Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib

Last Updated on March 14, 2024 by Carne Diem

Protein:

Origin: North American, American

Method: Smoker

Jump to Recipe

This smoked prime rib recipe has become a Christmas dinner tradition.  The bone-in beef roast is coated with beef tallow and then covered with a rub of fresh herbs, garlic and spices.  

I am not going to lie. This Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib may be one of the best things to ever come out of my smoker. The addition of beef tallow adds a subtle "dry aged" beef flavor to this classic holiday dish. After a brief cook at 400 degrees, we drop the temperature to finish smoking the roast, resulting in a beautifully herb crusted culinary centerpiece for your holiday meal.

Making the Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib

For this herbed prime rib, you will just need to make a simple herb paste, coat the prime rib roast with tallow and the herbs, and get it on the smoker.  

Making the garlic and herb prime rib seasoning

To make the garlic herb paste for this delicious roast you need just a handful of ingredients:

Garlic Paste:  Garlic paste, or garlic squeeze work well to help bind the herbs in the paste.  If it is not available, you can make your own by combining 3-4 garlic cloves with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a food processor.

Fresh Herbs:  You definitely want to use fresh herbs if possible.  We typically use fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and lavender as we have them available in our herb garden each year.  Most of these fresh herbs are also typically available at the grocery store.  Other fresh herbs that would be good inclusions or substitutions include marjoram and savory.

Seasonings and Spices: Black pepper, coarse kosher or sea salt make up the simple seasoning in the herb paste.  We typically use a smoked pepper or bourbon barrel smoked pepper in the paste, but regular black pepper will work too.

Finely chop your fresh herbs.  The easiest way to remove thyme leaves from the stems is to hold the thyme sprig at the top and then run your fingers down the stem.  The leaves should come right off. 

Add the herbs to a small bowl along with the garlic paste, Kosher salt and pepper. Mix to form a uniform paste. 

Prep and season your prime rib roast

For our Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib we chose a ribeye roast from Wild Fork. We were very pleased with the roast that we got. Snake River Farms and KC Cattle Co are also good options for buying quality beef online. Typically, the recipe given will be enough to coat a 5-6 pound bone-in roast.  The amount of tallow and herb paste can be easily adjusted for larger or smaller standing ribeye roasts.

What is a Prime Rib Roast?

When shopping for a prime rib roast you may also see them labelled as a standing rib roast or beef ribeye roast. These are all just different names for the same thing. For reference, a standing rib roast contains a ribeye and the back ribs. Short ribs are found in the rib primal below the ribeye roast.

We choose to spend the extra money on a USDA prime graded roast due to its superior marbling and tenderness. To clarify any confusion, a prime rib roast does not necessarily mean that the meat is prime grade. Prime rib can be prime, choice, or even select. In this case "prime" refers to the fact that the prime rib roast is taken from the from the primal rib, located in the area behind the shoulder and has nothing to do with the grade of beef.

Rub the prime rib with the beef tallow

TTo prepare your standing rib roast trim any excess fat from the roast. Next, rub the entire roast of prime rib with the beef tallow, to completely cover the top of the roast and the sides of the roast. You will typically need about ½ a cup to ¾ a cup of tallow to completely cover the roast. If you are using tallow that has been refrigerated, you will want to let it come to room temperature first, so it is spreadable.

What is beef tallow?

In short beef tallow is rendered beef fat that has been cooked down to have impurities removed. It is great used as a cooking fat with a smoke point of about 400 degrees. It is not a neutral oil and will impart a great beefy, dry aged flavor to dishes. We love the dry aged taste it imparts into the prime rib roast.

We are a big fan of the beef tallow from Epic Provisions but you can use what to have access to or even make your own. If you have extra beef tallow, be sure to try our Over the Top Smoked Mississippi Pot Roast.

Apply the herb paste

Next, rub the top and sides of the prime rib roast with the herb paste. Allow the Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib to set at room temperature while you get your smoker fired up. You can make a little extra herb paste if you prefer even more herb flavor or if you want to cover the bone side of the roast with herbs as well.

Smoking the Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib

Preheat your smoker to 400 degrees F. Place the prime rib roast in the smoker and cook for thirty minutes. We used our Gateway drum smoker for this cook, but you can use your favorite smoker you use including a pellet smoker like a Traeger. If you are using a ceramic smoker like a Big Green Egg, you will want to be certain to set up for indirect heat.  Starting at a higher temperature for 20-30 minutes helps to develop that nice crust on the prime rib and has given us the best results.  Using a reverse sear method on the prime rib is another great option.

Cooking Tip: We like to smoke our prime rib over a foil pan to catch any drippings. Not only does this minimize cleanup and decrease flare-ups but we add some potatoes to the pan about halfway through the cook to make some of the best roasted potatoes you will ever try.

Best wood for smoking prime rib.

A large cut of beef like prime rib will hold up well to whatever wood you choose to smoke with. Our favorites include oak and pecan wood, but hickory and fruit woods work well too to add that great smoky flavor to the standing ribeye roast.

After 30 minutes at 400 degrees, decrease the temperature of the smoker to 275 degrees.

Continue to cook to an internal temperature of 123 degrees. Carry over temp will result in a nice rare+ prime rib roast. If you would like the prime rib cooked closer to medium, continue cooking until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 128 degrees. On average it will take about 20-25 minutes per pound to cook the prime rib with this method. As always though cook to temperature, not time and use a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of the meat in the thickest part of the ribeye roast. We have always had great luck with our Fireboard, or for a wireless option we like our Tappecue.

Finally, your patience has paid off and your flavorful prime rib has reached temp. Remove the prime rib from the smoker and move to a cutting board.  Cover the beef tallow and herb crusted smoked prime rib roast with aluminum foil and let the meat rest for about 10 minutes prior to slicing.

Serving the Beef Tallow and Herb Crusted Prime Rib

Serve your masterpiece with some herbed fried mashed potato cakes or smoked au gratin potatoes. Make your meal even more elegant with some crab cakes. Serve with some horseradish sauce or peppercorn sauce if desired.

For more great steak and beef roast recipes, be sure to check more of our favorites:

• Baltimore Pit Beef : Maryland Style Roast Beef Sandwich
• Reverse Seared Argentinian Ribeye With Chimichurri Sauce
• Sous Vide Florentine Style Porterhouse
• Rotisserie Picanha
• Grilled Santa Maria Style Tri-Tip Steak
• Smoked Beef Tongue Pastrami
• Beef Short Rib Tomahawk

Leftover prime rib? Leftover prime rib should be stored in an airtight container and can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Use the leftover smoked prime rib in our Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers,  or reheat in some au jus for some of the best French dip sandwiches you will ever eat.  We typically vacuum seal the leftover as a sous vide is by far the best way to reheat prime rib.

Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks again for visiting Carne Diem. If you tried and enjoyed our recipe, please share with others. Also don’t forget to tag us @Carne_Diem_Culinary or #CarneDiemBlog, we love to see your pics! To be notified of future recipes please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, or sign up for our e-mail notifications.

📖 Recipe