Braised Pork Shoulder

Published on in Recipes

I had some beautiful pork shoulder, courtesy of Butcher Box in the freezer so I thought maybe I could will the weather to cool down by making something that screams autumn comfort food. (Ok, so maybe it’s still 95 degrees, but this dish was a HIT on The Adam Carolla Show and it can be a hit in your house too!)

Because I haven’t been braising for very long, I followed this amazing recipe from Our Salty Kitchen ALMOST to a tee, with only a FEW tweaks here and there.


Ingredients

  • 4 lb boneless pork shoulder or pork butt
  • 2-4 tbsp olive oil (or something with a high smoke point)
  • 2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 1.5 tsp minced garlic, dried or fresh
  • 1.5 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp oregano

 

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 300 or 325 degrees, depending on oven strength.
  2. Mix the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, minced garlic, oregano, and onion powder in a small bowl.
  3. Cut pork into 4″ chunks and rub in seasoning mixture.
  4. Heat oil (medium-high) in heavy bottom pan or dutch oven and sear pieces on each side, about 4-5 minutes a side. (Don’t crowd the pan or the meat won’t sear properly. As Our Salty Kitchen suggests…do in batches!)
  5. Add a 1/2 cup of water to the dutch over and put seared meat back in (feel free to crowd the bottom of the pan but try not to stack).
  6. Cook for 3-4 hours until meat has an internal temp of at least 145 degrees and is deliciously tender.
  7. You can either serve in whole pieces, shred with fork for pulled pork, or cut into smaller chunks for stew!

Notes

  • The 4lbs of pork I used was a little too much for the size of my dutch oven so I put the remaining pieces in an oven safe porcelain pan with a lid. The results were far crunchier and better for a pork jerky recipe. It wasn’t bad, just less succulent and tender than using the dutch oven!
  • Many recipes don’t call for searing but it is SO WORTH IT. It’ll add a nice crispness to the top and lock in the flavor in such a wonderful way!

8 Comments

  1. Rene in Vancouver
    October 1, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    Hi Gina

    Love the site. Quick question on the braised pork shoulder. Should it be 2 TBSP of salt? I did the recipe this past weekend and it was delicious, but just a bit too salty. I’ll adjust next time, but wondering if that was the amount you used and what you thought of it.

    • ginag
      October 18, 2019 at 7:10 pm

      Hi there, Rene!Feel free to adjust as necessary for sure! (Something I’ve learned through MUCH trial and error is that a measuring TBSP holds less than a dinner TBSP. I’d say either try the measuring kind if you didn’t already or please definitely adjust and I’ll take another look as well!) Thank you so much for your feedback! xoxo,GG

  2. John Gabriella
    October 2, 2019 at 3:27 am

    Leaned 2 racks of spareribs against each other & didn’t cover the 1st 1.5 hours. Didn’t have oregano, either, but the smoked paprika & olive oil made me understand why Adam said “best thing you’ve brought in”, or something to that effect. Thanks Gina!

  3. Mountain Man Dan
    October 19, 2019 at 11:13 pm

    Great job Gina! Made this today and it rocks. Mine cooked faster maybe my oven runs hot. I really appreciate you sharing

  4. Melissa
    November 4, 2019 at 12:35 pm

    Followed your recipe exactly and it turned out amazing! Great easy meal and smelled so good cooking all afternoon. Bonus points because BOTH my young kids cleaned their plates which is rare. Thanks for the recipe!