Cooking pork shoulder in an air fryer

You often hear us rave on about how much we love our air fryer: air fryer scones, air fryer pavlova, air fryer cob loaf dip. But, we think this roast pork recipe is our newest wow-factor air-fried creation (and for very good reason). Think golden crackling, an ASMR-worthy crunch, juicy, tender meat; it’s all possible with just 3 ingredients and your air fryer. It’s so impressive, that it will have your dinner guests in awe at your ‘cooking skills’ (but in reality it’s all thanks to your trusty air fryer). 

This method is one of our Food Director Michelle Southan’s absolute favourites. She was blown away by how crunchy the crackle went in such a short time – but the meat was still juicy, tender and delicious. 

How to make the perfect pork crackling in your air fryer

Ingredients

• 1kg piece boneless pork belly, rind scored (see note)
• 2 tsp sea salt flakes
• Olive oil spray

Method

Step 1: Preheat the air fryer to 200°C for 3 minutes. Pat pork dry with paper towel. Rub salt into pork rind.

Step 2: Place the pork in the air fryer basket and spray with oil. Set timer for 25 minutes and cook until the rind crackles. Reduce temperature to 160°C. Set timer for 30 minutes and cook until pork is tender and cooked through (see note).

Notes

• If time permits, place pork on a tray, uncovered, in the fridge for up to 2 days to dry the rind out.
• If pork starts to over-brown during cooking, cover with foil. 

How long does it take to cook a pork roast in the air fryer?

The cooking time depends on the weight of the pork belly. A 1.3 kg cut of pork belly typically takes 35-40 minutes in the air fryer at 200°C, and a 1.8 kg cut usually takes 45-55 minutes. If you find that the pork starts to brown quickly, cover it with foil.  

There is nothing better than an Air Fryer Pork Roast, juicy and delicious! It is a great meal on any day of the week, and it’s a great Sunday Dinner, as it represents comfort food. It’s a great meal to make for the entire family, with minutes!

Everyone loves a great piece of meat, served typically with a batch of Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, maybe some homemade Air Fryer Dinner Rolls, and of course, served with Air Fryer Roasted Carrots. It makes a feast; all made possible by either your Instant Pot or Air Fryer, or both!

If you have ever wanted to cook a pork roast in the air fryer, this is the recipe for you. It comes out amazingly well, and you only need to use a few ingredients to create a perfect meal for you and your family.

Air Fryer Pork Roast

If you are looking for a lot of flavors, you really don’t need anything. I used a simple bottle of Brown Sugar Bourbon, made by McCormicks, rubbed the pork roast down with olive oil, and slathered it on.

The rub includes many spices, including brown sugar, bourbon, molasses, red bell pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, and salt. It is the perfect season for any pork dinner.

How To Make Air Fryer Pork Roast

Start by rubbing your pork roast with olive oil, and then rub the seasoning mix on top, make sure it’s on both the front and back.

Place the seasoned roast into the air fryer basket, set the temperature to 350 degrees F, air fryer setting for 40-50 minutes.

I brush olive oil and season it more, as it cooks, every 10 minutes. So, you get a great juicy pork roast from the air fryer.

The exact time depends on what air fryer you own and how big your roast is. Larger roasts take longer to cook than smaller roasts.

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Tender, savoury with a hint of saltines and healthy; this is what strips of the Air Fried Pork Shoulder taste like. Served with Thai Spicy Chilli Dip, the sourness and spiciness mellow out the richness of the pork, tingling the tastebuds for more. Eaten hot from the air fryer, this is a family meal that is easily adapted and enjoyed together.

Air Fried Pork Shoulder with Chilli Dip Recipe

Ingredients

For this recipe, I used the shoulder cut of the pork. It has a good amount of fat to meat ratio; perfect for roasting and baking. We want to use a cut with some fats to enhance the taste of the pork. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika powder as seasonings. Other powdered ingredients can be added too as preferred.

The pork really stands out with the Thai-style chilli dip, which is also very simple to make. The amount of red bird’s eye chillis can be adjusted according to your spicy tolerance level; while the normal chillies were added for colour and mild spiciness. Vinegar is used to give a nice sour tang to the dip while functioning as a preservative at the same time. A little sugar is added to balance out the chilli’s spiciness and vinegar’s sharpness; which can be omitted if preferred.

Marinating the Pork Shoulder

I used fresh pork for this recipe. If yours is frozen, make sure to thaw it out before seasoning.

Rub the salt evenly on the pork shoulder on one side. Then, sprinkle the garlic, pepper and paprika powder over the meat. Rub to evenly distribute the seasonings over the meat. Flip the pork to the other side and repeat.

Leave it aside at room temperature for 20 minutes to marinade. Otherwise, it can be left in the fridge for 2 hours.

Making the Thai Chilli Dip

Meanwhile, cut the red chilli into smaller pieces. If preferred, remove the red bird’s eye chilli seeds and centre. This will greatly reduce its spiciness potency. I keep mine with the seeds intact as my family enjoys spicy food.

Then, add the garlic, bird’s eye chillies, red chillies, sugar, salt and distilled vinegar into the blender. Switch on the plug and blend until the chilli mixture resembles a wet paste, and is fine. This should take around 20 seconds.

There may be some bubbles on the surface; this is normal as the air is incorporated during the blending process.

If a blender is not available, it can be made with a pestle and mortar. Pound the garlic and chillies first. When it resembles a fibrous paste, add in the sugar, salt and vinegar. Then, stir until it is well mixed.

Empty the chilli dip into a serving bowl and keep aside.

Air Frying Pork

Prepare the air fryer. Neatly arrange the pork shoulder in the air fryer so there are no overlaps. As my air fryer is quite small, I’ve made use of a wire basket to “stand” the pork to maximize the space. This helps to cook them all in one batch. Otherwise, the pork can be split into 2 batches as well. However, once the first batch is done, it’s recommended to serve it immediately.

Close the air fryer. Set the temperature to 180°C and the timer to 20 minutes. Turn on the air fryer and let it cook for 15 minutes. The pork will be fully cooked in 20 minutes. However, as I’ve propelled the meat to “stand”, I will need to flip them around when they are 80% cooked so they are well-done.

After 15 minutes, turn off the switch and open the air fryer. The aroma is just so mouth-watering! Using a pair of food tongs, carefully flip the pork meat. They should be quite brown, but some parts are still grey-ish. Close the air fryer and turn on the switch again. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare an oil absorbent paper and layer it on a chopping board.

When the 5 minutes are up, turn off the switch again and carefully remove 1 pork shoulder at a time. By now, they should be fully cooked and look very delicious! Place the pork shoulder on the chopping board and cut them into strips of the desired size.

Arrange the pork shoulders on a serving plate and serve with the Thai spicy chilli dip.

Let’s Eat!

It’s tender, savoury, with a hint of saltiness and heat from the paprika. When eaten with the chilli dip, the sourness and spiciness envelops the richness of the pork and blend well together. It goes very well with rice, or with lettuce wrap. It can even be eaten on its own.

Enjoy!

Air Fried Pork Shoulder Recipe with Chilli Dip

Somjit Najaireeb

Delicious and healthy air-fried pork shoulder slices are tender and crispy, with richness mellowed with sour, spicy chilli dip. A match-made in heaven on your dinner table!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Fusion, Thai, Western

Servings 4 servings

Calories 141 kcal

Equipment

• Air Fryer

• Food Tongs

• Oil Absorbent Paper

• Knife

• Chopping Board

• Small Wire Basket

Ingredients

Pork Shoulder & Marinade

• 500 g pork shoulder, 80% lean, 20% fat, washed
• ½ tbsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ tbsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp paprika powder

Chilli Dip

• 3 tbsp white vinegar, distilled
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 pieces red bird's eye chilli, washed
• 3 pieces red chilli, washed
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled & washed

Instructions 

Marinade Pork Shoulder

• Sprinkle salt on the pork and rub to marinate.

• Sprinkle half of the seasonings: pepper, garlic powder and paprika powder. Rub to marinate.

• Flip the pork shoulder. Sprinkle and marinade the rest of the pepper, garlic powder and paprika powder.

  How long does it take to cook pork in air fryer?

  Air fry at 400° F for 5 minutes. Then flip the pork chops over and continue cooking until they are cooked through to at least 145° F, about 3-7 more minutes for boneless chops or 6-10 more minutes for bone-in chops. Let the pork chops rest for 5 minutes. Then serve and enjoy!

  How long does it take to cook 1kg of pork in air fryer?

  Pat pork (1kg piece boneless pork belly, rind scored (see note)) dry with paper towel. Rub salt (2 tsp sea salt flakes) into pork rind. Place the pork in the air fryer basket and spray with oil (Olive oil spray). Set timer for 25 minutes and cook until the rind crackles.

  What temperature should air fryer be for pork?

  Preheat your air fryer to 400 F / 200 C. Transfer the pork roast to the air fryer, rind side up, and air fry until the internal temperature of the pork is 145 F / 63 C. The exact roasting time will vary, but you can find suggested times in the table below.

  How long does it take for pork shoulder to cook?

  Set the meat on a rack set into a roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. Continue to cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the shoulder reads 185 degrees F, about 4 hours.