Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder With Apple Gravy

This slow-cooked pork shoulder is just the ticket on a cold winter day. It marinates overnight, then roasts all day. Dinner is ready when it's fall-apart tender. Serve with an easy apple gravy and some roast vegetables on the side.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated October 19, 2022
Elise Bauer
Sliced pork shoulder recipe served with roasted potatoes and carrots.
Sally Vargas

Now here's a good one for a cold winter day. Talk about melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

A hefty pork shoulder is slathered with a rub of fennel seeds, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and garlic and set to marinate for a day or two in the fridge.

It is then nestled in a bed of sliced apples and onions, first browned on high heat in the oven, and then covered and allowed to cook low and slow, until it is almost falling apart.

You don't need a knife to eat this slow-roasted pork shoulder. Just a big appetite.

We first encountered this recipe by Napa chef Maria Helm Sinskey in the Wall Street Journal years ago. We've made just a few changes—reduced the salt rather dramatically, added some mustard, puréed and strained the gravy. I love this method of slow cooking a pork shoulder and think you will too!

Sally Vargas

How to Buy Pork Shoulder

  • Pork shoulder comes from the top of a pig's front leg (this despite its other nickname, pork butt). It's a well marbled cut that benefits from low and slow cooking, when it becomes meltingly tender. It also goes by "picnic roast" or "picnic shoulder." (We don't recommend substituting another cut here, as it will likely be too lean.)
  • Bone-in or boned? This recipe calls for boneless pork shoulder, but you could use bone-in. The bone adds a lot of flavor! The downside? It makes the cook time longer, and you have to do a little work to get the cooked meat off the bone.
  • Do you need to tie a pork roast? In this recipe, no. Tying (or trussing) helps it roast a little more evenly and keep its shape better when sliced—but this recipe is fall-apart tender, anyway.

Low and Slow for Roast Pork Shoulder

Pork shoulder is tough unless it's cooked low and slow. The fat in the meat bastes everything from the inside, while the collagen in the meat starts to break down around 160°F. This is what makes the shoulder fall-part tender.

If you cook the meat at a high temp, the fat and water drain out before the collagen melts, making for tough, dry meat. Long, gentle cooking = fork-tender, moist pork shoulder.

What to Serve With Roast Pork

The gravy here is magic, so look for a starch that sops it up: buttered noodles or mashed potatoes. For veggies, try tender cabbage or glazed carrots.

Storing and Freezing Leftover Pork Roast

  • Refrigerate leftovers, tightly covered, 3-5 days.
  • Freeze leftovers up to 3 months. If you have enough gravy, freeze the meat directly in it to keep it moist.

Try These Other Roast Pork Recipes!

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder With Apple Gravy

Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 3 hrs 30 mins
Total Time 3 hrs 50 mins
Servings 4 to 6 servings

The pork shoulder should be marinated in the rub overnight or up to two days.

Ingredients

For the spice rub

  • 2 tablespoons packed, fresh thyme leaves, lightly chopped, or 1 tablespoon dried thyme

  • 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, lightly chopped

  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted

  • 2 teaspoons black peppercorns

  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt

  • 4 medium cloves garlic, minced

  • Extra virgin olive oil, optional

For the pork shoulder roast

  • 4 to 5 pounds (1.8 to 2.2 kg) boneless pork shoulder, sinew and excess fat (beyond 1/4 inch) trimmed

  • 4 medium good cooking apples, such as Fuji or Jonagold

  • 1 medium yellow onion

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • Salt and pepper, to taste

  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) dry white wine (can sub water)

  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

  • Freshly ground black pepper

Special Equipment

  • Spice or coffee grinder or mortar and pestle

Method

  1. Make the spice rub:

    Put the fennel seeds, peppercorns, thyme and rosemary leaves, garlic and 2 teaspoons salt into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind to a paste. (Alternatively, you can pound the mixture with a mortar and pestle.)

    Transfer the mixture into a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

  2. Marinate roast overnight in spice rub:

    Rub the mixture evenly all over the pork shoulder. If the roast is tied, untie it to rub the inside with the rub mixture as well, then retie it.

    Wrap the roast tightly in plastic wrap to hold the rub against the skin and marinate overnight (or up to two days).

    Pork roast recipe for oven with herbs and spices sprinkled over the top.
    Sally Vargas
  3. Prep apples and onions:

    Peel, halve, and core the apples. Cut each apple half into about 4 wedges. Peel the onions. Cut in half from tip to root. Trim the root and tip. Cut each onion half into about 12 thin wedges.

    Put the onions and the apples together in a bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season with a little salt and pepper.

    Sliced apples and onions in a glass bowl to make a pork shoulder recipe.
    Sally Vargas
  4. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C)
  5. Place roast on bed of apples and onions:

    Place the apples and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan or Dutch oven with a cover. Place the marinated pork shoulder on top of the apples and onions.

    A dutch oven with a bone in pork shoulder roast set on top of apples and onions.
    Sally Vargas
  6. Roast:

    Roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn the oven heat down to 325°F and add the wine. Cover the roasting pan and slow roast for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the pork shoulder is falling apart tender and pulls apart easily when probed with a fork.

    Pork shoulder in oven, cooked in a dutch oven.
    Sally Vargas
  7. Make sauce:

    Transfer the pork shoulder to a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Put the apples and onions into a blender. Add about 1/2 cup water and the mustard and purée.

    Check the texture, and add water until you get the desired thickness for the gravy. Press through a sieve for a silky smooth textured gravy. Check the seasoning and correct to taste.

    Ingredients in a blender for the sauce for a pork shoulder roast recipe.
    Sally Vargas
    Overhead view of a blender with sauce inside for a pork shoulder roast recipe.
    Sally Vargas
  8. Serve:

    Cut the roast into pieces and serve with the apple gravy. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for 3 months.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
1170 Calories
76g Fat
24g Carbs
88g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 1170
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 76g 98%
Saturated Fat 27g 135%
Cholesterol 325mg 108%
Sodium 737mg 32%
Total Carbohydrate 24g 9%
Dietary Fiber 4g 14%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 88g
Vitamin C 6mg 29%
Calcium 145mg 11%
Iron 6mg 35%
Potassium 1481mg 32%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.