Air Fryer Pork Roast with Dry Rub

Air fryer pork roast with a dry rub turns out incredible! Both our air fryer roast beef variety and this one turns out fork tender and perfectly cooked on the inside with a crispy sear on the outside. This will definitely become a family favorite dinner.

Ninja Foodi Pork Roast

We’ve cooked all sorts of things in our hot air machine over the years. From larger beef roasts, to smaller things like pork chops in air fryer everything just turns out so good.

This is for a fresh and/or defrosted piece of meat. If you had a forgetful day and it is still rock hard, follow our Instant Pot frozen pork shoulder recipe instead. It happens to the best of us….. 😉

Pork Roast in Air Fryer

You can find these with a bone in and without one, the latter would be called a pork loin roast. Sometimes there is a small piece left in and that is okay too. I don’t think the cook time varies much between the two really but of course you always want to check the internal meat temperature of this and poultry before consuming.

As far as the seasonings go it is up to you but I like to use our steak or tri tip dry rub. Yes, those are great for all sorts of things, way beyond what I named them. You could just use salt and pepper or a bottled style that is already made but ours is easy enough and you should give it a whirl. The link is in the recipe card below.

Air Fryer Pork Loin Roast

Two layers are best. Once you have all the ingredients together you just sprinkle it all over. Rub it on and then do that again to get a nice thick coating on this baby. There is some brown sugar in it so that will cause the outside to brown quite a bit but if you follow the timing below it won’t burn.

Just ensure you have some sort of non stick spray down so it doesn’t stick and peel off once you remove the meat out of the air fryer basket. I have had some people say they have used Splenda instead too.

How do you keep a pork roast from drying out?

First off you don’t want to overcook it. Like I said, about 12 minutes per pound is usually adequate to get it to a safe 145 degree F. temp in the middle. Remember that while it is resting it will continue to cook and raise about 5 degrees as it sits so keep that in mind. If you take it out at 145 it will likely become 150 F when it is time to serve it.

Another tip for this and any other large meats like roast beef and air fryer chuck roast is that is MUST rest for a good 15 minutes. If you skip this step the juices will spill out once sliced and dry it out. You want all of those to stay inside each piece so it’s as tender as possible.

A pressure cooker gravy or onion gravy on the stovetop is great to pour on top of each serving too of course too. That will add even more moisture, flavor, and texture to the meal.

Small Pork Roast in Air Fryer

If you want to cook this for just two people or something you can adjust the timing. For half the size I would set for half the time. Adjustments will need to be made depending on how thick the middle is of course but the variance will be very slight. When checking the temp do so with the meat still in the basket and the drawer removed from the machine.

You can easily make air fryer vegetables while your meat is resting, or even cook a loaf of air fryer bread to serve with it. If you want to use a different pot and cook at the same time, give our pressure cooker white rice a whirl.

How long to cook a 3lb pork roast in a air fryer

Use paper towels to pat roast dry. Mix together dry ingredients or seasonings of choice and rub all over outside. Then put a second layer of dry rub on. Lift up and allow excess to fall off. Preheat air fryer to 300 degrees F for 5 minutes.

1. Spray basket with non stick olive oil spray and lay your meat inside. Cook for 35 – 40 minutes for a 3 lb piece.
2. Check temperature with a meat thermometer at thickest part to ensure it has reached a safe 145 degrees F inside before removing.
3. Remove the pork and cover to keep warm, allow to sit and rest for 15 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife.

Serve this or pork steak in air fryer over a bed of mashed potatoes and enjoy with your family this week. Let us know if you used a different rub on the outside that turned out fantastic too. Now let’s jump to recipe and give it a whirl. You can print this out too and keep it on hand too but we’d rather you just came back again so we can “see you” again. 😉