Think Twice Before Pairing Your Prime Rib With Condiments

Prime rib is an impressive, expensive, and much-coveted cut of beef. But whether you're cooking it at home or enjoying it at a steakhouse, tread lightly when it comes to using condiments. Why? Because the flavor of this luxurious cut stands on its own. Known for generous marbling and rich, beefy flavor, prime rib needs not a bottled dipping sauce. The meat is usually described as buttery, melt-in-your-mouth, and with the perfect, seasoned crust — perfection. Masking this already perfect flavor with a sweet condiment (like, dare we say — ketchup) or heavy sauce (like béarnaise) would be a huge mistake. This isn't steak frites ... it's prime rib.

There is only one sauce that is definitively made for serving with prime rib — aus jus. Unlike some other condiments, au jus isn't an insult to your prime rib because it's made with the pan drippings from the beef itself. A rich au jus is meant to enhance the flavor of the beef, not disguise it. It's typically made with the fat drippings and a liquid like beef stock or red wine, plus aromatics.

If you find yourself ordering prime rib at a steakhouse and are really longing for a little something to dip into, a spicy, creamy horseradish sauce is acceptable. This is a classic steakhouse sauce due to the zingy kick of horseradish cutting through the intense richness of a cut like prime rib. So, if you want to balance the buttery, over-the-top lusciousness of this fatty cut, that's what horseradish sauce was made for ... and we'll allow it.

One of the mistakes everyone makes when eating at a steakhouse is using too much steak sauce. So even if you opt for spicy horseradish sauce, use a light hand. The point is to complement the flavor of the prime rib, not just to taste horseradish. And, since chefs pride themselves on the selection and cookery of the roast, its best practice to taste the beef first — au natural. One taste of a perfectly cooked prime rib and you might just opt out of any sauce whatsoever.