Ribeye roast is a classic main entree for special meals. A ribeye roast is Prime Rib without the bone, making it easier to cook and scale to the right size at home.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Ribeye roast on one of the best and most delicious cuts of beef. A ribeye roast is a great company meal due to excellent marbling that makes an extraordinary moist and tender cut of meat.
But do you want to cook a whole 5-10 pounds of prime rib or ribeye if you have a smaller household? That will feed 10-20 people. That is just not friendly for most households.
So let's learn how to cook a ribeye roast without eating leftovers for a week. With these easy step-by-step instructions, let’s make the ribeye roast “friendlier” for smaller households.
Start with a good coat of garlic butter with some salt and pepper. It goes into a hot high oven to get a nice seared crust. Based on an Allrecipes.com recipe for inspiration—scaled down some and some adjustments to decrease the smoking oven.
My Rating
A lovely roast with great taste and fork-tender. A nice 5.
🐄Ribeye vs. Prime Rib—What is the Difference?
There is some confusion about prime rib vs. ribeye. The simple answer, usually correct, is a ribeye roast and prime rib roast come from the same cut of beef, but the ribeye generally has had the ribs removed. So a prime rib contains a ribeye, but prime rib also includes ribs.
What we think of as prime rib is generally a rib-in standing rib roast. It does not need to be a prime grade but will usually be choice grade.
Also, a ribeye is not an "eye of round." The eye-of-round is from the "round" area in the diagram above near the tail area. It is lean but can use a similar cooking technique.
If you have a rib steak (prime rib steak), the rib bone is left intact. But in a bone-in ribeye steak, rib bone will be cut through in the interest of consistent thickness.
Most ribeye steaks in the US are boneless. If bone-in ribeye steak is in the US, it will usually be called a cowboy steak or cowboy ribeye. This is usually cut 2 inches or thicker.
So, in summary, ribeye is not a prime rib, while prime rib does contain the ribeye. A prime rib may not be prime graded, although I think it should be, so ask. Roast with rib may be called “prime rib” or standing rib roast. In the US, things labeled ribeye will almost always be boneless.
Now you are educated or very confused.
👨🍳How to Cook a Ribeye Roast?
Cooking a ribeye roast is very straightforward.
- Let the roast set a room temperature for about an hour.
- Give the roast with a good rub of garlic butter with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Roast initially in a 500° oven to sear, then decease the oven temperature to 325° and roast to your target internal temperature.
- Rest tented for 15-20 minutes before carving.
⏰🌡️Cooking Time and Temperature for Ribeye Roast
After an initial 20 minute searing at 500° oven for 20 minutes, decrease the oven's temperature to 325° and continue to roast until desired internal temperature.
A 2 ½ pound roast, the initial 20 minutes searing at 500° plus approximately an additional 45 minutes for 130°, 55 minutes for 140°, and 60 minutes for 145°. But always check internal temperature several times early.
Approximate cooking time for 2 to 2 ½ pounds ribeye roast
For 3 to 3 ½ pounds ribeye roast, add approximately 20-30 minutes to the approximate oven and total times.
| Doneness | Oven Searing Time (500°) | Approx. Oven Time (325°) | Approx. Total TIme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rare—cold red center 125°-130° | 20 Minutes | 40-45 | 60-65 |
| Medium—Rare warm red center 130°-140° | 20 Minutes | 45-55 | 65-70 |
| Medium—pink and firm 140°-150° | 20 Minutes | 55-65 | 70-80 |
| Medium Well and Well Done | Not Recommended |
Times are only provided to help in planning but never cook by time. You must cook to a final internal temperature. Always check the internal temperature several times early. Remember to account for a rise in temperature of 5°+ after removal from the oven.
The bigger and thicker a roast is, the longer it is to reach your desired internal temperature. Small roasts that are larger around but thin may be significantly faster.
🔥What to Do About Smoking Ovens
You probably will have some because you have fat from the meat and butter in a 500° oven. Fat is going to hit hot metal somewhere and smoke.
I reduced the butter that would melt off and had no chance of adding flavor, which helped a lot.
You have some choices about if this smokes too much for you:
- You can realize it will probably happen and live with it. Lots of exhaust fans and open windows.
- You can eliminate the butter and use a higher temperature vegetable oil, which still may smoke some but less.
- You can add some water to the pan under the rack, so when the butter melts off, it hits the water (max temp of 212°) instead of the 500° pan. This is my favorite method.
- You can skip the "searing" entirely and use a 350° oven. It will take a bit longer, but it will be fine, just cook to a final internal temperature.
FAQs about Ribeye Roasts
A reasonable estimate of how much ribeye roast to buy is ⅓ to ½ pound per serving. Assume more for teenage boys and hungry people.
Cut the meat across the grain. Think of it as a log and cut off round slices for serving.
Fresh salad and roasted vegetables like green beans or asparagus are good side dishes, along with potatoes as a starch. I always like to add crusty artisan bread.
For a nice wine compliment, we prefer Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Pinot Noir.
❄️Storage and Reheating Leftover Ribeye Roast/Prime Rib
Leftovers can be stored tightly covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or frozen airtight for 3-4 months.
To reheat leftovers, first, thaw overnight in the refrigerator if frozen. Reheat in the oven covered with some moisture like au jus or beef broth.
📖Special Meal Recipes
How to Grill a Ribeye Steak on a Gas Grill
Smaller Crock Pot Honey Glazed Ham
How To Roast a Turkey Breast with Gravy
How to Grill a Filet Mignon on a Gas Grill
How to Grill a Pork Tenderloin on a Gas Grill
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500° and lower a rack so the roast will be in the middle of the oven. Allow the ribeye roast to rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
Mix 3 tablespoons of softened butter with 3 cloves of crushed garlic. Poke 15-20 half-inch knife holes into the roast.
Slather the butter/garlic mixture onto the roast, pushing some of the mixture into the holes. Add some kosher salt and black pepper to the roast.
Prep a roasting pan with a rack and give the rack a heavy coat of PAM. A cake pan is good here. The pan needs some sides to prevent splatter. I suggest using the rack and some water under the rack to decrease the smoke.
Place the fat side up on the rack and into a 500° oven for 20 minutes, then decrease the oven's temperature to 325° and continue to roast until desired internal temperature—45 to 90 minutes depending on size and desired temperature. Alway check the internal temperature a few times early, every 15-20 minutes. Allow for a 5°-10° rise in temperature after removal from the oven. Never cook by time alone. Always check with a meat thermometer.
Tent lightly with foil and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting. Remember, the roast may increase a few degrees when tented.
📖Recipe
Small Ribeye Roast
Ingredients
- 2-3 pound boneless ribeye roast
- 3 cloves garlic crushed or minced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500° and lower a rack so the roast will be in the middle of the oven. Allow the ribeye roast to rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
- Mix 3 tablespoons of softened butter with 3 cloves of crushed garlic. Poke 15-20 half-inch knife holes into the roast.
- Slather the butter/garlic mixture onto the roast, pushing some of the mixture into the holes. Add some kosher salt and black pepper to the roast.
- Prep a roasting pan with a rack and give the rack a heavy coat of PAM. A cake pan is good here. The pan needs some sides to prevent splatter. I suggest using the rack and some water under the rack to decrease the smoke.
- Place the fat side up on the rack and into a 500° oven for 20 minutes, then decrease the oven's temperature to 325° and continue to roast until desired internal temperature—45 to 90 minutes depending on size and desired temperature. Always check temp several times early. Allow for a 5°-10° rise in temperature after removal from the oven. Never cook by time alone. Always check with a meat thermometer. See Notes below about smaller or thinner roasts.
- Tent lightly with foil and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting. Remember, the roast may increase a few degrees when tented.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- A good estimate of the size of the roast is ⅓ to ½ pound per serving.
- Never cook by time alone. Always check with a meat thermometer. The timing chart is in the post.
- If cooking a smaller, more flat and thin roast, it may cook faster since it is thinner. Please check the temperature a few times, least every 15-20 minutes. A continuous remote thermometer is recommended.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and can be frozen for 3-4 days.
- Reheat in the oven covered with some moisture like au jus or beef broth.
You may have some smoke issues. You have some choices.
- You can just realize it will probably happen and live with it. Lots of exhaust fans and open windows.
- You can eliminate the butter and use a higher temperature vegetable oil which still may smoke some but less.
- You can add some water to the pan under the rack, so when the butter melts off, it hits the water (max temp of 212°) instead of the 500° pan. This is my favorite.
- You can skip the "searing" entirely and roast at 350°. It will take a bit longer but will be fine, it is a great juicy cut of meat.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally published September 17, 2017. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Patte
Looking forward to serving the rib roast tonite for Christmas dinner. Just the 2 of us so I wasn't sure if it was even possible to do a rare one. Hope I am as successful as seversl of your rraders seem to be. wish me luck! Hope you had a great holiday & I'll be back (as they say!) ;}
DrDan
Hi Patte,
Welcome to the blog. Sorry for the delayed response.
Rare is definitely should be fairly easy. I like to use a remote thermometer if I'm aiming for rare so I don't over do it by accident.
Hope it worked well for you and thanks for the note.
Dan
Roz Behan
Thank you so for this great recipe
Delightfulladee
This is a wonderful recipe. I will surely make it again and again.
Thank you kindly 🙏🏽
DrDan
Hi Roz and Delightful,
Welcome to the blog. Sorry for the delayed response.
Thanks for the note and hope you had a great holiday.
Dan
Lindsay
Did you take the meat out of the fridge and let it come to room temp before cooking? Excited to try your recipe today!
DrDan
Hi Lindsay,
Welcome to the blog.
Resting to room temperature is not really needed here. If you want "well done" (and nobody does) then resting at room temp for 30 minutes would be helpful in obtaining the final internal temperature.
Have a good dinner.
Dan
Lindsay
Thank you! The rarer the better for us! Thanks for your prompt response! Merry Christmas!
Karen E Holcomb
Hey, I am so happy that I found your recipe again. It's been a year since I used it last and it took about 45 minutes surfing to find it this morning. While my riast is much bigger this year, I'm confident I can adjust. Definitely going to bookmark the page this time. Merry Christmas!
Faith K Beasley
Just throwing this put there as a helpful tip, if you ask your butcher for a rib roast closer the the strip side then the chuck side you won't have that knot of fat in the middle of your roast.
DrDan
Hi Faith,
Welcome to the blog.
Thanks for the tip. I believe it is also more marbled. So good in every way.
Happy Holiday and thanks for the note.
Dan
Lenore
Hi—-was that coventional 500 or convection? I have an electric oven ( dislike it very much, but in Fl and unless running my own gas line.....) and things don’t seem to crisp too well without convection. Planning on making a small roast for Christmas.
Btw: love your recipes. The seared strip steak one of my favs.
DrDan
Hi Lenore,
Welcome to the blog.
That is 500 degrees conventional not convection.
Watch for the smoking issues. If you are not used to high-temperature ovens, take it up to 500 degrees before the big day to see if it smokes.
Have a good holiday.
Dan
Mary Savage
What do you use, or what do you suggest for au jus/gravy? Recipes?
DrDan
Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog.
For a clear au jus, I would use 2 cups of a good beef broth/stock to the drippings assuming there is not a lot of fat. You can use a fat separator if needed. Add a teaspoon of soy sauce to pop the beef taste some and add salt and pepper to taste. Be careful with the salt since the soy sauce is high in sodium.
Some people want more of a gravy. See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/how-to-make-gravy-101/ for two methods.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Bill
I do enjoy beef above other meats but cooking a beef roast of any kind is problematic for me. I enjoy my beef at medium rare. Even medium isn’t an enjoyable taste of beef. My wife is the opposite, no red at all, or she won’t eat it, well done or none.
I don’t want to waste a good rib roast by either over or under cooking, so I don’t cook them. What I’m thinking of trying is to cook a rib roast to medium rare then after resting, slice her portion, return that portion to the oven until it reaches her desired well done.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
Bill
DrDan
Hi Bill,
Welcome to the blog.
I had a similar but not quite as severe problem yrs ago for large holiday meals. My solution at that time was to cook whole large beef tenderloins. The ends, and several inches in, were medium then tapered down to medium rare. But that was a big piece of meat. The key was to cook at high temps but not too long. The ends and outside of the middle cooked but the middle not so much.
This will work somewhat with this smaller rib roast but not as well.
Your plan to cook her portion after cutting will "work" but the issues I see are you will lose a lot of juices. So her's will be dry. And you will be eating at totally different times.
But considering how far apart your tastes are, I would suggest rib eye steaks or filets. You can control the cooking much easier with better results for both of you.
Hope that helps.
Dan
kiloran greenan
Sensational! First time I tried a bone in ribeye roast and your instructions were spot on. I started with 450 oven, added water to just cover roasting pan, after 20 min. reduced to 325 for 45 min - came out a perfect medium rare. I was nervous because the roast was only 2 1/4 pounds. I also appreciated all the information you provided about the cut of beef and the "difference" between prime rib and ribeye. Many thanks! It's a keeper.
DrDan
Hi Kiloran,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad it worked so well for you and thanks for the note.
Dan
Heidi
Why does your instructions say to raise the time in the oven for higher temperatures? ("an additional 45 minutes for 130 degrees, 55 minutes for 140 and 60 minutes for 145."
DrDan
Hi Heidi,
Welcome to the blog.
You start at 500 then decrease to the oven temp to 325. The part you are referring to is about the final internal temperature you want. So to get to 145-degree internal temp it takes about 60 minutes more but as always, times are provided for estimates, cook to the final internal temperature you want.
Hope that is clear.
Dan
Roz
I don't have real butter. Would margarine do??
DrDan
Hi Roz,
Welcome to the blog.
It will "work" but not be as good. Considering what you paid for the ribeye, spring for the butter.
Dan
Ros
I keep this recipe bookmarked. It never fails. I do start it a little cooler (450) and then lower the temp as directed. This seems to keep the smoke down and it still gets nice and browned and crispy on the outside. I use a probe thermometer with a beeper, so when it hits 128, I'm alerted. This way, I can do any size roast and let the thermometer do the work! Thanks for the great recipe.
DrDan
Hi Ros,
I do love my remote thermometer. Thanks for the suggestion and the note.
Dan
Erika
Excellent! I had a 2.3 lb standing rib roast. I chewed on the bone as soon as it rested. Sooo good. How can you lose with that much beef and butter?
Leslie
Made roast last Friday, per recipe, did not have any smoke problems. 5 star review, I also made your au-graten potato recipe and stove top green bean (also 5 star recipes). I got my menu ideas by looking at the first picture, would love it if you always posted pictures with side dishes or give serve with suggestions. My husban and and friends loved this meal thanks so much
DrDan
Glad they are working well for you and you solved your oven issue at least for this meal. I'm a little surprised you had no smoke.
My side dishes tend to be boring so I never mention them. Plus, I have very little imagination. How many times can you say baked or mashed potatoes and green beans (grandpa's favorite)? Here I did have scalloped potatoes. I need to do more sides...
Leslie
Thanks for the advice, may bring roast & cook at friends house.
Leslie
I just purchased a beautiful roast (expensive) but my oven decided to act up! How do I convert this recipe for a 3 burner gas grill (plan on making the roast this Friday )? Thank you, Leslie
DrDan
Hi Leslie,
You can probably do it on a grill, I suspect the best way is indirect heat similar to how I cooked the whole chicken a few months ago. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/grilled-whole-chicken-on-a-gas-grill/
Now, this is a total guess on my part. I would set up the grill like the chicken then sear for 5 minutes per side on the hot side then put it the indirect side fat side up. Probably rotate after about 30 minutes. Then watch the internal temperature.
Now realize I have not done this or any beef like this but I was planning a Tri-Tip roast and this is what I had in my mind to do. It may or may not work well. It is your expensive meat and a company meal we are talking about. How do they feel about Pizza if it doesn't work... You may want to Google for somebody who as actually done this.
Dan
Melody
You're killing me! The roast looks delicious! Say what? I've just developed a serious allergy to beef - my favorite special occasion treat. Have you ever heard of this?
DrDan
Sorry about that...
In over 40 yrs in medicine, I have never had one but it is not impossible. Be sure you are seeing a board-certified allergist for confirmation. Food allergies are very tricky to be accurate about and there are lots of newer things the allergist can do.
Yvonne
I have heard of sudden red meat allergies being caused by a kind of tick bite. Might be worth asking for testing. Best of luck.
Lara
We have made this cut of roast on a rotisserie over a gas grill. Outstandingly delicious!!