Oven Roasted Pork Shoulder Recipe

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

About the Recipe

This Bohemian pork roast is a boneless pork shoulder slow-roasted whole in the oven on an onion base. Before roasting, rub the meat with crushed caraway seeds and garlic to give it a 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 pork shoulder roast 'Vepřová pečeně', and it is one of the most popular meals in the Czech Republic. Here is another iconic recipe made with pork: Vepřo knedlo zelo.

Ingredients

• Pork shoulder; also known as pork butt/Boston butt. A whole piece, boneless, without skin. It is a well marbled cut that benefits from low and slow cooking in the oven.
• 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.

Quick Instructions:

1. Rub the whole pork shoulder with crushed garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
2. Grease a roasting pan with lard and cover with onions cut into wedges.
3. Place the pork shoulder roast on top of the onions and pour in water to the base.
4. Roast 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 roasting, 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 roast. 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 an onion and cut it into wedges. Grease a roasting pan 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 roasting pan.

STEP 4: Roast 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 cook low and slow 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 pan, add a few tablespoons of water.

STEP 5: Set the finished roast aside, transfer the roasted 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 braised red cabbage. Arrange on a plate and pour over the juices you have prepared from the onion and fat.

Should I Cover Pork Shoulder in the Oven?

No, the pork shoulder is roasted uncovered. This creates the desired crispy crust on the outside while the meat remains tender on the inside.

Roast a pork shoulder weighing about 3 pounds at 400°F for the first half hour, then reduce the temperature to 300°F and slow cook for another hour and a half.

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.
• Start with a short burst of high heat roasting first; the meat becomes crispier on the surface. Only then lower the temperature and slowly finish cooking.

More pork recipes

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

Recipe card

Roasted Pork Shoulder – Czech Vepřová pečeně

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

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 509kcal

Author: Petra Kupská

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Czech

Keyword: Pork Recipes

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 lbs (1,4 kg) pork shoulder whole
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tsp caraway seeds crushed
• ▢ 2 cloves of garlic mashed or pressed
• ▢ 3 onions medium
• ▢ 2 Tbsp pork lard or sunflower / canola oil
• ▢ ½ cup (120 ml) water

Instructions

• Rinse and dry the pork shoulder. If the meat is irregular in shape, tie it with kitchen string.
• Peel and mash the garlic. Rub the surface of the pork on all sides with garlic, salt, and crushed caraway seeds.
• Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Grease a roasting pan 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 roasting pan.
• Roast 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 roast 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.
• Set the finished roast aside, transfer the roasted juices and onions to a sieve placed over a clean pot, and strain. Press the rest of the onions through the sieve.
• Slice the pork shoulder into ½ inch (1,5-2 cm) thick slices and serve.

Notes

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Roast on a higher heat first; the meat becomes crispier on the surface. Only then lower the temperature and slowly finish cooking.

DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:

Conversion chart

Nutritional Estimate pro portion

Calories: 509kcal

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