Czech Roasted Pork Shoulder Recipe

This is an easy recipe for a Czech-style pork shoulder roast! Soft inside with a crispy crust it always tastes excellent.

About the Recipe

This Bohemian pork roast is a pork shoulder slow-roasted whole in the oven on an onion base. Before roasting, rub the meat with spices to give it delicious flavor. 

Once cooked, just slice the meat and serve with potato dumplings and braised cabbage. Top the dish with gravy made from juices when the roast is coming to the table. 

TIP: Czechs call this recipe 'Vepřová pečeně', and it is one of the most popular meals in the Czech Republic. Here is another recipe made with pork: Czech iconic Vepřo knedlo zelo.

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder; whole, boneless, without skin
• Onion; roughly chopped or cut into wedges
• Pork lard; or vegetable oil such as sunflower or canola oil
• Garlic; fresh, pressed, or mashed
• Caraway seeds; crushed, e.g., in a mortar. Don't confuse cumin and caraway seeds; only caraway seeds belong in typical Czech dishes.
• Salt

Next, you will need some water to baste the roast.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

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Quick Instructions:

1. Rub the whole pork shoulder with crushed garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
2. Grease a baking dish with lard and cover with onions cut into wedges.
3. Place the meat on top of the onions and add water to the base.
4. Bake in the oven at 400 °F (200 °C) for the first 30 minutes and 300 °F (150 °C) for the remaining hour and a half.
5. After baking, strain the juices from the onions through a sieve.
6. Serve the roasted pork shoulder with dumplings and cabbage, topped with juices.

Detailed Instructions with Photos

STEP 1: Rinse and dry the pork shoulder. If the meat is irregular in shape, tie it with kitchen string – learn how to make it.

STEP 2: Peel and mash the garlic. Rub the surface of the pork on all sides with garlic, salt, and crushed caraway seeds.

STEP 3: Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Grease a baking tray with lard, spread the onions on it. Place the seasoned meat on the onion base. Pour about ½ cup (120 ml) of water into the bottom of the baking dish.

STEP 4: Bake in a preheated oven at 400 °F (200 °C) – lower and upper heating only – for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 300 °F (150 °C) and bake for another hour and a half.

After every half hour or so, baste the meat with the drippings. If there are not enough juices in the roasting dish, add a few tablespoons of water.

STEP 5: Set the finished roast aside, transfer the baked juices and onions to a sieve placed over a clean pot, and strain. Press the rest of the onions through the sieve.

STEP 6: Slice the pork shoulder into ½ inch (1,5-2 cm) thick slices and serve.

Serving

Oven-roasted pork shoulder tastes best with potato dumplings and red braised cabbage. Arrange on a plate and pour over the juices you have prepared from the onion and fat.

Useful Tips

• Roast the pork shoulder in the oven with the top and bottom heat on. Do not use the fan-forced function; else, the meat will dry out.
• Roast on a higher heat first; the meat becomes crispier on the surface. Only then lower the temperature and slowly finish cooking.

🥩 More tasty pork recipes

• Pork patties – with mustard and onions
• Slow roasted pork belly – Czech Pečený bůček
• Beef and pork meatloaf – Czech sekaná

Recipe