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With the December holidays fast approaching and the meal planning beginning for the family/friend gatherings, one main course option that might be in the mix is prime rib. Smoked prime rib is a popular choice for many special get-togethers.
Sometimes referred to as the “king of beef cuts”, this extremely tender and flavorful option is a great way to show off your outdoor cooking prowess. Even though the meat’s flavor can hold its own, there are some great sauces and toppings for prime rib that you can serve on the side and can help enhance the flavor even more.
In this article, we’ve done the web-crawling for you and put together 8 great recipes for prime rib sauce and toppings you can choose from.
For a traditional prime rib sauce option, you can never go wrong with beef au jus. “Au jus” (pronounced like “zhoo”), is a French culinary term that means “with juice”. This simple but delicious sauce is an easy way to enhance the flavor of beef by using the meat’s own juices as the base.
In this easy recipe that takes only 5 minutes to do, your prime rib drippings are simply mixed with 3 ingredients to create a delicious addition to the meat.
Pro tip: Make sure to use a robust red wine that pairs well with a strong beef flavor, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec.
In many people’s opinions, a horseradish prime rib sauce is the “gold standard” accompaniment for smoked prime rib. This tangy and creamy sauce brings a kick of spiciness without overpowering the natural flavor of the meat.
For this recipe, you can use either fresh horseradish root or a jar of already-prepared horseradish. The addition of dijon mustard, chives, salt, and pepper help round out the delicious flavor profile of this sauce.
Source: Platings + Pairings
Another classic prime rib sauce option is bearnaise sauce. Originating from the province of Béarn, France, this herb-rich, tangy, and creamy sauce is loosely related to hollandaise sauce and perfectly compliments the flavor of smoked prime rib. This easy recipe combines the base ingredients of butter, egg yolk, and white wine vinegar with shallot, tarragon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper for a delicious flavor profile.
From the classic cookbook Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, this recipe makes a great sauce for not only smoked prime rib but also beef tenderloin, pork, chicken, and turkey. This sauce has a complex yet balanced flavor profile from the combination of sweet Georgia onions, tangy red vinegar, and dry red wine; pairing very well with the richness of the meat.
Do you love creole and cajun flavors? Then try a remoulade sauce with your smoked prime rib! This recipe for homemade remoulade will give you a simple, creamy, and tangy sauce that’ll help elevate the beef flavor of the prime rib perfectly while also providing a little bit of spice. Done in about 5 minutes, this mayonnaise-based sauce combines creole seasoning and mustard with additional seasonings like dill, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Source: Foodie and Wine
Two things that have always gone well together are beef and mushrooms. This deliciously creamy mushroom prime rib topping capitalizes on that fact. Ready in just 20 minutes, this savory sauce combines caramelized mushrooms (the caramelization is the most important part!), heavy cream, and spices for a delicious addition to your prime rib.
If you want a Latin twist for your prime rib topping, green chimichurri is a delicious option. This herb-based sauce topping provides a savory complement to the beefy flavor of the meat and, unlike what is commonly assumed, is not spicy at all. This recipe is super easy to make using a blender or food processor and combines ingredients like parsley, cilantro, shallot, olive oil, and other seasonings.
If you want to really highlight the robust and beefy flavor of the prime rib without going the sauce route, compound butter is a great option for a prime rib topping. This homemade butter mixture is a combination of softened butter, herbs, and seasonings. Just one spoonful of homemade compound butter on top of smoked prime rib (it will melt quickly!) can give it a special touch without taking the focus off the meat itself.
With the recipes listed above, you’ve got some great options to choose from for delicious prime rib sauce and toppings to serve with your smoked prime rib. All of these will help complement and amplify the deliciously beefy flavor of the meat without overpowering it. Feel free to tweak any of the recipes to make them your own. Don’t be afraid to get creative!
Make sure to also check out our other blog article on 7 tips on how to smoke prime rib to help ensure you end up with a delicious final result.
Do you have a favorite prime rib sauce or topping? Are you going to try one of these recipes? If so, leave a comment in the box below. We want to hear all about it!
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Feature image source: Self Proclaimed Foodie
Prime rib is a very popular cut of meat to have around the holidays. Rightfully so, as it is one of the most tender cuts of beef available and sometimes referred to as the king of beef cuts. It is also usually one of the most expensive. But, this delectable option does not have to be reserved to only this time of year.
If you want to step up your smoking and outdoor cooking game and want a great piece of meat to share with family or friends, go for the prime rib. Below, we’ve put together some insider tips straight from the pros on how to smoke prime rib low and slow the right way.
If you follow these tips, it should help eliminate the worry of tackling this tender cut, resulting in a mouthwatering final product with that delicious smoky flavor.
To truly understand and master how to properly smoke any type of meat, it always helps to know exactly what it is or where it is cut from. So what is prime rib exactly?
You may hear the names used interchangeably but prime rib, rib roast, and standing rib roast are all the same thing. The prime rib cut is cut from the primal rib along the upper back of the steer. Making it one of the nine primal cuts of beef. The entire piece can weigh up to 30 pounds and is available boneless and bone-in. Though ribs six through 12 make up this entire rib section, a prime rib cut may contain anywhere between two and seven ribs.
A prime rib/rib roast will include the “cap” which is the outer, fat-marbled muscle (Spinalis Dorsi) as well as parts of the "eye" of the rib. That is why slices of a prime rib roast are known as Ribeye steaks.
So, now that you know the answer to “what is prime rib?”, here are the tips to follow to ensure you smoke it to a delicious finish. Let’s take a look:
Source: Double R Ranch
Taking the time to get good quality beef has a huge effect on the taste and tenderness you end up with. As you may know, beef is available in several different grades, as determined by the USDA. These grades go by the amount of fat marbling within the meat and will tell you the potential tenderness and juiciness you’ll be getting in that particular cut.
Your best choice is to go for USDA Prime, which is the top 8% of all US beef and will have the most amount of marbling throughout. Thus resulting in a deliciously juicy and tender final result. Keep in mind, just because this cut of beef is called Prime Rib doesn’t automatically mean it will be USDA Prime beef.
Your local butcher is going to be the best place to go to find USDA Prime cuts locally. You can also order great quality Prime beef online. If you cannot get or don’t want to splurge on Prime, another good option is upper two-thirds USDA Choice, which can be found in many supermarkets.
A Prime Rib cut can be purchased bone-in or boneless. When you have the choice and you’re going to smoke the meat, opt for bone-in. The bones don’t do anything for the flavor of the meat but play a huge role in insulation. With a higher thermal resistance, the bones will cause the areas of meat around them to cook slower than the rest of the roast, leaving those sections more juicy and extra tender.
To make it easier when it comes time for carving, you can have the butcher remove the bones from the raw cut and tie them back on. Or you can do this yourself if you bought the Prime Rib Roast at a supermarket.
Source: Meadow Creek
Before cooking your Prime Rib, one of the best things you can do is dry brine it with kosher salt. You want to liberally coat all sides with salt at least an hour or more before cooking and put it back in the fridge uncovered.
The salt will break down some of the meat’s proteins, not only helping enhance flavor but also helping the meat hold moisture and stay even more tender. When cooked, the meat’s proteins, natural sugars, and the salt combine with the moisture. This results in a delicious exterior crust.
You’ll want to let the robust flavor speak for itself so you don’t have to season the Prime Rib with much more than salt if you don’t want to. But, if you want to add a little more varied flavor, there are some good Prime Rib rubs available or you can even make your own homemade rub.
As mentioned above, the prime rib roast will come with a fat cap that runs over the top of the cut. It is often recommended that if you are roasting a Prime Rib to leave the fat cap on while cooking it to help prevent the meat from drying out.
But, because you are smoking it, you want to have as much of the actual meat exposed to the smoke to allow it to permeate throughout. So, trim off a good amount of that thick fat cap so that the remainder of it is ¼ inch thick. Keep in mind, when you are smoking at lower temperatures compared to roasting, you will have a lower chance of it drying out without a thick fat cap still on.
Source: Kitchen Encounters
The Prime Rib is naturally a very tender cut, even more so after you have let it dry brine and the connective tissues within the meat have loosened up. That is why it is important to break out the butcher’s twine. You want to tie the roast off between the bones with the twine. This will keep the eye of the meat from separating from the cap.
If you are wondering how long to smoke Prime Rib, with a high quality (and expensive) cut like this, the last thing you want to do is overcook it into a dried out chunk of chewy meat. That is why it is imperative to have a good instant-read meat thermometer on hand.
Each cut of meat is going to be different. So, you should always rely on cooking your Prime Rib to temperature versus relying on a “specified” cooking time. For example, cook until the internal temperature is between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit for medium-rare. Keep in mind that the meat will increase in temperature roughly 5 to 10 degrees while it rests. So medium-rare will end up being 125 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit after resting.
Don’t be overly eager to start carving your Prime Rib after it is done cooking. For best results, it is important to let it rest for roughly 20 to 30 minutes wrapped in Pink Butcher Paper or aluminum foil.
Letting it rest like this will lock in the moisture inside and keep it juicy and tender when it is ready to serve. You can even let it rest and then sear it over high heat to get that nice charred crust before carving and serving it.
Even if it’s not the holidays, any day is a good excuse to enjoy one of beef’s best cuts. If you follow the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to mastering how to smoke Prime Rib Roast, a delicious and juicy one at that. As you can see, proper preparation is a huge factor when it comes to smoking Prime Rib properly.
Make sure to check out our backyard BBQ class where you can learn step-by-step exactly how to smoke Texas-Style Prime Rib.
Are you planning on smoking Prime Rib during the upcoming holidays? Have you recently smoked Prime Rib for the first time? Let us know all about it below. We want to hear from you!
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