Low Carb {Pressure Cooker} Pork Roast with Mushroom Gravy
I know you probably think that I’m super organized and I’m always prepared for meal times since I work from home, however nothing could be further from the truth! Even when I post pics of delicious looking meals like my Low Carb Pressure Cooker Pork Roast with Mushroom Gravy, I’m just like you and although I spend my work days at home and mostly in our kitchen, many days dinner time sneaks up on me too! Today it’s nearly 2 pm (we typically eat dinner early, around 4 pm) and I realized that I have NO IDEA what I’m making for dinner, no meat is thawed and very limited fresh vegetable options – and No, I’m NOT going to the grocery store. And to make matters even worse, I’m still swamped with work do to in preparation for my first published cookbook’s early release.
Most times when you’re short on time, the most practical thing to do is find something that thaws and cooks quickly, right? But for me, not so much. When I went searching in the freezer, I got my heart set on making a pork roast.
Yes, I’m making a 3 pound, frozen solid, pork roast for dinner tonight with less than 2 hours before we will sit down to eat — when you have a pressure cooker these last minute meals are no big deal. Perhaps the best feature of pressure cooking is that you CAN start with completely frozen meat and it will still turn out juicy & tender. Of course pressure cooking frozen meat adds to the cooking time, but no more than you would if you had to thaw it out before cooking.
If you haven’t gotten on the pressure cooking bandwagon, trust me you’ll love it. I have several pressure cookers, ranging in styles and sizes, however I recommend the new electric multi-cookers that feature a pressure cooking option in addition to doing a bunch of other things like slow cooking, yogurt maker, etc. I use a GoWise USA 6 Quart, 8 in 1 Multi-Cooker, I tested several similar brands and found it to be the most efficient & least expensive (at roughly $80 including shipping) – yes I recommend it over the popular InstantPot, which in my tests took roughly 10% longer to come up to pressure which makes it easy to over cook food.
For those of you whom are new to pressure cooking and are apprehensive because of the old-timer stories of explosions and such, there is absolutely no reason to have any concern with these. They are basically fool-proof with their safety locks, the only key is to always make sure you use enough water and don’t over fill them but still they have safety shut off features to protect you even if you make a mistake. You can’t even open them until they are safely depressurized, unlike the old fashioned stove top units I’ve been using for the past 17 years.
Not only did I want tender & delicious pork roast for dinner that cooked quickly, but I wanted comfort food.. Pork Roast & Gravy.. but of course it had to be low carb & dairy free. I used the same idea for my healthy gravy as I used in my Perfect Roast Chicken with Roasted Vegetable Gravy; layering cauliflower, celery, onion & garlic in the bottom of my pressure cooker, then adding water and my frozen pork roast, seasoning everything generously with sea salt & pepper.
The vegetable will become completely cooked and when blended with the left over liquid will make the most delicious and healthy gravy which I like to add sautéed portabella mushrooms!
That’s it. Isn’t that easy?!?!
Oh, yes and when you start with a frozen roast, you’ll still have dinner on the table in less than 2 hours, with 90+ minutes of passive cooking time that you can use to help the kids with homework or take some time to relax!
Low Carb {Pressure Cooker} Pork Roast with Cauliflower Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 pound pork roast preferably a fatty cut
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 4 cups chopped cauliflower
- 1 medium Onion
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 2 ribs celery
- 8 ounces portabella mushrooms sliced
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil (unrefined) or ghee
- 2 cups Water, filtered
Instructions
- In the bottom of your pressure cooker, place cauliflower, onion, garlic, celery and water. Top with pork roast and season with sea salt & pepper.
- Cook under pressure for 90 minutes if your roast is frozen, 60 minutes if completely thawed. Quick depressurize following manufactures directions.
- Carefully remove pork roast from the pressure cooker and place in an oven proof dish. Bake at 400 degrees while preparing the gravy, this helps to render the fat and crisp up the edges of the pork to be more like as if it was slow roasted.
- Transfer cooked vegetables and broth to your blender and blend until smooth, set aside.
- In your (dirty) pressure cooker (on the saute function) cook mushrooms in coconut oil until soft, roughly 3-5 minutes. Add blended vegetables and continue to cook on the saute function until it is thickened as desired.
- Serve mushroom gravy over shredded pork.
Be careful blending the hot ingredients, my Vitamix top blew off even while I was holding it, burning my arm and ingredients went everywhere. I then used my immersion blender in the pot after sautéing the mushrooms and setting them aside.
OMG I’m so sorry to hear that happened to you! I suggest reading through your Vitamix manual for other similar safety warnings. I will link to the instruction manual in my post to make sure others don’t make the same error, I’ve had mine for over 10 years and much of it’s use is deeply routine.