Air Fryer Pork Roast with Apples

Looking for a way to make juicy and tender roast pork in air fryer? Check this air-fried pork neck stuffed with slices of apples and garlic. The combination of pork, garlic, and apples comes out of this world. It is so good! Give a try to this easy and great midweek dinner.

This recipe is a great meal for a midweek dish when you are limited on time and need to cook something quick and delicious for the entire family.

I seasoned the air fryer roast pork with salt, pepper, garlic, and apple slices.

It comes out amazing, especially in the air fryer because the pork will get a crust fast and the meat juice will remain inside.

You should start at a high temperature to form the crust, then you can lower the temperature and let it cook slowly inside.

🥰 Why Make this Recipe?

• It’s very easy and quick to make this juicy roast pork. Our air fryer will help make this recipe even quicker than usual.
• The honey mustard glaze fits nicely with the sweet pork meat.
• By filling the pork meat with apple slices, you will get a finer and juicier taste and you will make the pork more unique.
• If you can’t find pork neck, you can easily use any other part of the pork meat.
• You can combine it with almost everything.

🏆 Expert Tips

• Use a meat thermometer, even if you’re cooking the same recipe a few times. Every piece of meat is different and it may need a different cooking time.
• If you don’t have a meat thermometer, make a small cut with a knife and check the color of the inner juice. When the pork will be done, the inner juice should be transparent. If it still contains blood, you should cook the meat for a few extra minutes.
• Pick a piece of meat with uniform thickness over the entire surface. This will help you to get in the end a more even cooking of the meat.
• You can replace apples with pears, pineapples, or dried fruits such as apricots and plums.

What Do You Need to Make this Recipe?

🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes

• Pork. I used a pork neck. Although this piece of meat contains more fat than other parts of the pork, you will get a much juicier result. You can also make this recipe in the air fryer with a nice piece of pork loin meat.

Pro Tip: If you will decide to cook pork loin in the air fryer, I suggest picking a piece of meat that contains bones. It will not dry out so quickly and you will get juicier meat in the end.

• Apples. You could replace apples with other fruits you prefer such as pears, oranges, tangerines, or even dried fruits such as apricots or prunes.
• Garlic. Although it may seem a bizarre combination, next to the meat, garlic goes well with apples.
• Seasonings. I used only salt and pepper. You can also use some aromatic herbs, such as rosemary, sage or thyme. You can use them both fresh and dried. Just do not overdo it with aromatic herbs because you will cover the fine taste of the apples.
• Glaze. I used a combination of honey and mustard. It gives the meat a sweet-spicy glaze. You can also try a combination of honey and ketchup or bbq sauce.

Needed Tools

• Air Fryer. I used Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT.
• Meat thermometer.
• Aluminum Foil.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

You can combine this perfect roast pork in the air fryer with almost everything. Check below a few great ideas:

👩‍🍳 Step-by-step Directions

First of all, we need to bring the pork meat to room temperature. For that, take off the meat from the fridge for about 30 minutes before you will start cooking it.

In the meantime, take a medium apple, wash well and cut it into slices. Do the same with 2-3 cloves of garlic.

After the meat has reached room temperature, take a knife and make small cuts in the meat to fit the apple slices into them. Insert the apple and garlic slices in the cuts you just made.

Now, season the meat with salt, pepper, oil, and additionally with other herbs that you have decided to use.

Set the meat aside.

After we have ready the meat, preheat the air fryer to 400°F (200°C).

When the air fryer is heated, put the meat in the air fryer basket and cook it for 6 minutes at 400°F (200°C) to form a nice crust. This crust will help us later to stop the leakage of the inner juice.

After this 6 minutes, cover the pork meat with aluminum foil to avoid burning the meat on the top.

Return the meat to the air fryer and cook the pork until it reaches 157°F / 69°C inside. This should take you about 25-40 minutes.

In my case, cooking this specific piece of meat in my air fryer, Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT took 35 minutes.

Quick Note: Cooking time is approximate only, because the cooking time may differ from a lot of factors like the meat size, air fryer size, and the heating method your air fryer is using. Because of that, I highly encourage you to keep a meat thermometer near you and after 30 minutes check the internal meat temperature and adjust the timing if needed.

Even if you have the same air fryer as mine, or even if you will cook this recipe several times, I suggest you use every time a meat thermometer. Each piece of meat is different and for a perfect result, it may require a different cooking time every time.

Pro Tip: If you do not have a meat thermometer at hand, you can check the meat if is cooked by making a small cut into the meat and analyzing the color of the juice that will eliminate it. If it is transparent, then the meat is ready. If the blood is still present, the meat needs a few additional minutes. Do not overdo it with this test, because you will drain all the juice from the meat and you risk getting dry meat in the end.

When the meat has reached 157°F / 69°C inside, grease it with honey and mustard glaze, and cook the meat for another 2-3 minutes.

Now the inner temperature should reach 160°F / 72°C. This is the temperature the pork should reach if you want safe well-done pork meat.

Let the meat rest after removing it from the air fryer so that the juices are evenly distributed and will not flow when you will cut the meat.

Pro Tip: As a general rule, it is recommended to let the meat rest for half the time it took to cook. In my case, I left it to rest for 20 minutes.

Take a look at how juicy this roasted pork neck in the air fryer is:

♻️ Make Ahead, Storage, and Heating:

Can I Prepare Roasted Pork Ahead of Time?

You can marinate the meat and fill it with apples the night before. After that, on the next day, take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.

How Long Does it Last in the Fridge?

Wait until the dish will cool down and cover the meat with food plastic wrap and you can keep it for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Can You Freeze the Roasted Pork?

Yes. Wait until it will cool down and put it into an air-tight container. It will last for about 3 months in the freezer.

How to Reheat Air Fryer Roasted Pork?

You can heat the pork roast in the preheated air fryer or use just a microwave.

🤔 Answering Your Questions:

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