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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!
I’m making this now and not sure how long to cook. I have a 7 pound center cut boneless pork loin. Do I still cook for 60 minutes? I have an 8 quart instapot 🙂
I would do the 60 minutes and then check with a thermometer when done. You need the internal temp to be at 145F. If not cooked in the middle, close lid and cook maybe 15min longer and check again. Just be sure you set the roast out at room temp for at least an hour before cooking since its so big.
Hi Again Krissy – The Apple Gravy from this recipe is AMAZING ! I even had a 2nd bowl of mashed potatoes with the gravy for dessert instead of my usual ice cream ! Concerned about running the pressure cooker for 60 minutes I cut back the cook time for the pork to 50 minutes and it still came out a bit over cooked and dry.
Next go-round on this one I will cut back to 35 minutes of cook time under pressure and see how that goes. The longest cook time in any of the recipes included with the cooker only go as long as 35 minutes.
I do continue to read articles . recipes that say the newer Duo models of the IP (like the 6 Qrt 7-in-1 Model I just purchased) require 1 1/2 cups – 2 cups of liquid – and do cook at a high temp = shorter cooking time. I see now this recipe originally was created in 2016 – probably when the older models were being used. I hope to do more research as to the differences of the newer models to make sure every recipe comes out perfectly. But I def will make this again and again. The gravy alone is killer ! Everyone in the office asked for a copy of it ! Thanks so much.
Glad you liked it! Yeah… I’m friends with an Instapot expert (https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/). I’m gonna ask her what’s up with the newer model needing more liquid. I just had no idea!
This looks wonderful ! New Instant Pot owner and looking for new recipes to try. I have had a few blips / burns due to “new IP models cook at higher temp / need more liquid than older original models.” I believe some of the recipes I was trying were originally made for earlier models that didn’t cook at such a high temp (?). A good indicator of an older recipe seems to be if they call for less than 9at least) 1 1/2 cups of liquid 92 is better ?) This is the first IP recipe I have read that requires one hour cook time. That seems remarkably long time for an IP ….but again – I am new to this whole thing. I just want to make sure the cook time is accurate for the “newer (2018) models that cook at higher temp?” It is too disappointing to prepare the meal and savor the moment you open the IP only to find the meal is over-cooked – or to have the nasty BURN indicator come on during cooking. Please help – and Thanks !
Hi Rick, I don’t have a newer model and have never heard that. How awful! What I have found, though, is that if you are unsure, more liquid is always an option that works. Also, if the cooking time seems too long for the size of your roast, you can certainly shorten it. Then you can check for doneness, tenderness, and internal temperature. If it needs more time, just lock the lid and cook longer. I’ve done that countless times!
We loved loved loved this recipe!! I’m always a little bit worried trying new recipes from blogs (I’ve been burnt a few times by recipes that didn’t pan out…), I’m so glad we tried this. Rave reviews from all!!
Your narrative calls this a recipe for a pork lion roast, but your recipe calls for a shoulder. Can you confirm the cut? One is leaner and the cooking time would be an impact depending on the cut. Thank you! Flavors look great!
Hi Kabri, Sorry for the confusion! I made this recipe with a pork shoulder. It would work with the pork loin as well, but it would definitely be more lean. I’ll update that info in the body of the post now. Thanks for highlighting!
I made this tonight using a boneless pork shoulder roast and followed the same timing…it turned out so tender and delicious!! Will definitely be making this again!!
This was very good. my pork roast was probably bigger than the recipe called for and the gravy was not thick enough so I added more thickening.
I don’t believe my grocer carries a bone in roast. What would change if I use a boneless roast?
Hi Andrea, You could probably shorten the cook time by about 10 minutes if you use a boneless roast. It’s actually hard to screw up in the pressure cooker!
Thank you.
Krissy, can you please recommend a pressure cooker.
I havea to buy one for some time now but have not been able to make a decision on which one to buy. thank you for your help.
Hi Frank, I have both a Cuisinart and Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I like both but find myself using the Instant Pot more. You can’t go wrong. You’ll LOVE it!