Frozen Pork Shoulder Instant Pot Recipe

Tender frozen pork shoulder Instant Pot recipe is here! How to cook frozen meat in a pressure cooker so it’s perfect every single time.

I mean I cannot be the only one who realizes at 4 pm that you haven’t taken anything out to defrost for dinner. It’s happened more than I’d like to admit but after making this Instant Pot frozen roast I knew it wouldn’t be a worry again.

And kept going with other pieces so I could share how to cook frozen meat of all kinds with you.

If you’re like us and buy meat in bulk each year you probably have a full freezer too. Ground beef doesn’t take long at all but larger pieces of protein take a few days in the fridge to thaw.

I do try to plan meals every Sunday on a white board on my fridge. That does really help when it comes to planning, and what to buy at the store.

BUT with homeschooling teens, working full time, renovating our home and an investment property I do get forgetful. I mean, can you blame me? NO longer is this an issue. I kid you not, nobody even realizes it when it’s done.

Instant Pot Frozen Pork Shoulder

Finding sales at the store are key when it comes to saving money AND time too. When they’re offering this cut at half off grab a bunch! Store in freezer bags so they last longer and load up at home.

You’ll need some sort of sauce to do this. Yes you could just use water to “steam” your meat but I am all about FLAVOR!!

I highly suggest using the mixture you see here. As for the seasonings use what you love.

Frozen Pork Shoulder Roast Instant Pot

This is what you’re going to need to get out in order to get started:

1. Pork shoulder that is NOT defrosted is used for this recipe.
   1. If yours is not frozen then follow our Instant Pot pork shoulder recipe instead.
2. Olive oil is the best to use. I keep a container on my counter because it’s great for sauteeing all the things and for sauces.
3. Garlic is always in my fridge. I buy a large jar of minced to save me a ton of time, I rarely buy cloves that I have to dice myself.
4. Brown sugar will give this a sweet flavor you’ll love.

Balsamic vinegar gives our sauce a bold flavor. We use it in our beef arm roast recipe too. There are a ton of different types but this is my favorite, made by a local Idaho company. This one is a close second if you’re buying online.

• Soy sauce goes on a lot of things in our house. Maybe it’s because I was born in HI but it’s my favorite thing to include in sauces and on rice.
• Rosemary either fresh or jarred works. I rarely get fresh because we live in a very small town and produce is kinda’ lacking.
• Broth is a much better cooking liquid than cups of water for sure. Beef is best because of this cut but vegetable would work too.
• Cornstarch will thicken the gravy left in your pot at the end. Of course you can leave this out, or use flour instead but I like thick sauces!

This is a peek of it in the pot once it has cooked and steam has been released naturally. That step is important to keep it super moist.

Let’s read a quick step by step on how this was done. There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post too though:

What does the meat setting on Instant Pot do?

It just defaults to high pressure for 35 minutes. You can then adjust the cook time for longer or less if you wish with the – or + buttons.

Ninja Foodi Frozen Pork Shoulder

What if you’re making this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe? NO problem, you can do it the same way. If yours doesn’t have a meat button then just push pressure, set to high, for 1 hour and 45 minutes. OR 22 min. per lb.

You can follow our frozen pork roast Instant Pot directions too if you have that cut.

What is the natural release method for a pressure cooker?

That means when the cook time completes you don’t touch the steam valve at all. It will come out very slowly and take from 15 minutes to about 40 minutes depending on the contents inside.

For this Ninja Foodi pulled pork recipe it doesn’t take quite as long. This one is on the longer side.

Want to try another one using a defrosted loin? Our Instant Pot Hawaiian pulled pork is out of control delicious too.

If you want to try one using your Crockpot, we have a slow cooker pork carnitas dish as well. Wow is this incredible and can be put together in the morning. Come home and make into tacos or just put over brown rice.

A few other Instant Pot pork recipes are:

• We used beef but you could use cubed thawed shoulder to make Instant Pot bbq pork or Instant Pot pork tacos.
• Instant Pot pork stew includes vegetables and is a great tweak on an “old fashioned” dish your grandmother probably made.