Foolproof Pork Shoulder Roast
A handful of simple ingredients and even simpler prep and cooking deliver a tender, juicy, wonderfully flavorful pork roast.
Servings 4 to 6, with leftovers
Ingredients
- 1 bone-in pork shoulder, 4 to 5 pounds (see Kitchen Notes)
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, or other herbs (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Put roast on a rack in a rimmed baking pan, fatty side down. Rub the roast with olive oil and chopped garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the dried herbs.
- Roast it for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325ºF and roast until the internal temperature is at least 145ºF. Figure about 30 minutes or a little longer per pound.
- When done, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Kitchen Notes
Bone-in, boneless? If you get a pork shoulder, it will most likely be bone-in. A Boston butt could be boneless or bone-in. All are good for this recipe. The bone in the pork shoulder is oddly shaped and may make it seem like you have less meat than you actually do. But if you start carving around, you'll be surprised by how much meat there is. We usually cut leftovers into chunks and freeze them in a zippered bag if we're not going to finish the roast in a timely way.
What herbs? In this version, just a half-teaspoon of tarragon and a quarter-teaspoon of thyme provide a nice flavor. Dried sage would also work nicely on pork, as would rosemary. Use whatever you think will work with pork—or use no herbs at all. Just garlic, salt and pepper tastes really good too.