Instant pot pork roast time per pound

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 Beef Pot Roast, and then 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.

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 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 tablespoon 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 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. 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 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.

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 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 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.

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  Kitchen twine

• ▢

• ▢ 2-4 lb Boneless Pork Butt Roast
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• ▢ .7 oz packet Italian dressing seasoning and mix
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 small rosemary sprig ** OPTIONAL you can leave it out completely or sub in 1 sprig of thyme.

Vegetables

• ▢ 7 red potatoes quartered
• ▢ 1 yellow onion cut into ⅛ths
• ▢ 3-4 carrots cut into large chunks- about the size of the potato quarters
• ▢ 5 cremini mushrooms whole
• ▢ 3 celery ribs (individual stalks) cut into large chunks- about the size of the potato quarters

Gravy

• ▢ 2 tablespoon butter
• ▢ ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ reserved liquid from the bottom of the pot strained of solids

Prep the Pork Butt Roast

• Trim the fat cap on the roast, this will be a large white area of fat on one side of the roast. Trim it down to about ⅛th of an inch thick. It is ok if you trim through to the meat in some areas.

  Trim up any other large areas of fat.

• Tie the pork roast with kitchen twine. See the video below for a visual tutorial on tying a roast.

• Rub the roast completely with 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard. Sprinkle the Italian dressing mix packet on all sides of the roast.

Brown the Pork Roast

• Turn the Instant Pot onto saute mode, medium, and add 2 tablespoon olive oil. Wait until it becomes hot (it will read hot on the Instant Pot display screen).

  NOTE: If you are using frozen pork roast, skip this step.

• Place the seasoned pork roast in the pot and brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

• Remove the roast from the pot and set aside.

Deglaze the Pot

• YOU CANNOT SKIP THIS STEP OR YOU WILL GET A BURN WARNING DURING PRESSURE COOKING.

• Pour the 2 cups chicken broth into the pot, keeping the saute function on. Scrape the bottom of the pot until ALL the brown bits are scraped up.

  Tip- you can lift your pot with an oven mit (it will be hot) and tilt it to the side to see if you got all the browned bits up.

• Add the 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 rosemary sprig and 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce to the pot liquid. It will be very dark in color, that is ok, it is all flavor!

Cook the Pork Roast

• Add the trivet to the pot and place the pork on the trivet.

• Pop the lid on the pot and lock the pressure valve in place. Set the pot to cook on meat/stew mode for 15 minutes per pound. Ex. For my 3 lb roast it was 45 minutes.

  NOTE: if you are using a frozen pork roast calculate 20 minutes per pound with a 15 minute natural pressure release.

• Do a 15 minute natural pressure release, then quick release any remaining pressure.

• Remove the roast from the pot and set aside to rest. Leave the liquid in the pot to cook the veggies.

Cook the Vegetables

• Add the veggies to the pot and set it to cook on pressure mode, high, for 5 minutes.

• Do a quick release of pressure.

• Remove the veggies, plate them with the roast for serving.

• Season the veggies with salt & pepper.

Make the Gravy

• Strain the solids from the pot liquid by putting a mesh colander over a bowl. Discard the solids.

• Turn the now empty pot on to saute mode. Melt the 2 tablespoon butter in the pot. Sprinkle ¼ cup all purpose flour into the melted butter and whisk together to make a roux.

• Pour 2 ½ cups of the reserved and strained liquid into the roux. Whisk vigorously to get rid of any lumps. Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes until it is thickened to your liking.

  Taste for seasonings.

Serve!

• Remove the string binding from the roast. Serve the roast cut into slices with the veggies and the gravy on the side.

PORK ROAST COOK TIME: The listed timing is for a 3lb. pork roast. If your size differs, calculate the time using 15 mins per pound, and a 15 minute natural pressure release.

Don’t forget to take into account the fat cap that you remove before cooking. For example my pork roast was about 3.5 pounds, but I removed quite a bit of fat before cooking so I calculated my cook time on 3 pounds.

Storing & Reheating: Store any leftover pork roast and veggies together in the refrigerator, in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Store the gravy in a separate container. 

Reheat leftovers by the portion in the microwave. Heat the pork and veggies together for 1 minute. Add the gravy and heat for an additional 30 secs to 1 min. 

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Serving: 2slices of pork

If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.

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