Fire up the charcoal grill for an incredible grilled prime rib dinner. This grilling recipe makes a gorgeously crusted, smoky prime rib roast with a juicy, melt-in-your-mouth beef that’s fit for a steakhouse.
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Prime rib is the ultimate cut of beef for a special occasion like a holiday dinner. This prime rib roast recipe involves cooking prime rib on our charcoal grill for that perfect smoky flavor. It’s just like our reverse sear prime rib, but we’re using a bone-in rib roast for this beef recipe. If you’re looking for an easy prime rib recipe, you’ll love this grilled prime rib roast.
What Is Prime Rib?
Prime rib is one of the highest cuts of beef money can buy, with its intense marbling and fatty flavor. It’s found in the rib primal, where you’d find a ribeye steak, but it’s the entire roast instead of the individual steak. You’ll usually find them popping up during the holiday season because they’re perfect for serving large crowds.
For this recipe, we’re setting up a two-zone fire on our charcoal grill. Grilling with a charcoal grill adds a layer of smoky flavor, but don’t worry. You can use a gas grill with a smoker box or foil pack for a similar smoky effect.
This type of cut benefits from low and slow cooking like sous vide prime rib, but we add a reverse sear at the end for a gorgeous crust.
Grilled Prime Rib Ingredients
Take your grilling recipes to the next level with Grilled Prime Rib. Prime rib is rubbed in a tangy mustard and steak seasoning, grilled to perfection, and reverse-seared for the ultimate holiday feast.
- Bone-in prime rib roast: Look for a 3-5 pound roast. You can usually find prime rib in the beef section of the grocery store during the holiday season. But if you can’t find it for some reason, you can always check out the best places to buy meat online. An important factor when buying prime rib is the grade of beef. The grade you choose will help determine the tenderness. We recommend choice or above.
- Kosher Salt
- Mustard: Used as a binder to help the dry rub stick to the roast. It doesn’t matter what kind you use, as it won’t leave a flavor.
- Steak seasoning: Helps create the crust and adds a kick of flavor. Use your favorite steak seasoning. We love Jack Daniel’s Steak Seasoning.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Compound butter: Adds flavor and enhances the natural savoriness of the meat.
- Smoked horseradish cream sauce: Strong and spicy sauce that beautifully complements the fattiness of the meat.
How to Make Prime Rib on the Grill
Prep the Prime Rib for Grilling
First, take the prime rib out of the package and pat it dry with paper towels. Then, generously season it on all sides with salt. Place the prime rib on a baking sheet and let it dry brine in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days.
When you’re ready to grill the prime rib, start by building a 2-zone fire in your charcoal grill, an indirect heat zone, and a direct heat zone. Light coals in a chimney, and when they’re about 70-75% ashed over, carefully dump them on one side of the grill to create a cool and hot side. If you’re using smoking wood, add it now.
Place the grill grate over the coals, clean it, and adjust the air vents. Close the lid to let the grill preheat to a consistent low temperature of around 325-350 degrees F.
Grill the Prime Rib
Meanwhile, prep the bone-in roast by taking it out of the fridge. Rub the entire surface with mustard as a binder, and then generously coat the rib roast with steak seasoning. Let the rib roast sit out at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour.
Once the grill is preheated, put the rib roast and bone side down on the cooler side of the grill. Cover it and let it cook on the indirect grilling side for 30 to 45 minutes or until the roast is about 10 degrees below your desired internal temperature at its thickest area.
Using long grilling tongs, transfer the prime rib to a baking sheet. Leave the grill uncovered to let the coals get hot for about 5 minutes. When the coals are glowing, and you can only hold your hand over the heat for a few seconds, place the rib roast over the coals for a direct heat sear on all sides of the roast. Be cautious of flare-ups due to the fatty cut.
Alternatively, you can use a cast iron skillet with melted butter preheated over the opposite side of the grill (the hot side) for the reverse sear method.
After the prime rib has been seared on all sides, return it to the baking sheet, top it with three knobs of your herb compound butter, and tent it with foil. Let the roast rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Serve
To serve, you can either slice the rib roast between the bones for larger portions or use a sharp knife to remove the bones and slice it into thinner 1/2″ thick slices.
Drizzle the melted compound butter back over the meat and serve with a sprinkle of fresh kosher salt and black pepper, along with a side of smoked horseradish cream sauce.
Girl Carnivore Expert Recipe Tips
- Trim the fat cap down, leaving only about a 1/4 inch for added flavor if needed, when initially prepping the roast.
- Don’t skip the dry brine. The cold air from the fridge dries out the outside of the meat, resulting in a gorgeous crust.
- Use a digital meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the prime rib. We prefer a medium-rare steak temperature of 125-130ºF in the center for our prime rib. This allows for more well-done pieces towards the ends for those who may prefer more medium steak doneness. if you want edge-to-edge consistency, consider sous vide prime rib.
- For the best results, use an internal probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the standing rib roast and the ambient temperature of the grill.
- Let the roast come to room temperature before grilling for even cooking.
What to Serve With Grilled Prime Rib Roast
For a great holiday meal, jazz up your prime rib with a side of umami aioli for a kick of flavor. As for sides, serve up some roasted green beans, roasted butternut squash, domino potatoes, or any of your other favorite side dishes.
Wine Pairing:
We love this big beefy cut paired with bold Cabernet Sauvignon, Barolo, Syrah, or a Tempranillo. Because of the depth of flavor, this cut can hold up to the depth of these dry wines. Have fun with your pairing.
Leftovers & Reheating
Wrap leftover prime rib in aluminum foil to keep all those juices. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it for up to 9 months.
To reheat:
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Slice off the pieces you wish to eat before reheating so you don’t keep reheating the entire roast.
- Rewrap in foil and place on a baking sheet.
- Cook in the oven until heated through.
More Grilling Recipes for Beef
With this recipe, you can make the perfect prime rib in an hour. It’s the perfect centerpiece for your holiday dinners.
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Grill an incredibly juicy, smoky prime rib roast with a gorgeous crust over charcoal with this easy recipe. It’s the ultimate wood-fired prime rib cooked to perfection.
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For the grilled prime rib
Prep the prime rib roast
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Remove the prime rib from the package and pat dry with paper towels.
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Season it liberally on all sides with salt.
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Set the prime rib on a baking sheet and allow it to dry brine in the fridge overnight or for up to 3 days.
Prep the Grill
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When ready to grill the prime rib, build a 2-zone fire in your charcoal grill by lighting coals in a charcoal chimney.
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When the coals are about 70-75% asked over, carefully dump the coals into one side of the grill, creating a cool and hot side.
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If adding smoking wood, add it now so that the smoke has a chance to burn clean before adding the meat.
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Place the grill grate over the coals and clean it.
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Adjust the air vents and close the lid to allow the grill to preheat to an even controlled temperature of around 325 – 350 degrees F.
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Meanwhile, prep the prime rib by removing it from the fridge and rubbing the whole surface with mustard to act as a binder.
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Then liberally coat the rib roast with the steak seasoning.
Grill the Prime Rib
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When the grill has preheated, place the rib roast, bone side down, on the cooler side of the grill.
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Cover the grill and allow it to cook for 30 to 45 minutes or until the roast is about 10 degrees below your desired internal temp at its thickest area with your meat thermometer.
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Using long grilling tongs, transfer the grilled prime rib to a baking sheet.
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Leave the grill uncovered to allow the coals to get hot for about 5 minutes.
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When the coals are glowing and you can only hold your hand over the heat for a few seconds, place the rib roast over the coals, the direct heat, and sear on all sides.
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Use caution as this fatty cut can cause flare-ups while searing.
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Alternatively, you can use a cast iron skillet with melted butter preheated over the hot side of the grill for this reverse sear.
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After the prime rib has been char-kissed on all sides, return it to the baking sheet and top it with 3 knobs of butter and tent it with foil.
Rest and Serve
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Let the roast rest for 10 – 15 minutes before carving to serve.
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To serve, you can slice the rib roast between the bones for large portions OR use a sharp knife to remove the bones from the roast and slice it into thinner 1/2” thick slices.
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Drizzle the melted compound butter back over the meat before serving with a sprinkle of fresh kosher salt and black pepper as well as a side of smoked horseradish cream sauce.
We recommend not going over a 5-pound bone-in rib roast when grilling over a classic charcoal grill, like a kettle. If using an offset smoker, gravity-fed Masterbuilt, or other charcoal grill where the indirect heat can be controlled away from the grill grates, you can go bigger. If you have a pellet grill, see our recipe for a Traeger prime rib roast.
This is the ultimate example of cooking to temperature, not time. If you do not monitor the internal temperature of the beef as you’re grilling it, you will not get your desired results. The times shown in this recipe card are only a guideline. Remember, altitude, weather, outside temp, quality of the grill, and many other factors will influence your cooking time.
Estimate 1 rib per person or a half pound each when buying.
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 72g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 29g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 167mg | Sodium: 1409mg | Potassium: 530mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 392IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 4mg
Recipe FAQs
One bone will feed 2 people, and 3 bones will feed six people. Just remember that the larger your prime rib, the longer the cooking time.
The best thing about prime rib is that you can make it on all types of grills. We’ve made smoked prime rib on a pellet grill and smoked prime rib on a gas grill. This recipe uses a charcoal grill. As you can see, prime rib is perfect for any type of grill.
It takes around an hour to make a prime rib roast on the grill.
When you’re cooking up a prime rib, the meat loves soaking up bold flavors. We went with Jack Daniels wood chips to bring in that oakiness with a sweet twist. But hey, feel free to keep it real with post oak, hickory, or toss in a bit of pecan or maple for that extra flavor kick.
