Air Fryer Pork Roast has delicious juicy pork meat with crispy crunchy crackling. Seasoned with spices to enhance the flavor of the pork, bathed in oil and salt then cooked to perfection this air fryer roast pork makes the ultimate special occasion meal or Sunday roast!
Recipes like the Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops, Thai Minced Pork, Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs and the Pork Mince Noodles offer a variety of cuts of pork being used in different ways.
The Pork Leg Roast, Roast Pork Shoulder and Slow Cooker Roast Pork With Crackling offer different ways to roast pork with crackling.
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🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the air fryer roast pork shoulder recipe in the points below:
- Everyday ingredients: you will be able to get everything you need to make the recipe from the local grocery store. Each of the ingredients are year round available and as such will be easy to get your hands on.
- Roast dinner: is it even a weekend if there is no roast dinner on the menu 😂? Roasting pork in the air fryer is a great alternative to a lamb roast in the oven. It gives you a fantastic juicy pork roast and crispy pork skin that is a little moreish!
- Family friendly: if you are looking for a dinner recipe that the whole family will love this is it! There won't be any need to plate 2-3 different things for dinner as everyone can enjoy this pork roast at the same time. It is an excellent recipe for all ages.
- Leftovers: leftover pork roast allows you to make pork sandwiches, rolls and more! There is so much you can do the next day instead of eating the leftovers as a 'same, same meal'. So grab some fresh bread rolls and get your pork and gravy on!
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the air fryer roast pork shoulder recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Salt: a generous amount of salt is used to coat the pork rind.
- Olive oil: to help ensure the crackling is as crunchy as we can possibly make it.
- Onion powder: used as one of a trio of ingredients for a seasoning mix to boost the flavor profile of the pork.
- Garlic powder: as above.
- Fennel: pork and fennel is a match made in heaven! The complimentary aniseed flavor both smells and tastes amazing 😉👌.
- Pork: I like to use pork shoulder for this recipe as I find it leads to more juicy results than pork leg. Both can however, be used. We want to use a boneless cut of pork.
🍳 Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the roast pork in an air fryer. We start by seasoning the pork.
- Season the pork (Photo 1)
👩🍳 How to Make Air Fryer Pork Roast
To make air fryer pork roast we start be preparing the pork.
To do this place the pork shoulder onto a clean and dry cutting board. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the twine from the pork (discard) and then flip the pork to flesh side up.
Unfold the pork and sprinkle it with garlic powder, onion powder and the fennel seeds. Then use your hands to massage this combination into the pork.
Next flip the pork over to the skin side up and roll it back together. Fold a piece or 2 of paper towel and use this to thoroughly dry the pork skin.
- Pat the pork skin dry (Photo 2)
Once the skin has been dried with the paper towel we want to pour the olive oil over the top. Then we take a sharp knife and make cuts in a diamond pattern across the rind. If these are done for you (grocery store or butcher) you can skip this step.
- Cover with oil (Photo 3)
Let the oil naturally cover the pork and use your fingers to massage it in.
- Sprinkle with salt (Photo 4)
Now cover the oil layer with salt.
- Ready for the air fryer (Photo 5)
Now that the pork has been seasoned and prepped with the oil and salt we are ready to cook it!
We use a combination of both high heat to begin with (to start the crackling off) and low heat to ensure that the pork is cooked through.
After that we can give a final blast of high heat to the crackling if we wish to as a means to finish or off. It is a good idea to have a meat thermometer on hand as we use this to determine if the pork is fully cooked. It gives us more accuracy than simply looking at the meat and guessing if it is done or not.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
After you have cooked your crispy pork roast you are going to want to present it as if it is 'your masterpiece!'.
The best way to do so is to grab a large plate, load it with the carved pork and surround it with a ton of your favorite roast vegetables.
I like to use a combination of green beans, broccolini and potatoes.
For a really authentic 'pork and fennel' experience you might like to try the Caramelised Fennel or some of the Quick Caramelised Onions if they are more your thing.
Or for other vegetables types you might like the Crumbed Mushrooms or Air Fryer Breaded Mushrooms.
If potatoes are your thing try the Duck Fat Roast Potatoes, Potato And Broccoli Bake, Potato And Ham Bake, Creamy Garlic Potatoes or the Boiled Garlic Butter Potatoes.
Gravy is a must to pair with your air fryer pork and store bought packet gravy is totally fine (and a time saver too!). Or apple sauce and I have a recipe Apple Sauce For Pork Belly that works across a variety of pork cuts. Black pepper cracked over the top is the pop on the top to make the finishing touch.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
If you have leftovers you can transfer these into a couple of sealed airtight containers. They can be kept in the fridge for 3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.
How to Freeze
Or portion leftovers into ziplock bags. Push down to remove the air and seal then stack these in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
For refrigerated leftovers, transfer to a bowl and heat on high in the microwave for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.
For frozen leftovers allow these to thaw. Once they have use the step above to reheat in the microwave, however they will take a little bit longer so heat for an extra minute or so.
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- For other dried spices try a little cumin or paprika. These can also be combined with the ones used in the recipe card.
- For alternative vegetables to the ones shown in the photos throughout the post you can use pumpkin, sweet potato, snow peas or snap peas.
- You can use a smaller piece of pork shoulder if you wish to. For a 1-1.5kg portion you will cook the pork for about an hour - hour plus. The process is the same, the cooking time is the only thing that will change.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- To ensure that the pork skin is dry which will allow for crispy crackling place it under covered in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour up to overnight prior.
- After you have rolled the pork back up once seasoned you can use kitchen twing to roll and hold it into a set shape if you wish too. The reason I don't is that I find the sides of the pork don't get as much crispy crackling as when the meat is allowed to expand organically as it cooks.
- I highly recommend the use of an instant read thermometer for this recipe! It is so easy to stick it into the meat and check that the pork is cooked thoroughly and to the right internal temperature. Without this there is only 'guess work' to tell you if the pork is cooked or not.
- I do spray the air fryer basket with cooking oil to ensure that the pork won't stick or become stuck after it is cooked.
- If the cooking element touches the top of the pork it can leave scorch marks, so keep an eye out for this and move the meat to a slight angle if needed to avoid this issue.
- If you find that your meat is cooked but the crackling needs a little bit more you can remove the crackling and cook that (without the meat underneath) for a little bit longer until it reaches that crispy crackling perfection. (Audible crunch!)
- Once the pork is cooked we want to leave it rest for a bit before we carve it. I like to leave it in the air fryer basket for this time. This ensures that the crackling doesn't get pulled off the top of the cooked pork until we are ready to chop it up.
- If pork is your favorite protein to cook with then you might also like the Slow Cooker Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Sticky Pork Rashers or the Pork Meatballs In Tomato Sauce.
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use the air fryer to cook pork roast.
Unwrap the pork shoulder and season it. Then flip it over and fold it back together. Use paper towel to pat the skin dry. Then cover the pork rind with olive oil. Next liberally sprinkle salt over the oil layer. Start the cooking process at high heat to get the crackling happening and then reduce to low heat until the pork is cooked through.
To do a pork roast in the air fryer it is not necessary to use foil.
It will take 1 hour and 30 minutes for a 2kg boneless pork shoulder to cook in the air fryer.
To get perfectly crispy pork crackling in the air fryer you need to use a combination of high heat to start with and then low heat for the remainder of the cook time.
😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes
I like to offer you a wide range of dinner ideas so that you can keep the main meal of the day interesting and inspired. Here are some more recipes that you might like to try for 'din dins':
- Chicken And Rice Tray Bake
- Savoury Mince Pasta
- Fettuccine Alfredo With Tuna
- Savoury Mince Pies
- Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken
- Chorizo Fried Rice
- Chicken Yaki Udon
- Beef Pesto Pasta
It is time to get our air fryer roast pork on my friends! You can also find all of my air fryer recipes, dinner recipes or popular recipes in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Pork Roast
Ingredients
- 2-2.5kg/4.8-5 pound boneless pork shoulder Note 1
- 1 teaspoon onion powder Note 2
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder Note 3
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds Note 4
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
To serve (optional)
- roast vegetables
- gravy
- black pepper
Instructions
- Season: use kitchen scissors to remove any butcher's string from the pork shoulder and discard. Next flip the pork skin side down and unroll it. Sprinkle the garlic powder, onion powder and fennel into the flesh and then use your fingers to massage this into the meat.
- Score: next flip the pork back to rind side up and use a sharp knife to score the rind in a diagonal pattern. Once done fold 2 pieces of paper towel and use these to pat dry the pork skin.
- Oil and salt: pour the olive oil over the pork and massage in. Then sprinkle the salt over the top of the oil.
- Air Fryer: place the pork shoulder in the air fryer and cook for 30-35 minutes at 200°C (392.0 °F). Once the initial cook time is up turn the heat down to 160 degrees (320°F ) and cook for a further 50 minutes. After this time ensure that the thickest part of the meat has reached an internal temperature of 68C°-70C° (154.4°F - (158°F). If needed you can blast the cracking at the initial temperature of 200°C (392.0 °F) for a further 8-10 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Pork: I like to use a cut of boneless pork shoulder for this recipe. Leg roast is good as well however, I feel that you get the best results with pork shoulder. We want to use a boneless cut. We want to leave it with the package removed in the fridge for up to 1 hour before we start to use it (can be left overnight). This is the best way to dry it out. You can also remove the pork from the fridge an hour before you come to cook it so that it is at room temperature (optional, not essential).
- Note 2- Onion powder: the combination of the onion powder, garlic powder and fennel takes the finished pork to the next level. These give both a flavor boost as well as an aromatic element to the dish. We only need a teaspoon of each and you will find that will be plenty.
- Note 3 - Garlic powder: as above. These powders can drive out if kept in the pantry but not used for a while. So check your bottle well before starting to ensure that it is not set hard.
- Note 4- Fennel: no need to crush. We simply use the dried fennel as is from the herb jar.
Amelia Hunter says
We are going to try this! Haven't done it in the air fryer before, only oven. I will report back.
Simone says
Amazing! Had this with loads of vegetables for dinner.