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This one-pot Dutch Oven Maple Pork Roast is slow cooked all day, bringing out the natural touch of sweetness from the sweet potatoes, apple, onion and real maple syrup! With only 20 minutes of prep time, this melt-in your-mouth Dutch oven roast pork is sure to become a winter favorite!
- Winter Comfort Food! - We love slow braising roasts in our house, and this Dutch Oven Pork Roast is no exception! It's so comforting to have a one-pot meal cooking away in the oven on a cold winter day.
- This is a weekend favorite because it takes a little care. You'll need to cook the pork for about 8 hours, adding in the veggies only for the last 2 hours.
- If you Love All-Day Pot Roasts, be sure to try my Simply Perfect Beef Roast, Rich Molasses Braised Beef Roast, and these Italian Beef Sandwiches with Giardiniera!
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Ingredients
- Pork Roast - Any 2.5 to 3.5 pound pork roast will work for this recipe. A pork roast, such as a pork shoulder, is a tough cut of meat, perfect to slowly braising in the oven all day. After 8 hours, it will be perfectly tender and delicious! You may also like these Shaved Pork Roast Sandwiches made with a pork loin.
- Beef Stock - This is the braising liquid that the pork will slowly cook in, flavoring and tenderizing the meat.
- Sweet Potato (yam) & Potato - The veggies are added in the last 2 hours of cooking the roast since they need far less cooking time. The natural sugars of the sweet potato, onion, and apple all get sweeter when slow cooked. With help from the maple syrup, the veggies give you a sweet and savory, melt-in-your mouth pork roast! I used 1 sweet potato (yam) along with two smaller red potatoes, but the exact amount is not important. You could use just the sweet potato, or use it in combination with 1 or 2 of any other kind of potato you have.
- Onion - Adds savory flavor and slow roasted sweetness.
- Apple - Adds another touch of sweetness that gets richer when slow roasted.
- Maple Syrup - Go for real maple syrup over pancake syrup! It marries with the natural sweetness of the sweet potato, onion and apple, deepening the flavor to balance them perfectly with the pork!
Instructions
Step 1 - Preheat the oven to 300°. Preheat a Dutch oven or large soup pot with a lid over medium high heat and add olive oil.
Season the pork roast well with salt and pepper. It's a big cut of meat so season it generously.
Sear the pork on all sides in the hot oil. Let it really get a good dark brown color, don’t move it around in the pot, just let it sear!
You can pull up the edge with tongs to decide if it’s ready to flip.
Step 2 - When it is fully browned, add the beef stock, cover and transfer the Dutch oven pork shoulder to the oven.
Let it slowly braise all day, about 6 hours, but pull it out to check and flip it with tongs once or twice during the day.
You can add a bit more water or stock if you find it's drying out or burning.
After 6 hours, chop and add the veggies and syrup with a pinch of salt and pepper to season them. Use tongs to pull out and discard excess fat from the meat at this time.
Step 4 - Cook 1 more hour uncovered (total roasting time is about 8 hours, but can vary by oven).
Recipe Tips
- A Pork Roast has Fat - Fat on your pork roast is fine and will help with the roasting process to keep your roast moist. However, once it's roasted you'll want to pull out any fatty pieces and discard. Use tongs, you can do this once when you are adding the veggies, and again before serving and when breaking up the meat.
- Don't Cook the Veggies all Day - While the pork needs 8 hours to braise and really become tender, the veggies will be total mush if you cook them that long. Just add them in the final 2 hours.
- Storage - Store the leftover pork roast in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, reheat in the microwave. If you still have leftover pork but the veggies are gone, it makes delicious sandwiches!
- Freezer Tip - A raw pork roast is great to have in the freezer. Just thaw it overnight in the refrigerator for 2 days before using in this recipe.
What to Serve It With
Your Dutch oven pork roast with sweet potatoes is already full of fruits and vegetables and is a complete meal in itself!
- I love to pair it with a fresh green salad like this Kale Apple Slaw or this Italian Mixed Greens with Crispy Prosciutto.
- It also goes well with a green vegetable such as Broccoli Salad, Parmesan Kale Chips, Green Bean Au Gratin or Broccoli Au Gratin. Or just simple Blanched Green Beans.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! And it should! A Dutch oven is a wonderful sturdy bottom pot made of enameled cast iron. It can be used on the stovetop to sear, like this pork roast, and then transferred to the oven to slowly braise. It comes with a tight fitting heavy lid and is so useful in braising! If you don't have a Dutch oven, you can make this recipe in a large soup pot.
Yes you can, but it's important to sear the pork first before transferring it to a crockpot. The crockpot gives you the easy, set it and forget it factor. However, at a low temperature, your oven does the same thing. Starting a roast by searing it on the stovetop before slow cooking it in the oven, really deepens the flavor. It gives you that crust, that dark brown color, and that seared-in rich goodness. All that is achieved in the first 10 minutes on the stove top, and then the oven can slowly work its all-day magic. So if you want to use a crockpot, sear it on the stovetop before transferring it to the crockpot. Pour the beef stock into the hot skillet to deglaze the pot, then pour it into the crockpot so you don't lose that flavor. I have not tried this exact recipe in a crockpot, but I have no doubt that it will work. If you add the veggies with the pork at the beginning, they will be quite mushy after all day in the crockpot so add them in the final 2 hours.
A pork shoulder (Boston butt), or a boneless pork loin roast are best for this slow roasting. You could use a pork tenderloin, often 2 come in a package, but the cooking time will be much less. Pork tenderloin doesn't shred as well so you may need to remove it and give it a rough chop on a cutting board.
More Favorite Winter Comfort Foods!
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Dutch Oven Maple Pork Roast
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Print Pin RateEquipment
- Dutch oven or large pot
Ingredients
- 2.5 to 3.5 pound pork roast
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 15 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2-3 potatoes I used a combination of 1 sweet potato and 2 smaller red potatoes, chopped in large chunks
- 1 small onion large dice
- 1-2 apples depending on size, large dice
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- a pinch more salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300° convection bake.
- Preheat a Dutch oven or large soup pot (with a lid) with olive oil on the stove top over medium high heat.
- Season the pork roast with salt and pepper and sear in the hot oil until browned. Let it really get a good dark brown color, don’t move it around in the pot, just let it sear! You can pull up the edge with tongs to decide if it’s ready to flip.
- When completely seared, add beef stock and cover.
- Roast in the oven for 6 hours, turning with tongs once or twice during the day. You can add a bit more water or stock if you find it's drying out or burning (all ovens vary!).
- After 6 hours, chop and add veggies and maple syrup with a pinch of salt and pepper to season them. Cook 1 hour and then check and stir, breaking the pork up with tongs a bit and discarding any fatty pieces.
- Cook 1 final hour uncovered (total roasting time about 8 hours, but can vary by oven).
- Serve with a green vegetable or salad!
Notes
- Remember ovens can really vary! Check on your roast a couple times during the day and especially in those final 2 hours. If you feel like it's burning or drying out, you can add a bit more stock or water, or lower the oven temperature a bit.
- Fat on the pork roast is a good thing while it braises all day. You'll want to pull out and discard any fatty pieces with tongs when you add the veggies or at the end.
Brooke says
I made this for my family tonight and it is amazing! I didn’t have apples on hand, so I used a couple of applesauce cups and all 3 of my picky kids LOVES it!
Meryl Downing says
I'm so glad you liked it Brooke, thank you! It's an older recipe that I haven't made in quite awhile, thank you for leaving a review!