This Instant Pot pork roast recipe features tender juicy pork shoulder topped with a flavorful gravy and served with potatoes and carrots. It's delicious comfort food and a great choice for an easy weeknight meal.
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Why this recipe works
The Instant Pot is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. It makes short work of dishes that normally require long cooks like dried beans in my baked beans recipe and my white bean and chicken sausage soup. And it's perfect for roasts like this one and my Instant Pot London Broil. It keeps the meat juicy and tender and cooks in no time at all!
What cut of pork to use
Pork shoulder aka "pork butt" or "Boston butt" is my recommendation for this dish. It is a flavorful, well marbled cut of meat, but it typically requires a long cook time to break down the fat and connective tissue to give you juicy, melt in your mouth tender meat. Cooking pork roast in an Instant Pot speeds up that process and makes it possible to make this delicious dish any night of the week!
How to prepare the pork
Pork shoulder is typically sold with a large fat cap which is great for keeping the meat moist during low and slow cooking, but not needed for this dish. Trim off any large pieces of fat and gristle from the outside of the roast. You want a fairly uniform shape so that the meat will cook evenly. It may be necessary to tie the roast together with butcher's twine after trimming.
Season the pork with 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary, ½ teaspoon of dried thyme, salt, and pepper.
How to cook pork roast in an Instant Pot
Note: this recipe was developed on a 6 quart Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus.
- Set your Instant Pot to saute mode and allow it to preheat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the pork and sear for 2-3 minutes per side until browned. Remove the pork and set aside.
- Add more oil to the pot if needed then add in the onions and celery. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Turn off the pot and add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
- Pour in the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of your pot. Add the pork roast back to the Instant Pot along with the rosemary sprigs. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Quick vent the pressure until the float valve drops before removing the lid.
- Add the potatoes and carrots to the pot and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes then quick vent the pressure. Transfer the pork roast to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil.
- Pour the vegetables and cooking liquids into a large bowl or container. Then strain the liquids back into the pot with a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the vegetables and cover to keep warm.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute. Combine ¼ cup of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a slurry, then stir in with the cooking liquids and bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, then turn off the pot. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Roughly chop the roasted pork and spoon the sauce over top, then serve with the vegetables.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
Reheat in the microwave until warmed through. For larger servings reheat the meat and veggies in a 325°F oven and the gravy in a small pot over medium heat.
Expert Tips and FAQs
You can replace a ¼ to ½ cup of the stock with a dry white wine to give the sauce a brighter, more complex flavor. For this, I reccomend adding just the wine to the pot after cooking the celery, onion, and garlic in step 3. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot and allow the wine to simmer for 1-2 minutes before adding in the stock and continuing the recipe. This will reduce the wine a bit and cook off the alcohol.
I love to serve this dish with potatoes to soak up the delicious gravy, but you can definitely swap out these vegetables for others. Green beans are a great option for a green vegetable. Depending on the vegetables you use, you may need to alter the cook time and they may alter the taste of the finished gravy.
Pork loin will work for this recipe, but you will need to reduce the cooking time to around 20 minutes to avoid overcooking the leaner meat. Carve the finished pork loin into 1 inch thick slices to serve.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot London Broil
- Instant Pot Pork Chops with Gravy
- Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup
- Instant Pot Southern Style Green Beans
- White Bean Soup with Kale and Chicken Sausage
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Pork Roast with Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pound pork shoulder (also called pork butt or Boston Butt), trimmed
- 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus 2 small sprigs
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 medium celery stalks, rough chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 pounds baby potatoes
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup water
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch
Instructions
- Trim off any large pieces of fat or gristle then season the pork with 1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary, ½ teaspoon of dried thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Set your Instant Pot to saute mode and allow it to preheat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then add the pork and sear for 2-3 minutes per side until well browned. Remove the pork and set aside.
- Add more oil to the pot if needed, then add in the onions and celery. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Turn off the pot and add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
- Pour in the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of your pot. Add the pork roast back to the Instant Pot along with the rosemary sprigs. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Quick vent the pressure until the float valve drops before removing the lid.
- Add in the potatoes and carrots alongside the pork and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes, then quick vent the pressure. Transfer the pork roast to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil.
- Pour the vegetables and cooking liquids into a large bowl or container. Then strain the liquid back into the pot with a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the vegetables in the bowl and cover with a lid or foil to keep warm while making the gravy.
- Set the Instant Pot to saute. Combine ¼ cup of water and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to make a slurry, then stir the mixture into the cooking liquids and bring to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gravy thickens then turn off the pot. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Rough chop the roasted pork and spoon the sauce over top then serve with the vegetables.
Notes
Nutrition
* All nutrition information we provide are estimates based on third party calculators. We encourage you to calculate these on your own for accurate results.
Lucille Sandoval says
Can I use pork tenderloin for this recipe? Do I adjust the time for the pork tenderloin?
Scott says
No, pork tenderloin will not work for this recipe. The lean meat needs a much shorter cooking time.
Amy Robinson says
Love the recipe i adjusted the seasoning i have not yet mastered making gravy my gravy didn't thickin but it tasted good
Amy says
I tried this tonight and all 4 of my kids liked it and asked for seconds! And my husband said it should go in our regular rotation, he really enjoyed it. I thought it was super easy to put together and so much flavor for minimal effort. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Scott says
Thanks so much Amy!
Jo says
Delicious! We like our carrots and potatoes to be a little bit softer than what 4 minutes in the instant pot would allow. I took the pork out after 40 minutes then added the potatoes and veggies and pressure cooked for 15 minutes. Perfection.
JimmyB says
I cooked a pork roast in the Instant Pot last night and it was delicious! I did not follow this recipe exactly but used it as a framework for my needs. I had a 3.5lb pork butt roast. Instead of doing the saute in the Instant Pot I browned it in an air fryer. I seasoned it similarly to the recipe and used 1 can of chicken broth. Because it was a larger roast I cooked it for 70 minutes. There was a good amount of broth so I was able to add some flour and have a generous serving of gravy. Thank you for posting this guide to cooking a wonderful pork roast dinner.
Scott says
Thanks JimmyB!
Tina says
Extremely easy and delicious, I will definitely be making this again.
Scott says
Thanks so much Tina!!!
Ssf says
Makes a nice soup if not going for thickening
Nancy Olpin says
Five star.