Bavarian Roast Pork with Red Cabbage (Schweinebraten)

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If you have tried Costco's Bavarian Zak's Tavern "Slow Cooked Oktoberfest Pork Shoulder" and enjoyed it, but thought, wow, $13 plus tax for essenially 2 servings is a bit high, can't I make this myself... like millions of Germans, Austrians and Swiss do (not to mention 2 dozen Lichtensteiners), then YES - it is really easy,  tastes better and is FAR ;less expensive to make at home. Pork is still a great value, about $3 to $5 per pound., tastes great and is easy to make. Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's and your local grocery store all have pork loins roasts year round. 

It pairs with these side dishes

• red cabbage  with apples, which you can make yourself (directions here) or buy a jar at Aldi. and
• potato dumpling (Kartoffelknödel) side dish.

 

Time / Yield Info

Total time: about 3 hours

Cooks for about: 2 hours
Yield: 10 servings for a 5 lb roast

This is SO easy to make!

 

2 jars of German red cabbage (Aldi sells it - Or make your own Rotkohl, see recipe on this page)

 

 

Ingredients

Note, this recipe easily scales up or down very easily.  It freezes well, too.

• 1 (4-5-pound) boneless pork loin
• 2 or 3 medium sweet onions, sliced (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick slices)
• 2 carrots, chopped - or shredded carrots, 1 cup
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oill
• 1 cup apple cider, apple juice, beer, broth or water
• Spices:
  • Salt (optional). There is plenty of the salt in the ingredients. So, unless you're working towards an early heart attack, there's no need to add more).
  • Freshly ground black pepper
   
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 6 to 8 whole cloves (pressed into fat cap) and 1/2 teaspoon ground gloves

 

 

Equipment

• Dutch oven OR roasting pan with a lid OR roasting pan and large oven bag
• Large pot
• Cutting board, knife

 

Directions

Step 1 - Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

 

Step 2 - Brown the pork

First:

• Score the fat cap of the pork loin.

• Rub with salt, pepper, paprika, and caraway.

• Press cloves into the fat.

Put 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large non-stick pot.

Heat over medium-high heat, and before the oil starts to smoke or burn, add the pork loin. (Do not remove the string or netting that holds the loin together) .

Sear (brown) the pork on all sides (well you can't really do the ends).

This will take about 10 minutes. While it is browning, slice the onions and add them to the pot.

  

Step 3 - Slice the onions, peel and chop the carrots

I chop 2 good sized onions and simply add them to the pan with the pork and continue to brown both.

 

While they are browning, I peel, and chop the carrots

 

Step 4 - Brown the onions

Brown the onions in the better, after 5 minutes add the sugar, carmalize ujntil light brown,

 

then remove from the heat.

 

Step 5 - Get your roasting pan ready

By far the easiest way, and the least messy is to using an oven cooking bag. If you don't have a large cooking bag, use the largest roasting pan you have that has a tight fitting lid. If you do not have this, you'll need to use the largest oven-safe vessel you've got and use aluminum foil as the lid.

The point is, after putting all ingredients in, you want to seal or at least fold the open end up so it stays moist!

 

Step 6 - Add the onions and carrots to the oven pan.

Place onions and carrots in oven bag or roasting pan

You don't have to use an oven browning bag; you could use an oven-safe Dutch oven wiht a tight-fitting lid, or a deep oven pan tightly covered with aluminum foil. But the bag method keeps all the moisture in better, and there's no cleanup!

 

Step 7 - Add the browned pork loin to the roasting pan/bag.

Put the seared pork roast on top of the  veggies etc in the roasting pan. If there are no free liquids in the bottom of the pan, add 1 cup of apple cider, beer, broth,  apple juice or water.

If you have a lid, put it on. If you are using an oven bag, loosely tied the end. I leave about a 1/8 inch opening in the end where I tie it. In other words, just don't completely seal it up. The excess pressure needs to be able to vent!

I put the meat thermometer right through the bag, on the top, and into the center (that gets the thickest part of the meat, while keeping the bag from leaking. I usually wait until the roast has been in the oven for about 90 minutes before putting the meat thermometer in. That keeps the thermometer cleaner and thus easier to read, when it counts; near the end of the cooking time

 

Step 8 - Bake for about 2 hours

Bake for about 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads between 145F-170F. Most people prefer it about 150 F. Don't worry if it goes higher.  Cooked this way, it will be moist and tender, even up to 205 F.

I just stick the thermometer right through the bag.

If you use an electric thermometer with a probe, you can set the alarm to beep when the roast is done.

 

Check it every 30 minutes to be sure it is not drying out. This is very unlikely using an oven bag, but with a Dutch oven or loose-fitting lid, you may need to add more apple juice, cider or water.

 

 

Step 9 - Cool slightly and rest for 15  minutes

Remove from the oven once the thermometer reads 145F-170F. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Don't forget to remove an strings that may have been used to tie the meat together!

 

Timeline for cooking the pork and cabbage together

See the red cabbage recipe here.

• 0: Prep pork loin (rub, cloves, sear). Prep cabbage, apples, onion.

• 30 min: Put pork in oven. Start cabbage base in pot.

• 80 min: Add cabbage, apples, vinegar, cloves. Begin simmer.

• 110 min: Pork is roasting, cabbage is simmering. Stir occasionally.

• 2 hrs: Remove pork, rest under foil. Reduce pan juices for gravy.

• 2 hrs 15 min: Slice pork, serve with red cabbage and gravy.

✅ Result: A Bavarian‑style pork loin with cloves, crispy fat cap, rich beer gravy, and sweet‑sour red cabbage with apples — a classic Oktoberfest pairing.

 

What's in the Costco Pork Shoulder?

 

It's not bad, not a lot of chemicals. Certainly, there are ingredients I wouldn't ever add, like chicken fat. Home-made is always better.