A boneless prime rib roast made with a rub of olive oil, herbs, spices and seasonings and served with an au jus. Offer an optional sour cream horseradish sauce at the table.
Boneless Prime Rib Beef Roast with au Jus
Most people are terrified of cooking a prime rib roast at home and for good reason. It is a very expensive cut of meat if you mess up!
I actually felt the same way for a very long time and I didn't try to cook one myself because I was so intimidated that I'd ruin it.
But, it's also a delicious cut of meat, so it's worth the effort, and, if you follow these four essential rules, you'll have a perfect, and impressive, holiday roast.
1. Let the roast come to room temperature before roasting.
2. Use a thermometer, preferably an in-oven version.
3. Cooking the roast to a rare to medium rare rather than well-done is best.
4. Always let the roast rest when it has finished roasting before slicing.
All of these are important to cooking a prime rib, whether it's a bone-in or boneless.
I'm cooking a boneless roast here, so I've written the directions that way. With bone-in you're factoring in the weight of the bones when you purchase, of course, but bone-in meats of all kinds are certainly more flavorful. Look for boneless if you're looking for a more accurate measure for servings, though both are equally delicious.
Y'all know I love meat with bones, no doubt about that, but this is such a great cut of beef that I don't miss the bone, and frankly I love the convenience of boneless. For heaven's sake though, if you get the butcher to trim and debone your roast, ask for the bones! You paid for them and you can use them to make a great stock for something like say, southern vegetable beef soup.
The most important thing, in my opinion, is having an instant read thermometer when cooking a prime rib roast.
While any kind of instant read thermometer will work, I highly recommend using a Polder (#ad), or other brand of in-oven probe thermometer, cooking the roast strictly by temperature, and ignoring any suggested cooking time.
Temperature, not time is most important here, and I really believe using a Polder is the number one biggest secret behind getting it right. I use my Polder for all my roasted meats now, and it has never once failed me.
You can find these in home stores locally or order from Amazon for your next holiday! |
It's important to also remember especially with this roast, that resting time will conduct what is called carry-over cooking, so you'll need to factor that into your cooking time to be sure to get the roast where you want it.
I cook mine to more of a medium to medium rare, and that's primarily because The Cajun aka my hubby will not eat rare meat. I cook it to 130 degrees F, which, after resting, generally rises to around 145 degrees F. Prime rib is generally best when prepared to a rare to medium rare, not well done. If you have someone who prefers their roast more well done, prepare the au jus, cut a slice and simmer it in a pan with the jus to cook further to desired appearance.
You don't really need to do much with a prime rib roast, though I do like to get some kind of a crusty herb rub on the outside.
Here's how I make my prime rib roast.
Place roast into a small roasting pan or baking dish. Combine the extra virgin olive oil and seasonings and rub all over roast.
Let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Transfer roast to oven and roast, uncovered, at 500 degrees F for 20 minutes. I don't have a small roaster, so I just grabbed this Temptations piece from the cabinet. My brain wanted to think I remembered Tara saying they were safe to 500 degrees but I was praying the whole time it would hold up for this first step. We made it, but you may want to play things a little safer with a different roasting pan, just in case my rememberer is wrong!
Remove roast and insert thermometer probe. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F return roast to oven and continue roasting until internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F for medium rare, approximately 17 minutes per pound (about 1 hour longer). If you like your roast much more on the rare side, remove it when the internal temp reaches between 115 and 120 degrees F. I took my last roast to 120 and didn't let it rest quite as long and it was a little more pink end to end, but very rare in the center - a little too rare for my husband.
Let roast rest at least 30 minutes before removing the netting. Carryover cooking will bring roast up another 10 to 15 degrees or so, and should result in a medium rare, finished roast as pictured. Carve into desired thickness, generally between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch thick.
Here's the final roast, nice and crusty on the outside thanks to the initial high temperature searing and while the outside edges are more medium and browner in color on the finished roast, even that meat is so moist and tender. It's perfect for my husband!
For the horseradish sauce, combine the ingredients, taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Offer as a condiment at the table.
To make the au jus, add the wine to the roasting pan and scrape up all any browned residue from the bottom of the roasting pan. Place pan over burners, or transfer drippings to a skillet or saucepan, add the broth and bring to a boil, cooking until reduced. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, taste and season with salt and pepper, only if needed. I didn't do it for the picture so I could keep it clean looking, but I like to dip the sliced roast into the au jus, then platter the slices, transferring the rest of it into a gravy boat to serve alongside the roast.
Oh my gracious is this roast good y'all. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water and makes me want a sandwich!
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