A simple dry rub and 90 minutes in the oven are all it takes to produce a beautifully marbled, flavorful, and juicy ribeye roast.
Ribeye is fatty and flavorful, and this simple recipe is a great way to enjoy its robust flavor. It's an easy one: Rub the meat with seasonings and cook it in the oven until done. Your main task is to avoid overcooking the roast, and that's easy if you use a meat thermometer. There's no need to marinate the roast before cooking, and you can enjoy the leftovers for several days if you take care to reheat them gently.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here's a look at the ingredients.
- To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, ground sage, and dried thyme.
- Boneless ribeye roast: I usually pick a 3-pound roast at the Whole Foods Market meat counter. When you ask for a boneless roast, your butcher will usually take a prime rib roast and remove the back ribs. A 3-pound roast yields about 2 pounds of cooked meat, or 4 large servings.
Instructions
Just like this beef tenderloin roast, the best thing about this recipe is that it's so easy. The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Rub the roast with seasonings.
Roast it in a hot oven to crisp the fat cap, then lower the oven temperature and continue roasting until it reaches medium-rare.
Remove the roast from the oven, loosely cover it with foil, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes, then slice and serve.
I am a very simple cook and found this recipe over a year ago when I wanted to make a special dinner for one of my sons and his family. We all LOVED it, and I have made it for all of my kids and their families and have shared the recipe with them. We're making it again tonight.
Pamela A Berry
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Recipe Tips
Prime vs. Choice Grade
While USDA Prime grade is the best in terms of tenderness and marbling, it's significantly more expensive than Choice grade (often 50% more expensive), and it isn't always available for the home consumer. I experimented with both grades, and my conclusion is that although Prime grade is slightly better, Choice grade is excellent - so good, in fact, that I don't feel the price difference is justified.
How to Slice a Ribeye Roast
For optimal tenderness, this roast should be sliced across the grain, like this:
However, slicing the proper way produces large portions of meat. So sometimes, I cut it as shown below. Granted, that's not how you're supposed to cut it, but it makes more manageable portions, and in my experience, it's still exceptionally tender.
Recipe FAQs
That's unnecessary. Ribeye is well-marbled, beefy, and juicy. It tastes great without any marinade. Unlike tough cuts of beef such as London broil, ribeye is also tender enough that you don't need a vinegary marinade to tenderize it.
Place the roast in the pan with the fat cap on top, as shown in the image below. This way, the fat will melt into the meat as it cooks, adding moisture and flavor. This will also enable the fat to brown and crisp up.
According to conventional wisdom, after the initial 15 minutes of browning the meat in a superhot oven, a 3-pound roast should take roughly one more hour (20 minutes per pound). But the only way to know for sure is to use an oven-safe meat thermometer.
In my oven, for example, after one more hour, the internal temperature usually reaches 120°F, and I need to keep roasting for 8-9 more minutes to reach 135°F. Note that while I prefer medium-rare, ribeye is marbled and juicy enough to taste good even when cooked to medium doneness (145°F), as recommended by the USDA.
It's important to let the meat rest for 20 minutes before slicing it. This will allow the juices to settle and redistribute, preventing the juices from gushing out as soon as you cut into the meat.
Serving Suggestions
I recommend balancing out the richness of this roast by skipping the starch and serving it with simply prepared veggies such as sautéed broccolini, sautéed spinach, or sugar snap peas.
A simple salad is also good. A few of my favorites include arugula salad, tomato salad, creamy cucumber salad, and asparagus salad. All of them pair well with a rich, beefy roast. In the image below, you can see the roast served with a simple side salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and blue cheese dressing.
Lastly, if you want a tasty alternative to mashed potatoes, I recommend mashed cauliflower, mashed butternut squash, or mashed pumpkin. Or, go all out and make loaded mashed cauliflower! The photo below shows the roast served with mashed butternut squash and green beans almondine.
Storing and Using the Leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them very gently to keep them from becoming overcooked. It's best to reheat them covered in the microwave at 50% power.
The two images below show my favorite ways to serve the leftovers - with veggies, pickles, and Dijon mustard, or with a simple side salad.
Recipe Card
Easy Ribeye Roast Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt - or 1 teaspoon of any other salt, including Morton kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 pounds boneless ribeye roast
Instructions
- In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, sage, and thyme. Rub the mixture all over the roast, pressing to ensure the rub adheres to the meat.
- Place the meat, fat side up, on a rack in a roasting pan and allow it to get to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 500°F. Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the middle of the roast and set the thermometer to alert you when the roast reaches 135°F (medium-rare).
- Place the roast in the 500°F oven and cook it for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Keep roasting until the thermometer registers 135°F. According to conventional wisdom, a 3-pound roast should take roughly 1 more hour (20 minutes per pound). But the only way to know for sure is to use a thermometer. In my oven, after one more hour, the internal temperature usually reaches 120°F, and I need to keep roasting for 8-9 more minutes to reach 135°F.
- Remove the roast from the oven. Don't remove the thermometer's probe yet, or juices will escape. Loosely cover the roast with foil and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. Then, cut it against the grain into four ½-inch slices and serve.
Notes
- A 3-pound roast yields about 2 pounds of cooked meat, which is four large (8-ounce) servings.
- The only way to ensure the meat is done to your liking is to use an oven-safe meat thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast at the start of cooking. This type of thermometer beeps to alert you when the roast is done. Please don't rely on general timing guidelines or an instant-read thermometer. These methods are unreliable.
- If your roast is bigger than 3 pounds, roast it for roughly 20 minutes per pound after lowering the oven to 350°F. If it seems to be getting too dark on top, loosely cover it with foil and keep roasting until your thermometer alerts you that the roast has reached an internal temperature of 135°F.
- It's very important to let the roast rest for 20 minutes before slicing it. This will allow the juices to settle and redistribute, preventing them from gushing out as soon as you cut into the meat.
- The nutrition info assumes USDA Choice grade, and the fat is eaten. It is based on this USDA entry.
- The USDA says we should cook whole cuts of beef to 145ºF with a three-minute rest time.
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat them covered in the microwave at 50% power. You can also freeze the cooled leftovers in freezer-safe containers for up to three months. Thaw them overnight in the fridge before gently reheating.
Nutrition per Serving
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Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate. Please verify it independently. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.
Sharon says
Yum! I could eat this every day!
Vered DeLeeuw says
Wonderful, Sharon! I'm so glad you liked it. Thank you very much for the review.
Charla says
The entire family enjoyed it. Thanks!
Vered DeLeeuw says
You're very welcome, Charla! Thanks for the review.