loosely tent with foil and allow to rest for at least 15-20 minutes. NOTE: Keep an eye on the liquid in the roasting pan as the roast is cooking. If it appears that the liquid is evaporating, add additional beef broth. If all the liquid evaporates, the contents on the bottom of the pan will burn.
While the roast is resting, place the pan on the burner with the rack removed. Add remaining wine and cook on low temperature to burn off some of the alcohol and work in all the flavor from the bottom of the pan. When roast has finished resting, skim off any fat from the wine sauce and serve warm sauce along side the roast.
If desired, mix sour cream and horse radish to serve along side roast as well.

Cooking tips for perfect results:

Allow meat to sit at room temperature for at least an hour prior to cooking.
Keep a close eye on the internal temperature as it approaches your desired temperature. The rate at which the temperature increases will accelerate the closer the roast is to being cooked.
Any kind of dry red wine will work. I will typically use a Pinot Noir.
When you cook large roast in a roasting pan, you have to ensure you get the roast the the exact desired temperature and you have to let it properly rest if you want a perfectly cooked, tender, juicy roast.
A 4-5 pound roast should take approximately two hours to cook. There are many factors impacting total cook time including the size and starting temperature of the roast, the accuracy of your oven temperature, and how consistently your oven cooks.
Slicing the roast is easiest with an electric knife.
NOTE: Keep an eye on the liquid in the roasting pan as the roast is cooking. If it appears that the liquid is evaporating, add additional beef broth. If all the liquid evaporates, the contents on the bottom of the pan will burn.

This post was originally published in November 2016 and has been updated with process photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don't worry - I didn't change the recipe!

Reader Interactions