This creamy horseradish sauce for Prime Rib recipe is what Christmas dinner dreams are made of. Homemade Horseradish sauce, along with Horseradish Aioli, are excellent accoutrements to prime rib, smoked prime rib, sous vide prime rib, Sous Vide Chuck Roast, Smoked Leg of Lamb and smoked beef tenderloin.
Lather up your standing rib roast with our Prime Rib Rub and serve it along side this Prime Rib Horseradish sauce, Au Jus recipe for prime rib or Prime Rib Gravy for an unforgettable holiday dinner.
Need prime rib side dish ideas? Check out our list of What To Serve with Prime Rib.
What Is Horseradish
Horseradish is a root vegetable in the same family as wasabi. Horseradish cream sauce for prime rib is a spicy and tangy cream sauce filled with shredded horseradish and basic pantry staples like mayonnaise and spices. It’s spicy like cajun sauce, with more intense heat.
Creamy Horseradish Sauce Recipe
This is the best horseradish sauce. It’s quick and easy to make and flexible to suit your taste buds! Some horsey sauce recipes call for too much of something which leaves an unpleasant and overpowering taste in your mouth. Not this prime rib sauce.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients required to make this steak dipping sauce:
- Horseradish – Either fresh horseradish roots or a jar of prepared horseradish from the grocery store. Store bought jarred horseradish has excess liquid so make sure to drain before using.
- Sour Cream – Don’t skimp, as the sour cream adds the light and creamy texture.
- Mayonnaise – A little goes a long way. Adds body and texture.
- Dijon Mustard – Our “must have” in most dressings or dips. They have something called “horseradish mustard” but that would be overkill on the horseradish.
- Chives – Chopped chives adds a hint of fresh and seasonal flavor.
- Salt and Pepper – Add to taste.
How To Make Horseradish Sauce
To make this fresh horseradish sauce recipe, just add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Does Horseradish Go Bad
Yep – you have two weeks to use up leftover horseradish sauce. Horseradish mayo sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Horsey Sauce
Yes – if you see something called “horsey sauce” it’s one and the same.
What is Horseradish Sauce Good On
So many things! Here are a few of our favorite ways to use horsey sauce!
- Horseradish Sauce For Rib Roast – Perfect pairing for any of our Prime Ribs: Garlic and Herb Prime Rib Recipe, smoked prime rib, sous vide prime rib. All our prime rib recipes are highly rated – check out the reviews!
- Horseradish Sauce For Corned Beef – make a batch of Instant Pot Corned Beef or Sous Vide Corned Beef and dip away!
- Horseradish Sauce For Steak – Makes a great dipping sauce for Sous Vide Ribeye, Smoked London Broil, Denver Steak or Instant Pot Roast Beef. Horseradish sauce for beef is a classic for good reason.
- Horseradish Sauce For Sandwiches – creamy horseradish sauce on this prime rib sandwich or this Tri Tip Sandwich, is a match made in heaven. Roast beef sandwiches, of any kind, can use a hit of the good stuff!
- Horseradish Aioli – Lather up your hamburger bun and utilize it as an aioli. Horseradish sauce with mayo > plain mayo.
- Horseradish Sauce For Beef Tenderloin – serve it alongside smoked beef tenderloin or even individual beef wellingtons.
- Potato Recipes– Add a spoonful to smoked potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes or sous vide mashed potatoes.
Tips and Variations
- Start with the recipe, as written. Taste and adjust as needed. Like tons of spice? Add extra horseradish. Love the tang of vinegar, add an extra splash. It’s a very forgiving horseradish recipe.
- Try and make it about 24 hours before serving to allow the flavors to meld together.
- You can use apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar or even lemon juice as the acid, depending on what you have available and your flavor preference.
- For a mild horseradish sauce, stick with the prepared horseradish as fresh is about twice as spicy.
- Using full fat sour cream and mayonnaise is the way to go as the creaminess and tang will alter with low fat or fat free options.
Prime Rib Reference Guides
- This is one of 8 prime rib sauce recipes to consider serving
- Download our free Temperature Chart For Prime Rib Printable
- Learn how to How To Reheat Prime Rib
- Use any leftover sauce to go with Recipes with Leftover Prime Rib
Drink Pairings
Horseradish goes with a ton of stuff; it really depends on what you’re serving it with. As such, we’ll stick with letting you know the drinks fresh horseradish itself can go in: Michelada and Bloody Mary’s.

Ingredients
- ½ cup Sour Cream, Full Fat
- 2 tbsp Prepared Horseradish, Drained (*Note 1)
- 2 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Chives
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (*Note 2)
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ⅛ tsp Black Pepper
OPTIONAL
- ½ tsp Dijon Mustard (*Note 3)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a small mixing bowl and stir to combine. Taste and adjust ingredients as desired.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Jameson
Friday 25th of August 2023
I used this for my french dip sandwiches and it was awesome!!! Definitely add the dijon
Carol
Sunday 30th of July 2023
Best prime rib horseradish sauce recipe ever tried. A little tangy and just right. The most delicious!!!!!
Kathy Robinson
Sunday 16th of April 2023
This is an excellent sauce for prime rib. The changes I made was using more horseradish, used the suggested champagne vinegar and instead of chives, the tops of green onion minced. Really the best horseradish sauce I’ve ever made. Had requests for the recipe, I gladly shared.
Darcey Olson
Monday 17th of April 2023
Thank you for the nice comment Kathy! I'm happy you enjoyed it!!
Suz
Saturday 31st of December 2022
Very good and easy. I suggest not draining horseradish too much as the liquid has flavor. I added more horseradish with liquid after tasting it. The Dijon mustard makes this better—I tried with and without it and the mustard gives this a stronger flavor to accompany beef. I added about 1 tsp Dijon mustard and used 1-1/2 T dried chives.
Darcey Olson
Sunday 1st of January 2023
I’m glad that liked it! Happy New Year!
William
Sunday 25th of December 2022
Really good Recipe