Side Dishes for Prime Rib

Here is a list of popular prime rib side dishes. Bear in mind that the way in which you prepare your rib dictates the best sides: for instance, a savory cajun prime rib will need a couple other cajun dishes to make the meal complete.

Starches

Yorkshire pudding is traditionally paired with prime rib. It can be made using simple ingredients, including the drippings from the prime rib, as well as flour, eggs and milk. Give Yorkshire pudding a slightly different flavor by adding in some thyme. Potatoes are also a standard dish with prime rib. Mashed and baked are always good, but there are plenty of other options. Potatoes au gratin, scalloped potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, stuffed baked potatoes and garlic mashed potatoes all pair well with prime rib. Roasted potatoes or baked potato wedges drizzled with olive oil and topped with basil or thyme are good options for a less formal dinner.

Breads

Yorkshire Pudding – This is Prime Rib’s most famous companion
Bread - A nice crusty bread is great for those who love to sop up their au jus as they improvise ways to get all the great flavors off their plates.
Garlic Bread - slices of custy bread spread with a butter-garlic mixture and broiled until nicely browned

Potatoes - almost any potato dish would work well

Baked Potato - a classic side, served with butter, butter and chives, or sour cream and chives
Parslied Potatoes - boiled potatoes dressed with butter and fresh parsley
Salt Potatoes - small, young spring potatoes are boiled in very salty water and after being drained, the salt forms a thin crust on the potato skins
New Potatoes & Peas - another great side in spring, new potatoes and peas are served in a cream sauce
Susan's Mashed Potatoes - made with sour cream & Parmesan cheese
Mom's Criss Cross Potatoes - potatoes slice in half length-wise, criss crosses are cut in the skin and baked with butter and paprika
Pommes Chef Anne - thinly sliced potatoes are layered decoratively in a frying pan with olive oil and parmesan cheese, cooked on one side, then flipped to cook on the other side
Twice Baked Potato - baked potato flesh mixed with crumbled bacon, Cheddar cheese, chives and sour cream, and stuffed back in the potato skins and baked

Vegetables

Vegetables served with prime rib can range from simple, such as steamed asparagus or carrots, to more complicated dishes like baked blue cheese and broccoli, roasted carrots with shallots, or green beans topped with almonds. While casserole-style vegetables are delicious, they can be filling. Fresh vegetables that are steamed or served with butter or olive oil, rather than baked with other ingredients, are not as filling and retain more nutrients. Prime Rib and Yorkshire pudding are pretty heavy dishes, so you're going to want something to help cut all the fat. A dish made with vinegar is excellent for this.

Braised Brussels Sprouts (garlic and red wine vinegar)

Salads

While a garden salad with dressing always goes well with a prime rib dinner, other salads can help make the dinner special. A salad with spinach, cranberry and creamy blue cheese dressing complements beef well and is not overly filling. Other salads to serve with prime rib are Caesar, Greek, arugula, cucumber and tomato salads. As with appetizers, salads that are light and refreshing are perfect with prime rib.

Green Salad - A traditional blend of American greens with ranch dressing, that can also be mixed into the rib on one’s plate