I’ll be honest, this post is more about the pictures than the recipe. Because seriously, Vegetarians aside, who doesn’t love looking at photos of roasted meat?
Not this chick – I could stare at these pictures all day!
It’s like a beautiful, meaty landscape where crispy crust meets tender, succulent shreds of porky goodness! And of course I actually got to eat it – the memory of which almost brings a tear to my eye. It was pork-tastic!
Excuse me while I indulge this memory with a moment of silence……
Soooo you’re probably wondering how you can recreate this masterpiece of Porcine perfection, and the good news is, I’m here to tell you!
This roasted pork recipe is so easy, there is no excuse not to be putting this on your dinner menu ASAP! All you need is time – for some of you that will mean making it on the weekend but it’s totally worth it, I promise! And once you shred the meat, it can be used for all kinds of delicious dishes.
I served it to our guests with corn tortillas, salsa verde, chopped cilantro, lettuce, sliced avocado, Greek yogurt and shredded cheddar cheese. It was a huge hit!
Since I’m doing the Whole 30 this month I ate mine salad style with no dairy – it still tasted amazing!
I ate the leftovers cold out of the fridge for 2 days and then I put the rest in the freezer where it’s destined to turn into a green chili sometime later this month.
You don’t have to go the Mexican route either – this easy roasted pork shoulder would be equally tasty served alongside Cheesy Cauliflower Puree and your favorite vegetable side dish or salad.
Easy Roasted Pork Shoulder
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
An easy roasted pork shoulder recipe that results in tender meat and super crispy skin! Whole 30, Paleo, Keto, Low Carb
Ingredients
- 8–10 lb pork shoulder
- Spice rub:
- 2 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients for your spice rub in a small bowl.
- Remove pork shoulder (or other pork roast) from packaging and rinse under cold water. Using your hands, pat the dry rub all over the surface of the meat. Place in a large roasting pan skin side up. Roast uncovered in a preheated 500 degree (F) oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and roast for an additional 45 minutes per pound.
- Total cooking time for an 8lb roast should be about 6 hours and 20 minutes. Remove the pork roast from the oven and let rest for 30 minutes. The hard outer shell should lift right off like a cap and can be broken or chopped into delicious meat chips! The meat should be tender enough to pull apart with forks. Shred, adjust seasoning if necessary, and serve!
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Roast
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 oz
- Calories: 275
- Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 0g
- Protein: 33g
Keywords: pork, pulled pork, roasted pork, roasting, whole 30, paleo,
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980
Great recipe! I had a 1.6 kg roast with a small bone, and instead of oven searing it, because of its managbe size I an seared it, and roasted for 1 1/2 hours. Result was great but oddly there was still a considerable amount of unrendered fat under the cap. Could I have roasted longer and seen an even better, more tender result? Thanks muchly!
This rub was amazing! However, the meat was so tough still and I cooked it exactly to the directions. I’m very bummed because the flavor is delicious.
★★
Where can I find the recipe for the rub
I cooked my roast according to your directions and it’s not fall-apart tender. Do I need to roast it longer?? The seasoning is delicious but I’m so disappointed about the lack of tenderness. What did I do wrong?? I used a pork shoulder butt with a small bone in, 7.65 pounds – roasted for 20 min at 500, then 4 hrs at 300. Roasting another hour and hoping for the best!
I just have one word. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And so easy to make.
★★★★★
I have a 10 lb roast. I want to make a regular gravy to go with mashed potatoes. Will this method give me plenty of pan juices?
I bought a 9.67lb pork shoulder roast and making it today. I marinated it in the fridge overnight with spices you recommended, it’s sitting out now from 8am til 11am (after mass) then I will follow your cooking time, can’t wait to make this after reading all the reviews. I have small potatoes and would love to cook them with the roast but thinking 5 1/2 hours will be too long and wondering if I should just cook them separate? If so, when should I put them in the oven at 300 degrees where they will also be crispy?? This is also my first time making a pork shoulder. What is a Pernil?? Any suggestions on what to do with the left over meat. I am not a big pulled pork sandwhich fan but I love pork!
Tacos, tamales, enchiladas, burritos…you could check out chili ideas and other soups/stews. Just a few ideas. You could probably substitute it for chicken in a lot of recipes. Instead of chicken salad you could have pork salad.
I just reheat a few slices in butter in a frying pan and eat. Since I’m ketogenic I just have it plain. You could do lettuce wraps too. For those that aren’t, save a little meat and the bone and make bean soup or make Cubano sandwiches.
For the best (and by Best I mean ONLY) Pernil, Google “Daisy Martinez Pernil recipe”. That’s my family’s special occasion meal. (Slice, don’t shred). This recipe is similar, just a dry rub instead of wet and for Melissa’s you can cook immediately, versus the 1-3 day marinade for Daisy’s. I have an untrustworthy oven, so I don’t turn it to 500°. I do 450° for one hour, 400° for one hour, then 350° for the rest of the time. I tent a piece of foil if it looks overbrowned (again, my oven), but very loose and the skin stays crispy.
HTH
PS: depending on the size of your potatoes, you can add them the last hour or so.
Excellent! The crispy skin was amazing and no fuss. Mine was a 7 lb shoulder/butt and I didn’t think I’d use all the salt-spice rub but I did! It was so flavorful!
I used all the highly flavored pan drippings afterward (which were almost blackened) to make your Tomato Pork soup. The shoulder bone was helpful. I added the cut up meat near the end since it was already cooked and I didn’t want to dry it out. I made it stovetop in about 30 minutes rather than crock pot. An absolute hit with adult foodies and a picky young grandson. Thank you for all your great recipes you so kindly share.
★★★★★
That sounds like the perfect use for that bone Susan! And it made me want to make this again ASAP! So thrilled that everyone enjoyed it!
I was always told to place fat side up so melting fat would keep the roast moist, but this recipe says place skin side up?! Is this correct?
Skin side up is fat side up. The fat is under the skin.
Question: I want to make this but I have part of one of those huge boneless pork shoulder cuts from Costco- about 1/3 of their huge ones- so probably around 2-3lbs? How would you recommend changing the cooking times and directions based on that…thanks!!!!
Hi Mellissa,
I will be making this roast for lunch/dinner tomorrow – a Father’s Day treat for yours truly, if you will ;) This will be my first pork roast and I am quite confident to take on your recipe as everything seems quite easy and straightforward, but I have one question. Should I remove the roast after 20 minutes at 500 degrees (F) and tent with foil while I wait for the oven to drop to 300 degrees (F)? Or, should I leave it in the oven and start timing for “30 minutes per pound” at the moment the oven temp drops to 300 degrees?
No need you can leave it in! Enjoy!
Delicious. I’ll be saving this recipe. My roast was only 5.5 lbs. so I adjusted the spices. It was not done in the time frame it should have been, so I dropped the temperature to 290 and cooked for an additional 3 hours. Oh my. What flavor, and so tender!!
What do you think about cutting the shoulder into smaller pieces and using a dutch oven?
That could work for the pulled pork but you won’t get the crispy skin if that’s a consideration!
Hi there ! I’m trying to roast a 15 pound pork shoulder, will I need to cover ? Or change time/temperature being so big? Do I need to add any broth ? I’ll be turning it into pulled pork. Help me please.
Thanks a lot ‘
Hi Mellissa, it’s in the oven now! I don’t see any mention of internal temperature in all the comments or the recipe. What should that be? Thanks!
Typically it’s 160 but that’s not an indicator of doneness in this roast because you want it to cook awhile to get tender.
This may be a stupid question, but I have a smoked pork shoulder, which presumably is “cooked” (in the manner of a ham). I just want to be sure that this recipe is for a smoked shoulder, not a raw cut of meat…?
Sorry for the confusion but this is meant to be raw when cooked – a smoked shoulder will be completely different and would probably dry out if cooked this long.
Omg. I’m trying this recipe today because the reviews are amazing. In the past, I’ve always cooked my pork shoulder in a crock pot or roasting pan with the top on. Super excited to try the lid off method because I want the crispiness and something different with a little flair. I believe this will do the trick. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Terri in Dallas
This was soooo good. The cooking times and temp’s were spot on!
Our 9 year old son even enjoyed it and that is saying something… So, thanks!
I used course Himalayan salt instead of Kosher, so ran it and the rest of the spices through a grinder until fine. The only thing I think I would change is the amount of salt used. Next time I will cut it to 1 tablespoon… and THERE WILL be a next time.
Kudos all around!!!
★★★★★
P.S. What a way to start my 3 weeks of No Carbs!!!
★★★★★
Making this for fam on Monther’s Day. It looks delicious. Husband is a “stick in the oven with no seasoning” kind of guy, so we’ll see how this turns out. Feeling optimistic :)–gave it 5 stars as I just turned the oven down to 300–aside from the burnt rub :/, which it seems like the one in the photo has as well, it smells amazing.
★★★★★
I have a 4lb what would be the instructions then?? Half the times??
And when you turn it down to 300 would you take out the shoulder or just leave it in the oven?? Sorry I’m a new cook.
Leave it in for 30 minutes for every pound it weighs. (Example: 4lbs= 2hrs.)
★★★★★
O.M.G. This was the most delicious food I’ve had in a long time! Certainly from my own oven….thanks :)
★★★★★
A question from a husband who does very little cooking. Do you put a lid on the roasting pan or leave it off to get the crispy skin?
No lid – otherwise the steam would keep the skin from getting crispy. Enjoy!
Do you think this would work in an Instant Pot? Or would it not crisp up well? Would love to hear if anyone has tried that — always looking for recipes I can convert to the IP!
Made this today as written. Didn’t change anything. My roast was nine pounds and it cooked for five hours. I used a bone in shoulder butt. It was PERFECT! The fat was crispy and made the meat moist and flavorful. The meat practically melted apart. It was fantastic. My 8yr old and 5yr old kept running through the kitchen stealing pieces off the counter! Thank you.
★★★★★
So glad it was a hit with the entire family Jessica! Your description of it made me want to make it again ASAP ha ha!
Love the recipe! I made it yesterday. The only thing that I did differently was brine the shoulder overnight for 12 hours in 4 tbs of kosher salt and my fav spices. The cook time on this recipe is perfect. it was delicious and full of flavor without having to poke holes in the meat and adding garlic. This recipe is a staple! Perfect for summer parties because it’ll feed a lot of people and if you turn this into pulled pork you could feed even more.
Yesterday I made a 9.12 lb. Boston Butt with this recipe; I had never bought this cut before but 78 cents per pound allured me. Didn’t know what to do with it until I found this recipe. Added a little olive oil to the dry rub to make a paste, thinking that it would stick on the meat better. Well, I’ll never do that again!!! It was almost impossible to spread on the c9ld meat. After spreading the paste on as best as possible, I put the roast on a rack and refrigerated it overnight. Left it on the rack to roast it. Since we live at 4600 ft. in elevation, i baked it for 25 minutes at 500 degrees, and then 4-1/2 hrs. at 325 degrees, and it was truly fall apart tender!!! I was REALLY PLEASED, thus the 5 star rating. My only criticism is the super saltiness of the meat I did cut the salt to 1/2 Tbs., and the the saltiness was still over-the-top for Hubby and me. Next time (and there will be one), I will cut the salt again, probably to 1 tsp. Remember that too much sodium is not very healthy Now I have 2-1/2 quarts of pork for meals for the 2 of us!!! Thanks so much for the GOOD recipe, Ma’am.
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! One reason your meat could have been too salty is from leaving the paste on overnight which would have allowed it to really soak in. If you plan on doing it that way again then I definitely recommend cutting way back on the salt. Also be sure to use kosher salt (I added that distinction to the recipe) because it isn’t as harshly salty as table salt. Finally, my roast had the fat cap on it so the salt level was higher to help it penetrate the meat, but if your cut doesn’t have the thick layer of fat on it then it will definitely cause the meat to absorb more of the salt. Very glad you enjoyed the recipe otherwise though and thanks for the feedback!
Going to roast a pork shoulder for the first time today for Easter dinner tomorrow. I have seen hundres of way to prepare this cut of meat. I am going to try this method. My shoulder doesn’t have a fat cap but there is a lot of fat on it. I don’t have an instant read thermometer, I have the one you stick in before cooking. Confused on internal temperature, think stick to about 160 to 180. All your comments were very helpful wish me luck. Happy Resurrection Day.
★★★★
Getting ready to cook the pork butt roast, was wandering covered or not?
uncovered!
So I found this recipe about two weeks ago because pork shoulder was on sale and I had no idea how to cook one. Since I’ve found this recipe I’ve made three shoulders, including one today, because my family can’t get enough of it. I’ve even used the spice combo on pork chops and chicken as well and they’ve both come out amazingly. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Glad it was a hit with the whole family Junior – thanks for letting me know! :)
This was Christmas 2015 for us. I made this recipe exactly as written as it was MARVELOUS. Many many thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Fantastic!
★★★★★
Used the cooking formula 4 times. Works great. Pork shoulder comes out crispy outside and tender and flaky inside. I use a mixture of coarse sea salt and crushed whole peppercorns as a rub. And I make deep little cuts into the roast and insert crushed garlic cloves into them, cause my wife loves the smell and flavor. Roasting a 7 pounder right now. Mahalo and Aloha from Vegas.
★★★★★
Looks truly fab and I’m adding the cabbage & carrots as someone suggested (put them all underneath the roast about halfway thru).
& maybe brussel sprouts and celery too lol…always looking for ways to flavor up the veggies!
★★★★★
OMG! this was soooo simple and so delish, this is definitely a regular dish I’ll be making, thank you so very much!
Bought a 9lb pork butt roast @1.05 a lb I had to! Never made one before so found your blog. Am making it tonight. I’ll be sure to post the results tomm. It smells delish. Wont be done until around 9 pm. Ugh lol
I have a 10 lb shoulder to roast. I have seen that a lot of other people cover it for part of the time. Do you ever cover it?
I don’t Adam because I like the skin super crispy and it’s a fatty enough cut not to dry out uncovered for the entire time. That being said it won’t hurt anything if you do cover it!
hi hiMellissa,
Although a good cook, i never cooked a picnic shoulder before. (my 8 lb. shoulder was given to me)
Like Don, I removed the skin before I was finished reading the complete recipe.
Glad i did not throw it in the trash because after searing, I draped the largest part of the skin back over the top, then turned temp down to 300° F.
As with a all my pork roasts, I coated roast with a thin layer of vegetable oil & used dry onion soup mix as the rub.
I also placed the roast in a “V” shaped cooking rack over a lasagna pan. (I use the drippings for gravy)
I have another 3 hours before it comes out of the oven.
Serving with Au Gratin potatoes & broccoli with cheddar cheese sauce. (if i would have thought in advance, i would have baked a loaf of bread)
Thank you for the cooking technique, I would have not known how to cook this without you !!!
I am putting mine in the over in a few minutes. This is my first time on your blog, but not my last. I’ve lost 187 lbs by cutting carbs alomst entirely out of my diet and so now I look for yummy low carb ideas for meals. Wish me luck.
This is by far the best (and easiest) roast recipe I have ever tried. Everyone in my family loves it. Thank you so much
Did you use a fresh pork shoulder? Or smoked?
Do you not put water in baking pan with carrots & cabbage. With out water wont it burn.
This is similar to how I make Pernil. Mine has a little more seasoning. I cut slits in it and stuff with slices of fresh garlic and a little sofrito. The fresh garlic and sofrito and the dry seasoning (same as yours, but I don’t measure) goes on the day before and I let it marinate with the spices in the fridge for 24 hours before cooking. Pernil is the best pork roast. Ever.
This picture just melted my mouth jus by looking at it, so l have decided to do this for my Christmas dinner instead of the beef rib joint. l will let you all know how my Christmas dinner go. you all have a wonderful Christmas and please don’t drink and drive……:)
Found this recipe today and trying it for the first time. It’s only been in the oven 20 minutes and it smells amazing! Can’t wait to taste. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Melissa,
I’m making this tonight, but am not searing the meat since I figure the high temp for 30 minutes is all that is necessary for searing.
But I don’t know if I should put the 4lb cut on a rack to keep it off the bottom of the pan.
what do you think?
Love you site, BTW. I’ve made some truly wonderfully tasty culinary delights!
frankie
I don’t usually raise the meat Frankie, but it probably wouldn’t hurt it! Glad you’re enjoying the recipes, hope this one turns out to be a hit for you as well! :)
well, I don’t know. Maybe because the pork shoulder was from a pastured pig, the whole thing sort of seized-up and got all tight and rubbery. Not to fear! I’m always up to a challenge. So, I stuck it in a dutch-oven, tossed in some onions, a small amount of chix broth, covered it and let it cook another 4 hours at 275°.
It was one of the most delicious pieces of pork I’ve ever had; pull apart tender.
Thank you for your wonderful recipes Mellissa. And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Frankie
I guess I’m an idiot because I removed the skin/fat from my 8lb Pork Shoulder before searing it. It’s not finished cooking yet so I don’t know how it turned out. I figured they left the skin/fat on it to make it weigh more (more weight = $$) I seem to recall seeing other recipes that called for removing the skin but I could be mistaken. Anyway, thanks for the recipe! Maybe I’ll leave the skin on next time we’ll see. i know it was a pain to remove that’s for sure (very thick and tough not to mention ugly!)
You should be OK Don – there is a lot of fat in the shoulder already so it will hopefully not dry out too much. I usually leave the skin on because the fat renders out (and into the meat nom nom) and it gets crispy and delicious, it also protects the meat from drying out during cooking – just a thought for next time!
I have a 10Lb pork roast that was given to me…but it doesn’t have any skin on it. Do you think this recipe would still work with those temps even though there’s no skin? Thanks…looks like it was delicious!
As long as it’s a fatty cut you should be fine! If it’s a pork loin and really lean, you make have to cook it a little less. In this case a meat thermometer is definitely your friend!
Oh, my, that’s gorgeous. I did one a couple weeks ago, too. I just have to eat some of the crispy crust, too. My Dad and I always said that was just about as good as sthe meat underneath…….maybe even better! :) Your spices here sound good together, too. I’ll have to try this!
Thanks buttoni, hope you like it! Hooray for crispy pork skin!
am i supposed to cover with foil or not?
I don’t cover with anything
★★★★★
Me either – covering it would inhibit the skin from getting really crunchy and awesome! :)
I will definitely try this. Do I cover with foil? Can I add carrots,and red potatoes?
Don’t cover with foil or it won’t get crunchy – but yes you can add carrots and potatoes!!!
this is my first time to your blog.. and seriously – you had me at “meat chips” I’m so hungry right now… lol
Welcome Katie! And the meat chips were amazing – my favorite part of the whole thing! nom nom nom…..
So I was the guest….. Loved it!!! Greek yogurt was a great idea and definitely do the salsa verdae! I think it made for a great evening : ) Thanks Melissa!!
Hey Rachel, thanks! Let’s do it again soon, I haven’t laughed that hard in a LONG time! It was awesome! :) XOXO
cooking this!
Let me know how it comes out!
Oh.My.Goodness!! Pork is my favorite food group :)
Loving the cookbook!
Thanks so much – so glad you are enjoying the book! :)
I love this recipe, thank you sooo much!!!