Instant Pot Pork Roast with Vegetables & Gravy

Instant Pot Pork Roast is tender cooked pork shoulder that is served with perfectly cooked vegetables and dressed with gravy- all made in your Instant Pot! The pork is so good it falls apart when you bite into it! This Instant Pot pork recipe makes an amazing family dinner.

If you love this Instant Pot Pork Roast the next recipe you have to try is Instant Pot Boneless Pork Ribs! They are fall apart tender too and finger licking good!

What is Pork Roast

A pork roast is actually part of the whole bone-in pork butt or shoulder, also known as a Boston Butt. It is cut down and deboned into a roast. It comes from the upper part of the shoulder, from the front leg.

When you are looking for it in the grocery store it will be called a Pork Butt Roast or Boneless Shoulder Pork Butt Roast and it will generally be between 2-4 lbs. They usually come tied in a netting, as you can see in the photo above. I like to remove the netting and tie it for cooking (see the video below for a tutorial on tying your pork roast).

For a great recipe using the entire Pork Butt you can check out this recipe for Instant Pot Pork Carnitas.

Trimming your Pork Roast

Your pork roast as mentioned above is actually part of the butt or shoulder, so it will come with a large fat cap on one side. In low and slow barbecue this fat cap will render and create delicious juicy pulled pork.

However, here we are NOT cooking low and slow. We are cooking fast and hot! Therefore you will want to trim some, but not all, of that fat cap. It will not render down completely. And although fat adds amazing flavor to meat, you don’t want a mouth full of pork fat.

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With a sharp knife carve off the fat cap until you have about ⅛ inch of fat remaining. It is ok if you cut through to the meat in some spots.

If there are other large pieces or areas of fat on the roast, trim those down too.

How to Tie a Roast

A pork roast comes as one piece of meat, but generally it has portions that are not as intact as the rest. For this reason it is good to tie your roast into one nice tight piece of meat so you get an even cook.

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NOTE: you will want to do the fat trimming before you move on to tying your roast.

Watch this video to see how to properly tie up a pork roast with kitchen twine.

How to Calculate Instant Pot Cooking Time for a Pork Roast

It is recommended that you cook your boneless pork roast for 15 minutes per pound. See the average cooking times for a roast from 2-4 pounds:

• 2 pound pork roast = 30 minute cook time
• 2.5 pound pork roast = 38 minute cook time
• 3 pound pork roast = 45 minute cook time
• 3.5 pound pork roast = 53 minute cook time
• 4 pound pork roast = 60 minute cook time

No matter what size roast you have, do a 15 minute natural release at the end of the cook time. This allows the meat to “rest” while the pressure is being release and will result in a more tender roast.

Frozen Pork Roast

If you have a frozen pork roast you will want to skip the saute portion of the cooking instructions (or you will have a splattered oil mess!!!). Go straight to the cook time and just add 5 minutes per pound to the cook time. So you will be calculating 20 minutes per pound.

How to Make Instant Pot Pork Roast

After you have trimmed and tied your pork roast it is time to season and brown it!

Set your Instant Pot on saute mode. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and let the pot heat up.

NOTE: did you know there are three saute functions- low, medium, and high. Simply press your saute function button and you can see it click through the settings. Low is more of a warming setting, medium is for browning/sauteing, and high is more for searing and wok style cooking. I mostly saute on medium.

Rub 1 tbsp of dijon mustard over the entire roast, then sprinkle all sides with the packet of Italian dressing mix.

Place the seasoned roast into the pot and brown each side for about 3 minutes per side.

Remove the pork from the pot and set aside. Pour the chicken broth into the hot pot and deglaze the pot, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. YOU CANNOT SKIP THIS STEP OR YOU WILL GET A BURN WARNING WHEN COOKING YOUR ROAST.

TIP: Pull the inner pot up with an oven mitt and lean it to the side to make sure you get all the browned bits up from the bottom.

Place 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 bay leaf, and 1 rosemary sprig in the bottom of the pot. Put the metal trivet in the pot and place the pork roast on the trivet.

Close the lid and set the pot to cook for your calculated time (15 minutes per pound).

Do a 15 minute natural release and then quick release the remaining pressure.

Remove the pork roast and set aside to rest.

Vegetables

Place the cut veggies in the pot, on the trivet. Close the lid and set to cook for 5 minutes on high pressure mode.

Do a quick release and remove the veggies from the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

Gravy

Strain the solids out of the liquid in the bottom of the pot.

Turn on the saute function in the now empty pot. Add 2 tbsp of butter and melt completely. Sprinkle in ¼ cup of flour and stir constantly for 1 minute until it creates a roux.

Slowly pour the strained liquid back into the pot and whisk it into the roux. Keep the saute function on for about 4-5 minutes until the gravy is thickened.

Taste for additional seasoning – salt and pepper.

Don’t forget to remove the sting from the pork roast before serving.

Instant Pot Pork Roast Recipe with Vegetables & Gravy