Instant Pot Pork Roast with Vegetables & Gravy

Instant Pot Pork Roast is tender cooked pork shoulder (or pork butt) that is served with perfectly cooked vegetables and dressed with the most flavorful 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 Beef Pot Roast, and then Instant Pot Boneless Pork Ribs! They are fall apart tender too and finger licking good!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot you can also make an amazing Pork Shoulder Roast in the oven.

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 or Instant Pot Pulled Pork.

Pork Tenderloin or Loin

Pork Tenderloin or Pork Loin is not the same thing as Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder. Both the loin and tenderloin are more lean than the butt/shoulder.

That is why they have very different cooking methods and times!

If you have a pork loin check out this recipe for Roasted Rosemary Pork Loin.

If you have a pork tenderloin check out this recipe for Grilled BBQ Pork Tenderloin, or Marinated Pork Tenderloin.

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 with the Instant Pot! Therefore you will want to trim some, BUT NOT ALL of that fat cap because it will not render down completely. And although fat adds amazing flavor to meat, you don’t want a mouth full of pork fat.

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.

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

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.

Step by Step Pressure Cooking Instructions

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

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

Instant Pot Tip: did you know there are three sauté functions- low, medium, and high. Simply press your sauté 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 sauté on medium.

Rub 1 tablespoon 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.

Pro Tip: DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP OR YOU WILL POSSIBLY GET A BURN WARNING WHEN COOKING YOUR ROAST. 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 tablespoon 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. (using the metal trivet is optional)

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 from the Instant Pot and set aside to rest. BUT leave the liquid and seasonings in the pot for the veggies and gravy!

Pork Temperature

If you followed the weight/time cooking guide then the pork roast should be cooked perfectly tender and juicy!

However if you want to check you can use an Instant Read Thermometer. Your pork roast should be cooked to about 145-160 degrees internal temp.

The temperature will rise a few degrees while it rests. But if your roast is under 145 then you may want to pop it back in the Instant Pot with the veggies in the next step.

Or you can slide it in the oven at 300-350 degree oven while you cook the veggies and make the gravy.

Vegetables

Veggies cook very quickly in the Instant Pot, so you don’t want to add them at the beginning with the pork roast.

Also you will want to cut the veggies into larger sizes, around 1 inch pieces at least, see the photo below:

Place the cut veggies in the pot, on or off 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

There will be some really delicious liquid left at the bottom of the pot, strain the solids out of that liquid.

Turn on the sauté function in the now empty pot. Add 3 tablespoon 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 sauté function on for about 4-5 minutes until the gravy is thickened.

Taste for additional seasoning – salt and pepper.

Serving

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

Slice the cooled pork into ½ inch thick slices. Pork gravy over top and serve veggies on the side.

Side Dishes

This is pretty much an all in one dinner since you have the veggies and potatoes to serve with the pork roast slices.

However if you want it to be a larger family style dinner you can absolutely add some of these dishes:

• Broccoli Bacon Salad
• Cranberry Salad or Raspberry Jello Salad
• Corn Casserole or Homemade Stuffing
• Rolls and Butter

You can also sub another veggie for the red potatoes and make these Mashed Potatoes to serve instead! (or these Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes)

More Amazing Pork Recipes to Check Out

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