Gordon Ramsay’s prime rib is a 3-bone rib of beef, around 3.5 to 4.5kg, stuffed with mushrooms, spinach, and tarragon, glazed with mustard powder, and roasted on a bed of carrots and parsnips. It browns at 230°C for 15 minutes, then finishes at 180°C, about 15 minutes per 450g for rare.
This is the Stuffed Rib of Beef from his Ultimate Home Cooking book, the same one he cooks with his daughter Megan on YouTube. He writes: “The Sunday Roast is the cornerstone of home cooking and a rib of beef is the ultimate. Cooking beef on the bone not only looks impressive, but it gives the meat more flavour and ensures that it cooks evenly too.”
The trick almost nobody copies starts before cooking: he keeps the rib unwrapped in the fridge so it almost air dries before roasting. In the video with Megan he explains the thinking, as less water in the beef means a harder sear, a deeper crust under the mustard glaze, and a shorter roasting time.
Gordon Ramsay’s Stuffed Prime Rib of Beef
Course: DinnersCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium8
45
minutes2
minutes780
kcal3 hr 20 min
A 3-bone rib roast from Ultimate Home Cooking, packed with a mushroom, spinach, and tarragon stuffing, rubbed with English mustard paste, and roasted over carrots and parsnips so everything cooks in one tin. Serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients
- For the beef:
3-bone rib of beef on the bone, about 3.5-4.5kg, chine bone removed
2 heaped tsp English mustard powder
6 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
6 parsnips, peeled and halved lengthways
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the stuffing:
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
200g Portobello or chestnut mushrooms, wiped clean and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
300g baby spinach
75g breadcrumbs made from stale bread (1 or 2 days old)
2 tarragon sprigs, leaves only, roughly chopped
1 lemon thyme sprig, leaves only
1 free-range egg yolk
Directions
- Bring to room temperature: Take the beef out of the fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature, about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 230°C (450°F/Gas 8).
- Make the stuffing: Heat a dash of oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook until tender, then the garlic for 2 minutes. Add the spinach in batches until completely wilted. Remove, finely chop, and cool slightly.
- Bind the stuffing: Stir the breadcrumbs, tarragon, and lemon thyme into the stuffing. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then stir in the egg yolk to bind.
- Cut the pocket: Place the beef with the ribs on the right. Insert a sharp knife about 3cm in from the left edge and make a long incision just above the ribs, going two-thirds of the way into the joint, separating the meat from the bones but leaving it attached along the bottom.
- Stuff and tie: Pull the meat gently apart and push the stuffing into the gap. Any excess goes in a small ovenproof dish to bake for the last 10 to 15 minutes. Tie string horizontally around the meat and vertically between the rib bones, not too tight or the stuffing squeezes out.
- Glaze: Mix the mustard powder with a pinch of salt and pepper and enough olive oil to form a thin paste. Rub it all over the meat.
- Roast: Put the carrots and parsnips in the roasting tin, drizzle with oil, and sit the beef on top. Roast for 15 minutes to brown, then lower to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and roast for 15 minutes per 450g, plus 15 extra minutes for rare (50-53°C inside) or 20 to 30 extra for medium rare (54-57°C).
- Rescue the vegetables: Remove the carrots and parsnips after 35 minutes and set aside.
- Rest: Once cooked, cover the beef loosely with foil and rest for at least 20 minutes, up to 45.
- Serve: Return the vegetables to the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes to reheat. Remove the string, slice away the rib bones, carve, and serve with the stuffing and vegetables.
FAQs
Is prime rib the same as rib of beef?
Yes. Prime rib is the American name, rib of beef is the British one, and a bone-in version is also called a standing rib roast because it stands on its bones in the tin. In the UK, ask your butcher for a fore rib of beef on the bone with the chine bone removed, which makes carving possible at the end.
Ramsay uses a 3-bone joint of 3.5 to 4.5kg, enough for 6 to 8 people. He cooks it on the bone deliberately, because the bone carries heat into the centre and keeps the cooking even. For an everyday joint without the stuffing, his roast beef recipe uses a smaller rib with Yorkshire puddings and red wine gravy.
Why does Ramsay leave the beef unwrapped in the fridge?
His storage rule from the book: “Rib of beef should be kept unwrapped in the fridge so that it almost air dries. This will intensify the flavour and make it roast more quickly.” A wet surface has to steam dry before it can brown, so a dry one crusts faster and deeper.
Give it a day or two uncovered on a rack in the fridge before roasting. It’s the same principle steakhouses use when they dry-age beef, just compressed into your fridge at home, and it’s why his crust looks the way it does under that mustard glaze.
What temperature should prime rib be inside?
The book gives exact numbers: 50 to 53°C for rare, 54 to 57°C for medium rare, measured with a meat thermometer in the centre. The temperature keeps climbing a few degrees during resting, which is why he pulls it at the low end and rests it for 20 to 45 minutes.
One honest note: the book roasts at 180°C after the initial blast, while in the video he drops to 170°C for a longer, gentler cook. Both land in the same place, so follow the book’s 180°C and let the thermometer do the final judging, not the clock. Our meat temperature guide has the full range for every level of doneness.
Can you make the stuffing ahead?
Yes, the mushroom, spinach, and tarragon stuffing can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the fridge, which takes most of the prep off the roasting day. Cook it fully, cool it completely, then stuff and tie the beef an hour before roasting while the joint comes to room temperature.
The egg yolk binds it, and the stale breadcrumbs hold the moisture from the spinach. Whatever doesn’t fit in the pocket bakes in a separate dish for the last 15 minutes, and that overflow dish comes out with crisp edges, so in our house people fight over it.
What do you serve with stuffed prime rib?
The book pairs it with Horseradish Yorkshire Puddings, his standard batter with 6 tablespoons of freshly grated horseradish whisked in, baked in smoking-hot fat. That version is covered on our Yorkshire pudding page, and the carrots and parsnips from under the beef are already part of the dish.
For the rest of the table, his Brussels sprouts with pancetta bring something green and salty against all that richness. Leftover rib carved thin works cold the next day, and the beef keeps 3 days wrapped in the fridge, though the stuffing is best eaten within 2.
