I warned people about Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast. “Not good in a pressure cooker” I said. Pork loin is a lean cut of meat that needs careful cooking. A properly prepared pork loin is pulled from the heat at precisely 145°F for medium doneness.1 It dries out after that; well done pork loin is dry and stringy.
Exact meat temperatures are not a pressure cooker’s strong point. I can’t check the temperature with my instant-read thermometer; once I lock that lid, I have to hope for the best. When asked, I recommended pressure cooker pork shoulder, which should be cooked to well done and beyond.
Then I stumbled across this Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast recipe on the Pork Checkoff website. That’ll never work…will it? I had to find out, so I fired up my Instant Pot for a test.
My first test wasn’t great – after 20 minutes at high pressure, the pork wound up at 185°F internal – but it caught my attention. The loin wasn’t that bad, actually. Sure, it was overcooked, but it was close enough that I wanted to try again, to get it right.
It took a number of tries – we ate a LOT of leftover pork loin – but eventually I pinned down my technique. Brown the fat cap side of the roast, then lift it out of the liquid with the pressure cooker rack. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes for a medium roast, or 18 minutes for medium-well, with a 15 minute natural pressure release and rest. A “regular” natural pressure release, which usually ended after 10 minutes with the small amount of liquid, wasn’t enough time – it needed the extra time resting to come up to temperature.
Is this my favorite pork loin recipe? No, I’d rather roast it out on my grill. But, for what I thought was an impossible recipe, this is a surprisingly good pork roast. Who knew you could pressure cook pork loin?
Recipe: Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast
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Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast – a quick pork roast with a pan sauce from the pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2– to 2½-pound boneless pork loin roast
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup chicken broth (preferably homemade, or use water)
- juice of ½ lemon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (if using homemade broth or water)
Instructions
- Brown the roast: Sprinkle the pork loin evenly with the teaspoon of salt and black pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in the Instant Pot on sauté mode adjusted to high until the oil is shimmering, about 3 minutes. (Use medium-high heat in a stovetop PC). Put the pork loin in the pot, fatty side down, and sear until well browned on that side, about 3 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate.
- Pressure cook for 15 minutes with a 15 minute Natural Pressure Release and rest: Pour the chicken broth into the pot, and use a flat-edged wooden spoon to scrape loose any browned bits of pork stuck to the bottom of the pan. Put the pressure cooker rack into the pot, then set the pork loin on the rack, fatty side up. Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode depending on your Instant Pot.) Let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, and quick release any remaining pressure. (There probably won’t be any pressure left; my pressure valve dropped after about 10 minutes most times.)
- Defat the sauce and serve: Unlock the pot, lift the pork roast out, and set it on a platter. Pour the juices in the pot into a fat separator and let them settle for five minutes to separate the fat. Pour the defatted juices into a gravy boat (or other serving container) and stir in the lemon juice and thyme. If you are using homemade broth or water, also stir in ½ teaspoon of salt – store bought broth does not need any more salt. Slice the roast, drizzle with a little of the sauce, and serve, passing the rest of the sauce at the table.
Notes
- Brining: If you plan ahead, brine the pork loin – it will come out much juicier. Instead of sprinkling the loin with salt and pepper: 3 to 8 hours before cooking, dissolve ¼ cup fine sea salt in 1 quart of water, submerge the pork loin in the brine, and refrigerate. Remove the loin from the brine, pat it dry with paper towels (don’t rinse it), and continue with browning the fatty side of the pork loin.
- Smaller or larger roasts? This recipe is not as flexible as most, because you don’t want to overcook your pork loin. A smaller roast will probably overcook, and a larger roast is probably too wide to fit in your Instant Pot.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Fat separator
- Rack (this silicone bakeware sling with handlesis my favorite)
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Instant Pot Pork Loin Roast, Pressure Cooker Pork Loin Roast
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Pressure Cooker Beef Pot Roast
My other Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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- According to the National Pork Board, pork should be cooked to 145°F, measured with an instant-read thermometer, and then rested for 3 minutes. I am willing to live dangerously, and cook it to 135°F (medium-rare) sometimes. ↩
I used a larger roast & cut it in half width wise before I started. It came out amazing. This was the 1st time using it! I froze the extra juice to make more gravy in the future.
★★★★★
I just got an instant pot to cook artichokes.
Worked so well I tried frozen chicken next.
Than I decided to try a cheap pork loin roast to experiment on. I have never cooked a roast of any kind before. Found your recipe which sounded the easiest and tried it today. Unbelievable. Came out perfect, just a touch of light pink throughout the whole roast. Juicy and tender. Can’t wait to try more of your instant pot recipes.
★★★★★
Thanks!
Made this tonight with a pre seasoned pork loin. Amazing!! Melted in my mouth
★★★★★
Literally threw this together between meetings, turned out perfect.
★★★★★
Trying this tonight! Mine is about 3.5lbs, but bone in. I have an 8qt IP if that matters. Any thoughts on adjustments for the bone-in?
I’m probably too late about this but…I really don’t know what a bone-in roast will do in the Instant Pot. I’ve never tried it. I assume it will take more time, but I don’t have a good guess as to how much more…
If you do try it, let me know how it goes- I’m curious.
Amazing! I cheated and used a ready-made lemon-pepper marinade but will try yours next time.
Cooked a 4# pork loin (cut into thirds) exactly as directed and it was amazing! My hubby came back for seconds and he is my food critic!
I too have been trying to figure out the right pressure cooking times for a pork loin and I will search no further!
Thank you!!!!
★★★★★
You’re welcome!
Turned out great soaked for 3 hrs in the salt brine used kosher salt instead of sea salt.
★★★★★
First meal in our new Instapot….turned out very well. Need to tweek a bit as I used a 4.5lb roast but at 18 minutes it was just over 150 deg.. Juices made amazing gravey! Thanks Mike.
★★★★★