Smoked Prime Rib Roast with Herb Garlic Crust

This smoked prime rib roast is the ultimate holiday or dinner party centerpiece. A garlic-herb rub adds big flavor, while low and slow smoking creates a tender, juicy roast cooked to medium rare perfection. Served with a bold horseradish cream sauce, it’s an unforgettable main dish for Christmas, Easter, or any special celebration.

Entertaining outdoors comes naturally for us Californians. Our patios are like an extended living room for us. And in Southern California, this outdoor living room is open for guests all year long.

Although it is December and Christmas is a week away, our grill is still in full operation. A Christmas dinner outdoors? Why yes! And this recipe for Smoked Prime Rib with Garlic and Herb Crust is the ultimate meal to serve during the holidays.

Ingredients you need

• Prime Rib Roast: When choosing a prime rib roast, you want the meat to have a lot of marbling and to come from a reputable ranch.
• Extra virgin olive oil:
• Herbs: For the herb paste, I use fresh herbs for the best flavor. I used a combination of sage, thyme rosemary and chives. You can also use oregano, marjoram, cilantro, parsley and/or basil.
• Garlic: I prefer to use fresh garlic for the herb rub for the best flavor.
• Sour cream: This is used to prepare the horseradish cream. You can also use creme fraiche.
• Prepared horseradish: You can use a little or a lot of horseradish, depending on your own personal preference.
• Lemon juice: You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice.
• Salt and pepper

Step by step directions

1. Make the herb rub: In a small bowl combine olive oil, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Trim the roast: If your butcher has not done so, trim prime rib roast of excess fat, leaving only ¼-inch fat around it. If you want the bone to be revealed during the grilling process, trim 1-2 inches of fat from the bone, but leave the bone intact.
3. Marinate roast: Place roast on a baking sheet and rub entire roast with herb mixture. Let roast rest on the counter at room temperature for approximately 3 hours.
4. Grill the roast. Heat the grill to 250ºF with indirect heat. If smoking the roast, add wood chips, as well. Place the roast on the grill, fat side up. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 110ºF, approximately 3 hours.
5. Increase temperature. Increase grill temperature to 400ºF and continue grilling until internal temperature reaches 125ºF for medium-rare, about 45 minutes. 
6. Let roast rest. Remove roast from the grill and let it rest 30 minutes before slicing. One of the biggest mistakes most people make when serving up a roast or steak is to carve into too soon after it is done cooking. It is crucial to let your smoked prime rib rest for 20-30 minutes so the juices reabsorb into the roast.
7. Prepare horseradish cream. Combine ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

This rub uses a little extra virgin olive oil and a whole lot of chopped fresh herbs, like sage, rosemary, thyme and chives to make a paste that sticks to the roast. Add in some crushed garlic, kosher salt and pepper and your kitchen will smell like a dream as it rests.

You can also rub the roast down the day before. Simply cover your roast with plastic wrap over the garlic herb rub while it sits in the refrigerator. Then 2-3 hours before you grill your roast, let it sit on the counter ’til it reaches room temperature.

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You want a super juicy and tender prime rib, and this requires some low and slow grilling. Although I love cooking over fire in a more primitive setting, I defer to my husband for techniques on smoking and grilling meats. It’s his latest obsession!

We use our Big Steel Keg for our smoked prime rib. Using a mixture of mesquite hardwood charcoal and regular briquettes we brought the temperature of the pit to 250ºF. My husband also soaked some pecan wood in water and we used that for additional smoky flavor.

You can grill your rib roast like this until it reaches an internal temperature of 125ºF for medium rare. Or you can grill it until 105-100ºF, then crank up the grill temperature to 400ºF so you can create a crispy crust around the roast.

We love using our CyberQ BBQ guru to regulate the pit temperature with its little fan, during this time. We receive text or email messages giving us updates on the pit and the meat temperature while it cooks.

Prepare prime rib roast in the oven. You can also prepare this roast indoors, although you will be missing out on some serious smoky flavor. I have posted the recipe on how to prepare a boneless rib roast in the oven here

Or try another boneless rib eye roast recipe, served with a luscious sauce made with balsamic syrup, red wine and caramelized shallots.

If you are all about the crispy crust, then you have to try my deep fried prime rib roast. And don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

Smoked Prime Rib Roast with Herb Garlic Crust and Horseradish Cream

Laura Bashar | Family Spice

This smoked prime rib roast is the ultimate holiday or dinner party centerpiece. A garlic-herb rub adds big flavor, while low and slow smoking creates a tender, juicy roast cooked to medium rare perfection. Served with a bold horseradish cream sauce, it’s an unforgettable main dish for Christmas, Easter, or any special celebration.

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Additional Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 8 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 345 kcal

Ingredients

  

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PRIME RIB INGREDIENTS

• 10 pound 3-rib Prime Rib Roast
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped sage
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves crushed

HORSERADISH CREAM INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup prepared horseradish
• 2 tablespoon chopped chives
• 2 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

 

• In a small bowl combine olive oil, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.
• If your butcher has not done so, trim prime rib roast of excess fat, leaving only ¼-inch fat around it. If you want the bone to be revealed during the grilling process, trim 1-2 inches of fat from the bone, but leave the bone intact.
• Place roast on a baking sheet and rub entire roast with herb mixture.
• Let roast rest on the counter at room temperature for approximately 3 hours.
• Heat the grill to 250ºF with indirect heat. If smoking the roast, add wood chips, as well.
• Place the roast on the grill, fat side up. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 110ºF, approximately 3 hours.
• Increase grill temperature to 400ºF and continue grilling until internal temperature reaches 125ºF for medium-rare, about 45 minutes. 
• Remove roast from the grill and let it rest 30 minutes before slicing.
• While roast is cooking, prepare the horseradish cream. Combine ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Slice roast and serve with horseradish cream.

Notes

To cook in the oven, place your roast, bone side down on a roasting pan. Heat your oven to 500ºF and cook your roast for 5 minutes per pound of your roast. So, I had a 9.5-pound roast, and I cooked it at 500ºF for 5×9.5= 47.5 minutes.

Once you cooked your roast for the appropriate time, turn the oven off, but leave your roast in there. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!!! Let your roast sit in the oven for 2 hours or until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 125ºF. It’s a good idea to have the meat thermometer inserted inside the roast when you first put it in the oven.

TO STORE: Store any leftover steak in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Do not reheat steak in the microwave, but sauté chopped steak in a hot pan with a little butter or olive oil.

TO FREEZE: You could also freeze leftovers, but I suggest not to do this as the texture does change when frozen and thawed.

Nutrition

Serving: 1sliceCalories: 345kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 10gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 2789mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4g

Keyword grilled prime rib, grilled prime rib roast, grilled ribeye roast, how to grill a prime rib, how to grill a prime rib roast, prime rib roast, smoked prime rib, smoked prime rib roast, smoked ribeye roast, standing rib roast

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Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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