Whether you’re making a holiday feast or want to change up your Sunday dinner, my Roasted Pork Shoulder is the recipe to try. The pork is roasted until tender, seasoned with orange, sage, rosemary, and fennel seeds, and finished with a simple gravy. This is the roast you’ll make on repeat!
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The Budget-Friendly Holiday Roast
When it comes to holiday roasts, you have your expensive cuts, such as prime rib, beef tenderloin, or leg of lamb and your less expensive ones, like this Italian-style roasted pork shoulder.
But inexpensive doesn’t mean this roast is lacking in any way! The flavors of orange, fennel, sage, and rosemary pair perfectly with the tender roasted pork, and the gravy seals the deal. The onions that roast along with the pork are also incredibly delicious!
I like to serve my pork shoulder roast with garlic mashed potatoes, creamy polenta, or rice pilaf, and roasted broccoli.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Pork shoulder. I’m using a 7-pound pork shoulder (Boston Butt), but a picnic roast (the lower portion of the shoulder) will work too. For picnic roasts, cook to at least 205°F and plan on shredding it.
- Orange. I love the way orange complements the pork in this recipe, but in others too like my porchetta roast.
- Garlic. I’m using 10 cloves that cut into slivers and insert into the pork.
- Herbs. Rosemary, sage, and bay leaves lend great flavor to the roast pork shoulder.
- Wine. Use a dry white wine such as sauvignon blanc.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
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How to make Italian roast pork shoulder
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Make slits in the pork and insert the slivers of garlic.
- Dry the pork thoroughly with paper towels. Rub the olive oil on the pork followed by the ground fennel seed, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flake mixture.
- Place the roast onto a roasting rack in a roasting pan, skin side up. Pour the wine, orange juice, and stock into the pan along with the onions, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, and any remaining slices of garlic into the pan. Roast the pork in a 275°F oven until it reaches an internal temp of 190°F (about 5-6 hours, depending on the weight). Check the roast every hour or so, adding another cup of stock or water to the pan if it dries out.
- Remove the pork from the oven and turn the heat up to 475°F, then return the pork to the oven and cook for another 20-30 minutes or until the skin is crispy. Remove the pork from the oven and place on a cutting board to rest covered with tented foil.
- Strain the drippings through a fine mesh strainer and save the roasted onion pieces for serving.
- Separate 5 tablespoons of fat.
- Heat a saucepot to medium heat with the 5 tablespoons of fat and add the flour. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning, or until it turns golden.
- Slowly add the stock to the pan while whisking.
- Boil for 3 minutes then lower to a simmer. For extra pork flavor, whisk in more of the reserved drippings.
- If the gravy isn’t thick enough, bring to a boil again and cook until satisfied, then remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Top tips
- Prepping the pork. While you can season the pork shoulder right before roasting, you’ll get even better results if you place the spice-rubbed pork in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. This will allow the salt to distribute more evenly and the exterior to dry out.
- Roasting the pork shoulder. The pork should be roasted until it’s fork or knife-tender and at least 190°F internally when checked with an instant-read thermometer. A 190-195°F roast will yield super tender pork, while 205°F or higher will begin to shred. So cook to your liking.
- Leftovers. You can eat the leftover slices with other sides, but they’re great on a sandwich with provolone and broccoli rabe, or Cubano style with ham, swiss, pickles, and mustard.
More holiday roast recipes
If you’re looking for more holiday roast ideas, give these recipes a try!
- Bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with mustard sauce
- Italian-stuffed pork loin
- Brown sugar glazed spiral ham
If you’ve enjoyed this Italian Style Roasted Pork Shoulder recipe, give it a 5-star rating.
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Roasted Pork Shoulder
Ingredients
- 6 pound boneless pork shoulder (boston butt)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 10 cloves garlic slivered
- 2 large onions quartered
- 2 large bay leaves
- 10 large sage leaves
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 large orange juiced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
For the gravy
- 5 tablespoons seperated fat from pan drippings
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275°F and set the rack to the middle level.
- Make slits all over the pork and insert the slivers of garlic.
- Dry the pork thoroughly with paper towels. Grind the fennel seeds with a coffee/spice grinder or mortar and pestle and mix with the salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to make the spice rub. Rub the olive oil all over the pork then rub the seasoning on all sides of the pork.
- Place the roast onto a roasting rack in a roasting pan, skin side up. Pour the wine, orange juice, and stock into the pan. Place the onions, bay leaves, rosemary, sage leaves, and any remaining pieces of garlic into the pan (not on the pork).
- Roast the pork until the center of the roast reaches an internal temp of 190°F. (around 5 hours depending on the weight). Check the roast every hour or so, and add another cup of stock or water to the pan if it starts to dry out.
- Remove the pork from the oven and turn the heat up to 475°F. Return the pork back to the oven and cook until the skin is crispy (about 20-30 more minutes). Remove the pork from the oven and place it on a cutting board to rest tented with foil.
- Slice the pork and serve with the gravy. Enjoy!
For the gravy
- Strain the pan drippings through a fine mesh strainer. Seperate 5 tablespoons of fat. Note: Any pieces of roasted onions can be saved for plating.
- Heat a saucepot to medium heat with the reserved 5 tablespoons of fat/drippings and add the flour. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning, or until it starts to turn golden.
- Slowly pour the stock into the pan while whisking, then bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes then lower the heat to a simmer. If the gravy isn't thick enough for your liking, simply bring to a boil again, and cook until satisfied. Remove the pot from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Note: for extra pork flavor, whisk more of the reserved drippings into the gravy if you like.
Notes
- Salting overnight. Though you can roast it right after seasoning, it’s better to place the spice rubbed pork shoulder in the fridge, uncovered, overnight. The salt will more evenly distribute into the roast and the fridge time will dry off the exterior moisture.
- Cook time. 5 hours is a rough estimate. Roast until the pork is fork or knife tender and at least 190°F internal temperature when checked with an instant read thermometer. A 190-195°F roast will yield tender, almost fall-apart slices, while a 205°F or higher roast will begin to shred. It’s best to start the roast earlier than you think, since it can rest for a long time before serving and can be easily reheated in a warm oven.
- Gravy. The quick gravy is a nice touch but the roast will be flavorful and juicy enough that it can be served on its own.
- Leftover ideas. The leftover slices are great for sandwiches with provolone and broccoli rabe or for making a Cubano.
- Leftovers. Roasted pork shoulder can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 325°F until warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I made this for Christmas dinner yesterday. It was delicious!!!
Had to rush it along at the end because it was taking too long to get up to temperature but it was amazing. Super tender and moist and flavorful.
I wasn’t sure about the fennel seed as I’m not a big fan of that flavor but I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out.
I had to make the gravy gluten-free for my daughter so I used a cornstarch slurry to thicken it and less stock but it was also delicious!
Cooking and baking are my jam. I was in the food industry for over 30 years. I have a website with many of my original recipes as well.
Love watching you and your family make your yummy recipes! Thanks for sharing them.
Cheers,
Sally
So glad you enjoyed, Sally!
I am always on the lookout for a good pork roast. I have to say that this was my absolute favorite. I could only find a bone-in pork butt that was 9 pounds. I just followed the recipe as written, but had to cook it a little longer. It was so perfectly crispy on top that I skipped the high temp sear at the end. Although it was a little challenging to carve, it was so incredibly tender, moist and flavorful! I would not hesitate to use a bone-in roast again. Unforgettable!
So glad you enjoyed, Alison!
I made this for supper tonight. Since there are only two of us I halved the recipe. The juice and gravy could have used more herbs, but that was my decision. The pork was delicious, tender and juicy. I will definitely make it for guests next time. I am almost 80 and I think this is the best pork roast I’ve ever made! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
We are so happy to hear that, Carol! Thank you for the comment!
Is it ok to have the garlic slices overnight with the salt, pepper, and fennel seed rub?
Yes.
Gotta try this one!
This looks really delicious. We did a spanish style pork shoulder for Thanksgiving last year and loved it. We might just try this for Christmas or New Years this year. Love the idea of the orange. YUM. Will let you know how it comes out after we try it. Merry Christmas
Hi:
Could this recipe be done with a smaller pork shoulder? If so, would I halve the ingredients and how long to bake?
Thank you
Yes, and you can keep the ingredients, the same. Its more about cooking for texture and temp than it is for time. The pork should be roasted until it’s fork or knife-tender and at least 190°F internally when checked with an instant-read thermometer. A 190-195°F roast will yield super tender pork, while 205°F or higher will begin to shred. So cook to your liking.
Sounds great for New Year’s Eve. What do you suggest for side dishes?
Hi Joan, Jim suggests a few side dishes at the start of the article under the Budget Friendly Holiday Roast section in blue. They’re all linked there as well.
Jim makes it SO simple. (Stock up on white wine.)
Always on point Jim. Love your compassionate straight yo the point style. Fan