While Prime Rib is often first carved up for a fancy dinner, the leftovers are almost always repurposed as roast beef the next day for some great-tasting sandwiches. Au jus is the classic pairing for roast beef sandwiches, helping moisten the meat while adding extra flavor every time you dip. It’s also a great light sauce to pair with freshly carved Prime Rib as an alternative to thicker gravies and cream sauces. Learn how to make your own au jus sauce from the drippings of a Prime Rib, including a variation with red wine for deeper flavor.
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What is Au Jus?
Au jus is a thinner sauce than gravy, based on the combination of meat drippings, beef broth, and optional flavorings like soy or Worcestershire sauce. You won’t see thickeners like cornstarch, flour, or arrowroot starch in this sauce usually because it’s intended to stay much thinner. Gravies rely on those thickeners for their characteristic texture. While you can always thicken your sauce as much as you like, it may not qualify as a classic au jus at that point. You want the juices to soak into the Prime Rib when served, or the bread if you’re making French Dip sandwiches. It’s also great for serving with steaks like the Porterhouse.
For a more complex au jus sauce that is particularly flavorful for serving with Prime Rib, consider adding red wine to the mix. Bold and less sweet red wines are perfect for this recipe, introducing new flavor notes that bring out the best of the medium to medium-well beef. It’s also just as good for French Dip sauces as the classic au jus flavor.
Tips for Getting Great Juices from Prime Rib
In order to make a true au jus sauce with the best possible flavor, you’ll need around 1/4th cup of drippings and juices from roasted beef. Prime Rib is an ideal cut for creating drippings because of the amount of fat that melts off of the cut as it cooks. This creates a rich au jus sauce with a silky mouthfeel. Of course, some cooking methods make it impossible to gather these juices. If you cook your Prime Rib roast in a grill or smoker directly on the rack, the juices and melted fat will be lost to the coals or heating elements. Using a pan in these cooking appliances may capture a small amount of drippings, but not likely the volume called for in this recipe. For the largest volume of drippings, choose the oven to roast the Prime Rib and use a roasting pan with a small amount of water or beef broth already added. This prevents the drippings from hitting a dry and hot pan and evaporating. The resulting juices will be rich and great enough in volume to make this au jus recipe or even double it in some cases.
What to Use if You Don’t Have Meat Juices
Sometimes even your best efforts to encourage drippings from the Prime Rib will leave you with little to no juice to use. If you really want to smoke or grill your Prime Rib rather than roasting it in a pan, you’ll also have to find an alternative to the usual drippings. In most cases, you can just increase the beef broth by 1/4th cup to compensate for the missing meat juices. Try adding a tablespoon of butter to the mixture as well to increase the fat level of the sauce. Finally, don’t forget the Worcestershire or soy sauce to deepen the flavor. This should lead to a decent au jus sauce even if you have little to no drippings to add from cooking the Prime Rib.
Prime Rib Au Jus Recipe
When your Prime Rib is resting and you’ve transferred it to a carving tray, you can take the rack out of the roasting pan and pour out the juices. If you cooked any onions, carrots, and other vegetables with the roast, make sure to strain them out of the drippings as well when transferring the juices to a bowl.
Ingredients
Classic Prime Rib Au Jus:
- 1/4th cup of meat juices and drippings from the roasting pan
- 2 cups of beef broth
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire or soy sauce (optional)
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Red Wine Au Jus:
- 1/4th cup of meat juices and drippings
- 2 cups of beef broth
- 2 tablespoons to 1/4th cup of bold red wine
- Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
Classic Beef Prime Rib Au Jus:
1. Mix the beef broth and drippings in a small saucepan over low heat, straining the meat juices if needed for a clearer sauce. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the juices slightly reduce.
2. Add the optional Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce and taste. Then add any further salt and black pepper to taste. Serve warm with French Dip sandwiches or poured over sliced Prime Rib.
Red Wine Au Jus:
1. Add the beef broth and red wine to the small saucepan, heating over low heat for 5 minutes while stirring to cook off the alcohol. Then add the meat drippings and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes over low heat, or until slightly reduced.
2. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm and refrigerate any leftover au jus sauce.
Notes
If doubling the recipe, only add 3 cups of beef broth to ½ cup of roast drippings to ensure a rich sauce. Au jus will thicken slightly when stored, so consider refrigerating it overnight in a sealed container before reheating and serving it the next day for a more developed flavor and texture. Discard after three days.
Conclusion
It’s easy to practice your sauce-making skills with au jus. Since you can taste it after just a few minutes of simmering, you can easily adjust it to fit your personal preferences. Consider making it to pair with Filet Mignon as well.
Prime Rib Au Jus Sauce
Ingredients
Classic Au Jus
- 1/4 cup meat juices and drippings from roasting pan
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire or soy sauce (optional)
- salt, to taste
- cracked black pepper, to taste
Red Wine Au Jus
- 1/4 cup meat juices and drippings
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp – 1/4 cup bold red wine
- salt, to taste
- cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Classic Au Jus
- Mix the beef broth and drippings in a small saucepan over low heat, straining the meat juices if needed for a clearer sauce. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the juices slightly reduce
- Add the optional Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce and taste. Then add any further salt and black pepper to taste. Serve warm with French Dip sandwiches or poured over sliced Prime Rib
Red Wine Au Jus
- Add the beef broth and red wine to the small saucepan, heating over low heat for 5 minutes while stirring to cook off the alcohol. Then add the meat drippings and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes over low heat, or until slightly reduced
- Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve warm and refrigerate any leftover au jus sauce