Prime Rib on the Grill
On December 13, 2019 (Updated October 25, 2023)
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This Prime Rib on the Grill is tender, juicy, and the ideal dinner to serve during the holidays. It’s gorgeously seasoned, and cooked to perfection. This post is sponsored by The Home Depot to help you prepare for holiday dinner cooked on your grill.
Prime Rib on the Grill
Ah, prime rib. Also known as standing rib roast, it’s one of those delectable cuts of meat taken from the primal (upper) rib portion of the cow. It’s known for it’s velvety tenderness and oodles of flavor from a plethora of fat marbling. Prime rib has a special place it my heart. Growing up, it was a Christmas Eve tradition to have prime rib for dinner.
Prime rib looks and tastes fancy, and those Christmas Eves always made me feel like royalty. For over 30 years, I’ve been enjoying prime rib during the holiday season, and I encourage you to make it a part of your holiday traditions as well.
Grilled Prime Rib Roast
Let’s dive into more specifics for grilling a prime rib on the rotisserie, shall we? When you head to the store or butcher to purchase your roast, make sure to buy it bone-in (the meat itself will likely be called “bone-in rib roast”). Also, ask your butcher to tie the roast tightly prior to taking it home. This is save you a step, and ensure the roast is a consistent size to help it evenly cook on the grill.
For today’s recipe, I’m cooking a 6-pound prime rib roast on my Weber Genesis II gas grill on a rotisserie. Home Depot is making it easy to grill this holiday season with free delivery on all grills purchased online and free assembly on all grills purchased in-store.
When purchasing prime rib, aim for around 6 ounces to 1 pound per person. Feel free to go as big as you want with your prime rib roast. Five to 6 pounds feeds my family perfectly. If you have a large crowd to feed, feel free to grab a 10-pound roast (this should serve 8-12 adults). Keep in mind that if you adjust the size of roast you purchase, the cook time will change depending on the size of the roast.
To prep the roast, make 16 slits in the meat and stuff each opening with 1 garlic clove. Season the prime rib with my Signature Beef Seasoning, or an equal mixture of kosher salt and black pepper. Cover the seasoned roast with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and allow the meat to rest for 2 hours prior to cooking.
How to Cook Prime Rib on the Grill
Once you have your prime rib seasoned and allowed to rest for 2 hours, it’s time to stick it in the heat! Follow these simple instructions on how to cook prime rib on the grill so it comes off juicy, tender, and oh-so good.
- Preheat your grill. For this recipe, I used my Weber gas grill with the rotisserie attachment. Preheat your grill to 450 degrees F for indirect heat. I turned burners 1 and 4 on high with the middle two burners turned off.
- Cook the prime rib. For a 4-6 pound prime rib roast, plan on around 2 hours of cook time. A 6-10 pound roast will likely require 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the rotisserie. You’ll know when it’s time to remove the prime rib from the grill when the internal temperature measured by a meat thermometer reaches 125-128 degrees F (if cooking to medium rare). Keep in mind that carryover cooking does a LOT on a high temperature cook like this, meaning the temperature of the meat will typically increase 8-10 degrees after it is removed from the grill.
- Rest and serve. Next, remove the roast from the grill (keeping it on the rotisserie rod) and allow the prime rib to rest for 30 minutes before serving. During this time, carryover cooking will increase the internal temperature of the roast to 135 degrees F.
Prime rib is best enjoyed at medium rare doneness, but rare and medium are also acceptable. (Though, trust me when I say medium rare is the magic temperature). Whenever prime rib is cooked above medium, it begins to toughen and lose that characteristic prime rib texture.
More Prime Rib Recipes
Looking for even more prime rib recipes? Maybe you’re in the mood for smoked prime rib to give the meat an extra punch of smoky flavor? If so, check out these other tasty prime rib recipes from Hey Grill Hey. Whether it’s grilled or smoked, prime rib is a must-have during the holiday season.
Garlic Butter Smoked Prime Rib
Smoked Prime Rib Roast
Best Grilled Prime Rib Roast Recipe
Prime Rib on the Grill
Ingredients
- 1 6 pound prime rib roast bones cut and tied back on
- 16 garlic cloves
- 4 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Signature Beef Seasoning
Instructions
- Two hours before you plan to start cooking, remove your prime rib roast from the refrigerator.
- Using a paring knife, cut 16 slits about 1 inch deep all around the prime rib roast. Insert a clove of garlic into each slit.
- Season the roast on all sides with the Beef Seasoning (or kosher salt and black pepper). Cover loosely with plastic wrap or foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours.
- When you're ready to begin cooking, remove the grill grates and preheat your grill for indirect cooking. On my Weber Genesis II, I turned on burners 1 and 4 on each end, while leaving the two center burners off. Your overall target temperature for your grill is around 450 degrees F.
- Insert your rotisserie rod through the direct center of the prime rib roast and secure with the prongs. Place the prime rib into the rotisserie and close the lid on your grill.
- Allow the roast to grill and spin for approximately 2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the prime rib is 125 degrees F. The carry over cooking during the next step will bring the final temperature up to a perfect medium rare at about 135 degrees F.
- Remove the roast from the grill and rest for 30 minutes before removing the rotisserie rod and slicing.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First time for a prime Rib on the rotisserie and I came out Excellent. Followed your recipe but added a good kicker to it. Since I have a smoker box in the BBQ I used that along with the rotisserie burner plus another hour after burner was shut off. OMG What a flavor, Thanks for the recipe.
I have a short video if I could post it somewhere