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This delicious Instant Pot Pork roast cooks up in its own gravy and is tender, flavorful and sure to be a hit with the family! This recipe for a pork roast in an Instant Pot is not only super simple and easy to make, but it is also insanely fast as well!
Make sure to refer to this super simple seasoning guide for Pork Roast Seasoning for your pork roasts (included in the recipe card). If you are looking for a pork shoulder recipe you could also make my Instant Pot pulled pork.
Instant Pot Pork Roast
The only annoying thing about making a delicious pork roast for the whole family is how long it takes. Hours in the oven, constantly checking its temperature and hoping that it doesn’t get too dry – surely there’s an easier way?
Instant Pots are an incredibly handy thing to have in the kitchen, but there can be a bit of buyer’s remorse once you’ve made the few recommended recipes that the manufacturer provides. However, an Instant Pot is basically an instant cheat code into turning meals like a pork roast into a fast and easy meal that comes out perfect every time. If you build a good flavor base by browning the meat and deglazing, you basically cannot go wrong.
Instant Pot Pork Roast Ingredients
Check out the exact quantities for this recipe in the card down below.
- Pork shoulder or pork butt – not usually the best for roasting, but a pressure cooker turns this into a wonderfully tender, sliceable roast! A great way to enjoy this cut of meat instead of the usual pulled pork.
- Olive oil
- Dried rosemary
- Garlic
- Dried thyme
- Dried sage
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Chicken broth
- Onion
Instant Pot Pork Roast Seasoning
- Combine the oil, rosemary, garlic thyme, pepper, and salt in a small bowl
- Dry the meat with paper towels and then rub the herb paste all over the meat
- Heat, your Instant Pot with the Sauté button, add the oil and then sear your pork roast inside the Instant Pot
- Remove the pork, and then pour in the broth and deglaze by scraping the browned bits with a wooden spoon
- Add the onions, add your pork back in on top of the trivet, and cook at high pressure for 60 minutes
- Let the pot naturally release for 20 minutes and serve your pork
Why Use an Instant Pot?
Instant Pots are basically a home cook’s cheat machine, using the power of pressurized cooking to turn long cooking times into a delicious meal incredibly easily.
The biggest challenge of making any dish involving pork shoulder is getting enough heat into the collagen in the tough meat so that it becomes delicious rather than rough and chewy. The extreme pressure Instant Pots create makes cooking pork shoulders an absolute breeze, turning what could be a multi hour cooking process into only 60 minutes.
Cooking the Roast Until it Shreds
This roast is sliceable, which isn’t usually how you want a pork shoulder but the pressure cooking renders such a tender roast that you can eat it like you would a normal roast. If you want a pork roast that shreds, you will need to cook it another 60 minutes. You have two choices with this recipe and both are great!
How Do You Know When Your Pork Is Done?
Anyone that has ever spent multiple hours fraught with anxiety over accidentally overcooking your pork shoulder (or, worse, undercooking it and getting someone sick!) knows the pain of trying to perfectly cook a pork dinner.
While a handy instant read thermometer like a Thermapen is super useful, an Instant Pot makes the whole thing a breeze. Assuming your pork shoulder is around 3 pounds (a pretty typical weight for a pork roast), then it should come out perfectly cooked after an hour in the Instant Pot.
Using a thermometer, a pork roast is done when it hits 145 Fahrenheit. Keep in mind, though, that this will produce medium rare pork that is a little bit pink inside. While this is perfectly safe to eat, some people get a bit squeamish about pink pork, so if you want to take it all the way to 155 Fahrenheit and serve it medium well, that’s totally fine as well.
The Instant Pot is going to cook this roast well past any of those temperatures, and thankfully the moisture in the pot is going to prevent it from drying out like it would in a conventional oven!
What to Serve with Instant Pot Pork Roast
Try some of these side dishes that are reader favorites!
Looking for more delicious Pork recipes? Try these:
Happy cooking! If you are looking for another unique way to cook a pork shoulder or butt, try my Boston butt recipe!
Love,
Karlynn
Instant Pot Pork Roast
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Course
- Main Course
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 6
- Calories
- 237
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 3 pound pork shoulder or pork butt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, rosemary, garlic, thyme, sage, pepper and salt.
- Pat the pork roast dry with paper towels. Leave the strings on if you want to retain the shape. Strings help with more uniform cooking as well.
- Rub the herb paste over the pork roast.
- Select the Sauté button to heat the Instant Pot.
- Once heated, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
- Place the pork roast into the Instant Pot, and sear until browned nicely on all sides.
- Remove the pork roast from the Instant Pot and place on a plate.
- Pour the broth slowly into the Instant Pot, deglazing the bottom by scraping any browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add in the onions.
- Press the cancel button on the Instant Pot.
- Place the Instant Pot trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Place the browned roast on top of the trivet.
- Cover the Instant pot, lock on the lid according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Set the steam release valve to Sealing.
- Select high pressure and make the cook time to 60 minutes.
- Once the 60 minutes has elapsed, let the pot naturally release for another 20 minutes. This is a great time to prep your vegetable side dish etc.
- If needed, do a quick release according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Remove the roast and plate. Remove the strings, slice and serve!
Pork Gravy
- Once you remove the pork from the Instant Pot, whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/3 cup of cold water. Turn the Instant Pot to sauté, then whisk just enough of the cornstarch slurry into the drippings in the pot to thicken it. Cook a couple of minutes more, whisking. Taste test, add salt and pepper to taste, then transfer to your gravy server.
Recipe Notes
- If you want a roast that shreds, you will need to cook it another 60 minutes on high pressure, for a cook time of 120 minutes on high pressure.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Melissa Kandah says
My pork roast wasn’t even fully defrosted when I started it and it still came out perfect. This recipe is a keeper!
Cathy Lawdanski says
So good I made it twice in the same week. Once for an hour to slice.
And onces for 2 hours to shred and freeze!
Sandi says
Made this in my first adventure using an insta pot. I added three handfuls of baby carrots along with the onions. Everything came out perfectly cooked & wonderfully flavored. I will definitely make this again!
Rebecca Eastman says
Can you add veggies to the instant pot with the roast?
Cynthia W says
Will this turn out well if I use a pork loin roast? If the loin roast is 5# how much time to you recommend for medium doneness? TIA
kathysimm says
Found myself in a time crunch with company coming for dinner. Grabbed a boneless pork roast…followed the recipe exactly and it turned out AMAZING!! Hard to believe such a delicious and tender roast was made in a little over an hour! I will definately be using this one again. Everyone loved it.
Diabe says
Not all of us have or use an insta pot. Would appreciate if you could use slow cooker as well as insta pot for these recipes. Thank you
Lisa says
I have a 6lb pork butt and going to try your recipe tomorrow for dinner. Would 60min still work for 6lbs or do I need to add in more min to the timer to make sure the pork is cooked just right?
Karlynn Johnston says
I would give it another 20 minutes high pressure to make sure it’s nice and tender!
Lisa says
Thank you so much ❤️❤️ I’ve got the roast brewing now in the pot and the house smells amazing already!!!! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
Lisa says
I googled Instant Pot recipe and this popped up, I would google slow cooker pork roast recipe. Something good should pop up for you for the slow cooker. Hope this helps.