12 Roast Recipes for a Prime Rib Christmas Dinner

How to Cook Roast Beef — Photo:
Cara Cormack

If you're looking for a main course to anchor your holiday menu, look no further than a Christmas prime rib roast. The tender, juicy roast will not only be the most impressive (and delicious) thing on the table, but it's also easy to make. These recipes are some of our favorite showstopping savory delights, including Salt and Pepper-Crusted Prime Rib with Sage Jus, Garlic-Butter Rib Roast, and the classic Standing Rib Roast of Beef. Read on to host a flawless prime rib Christmas dinner.

01 of 12

Garlic-Butter Rib Roast

Garlic butter prime rib — Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

This impressive, flavor-packed rib roast is perfect for a celebration. The key is a compound butter made with garlic, anchovies, herbs, and shallot. Half of it is slathered all over the roast before it goes into the oven; the other half is rolled up into a log, chilled, and then sliced into medallions to serve with each slice of beef.

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02 of 12

Sea Salt Rib Roast

Showering the roast with a handful of English Maldon salt adds an extra layer of crunch to the roast's crust. The sliced roast is then further seasoned with sel gris, a coarse sea salt with deep minerality that pairs beautifully with beef.

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03 of 12

Standing Rib Roast of Beef

Bruce Aidells' easy standing rib roast beef recipe uses an adaptation of the classic English approach to a beef roast. It's a perfect centerpiece for a British-style Sunday lunch, as a Christmas roast, or any celebration or holiday meal.

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04 of 12

Three-Ingredient Prime Rib Roast

Coffee and prime rib seem like unlikely partners, but they both have an earthy quality that makes them a natural match. Just be sure to scrape off any excess coffee rub from the meat before serving.

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05 of 12

Pepper-Crusted Prime Rib Roast

Chef Marcela Valladolid coats prime rib with a mix of soy sauce, ground chile, garlic, and peppercorns, which forms a peppery crust around the juicy meat.

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06 of 12

Prime Rib Roast with Horseradish Cream

What's the secret to this gorgeous Christmas roast? Chef Michael Tusk bastes it with a fragrant garlic-thyme butter before roasting it in the oven.

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07 of 12

Prime Rib with Sour Cherry Conserva, Truffle, and Chocolate

2017 F&W Best New Chef Angie Mar is a legend with meat, like this enormous, completely fabulous dry-aged beef rib roast. Mar's trick is to take the meat out of the oven for 30 minutes during its overall cooking time, which creates evenly cooked and perfectly juicy meat throughout the roast.

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08 of 12

Rosemary-Pepper Beef Rib Roast with Porcini Jus

In this beef rib roast recipe from the late renowned chef Floyd Cardoz, the meat is seared in a preheated pan in the oven, saving stove space. The method also helps the meat cook more quickly.

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09 of 12

Beef Rib Roast

Butcher Jocelyn Guest salts this rib roast in the fridge overnight to amp up its terrific flavor. To cook, she roasts it at low heat, for meltingly tender meat, before giving it a blast of high heat to develop a golden crust.

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10 of 12

Salt and Pepper-Crusted Prime Rib with Sage Jus

"The great thing about doing a whole rib roast is that you don't have to concentrate," says chef Michael Mina. "Put it in the oven and then you can focus on all the dishes that go along with it."

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11 of 12

Vodka-Marinated Rib Roast

Great roast beef starts with the best dry-aged and well-marbled loin roast you can find. The vodka marinade tenderizes the meat, while salting it before cooking develops flavor and a crust. Chef Jeremiah Tower also begins roasting at a high temperature to sear the exterior, then turns the temperature down to produce a succulent interior.

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12 of 12

Pepper-Crusted Prime Rib Roast with Mushroom-Armagnac

2004 F&W Best New Chef Melissa Perello keeps prime rib extra juicy by having the butcher leave the fat cap on before tying the beef and roasting everything in a bath of butter.

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