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Instant Pot Pork Loin – Juicy and delicious Pork Loin Roast topped with garlic, butter, and herbs, and cooked to a tender and succulent perfection in the Instant Pot! Make dinnertime way less hectic with this easy Instant Pot Pork Loin recipe. A satisfying dinner on the table and clean up is a snap!
INSTANT POT PORK LOIN
Looking for big flavors with minimum effort? Mastering a Pork Loin Roast has never been easier. With just a handful of ingredients and 30 minutes, Instant Pot Pork Loin will add another dimension to easy dinners!
Don’t have an Instant Pot? No worries – get my very popular recipe for cooking Pork Loin Roast in the oven.
Pork Loin is possibly my favorite cut of pork meat. From a traditional braised pork shoulder to a fancy porchetta recipe, it’s easy to cook, has plenty of flavor, and doesn’t need much babysitting, ESPECIALLY when you cook it in the Instant Pot. The Instant Pot lets you sear, cook, and sauce the pork, all in the same pot.
BUT FIRST, there are a couple of things you’ll want to keep in mind when cooking pork loin in the Instant Pot.
- First, make sure you get a boneless pork LOIN, and not pork TENDERLOIN. They sound similar, but are two different cuts.
- Second, you will need some liquid – like, broth, wine, or beer (your choice) – we need this for the pressure cooking phase, but we also WANT this liquid for our sauce.
HOW TO COOK PORK LOIN IN THE INSTANT POT
- We start with melting some butter and then stirring in garlic, brown sugar, and herbs.
- Season the pork loin with salt and pepper, then, brush the butter mixture all around the meat.
- Next, press the Sauté function on the instant pot and heat up a bit of olive oil; sear the pork loin on all sides until browned – should take about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Remove pork and set aside.
- Add liquid to the Instant Pot and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom.
- Place a trivet in the IP and set the pork on top of the trivet.
- Lock the lid and pressure cook at high pressure for 15 minutes.
- Then, let the pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, and quick release any remaining pressure.
- Open the lid and check internal temperature with an instant read meat thermometer – it should read 145˚F. If it’s less than this, you can place the lid back on the pot to let the carryover heat cook the pork to doneness. Shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes.
- Transfer pork loin to a cutting board and let rest 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the pan-sauce: Select the Sauté function and bring liquid to a boil. Continue to cook at a slow boil for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
- Slice the pork and serve with the pan juices. For a creamy twist, stir in a splash of cream to create a luscious sauce, or sauté some mushrooms before making the sauce to whip up rich and savory cream of mushroom pork chops.
Once you serve this bad boy, you will be on pork-cooking duty for life! It’s a pork roast recipe that is easy enough for weeknight dinners, but also impressive enough for company. I love that it cooks quickly, but remains succulent and tender and lends itself well to any variety of flavors.
TIPS FOR JUICY, TENDER INSTANT POT PORK LOIN
- Take pork loin out of the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before cooking with it.
- Trim visible silverskin or loose pieces of fat, but leave the fat cap in place.
- Brown the pork loin before pressure cooking. Don’t skip this part – it adds flavor and texture. Also, for a crispier crust, place the cooked roast on a sheet pan and pop it in a 475˚F preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
- A perfectly prepared pork loin should be removed from cooking at 145°F for medium doneness. The key to juicy pork is not overcooking it. Higher temperature results in a dry and stringy pork loin.
- Keep in mind that cooking time also depends on the size of the pork loin. For this recipe, I used a 2-1/2 pound roast.
What I love about this recipe is, of course, the quick cooking method, but also the flavor! Garlic, herbs, butter…yum! Turns out perfect results every time. Serve this pork loin over mashed potatoes or mushroom rice, or slice it real thin and pile it on sandwiches all week long.
HOW TO STORE PORK LOIN LEFTOVERS
- Refrigerate leftover pork in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
MORE PORK RECIPES
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Instant Pot Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 2 to 2-1/2 pound boneless pork loin roast
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter,, melted
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth, (you can also use wine, beer, or water)
Instructions
- Take pork loin out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon zest, parsley, and thyme.
- Season pork loin with salt and pepper; then, brush the butter mixture all around the meat. Set aside.
- Press the Sauté function on the Instant Pot and heat up the olive oil. When oil is hot, sear the pork loin on all sides until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove pork from IP and set aside.
- Add broth (or wine, beer, or water) to the Instant Pot and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom.
- Cancel the Sauté function and place a trivet in the IP and set the pork on top of the trivet. Lock the lid and pressure cook at HIGH PRESSURE for 15 minutes. Then, let pressure come down naturally for 15 minutes, and quick release any remaining pressure. Open the lid and check internal temperature with an instant read meat thermometer; it should read 145˚F. If it’s less than this, you can place the lid back on the pot to let the carryover heat cook the pork to doneness. Shouldn’t take more than 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer pork loin to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. This will help seal in the juices.
- In the meantime, prepare the pan-sauce: Select the Sauté function on the IP and bring liquid to a boil. Continue to cook at a slow boil for 5 minutes, or until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.
- Slice the pork and serve with the pan juices.
Notes
NET CARBS: 2g
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
I made this using the 21/2 roast and it was fabulous. Can I do a 5 pound roast in an eight quart instant pot?
When cooking the roast do you put fat side up??
To be honest, I’ve made this so many times and not once did I think about that. Oops! ๐ SO, I don’t think it matters because it’s always delicious. ๐
I always do!
Thank you for actually posting the โpressureโ setting to use in the instant pot. So many recipes posted just say โcook 20 minโ with no pressure setting. It drives me crazy!
Trying this tonight, sounds delishious!
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thank YOU! ๐
I’m raring it 5 because it sounds delish! It is in the IP as we speak. I only had a pork loin in the fridge so we will see what happens.
You mention lemon juice and soy sauce in the ingredients but I do t see them back in the recipe…are they part of the sauce or the butter before you pressure cook.?
Thanks!
Hi!
The lemon zest and soy sauce are part of the butter mixture – this step is included in steps #2 and #3 in the Instructions part of the recipe card:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon zest, parsley, and thyme.
2. Season pork loin with salt and pepper; then, brush the butter mixture all around the meat. Set aside.
I hope this helps.
I rated this 3 because the flavors are great, but I’ve tried this two separate times with a 2 pound pork loin and it gets super overcooked. The first time, 15 minutes of HIGH pressure plus 15 minutes natural release had my pork north of 185 degrees. This next time I took 5 minutes off the cook and 5 minutes off the release and still ended up well above 145 (I measured between 155-160 depending on thickness). I am following the instructions to the letter on the browning and cook method, so I’m not sure what could be going wrong.
I may try it again with even lower cook time, since the flavors really are tasty, I just wanted to caution folks to watch out for overcooking your loin.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I’m making this pork loin today and am adding carrots along with the roast as I think the flavor of the sauce/rub will be good for carrots. I’m just wondering if I should add the carrots with the roast or add them part way through the cook. Any guidance is much appreciated. Thanks so much.
Yes, you can put them in with the roast.
Is it okay to use dry herbs instead of fresh? (Parsley and thyme)
Yep! A good rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs = 1 teaspoon dried herbs, but I would use about 1/2 teaspoon thyme and 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon parsley.
My pork loin is only 1.5 lbs. cook time? Please?
Hi!
I have not tested this recipe with a smaller pork loin.
Try cooking it for 12 minutes at HIGH pressure, release pressure naturally, then check the internal temperature of the pork and see if it needs more time.
Will this result in a firm texture, or shreddable like a shoulder?
Hi!
Yes, it’s firm, but tender and juicy. For a pork shoulder, you can use this recipe ๐ https://diethood.com/instant-pot-pork-shoulder/
I hope that helps.
I’m making this recipe tonight using two pork loins, approx 4 1/2lbs, can I cut both in half to fit the 8quart pot using your cooking time for 2X?