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.
⇢ Learn more about herbs and spices used in Czech cuisine
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 (learn, how to crush caraway seeds by hand). 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:
- Rub the whole pork shoulder with crushed garlic, caraway seeds, and salt.
- Grease a roasting pan with lard and cover it with onions cut into wedges.
- Place the pork shoulder roast on top of the onions and pour water into the base.
- 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.
- After roasting, strain the juices from the onions through a sieve.
- 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, and spread the onions on it. Place the seasoned meat on the onion base. Pour about 1/2 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
- Pork chops with gravy
Tried this recipe?
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Roasted Pork Shoulder – Czech Vepřová pečeně
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Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder whole
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 3 medium onions medium
- 2 Tablespoons pork lard (or canola / sunflowe oil)
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry 3 pounds pork shoulder. If the meat is unevenly shaped, use kitchen string to tie it together.
- Peel and finely mince 2 cloves garlic. Rub the surface of the pork on all sides with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds.
- Peel 3 medium onions and cut it into wedges. Grease a roasting pan with 2 Tablespoons pork lard, spread the onions on it. Place the seasoned meat on the onion bed. Pour about 1/2 cup water into the roasting pan.
- Roast in a preheated oven at
400 °F – lower and upper heating only – for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 300 °F 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 strain placed over a clean pot, and press through.
- Slice the pork shoulder into ½ inch (1,5-2 cm) thick slices and serve.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes 6 servings.
- SERVING: Oven-roasted pork shoulder goes 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.
- 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.
Dashka
Omg I love your recipes. My husband is Czech and we live in Canada . He often misses Czech food. After my mother-in-law visited us I found your website and making some Czech foods everything turns out perfect. It’s my second recipe I tried so far and I love it . And my husband said this one and the other meal I made tastes as good as his mom made. You are a god send I am going to try all your recipes
Thank you so much
Lots of love from Canada
Dashka
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Dashka, thank you for your lovely comment! I'm so glad your meals are a hit and that your husband is happy. You know, the recipe is only part of the success, it's who cooks it that's more important 🙂 Many greetings from the Czech Republic, Petra
Dashka
What if my pork shoulder has bones in would it still work? My husband is coming home from work . I wanna greet him with one of his favorite dish. And I just realized I defrosted bone is pork shoulder
Petra Kupská
I think the pork shoulder with bone will be easy to make with this recipe as well. When portioning the roasted meat, you have to be careful of the bone and either remove it or point it out when serving. Fingers crossed! Petra
Anna
My grandmother and her entire family were from the Czech republic. I made dinner for my daughter and her family last night and this was well received. My goal is to try to make one Czech meal a week and this was a great first choice. I served the roast with the red cabbage and potato dumplings and strawberry dumplings for dessert. Thank you for your website.
Petra Kupská
Thank you for your nice comment, I am happy to hear you had success with the roast duck! Red cabbage and potato dumplings pair perfectly with roasted duck. Fruit dumplings are also one of the most delicious Czech dishes. I believe your family enjoyed your care! 🙂
Carol
I love the flavor of caraway so this recipe caught my eye. It turned out as delicious as I imagined. Thank you for sharing.
Petra Kupská
Thank you very much for your kind words, Carol!
Lucie Leonard
My pork is roasting in the oven and smells wonderful. We can’t wait to dig in… I haven’t made this in years.
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
I am happy to hear that and hope it tasted just as great as it smelled!
Ken Seng
I am excited to try this recipe. I am quite sure this must be at least very similar to the way my Gram would prepare Christmas Eve dinner for us when we would go to her home in Chicago to celebrate Christmas Eve with her. The main difference was that she baked the pork already cut into steaks, but it is the the same cut of meat. Also she made her dumplings as balls that she boiled in water. It has been over 10 years since I have had this so I am anxious to see if I can make anything as tasty as I remember. Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your family
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Hello Ken, thank you for your comment and sharing your memories. I hope the recipe will turn out up to your expectations - please let me know afterwards 🙂
Merry Christmas and my best to you and your family.