If you’ve been wondering how to cook a pork shoulder that’s fall-apart tender on the inside with irresistibly crispy skin, this simple oven-roasted recipe delivers every time.
With just a handful of pantry spices and mostly hands-off cooking, you’ll have enough flavorful pork for dinner plus leftovers for meal prep all week. Naturally high protein, low carb, keto, Whole30, SCKC friendly, and gluten free.
There’s a reason pork shoulder has been one of my favorite cuts of meat for years. It’s one of the most forgiving roasts you can make, and with a little patience, it transforms into incredibly tender, juicy pork with a beautifully browned exterior.
The key is cooking it low and slow until the connective tissue has time to break down. While every roast varies slightly in size and shape, I recommend cooking pork shoulder to an internal temperature of 195-205°F for meat that’s tender enough to shred, then letting it rest before serving.
Another reason I come back to this recipe again and again is the value. With lots of price volatility on beef, chicken, and eggs – pork shoulder remains one of the best values in the meat department.
One roast can easily feed a family for dinner with plenty of leftovers, making it a great choice for meal prep or stretching your grocery budget without sacrificing flavor.
One of the best things about roasted pork shoulder is how versatile it is. Enjoy it the first night just as it is, then transform the leftovers into completely different meals throughout the week.
Toss it with my keto BBQ sauce for pulled pork, use it in lettuce wrap tacos or burrito bowls with salsa and avocado, crisp it up for breakfast with eggs, or add it to soups, casseroles, and fried cauliflower rice. It has a mild flavor that works with just about any seasoning, so you’ll never get bored with the leftovers.
I served this to our guests with corn tortillas, homemade keto salsa verde, chopped cilantro, lettuce, sliced avocado, Greek yogurt and shredded cheddar cheese. It was a huge hit!
You don’t have to go the Mexican route though – this easy roasted pork shoulder would be equally tasty served alongside Cheesy Cauliflower Puree and my keto broccoli salad.
This easy roasted pork shoulder is also perfectly tailored to anyone on the Carnivore Diet, the Whole30 or the Squeaky Clean Keto Challenge.
More Keto Pork Recipes
Jamaican Jerk Pork Roast – Instant Pot Recipe
Low Carb Pumpkin, Pork and Peanut Stew
Keto Sweet & Sour Pork Sheet Pan Meal
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Easy Roasted Pork Shoulder
- Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
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
- 2 tablespoons coarse Kosher salt (reduce to 1 T if using table salt)
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon 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!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: keto main dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 oz
- Calories: 275
- Fat: 15g
- Carbohydrates: 0g
- Protein: 33g
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Don Seher says
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?
Dabid says
Skin side up is fat side up. The fat is under the skin.
Julie says
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!!!!
Shane says
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?
Mellissa Sevigny says
No need you can leave it in! Enjoy!
Nichole Woodard says
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!!
Allie says
What do you think about cutting the shoulder into smaller pieces and using a dutch oven?
Mellissa Sevigny says
That could work for the pulled pork but you won’t get the crispy skin if that’s a consideration!
Silvana says
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 ‘
Jeff Walker says
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!
Mellissa Sevigny says
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.
Paula says
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…?
Mellissa Sevigny says
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.
Terri says
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
gdnghtjohnboy says
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!!!
gdnghtjohnboy says
P.S. What a way to start my 3 weeks of No Carbs!!!
K. Kot says
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.