If you’re looking for the most tender, juicy, prime rib recipe, make sous vide prime rib.
Since prime rib is such a large cut of meat, it can be easy to overcook.
A sous vide cooks your food by using a water bath set to a precise temperature.
Using a sous vide will help to ensure your meat reaches the perfect medium rare temperature the whole way through the meat, from the edge to the center.
Sous vide circulatory machines are what most high end restaurants use and in recent years quality at-home versions can be purchased for less than $150, which are a much more affordable price than the traditional industrial versions.
Prime rib roast
To ensure a delicious meal, start with a good cut of meat.
We reach for Omaha Steak’s Prime Rib Roast.
They offer both a frenched bone-in or boneless prime rib options.
While the boneless prime rib is probably easier to seal for the sous vide, we love the elegant look of a frenched bone in roast.
The Omaha Steaks Prime Rib is aged at least 21 days with premium marbling, which means your prime rib will taste extra special.
How to cook prime rib
When most people think of prime rib, they envision a high end buffet line with a carving station.
Over the past few years, we’ve been obsessed with our smoked prime rib recipe. It’s tender, smoky, and juicy.
We use a pellet smoker to prepare the traeger prime rib on our pellet smoker grill.
Check out our full smoked prime rib video tutorial.
While our smoked prime rib tastes fantastic during a cookout or during a summer day, we decided to make sous vide prime rib for special occasions.
Our basics to cooking a remarkable prime rib starts with generously seasoning the exterior of the meat with a course seasoning.
We use the Omaha Steaks Private Reserve Rub Seasoning, it’s a great blend with coarse salt.
After seasoning the meat, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
The coarse seasoning acts as a dry brine, which keeps the prime rib juicy throughout the cooking process.
Next, you can prepare to cook the prime rib in the oven, smoker, or in the sous vide like we will show you in this recipe.
How to prepare a sous vide prime rib roast
Once your prime rib is seasoned, it’s time to prepare it for the sous vide water bath.
We like to add pats of butter and herbs as part of the sous vide process.
For smaller cuts of meat, we usually save time and hassle by using a plastic bag to complete the water displacement method.
Check out this video on how to sous vide steak to learn about the water displacement method.
For prime rib sous vide we recommend using a vacuum sealer instead of the water displacement method.
This is because the prime rib is much larger than most meats and if a bone is still in the prime rib it can be challenging to get enough air out so the meat will stay submerged and not float to the top.
A vacuum sealer will help with that.
Sous vide prime rib temperature chart
In order for more of the fat to render, we opted to increase our sous vide temperature to 137 degrees.
This will still create a medium rare prime rib, since a medium rare prime rib can range between 130-140 degrees F, but the slightly higher temperature will assist in rendering the fat.
The temperature you select on your sous vide will result in that internal temperature.
Use this chart as your guide for prime rib temperature based on your desired doneness.
| Doneness | Temperature |
| Rare | 120-130 degrees F |
| Medium Rare | 130-140 degrees F |
| Medium | 140-150 degrees F |
| Medium Well | 150-160 degrees F |
| Well Done | 160-160 degrees F |
How long to sous vide prime rib
When figuring out how long to sous vide prime rib, consider the size of your prime rib roast. Most people think you need to look at the sous vide prime rib time per pound to be your guide on cook time, but in reality it is based on thickness, not weight.
We had a 4 pound bone-in prime rib which was about 4-5 inches thick. We cooked it in the sous vide at 137 degrees F for 6 hours and it was perfect!
If your prime rib is thicker, add more time. We’d recommend adding an additional hour for each additional inch of thickness.
Some people recommend a lower temperature and longer cook.
Keep in mind that the sous vide time duration impacts the consistency of the meat.
That is why we thought doing a higher temp would render the fat with a cook at the shorter end of the spectrum to ensure the meat doesn’t break down too much and get mushy.
Our guess was right, the prime rib had most of the fat rendered and it melted into the meat, plus the texture was tender without turning to mush.
How to sear your sous vide prime rib
Once your meat is done cooking, save any of the liquid in your sous vide bag for your prime rib au jus.
Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Prepare a skillet with grapeseed oil, or any other oil with a high smoke point. We prefer searing the sous vide prime rib in a pan vs. cooking it in the oven to get a nice texture without the risk of continuing to overcook the meat.
Get the skillet scorching hot and sear all sides of the sous vide prime rib for 1 minute to create texture on the outside of the meat. Let it rest 10 minutes prior to slicing.
We love to serve our sous vide prime rib our homemade horseradish mayonnaise recipe, it’s tangy, flavorful, yet not too overpowering.
Add in some mashed potatoes, air fryer broccolini, or easy roasted butternut squash with bacon, and you’ve got an amazing meal!
Sous vide prime rib recipe
Cook temp: 137 degrees
Prep time: 10 minutes (optional dry brine up to 24 hours)
Cook time: 6 hours
Additional time: 10 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- Omaha Steaks Prime Rib Roast, 4 pounds
- 4 tablespoons of course seasoning
- 6 pats of butter
- Fresh herbs, optional
- 3-4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 2 cups beef stock
Equipment needed:
- Sous vide
- Large pot for the water bath
- Large skillet, we use stainless steel or cast iron
Instructions:
- Pat your prime rib dry with paper towels and cover in your course seasoning.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- Prepare your water bath in a large container and set the sous vide to 137 degrees F.
- Place your prime rib in a vacuum sealer bag with the butter pats on each side, add fresh herbs if you would like. Vacuum seal the roast. Use the water displacement method (tutorial is in this video) if you do not have a vacuum sealer.
- Place the sealed prime rib into the sous vide water bath and let cook for 6 hours. If your prime rib is thicker than 4-5 inches, add additional cook time, one hour for each additional inch.
- Remove the prime rib from the bag and pour the sous vide liquid in a small saucepan.
- To make a sous vide prime rib au jus, add 2 cups of beef stock to the sous vide liquid. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the au jus reduces in half.
- Meanwhile, heat up your oil in the skillet at high heat.
- Pat the prime rib dry with paper towels.
- Sear 1 minute per side until a crust and texture is created.
- Remove from the pan, let rest at least 10 minutes, slice and enjoy!
Sous Vide Prime Rib
For the most tender and juicy prime rib, use our sous vide prime rib recipe!
Ingredients
- Omaha Steaks Prime Rib Roast, 4 pounds
- 4 tablespoons of course seasoning
- 6 pats of butter
- Fresh herbs, optional
- 3-4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 2 cups beef stock
Instructions
- Pat your prime rib dry with paper towels and cover in your course seasoning.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
- Prepare your water bath in a large container and set the sous vide to 137 degrees F.
- Place your prime rib in a vacuum sealer bag with the butter pats on each side, add fresh herbs if you would like. Vacuum seal the roast. Use the water displacement method (tutorial is in this video) if you do not have a vacuum sealer.
- Place the sealed prime rib into the sous vide water bath and let cook for 6 hours. If your prime rib is thicker than 4-5 inches, add additional cook time, one hour for each additional inch.
- Remove the prime rib from the bag and pour the sous vide liquid in a small saucepan.
- To make a sous vide prime rib au jus, add 2 cups of beef stock to the sous vide liquid. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the au jus reduces in half.
- Meanwhile, heat up your oil in the skillet at high heat.
- Pat the prime rib dry with paper towels.
- Sear 1 minute per side until a crust and texture is created.
- Remove from the pan, let rest at least 10 minutes, slice and enjoy!
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1 Comment
Laura L Pepin
November 18, 2023 at 1:39 amHave you tried freezing the seasoned roast, then cooking?