Name: Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 5-6 lb pork shoulder or butt; salt & black pepper; 1 small apple; 24 ounces sauerkraut (I use Aldi's German sauerkraut in a jar); 1/2 cup water

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You will love this Instant Pot pork and sauerkraut dish on a cold winter’s night. It’s low carb, easy and it supposed gives you good luck if you eat it on New Years Day!!! The sauerkraut adds so much flavor to the pork roast and with only 3 ingredients you can make this easy dinner in no time. It’s naturally low carb with only 2.2g net carbs per serving.

You might also like this low carb slow cooker zest garlic pulled pork!

closeup of a platter with instant pot pork and sauerkraut — *This post contains affiliate links. For more information visit our policies page.*

Every New Year’s Day we eat pork and sauerkraut. It’s thought to bring you good luck and is a tradition that both my husband and I grew up. In my household we think of this dish as a good warming dinner on a cold winter day. It’s one that my whole family loves …. even my son!

We eat it often and when you pressure cook the roast in an Instant Pot, it gets nice and tender as well as saving you cooking time! Plus you only need 3 basic ingredients so it’s really easy to throw together.

So today I am presenting you my easy Instant Pot pork and sauerkraut dinner which just happens to be a low carb dish too! My son eats it with mashed potatoes but my hubby and me just eat it as is. This recipe is one of my more popular recipes and one that we make often. Note you can also easily make this in the crockpot or slow cooker as well.

Recipe ingredients I used.

All you need to make this traditional dish is a pork roast, sauerkraut, a small apple, salt and black pepper. These flavors of these simple ingredients go so well together and make an easy and flavorful dish.

Some people even go a step further and make their own sauerkraut. It’s just cabbage and salt but it takes time. For me I just use sauerkraut that comes in a jar. I buy it at Aldi and they have it all year round. You can also canned sauerkraut or even fresh that you find in the refrigerated section.

Note I also use water in this recipe but you can substitute with chicken stock or broth if you want.

recipe ingredients - pork roast, apples, sauerkraut

What cuts of pork roast should I use?

I make pork and sauerkraut recipe two ways. Usually I make this with either boneless country style pork ribs or boneless pork chops and add kielbasa. However today I am using a boneless pork roast (pork butt) in my Instant Pot.

With the ribs or even pork chops, they tend to break a part more easily so if you prefer that, check out my New Year’s pork & sauerkraut recipe.

If you want more of a slicing roast, this is the recipe for you. Some people like to use a pork loin roast. That is fine too but it is a drier meat compared to a pork butt roast. Pork tenderloin using comes in a smaller size and is more tender but I feel the butt roast goes better with the kraut and works better in the pressure cooker.

a white plate with a piece of pork with some sauerkraut

What is the Instant Pot cooking time for a pork roast?

According to the Instant Pot website, a pork butt roast like I made today should cook for 15 minutes per pound. If you are cooking a pork loin you should cook it for 20 minutes per pound.

How to cook Instant Pot pork and sauerkraut.

The first thing you want to do to make pork and sauerkraut in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker is to brown the pork roast. You do this by using the saute function of the Instant Pot. If your pressure cooker doesn’t have a saute function you might have to do this on the stove.

Note if there are large pieces of fat on the outside of the roast, I like to cut them off. Don’t go crazy taking it off, just the very large chunks of it. You want to have some fat to make the meat moist.

STEP 1: Liberally season pork roast with salt and pepper all over. Use the saute mode on the Instant Pot and adjust to high. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and sear the seasoned pork about 3-5 minutes per side.

STEP 2: While that is browning, get out your grater or food processor and grate a small apple. I used a small Fuji apple because it’s all I had but I would normally use a Granny Smith because it has less carbs. The apple adds a bit of sweetness to the roast.

pressure cooker with finished pork and sauerkraut

STEP 3: Now we can start pressure cooking. Add the jar of sauerkraut with the liquid, shredded apple and about ½ cup of water to the Instant Pot. Secure the lid, push the lever back to seal and then manually pressure cook for 70 minutes. (This cook time is based on my 5 pound roast.)

STEP 4: When done, let the pressure come down naturally. That is, do a natural release not a quick release. Please note that cooking times may vary depending on how big your roast is.

Once it has released all the pressure, take off the lid and you are ready to eat. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Scroll down for the printable recipe card.

a white plate with a piece of pork with some sauerkraut and platter in the background with fresh apples

What to serve with this dinner.

I put the roast in a big serving bowl or on a platter. Then I spoon the sauerkraut over top. I like to slice the meat up a little and everyone just takes what they want. You can also put the sauerkraut in a separate bowl if you prefer.

As I mentioned my son likes this with mashed potatoes and I just eat it plain. The tangy sauerkraut goes so well with the pork roast. We usually have a green salad as well but this is basically a one pot dinner. This is how I eat it when I am watching my carb in take.

But I also serve this with mashed potatoes for my son and husband. They like to spoon the kraut over top as you would gravy. Potatoes do go very well with this dish so if you don’t care about carbs I use serve with mashed potatoes.

aerial view of a platter and plate with the pressure cooker pork roast

How to make this recipe in the slow cooker.

The only difference in making this in the slow cooker vs. the Instant Pot is you have to sear the meat on the stove (and this method saves you hours using the pressure cooker!)

So add some oil to a large pan on the stove and heat to medium high heat. Sear the roast for about 2-3 minutes on all sides. Then add everything to your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

Note that you can also make this pork and sauerkraut on stove or in the oven.

Recipe suggestions and notes.

My friend Lisa also makes pork roast and sauerkraut with brown sugar and butter. Just sprinkle the sugar on top of the sauerkraut and add a few tablespoons of butter. My father in law likes it sweeter like hers but my son and husband prefer it this way. You could use a brown sugar substitute if you want to keep it low carb.
Some people add things like sliced onions, caraway seeds, apple juice, potatoes, garlic cloves etc. However my personal preference is the simplicity of the 3 ingredients I use.
Note that you can use pork loin, pork tenderloin, chops, ribs, etc in this recipe. However I would suggest using a slow cooker so you can easily check the doneness of the meat. I find that is a little harder to do with an electric pressure cooker.

I hope you enjoy this delicious pork roast with sauerkraut that I made in the Instant Pot. This recipe makes a lot so if you want to use a smaller roast, I would just keep the rest of ingredients the same.

The nutritional information for 1 serving is: 594 cals
40.4g fat / 3.7g carbs / 1.5g fiber / 48.9g protein = 2.2g net carbs