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Instead of braising in the oven all day, enjoy healthy Pressure Cooker Pork Roast with Apple Gravy.
This is the perfect fall dinner that is ready in little more than an hour.
Why this recipe works:
Instant pot recipes are the absolute best when it comes to dinner time. I have a serious love affair with my pressure cooker. It has completely replaced my crockpot.
- Pork and apples one one of the best pairings!
- A pork shoulder (or pork butt) roast would typically take all day to cook in a slow cooker or in the oven. When using the Instant Pot, however, one hour of pressure cooking creates the most tender and moist pork that just falls apart!
- The saute mode allows you to get a nice brown sear on the meat before you pressure cooking it. This not only adds a wonderful crispy texture, but it creates amazing flavor.
- The roast is cooked with onion, apple, broth and herbs. This combination gets infused into the meat. It is also the base for the gravy.
- The gravy gets made right in the Instant Pot, so no additional pots to dirty!
Ingredients needed:
- Pork shoulder roast (also known as pork butt)
- Salt, pepper, olive oil
- One onion and two apples
- Equal parts chicken broth and apple cider
- Fresh rosemary and sage, plus a bay leaf
- Butter and flour for the gravy
How to make this recipe:
- Step one is to sear the meat until it is nicely browned.
- Then you add onion, apple, apple juice, chicken broth, and a whole bunch of fresh herbs. A little savory and a little sweet is the right flavor profile for this meal. Any time you cook in the pressure cooker, you must add liquid!
- Secure the lid and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes with a slow pressure release.
- I cooked down all those wonderful apples and onions along with the juices from the meat, then I strained out all the solids and thickened it up.
- Finally, create a roux using butter and flour. To that you add the strained liquid. The result was a beautiful savory gravy that tasted like a fall harvest. It reminded me of when I was a kid and we had pork chops with apple sauce for dinner, only much better.
Cooking tips:
- If your meat is frozen or cold, that may increase your cooking time. An additional 10-20 minutes should work. Sure beats the 6-8 hours it would take to braise this meat to tender perfection in a dutch oven or crockpot!
- Any kind of apple will work, but I prefer apple that are both tart and sweet. Pink lady or honeycrisp are what I recommend for this recipe.
- I served this dinner up with some wild rice and fresh green beans sauteed in garlic – YUM! Healthy, fast, and fall flavor for the win!!!
Related recipes:
Love the convenience of cooking a roast in the pressure cooker? You’ll have to try these recipes!
- Barbacoa Beef for the best quesadillas
- Shredded Beef for enchiladas, burritos, or tacos
- Pot Roast
- French Dip Sandwiches
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Pin ItPressure Cooker Pork Roast with Apple Gravy
Instead of braising in the oven all day, enjoy healthy Pressure Cooker Pork Roast with Apple Gravy as a perfect fall dinner in little more than an hour.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pork shoulder roast 3-5 pounds, bone-in recommended
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 2 apples core removed and sliced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 3 fresh sage leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Thoroughly pat dry roast with paper towels. Any moisture will prohibit a nice crust from forming. Season both sides with salt and pepper. If the roast cannot fit into the Instant pot, cut into large chunks that are no smaller than about 4 inches wide.
- Heat pressure cooker to browning (saute mode) setting. Heat oil and once hot, add pork roast. If you cut the roast, you may need to brown the portions in batches to avoid overcrowding. Brown for 5 minutes on both sides. If browning in batches, set the seared pieces aside on a plate and once done browning all the meat, transfer them back to the Instant Pot along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate.
- Add onion, apples, broth, juice, rosemary, sage, and bay leave. Close lid and set to high pressure. Cook at high pressure for 60 minutes. Allow to naturally release pressure once done cooking.
- Once you can remove the lid, carefully remove roast, set on plate, and loosely tent with aluminum foil.
- Strain out all the solids from the liquid by pressing through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids and reserve the liquid for the gravy.
- Using your the Instant Pot on the saute setting, heat butter and flour in the empty hot pot and allow to cook until golden brown while stirring constantly, about 3-5 minutes. Whisk in the hot liquid to form the gravy and stir well until thoroughly mixed and thickened.
- To serve, shred the pork roast away from the bone in large chunks and remove any remaining fat. Smother it with the apple gravy.
Notes
- If your meat is frozen or cold, that may increase your cooking time. An additional 10-20 minutes should work. Sure beats the 6-8 hours it would take to braise this meat to tender perfection in a dutch oven or crockpot!
- Any kind of apple will work, but I prefer apple that are both tart and sweet. Pink lady or honeycrisp are what I recommend for this recipe.
- I served this dinner up with some wild rice and fresh green beans sauteed in garlic – YUM! Healthy, fast, and fall flavor for the win!!!
Nutrition
Calories: 417kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 37g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 138mg, Sodium: 724mg, Potassium: 793mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 220IU, Vitamin C: 8.7mg, Calcium: 41mg, Iron: 2.7mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did you make this? Leave me a comment below
This post was originally created in Sept 2016 and has been updated with more helpful information and cooking tips. Don’t worry – I didn’t change the recipe!
This is in my pot now. I substituted onion powder for real onions as my husband doesnt like them. And I added a splash of orange juice. Should be good.
Should I reduce ingredients or cook time with a smaller roast?
Hi Keshia, I’ve never actually over cooked anything in the pressure cooker, but you could certainly reduce the cooking time. If you do and the roast doesn’t fall apart, just close the lid and give it more time. As far as the gravy, you can reduce the ingredients there as well if you want less.
This was delicious and simple. The gravy was flavorful and really compliments the pork. I served it with sauteed chanterelles. In a few weeks, I’m having company over and will make this with soft polenta, roasted delicata squash and garlicky sauteed mixed greens.
Sounds amazing. I’ll be watching my inbox for the invitation. 🙂
I was so impressed with this roast, but the apple gravy was the the best!!
Thank you! Glad you liked it!
This is amazing. I made as written except I sautées the onions and apples prior to adding liquid, and added a touch of Dijon mustard when I reduced the sauce. Served with rosemary roasted potatoes. Plenty leftover to freeze!
This was fantastic! My whole family loved the gravy and we are going to make it to have available for Thanksgiving.
Thank so much!!
Thanks for letting me know, Kate! -Krissy
I’m going to try this,but i was thinking of using my immersion blender to use all the fruit and veggies to use them up.
I think this is a great idea! I will try that as well.
Discovered this recipe today and omg it was YUMMO. Used my stick blender to whizz up the apples and onions to go with juices into gravy and it was simply divine. This recipe is a keeper!
Thank you for the kind comment, Anna! Glad you enjoyed.
What setting do i use after sautee?
After you saute, you’ll set your pressure cooker to high pressure to continue cooking.
I have a question in the first step, what do you mean by dry roasting the meat after rinsing it?
Pat it down with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.
This was my first time using the foodie pressure cooker and I’m hooked! The recipe was delicious and sooo easy!
Hi I love your recipes and wanted to try this one. I have a power pressure cooker XL and have never actually used it yet. There’s lots of settings on it but I don’t see one for Browning and was wondering what you suggest?
Is there a setting that says sear or saute? Saute is what I use on my IP. -Krissy
This sounds delish! How can this recipe be modified for oven cooking? I do not have an instant pot.
You would have to braise it in a dutch oven. Low and slow. Maybe 250 or 300 F for 6-8 hours?
This was YUMMY, five stars all the way. Love pressure cooker recipes, so easy. Toddler approved as well. Lots of juice to make sauce with after and plenty to freeze for a quick meal later. Thank you.
I can’t wait to try this.
This meal is wonderful and the gravy is so good I wish we had a double batch.