Make melt-in-your-mouth tender herb crusted prime rib with a stunning crispy garlic herb crust. This recipe comes together using a no-fail reverse searing technique for the perfect prime rib roast every single time!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItWhy you’ll love this boneless prime rib recipe:
What if I were to tell you that you’ve been cooking herb crusted prime rib all wrong? You’ve most likely been taught to cook it at a high temperature first, then low and slow in the oven.
Well, there’s an easier, tastier, more fool-proof way to cook prime rib, and it’s called the reverse-searing technique!
- This method ensures juicy, evenly cooked prime rib every single time.
- It produces an amazingly crispy garlic herb crust.
- This technique allows you to fully cook the prime rib a couple of hours early then sear it right before serving!
For this dish, I’ve taken my perfectly cooked prime rib and smothered it in an irresistible garlic herb blend to make a show-stopping, boneless, herb crusted prime rib. It’s the perfect centerpiece for Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinner.
Table of Contents
- Why you’ll love this boneless prime rib recipe:
- What is the reverse-searing technique?
- Key Ingredient Notes:
- How to cook a boneless prime rib roast:
- Tips for Success:
- How much boneless prime rib to buy:
- Make-Ahead Tips:
- Storing Tips:
- FAQs:
- More Impressive Dinner Party Mains:
- Garlic & Herb Crusted Boneless Prime Rib Recipe
What is the reverse-searing technique?
I won’t go too in-depth here, because I cover all the details in this post where I teach you how to roast a perfect prime rib. But, here’s the short answer:
- First, we cook the garlic herb prime rib roast low and slow, and I mean really, really low! Like, 200°F!
- Then, when the roast reaches 120-130°F, depending on how you like it done, we’ll sear it at a very high temperature to create a beautiful garlic herb crust.
Key Ingredient Notes:
- Boneless prime rib – You’ll need a 10-15 pound boneless prime rib, which will provide 10-15 servings. Look for a fresh roast with a deep red color, a nice fat cap, and marbling throughout. I chose boneless for this recipe because it’s easier to carve. Refer to this bone-in prime rib recipe if you’re cooking a bone-in roast.
- Coarse kosher salt helps to tenderize the prime rib, and as the salt penetrates deep into the meat, it seasons it from the inside out!
- Unsalted butter – I recommend using unsalted butter here because we’ll be covering the outside of the prime rib with added salt. Using salted butter could make the prime rib far too salty-tasting. Soften the butter into a spreadable consistency, but don’t allow it to become so soft that it melts right off the prime rib before it goes into the oven.
- Fresh garlic – To really boost the garlic flavor!
- Dried herbs – Dried thyme, rosemary, black pepper, and garlic powder provide deep, savory flavors and help form a crust on the outside of the prime rib.
- Whole garlic heads (optional) – For making roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is deliciously mild, sweet, and almost nutty-tasting. Because it doesn’t have the sharp, pungent taste of raw garlic, it goes great with pretty much anything.
How to cook a boneless prime rib roast:
1. Prepare the night before
- Place an unwrapped, boneless prime rib on a baking sheet that is small enough to fit in your fridge.
- Generously salt the entire prime rib using coarse kosher salt.
- Refrigerate the salted roast overnight, uncovered. This allows the outside of the prime rib to air dry.
2. Add the garlic herb crust and bake
- Remove the roast from the refrigerator, and let it come to room temperature on the kitchen counter for about 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Combine the butter, fresh garlic, thyme, rosemary, pepper, and garlic powder in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Smear the butter, garlic, and herb mixture over the top (fat side) and both sides of the roast.
- Transfer the roast to a roasting pan, buttered side up. This is my favorite roasting pan for herb crusted prime rib!
- Roast the prime rib until the center of the roast reaches an internal temperature of 120-125°F for medium rare, or 130°F for medium (this thermapen is super quick and reliable). Roasting will take about 5-5 ½ hours for 20lbs roast. See the chart below for estimated cook times for different sizes of roast.
Add even more flavor
To add another layer of garlic flavor, roast a few heads of garlic alongside the prime rib. Then, serve each slice with a clove of roasted garlic! Simply slice the top off, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Then, wrap it in foil, and throw it into the oven with the roast. The garlic comes out golden brown, soft, and tasty!
3. Rest, sear, and serve
- Remove the prime rib from the oven, cover with foil, and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 500°F.
- Uncover the prime rib, and transfer it back into the oven.
- Roast the prime rib until it’s brown and crisp on the outside, about 10 minutes.
- Rest the herb crusted prime rib for at least 15 minutes. Then, slice it into thick pieces. Serve with roasted garlic, and enjoy!
Tips for Success:
- Don’t skip the overnight salting, it’s one of the most important steps! Salt breaks down some of the muscle fibers, creating a tender, melt-in-your-mouth bite. It also draws moisture to the surface of the meat, which dissolves the salt, ensuring the center of the roast is juicy, not dry.
- Airdry the roast overnight in the fridge, uncovered, for a perfectly crisp crust!
- Remove the roast from the oven before increasing the temperature. It should rest for at least 30 minutes on the counter while the oven is warming to 500°F. Your oven could take up to 20 minutes to preheat, which is plenty of time to overcook your roast if left in there.
- When carving your prime rib roast, slice it against the grain into ½-inch thick slices.
How much boneless prime rib to buy:
| Roast Size (Boneless): | Servings: |
| 3-pound roast | 3-4 adults |
| 4-pound roast | 4-5 adults |
| 5-pound roast | 5-6 adults |
| 6-pound roast | 6-8 adults |
| 8-pound roast | 8-10 adults |
| 10-pound roast | 10-12 adults |
Make-Ahead Tips:
You’ll be getting started on your garlic herb prime rib roast the night before you plan on serving it. While preparing it for the dry brine, you can mix your dry herbs, grate fresh garlic, and put 2 sticks of butter on the counter to soften.
- Store the dried seasoning blend in an airtight, glass jar on the counter.
- Store the freshly minced garlic in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
Also, you can let the herb crusted prime rib roast rest for up to 2 hours before returning it to the oven for the final sear. This allows you to finish the bulk of the cooking up to 2 hours before you plan on serving your roast!
Storing Tips:
- Store leftover herb crusted prime rib in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, tightly wrapped in plastic. It’s best to leave the leftover roast unsliced. Then, slice it right before you plan on serving it again.
- Reheat leftover roast in the oven at 250°F until heated through. Cover the dish, and add a splash of beef broth to the bottom of the pan when reheating to prevent the roast from drying out.
FAQs:
For a well-rounded meal, serve herb crusted prime rib with mashed potatoes, such as brown butter mashed potatoes or roasted garlic mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, green beans, carrots, or Brussels sprouts. And, of course, don’t forget the spicy horseradish sauce and au jus!
Prime rib is a premium cut of meat from the primal rib section of the cow. It’s also known as standing rib roast, rolled rib roast, or ribeye roast, but it is not to be confused with ribeye steaks. If you sliced a prime rib roast into steaks and cooked them individually, you would have ribeyes!
Bone-in versus boneless prime rib is based on personal preference. Bone-in is often harder to overcook because the bones insulate the meat, which is a good thing! However, carving prime rib off the bone can be tricky, especially if this is your first time doing it. So, if I want carving to be as easy as possible, I’ll choose a boneless cut.
More Impressive Dinner Party Mains:
Garlic & Herb Crusted Boneless Prime Rib
Ingredients
- 10-15 lbs boneless prime rib
- 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- 2 sticks (225 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- A few garlic heads optional
Instructions
- Place an unwrapped boneless prime rib on a baking sheet. Generously salt all over and refrigerate overnight to air-dry the outside of the prime rib.10-15 lbs boneless prime rib, 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- Bring the prime rib to room temperature before roasting. It usually takes about 2 hours out on the counter.
- In medium bowl, mix together butter, garlic, thyme, rosemary, black pepper and garlic powder. Smear the mixture over the top (fat side) and sides of the roast. Transfer the roast onto a roasting pan, buttered side up. (I use this roasting pan, and highly recommend it.)2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon freshly grated garlic, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- If roasting garlic, slice the top off, drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some salt. And then wrap in a foil. (Here's my detailed roasted garlic recipe.)A few garlic heads
- Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C).
- Roast the meat in the oven until the center of the roast reads 120-125°F (50°C) on a meat thermometer for medium-rare, or 130°F (55°C) for medium doneness, about 5-5.5 hours. (This Thermapn ONE meat thermometer is my favorite! Super quick and reliable!)
- Remove the prime rib from the oven, cover with a foil and rest for about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, increase the oven temperature to 500°F (260°C).
- Once the oven reaches 500°F, put the prime rib into the oven, uncovered, and cook it until it’s nice and brown, and crisp on the outside, about 10 minutes. Rest the roast for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
⭐️ Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a review and let us know how you liked it!
Nutrition
My brother who is a cattle rancher sent me a “rib roll” of his Angus grass fed beef for Christmas. It is boneless and appears leaner with not much marbling. He told me that there are only 2 of these per steer, so it’s pretty special. I am searching for a good way to cook it without drying it out. How long should I cook this 5 pound roast? Any other suggestions for this particular type of rib roast? Thank you!
Hi, Madelaine. It sounds like you’ve got a nice roast!! It’ll take about 3.5 hours at 200°F for 5lbs roast to come to 120°F internal temp for perfectly medium rare finish. And please use a meat thermometer to track the internal temp so it doesn’t overcook. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out. Merry Christmas!
How well do you think this would work with a bone in prime rib.
Hi, Elizabeth. It works great with bone-in prime rib as well. Here’s my bone-in prime rib recipe.
Can I cook it to 120 in advance and then cook my turkey, then pop this back in at 500 several hours later ? If so does it go in the fridge?
Hi, Amy. Yes, you can do that, but I wouldn’t put it in the fridge. Make sure to wrap the roast well with foil to keep it warm.
I have an almost 20 lb roast to make for our family this weekend. About how long do you think I will need to slow roast. We will be having it for Christmas lunch (around 1230) & I don’t want it to wind up being dinner instead.
Hi, Rhonda. For 20lb roast, I’d estimate about 5.5 hours at 200°F to reach 120°F internal temp. Make sure to bring it to room temperature before putting it in the oven, about 2 hours on the counter. I know it sounds crazy, but if I were you, I’d take the meat out of the fridge around 3-4am, and put it in the oven no later than 6am to be able to serve by 12:30pm. Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.
What did you do with the garlic?
Hi, Russ. I usually serve it with the meat. It can be spread on the meat, bread, or even on its own. Roasted garlic is very mild and has almost sweet taste to it. Hope you’ll give it a try.
Did you cook the garlic with the meat? For how long
Rina, yes, I throw the wrapped garlic head in the oven with the meat. And cook it pretty much the same amount of time as meat. If you want to cook it separately, you can bake wrapped head of garlic at 350°F for about 45 minutes. Hope this helps.
Following this recipe gives as good a result as if it were fixed in the best of restaurants!
Yay, that’s the goal!! So happy to hear your feedback, Diana. Thank you!
Prime rib can be intimidating, as it’s not a cheap cut of beef you want to mess up. I’ve used this recipe on several occasions and my prime rib has consistently come out stellar. Everyone I’ve cooked this for has always raved about it. Cooking this again for Mother’s Day this weekend. Thank you Shinee!
You’re welcome, Jonathan! So glad this has become your go-to method for cooking prime rib. Thank you so much for your feedback!
This made the best prime rib that I have ever tasted. Thank you so much for the recipe. We don’t eat much beef as my husband has an allergy to it, but my kids are here and we made him something else. It was wonderful and very very tender. Thanks again.
This recipe is so yummy!!!!! I made it for my family for our New Years Day meal. My first time to cook Prime Rib I might add. I followed the instructions as directed and it was cooked to perfection. Thank You
To Whom It May Concern: Can I apply a rub prior (1 – 2 days) cooking the ribeye roast or would that damage it?
Hi, David. It won’t damage it, but I prefer to dry exterior of the roast overnight for crisp crust. Hope you’ll enjoy your prime rib. Let us know how it turns out. Merry Christmas!