The Best Smoked Boneless Pork Roast Recipe- Juicy & Easy
This post may contain affiliate links.
This succulent and juicy smoked boneless pork roast recipe uses pork sirloin for deliciously tender and lean meat. Marinated in a spicy chipotle-orange cilantro sauce and smoked on a pellet smoker, this dinner is incredibly flavorful while providing your family with a wholesome meal that they will want you to make again ASAP!
This smoked pork loin roast recipe was created to scratch our itch for a deliciously smoked pork shoulder or pork butt. While we love a good pork shoulder, it is higher in fat than we typically want to consume on a regular weeknight.
Smoking a Pork Roast
For this pellet grill smoked pork sirloin recipe, we chose to use pork sirloin (which is cut from the back part of the whole loin) because it is a lean cut of meat. We were amazed at how incredible this meal turned out.
Honestly, it’s one of the best smoked pork recipes we have ever had. I want to make it once a week! It’s that good.
Since we are using a very lean cut of pork, I decided to go with a marinade over the more typical dry rub. Marinating the meat is a great way to help it retain moisture during the long cooking time on the smoker while infusing the roast with tons of flavor.
Who would have thought we could have had a juicy smoked boneless pork loin with all the smoke flavor but much less of the fat? I didn’t miss the pork butt at all!
Plus, it’s such a simple recipe! The most difficult thing about it is that you need to plan for a slightly longer cooking process with the marinating time.
Equipment & Ingredients
To make this incredible smoked boneless pork roast recipe, you will need a pellet grill or smoker. I have a Traeger pellet grill smoker, but you can use an electric smoker or whatever type of smoker you have!
The ingredients needed to make this smokey, spicy, & succulent pork sirloin are:
Boneless Pork Sirloin or Pork Loin- Go for pasture-raised pork if you can, but any pork sirloin will do. This cut of meat does not have excess fat, making it a great choice for a healthy weeknight meal.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo– This ingredient gives the marinade a smokey, spicy kick.
Onion & Garlic
Cilantro
Orange & Orange Juice– These ingredients add acid and sweetness to our roast. Orange goes so well with pork! I’m using a Cara Cara orange which is why it has a reddish hue. Use any kind of orange you want!
Olive oil, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and black pepper
These simple ingredients deliver a fantastic punch of flavor. It also has a very quick prep time!
How to Smoke a Pork Roast:
1. Prepare Pork Loin Marinade
Use a sharp knife to dice half of a large onion into small pieces. Add to a gallon-size Ziploc bag or other airtight container.
Then grab a blender cup and add half of a small can of chipotle chilis in adobo (about 3.5 oz), 1/2 cup orange juice, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 2 tbsp olive oil, 5 large cloves of garlic, and a loose cup of cilantro leaves & stems.
Pulse your blender a few times to blend the marinade together, but it does not need to be perfectly smooth.
Add your pork sirloin roast to the Ziploc bag with the onions, and then pour the marinade on top. Squish the bag around to make sure the marinade covers every part of the roast.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
2. Prep for Smoking
Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees per the manufacturer’s instructions for your model.
Take out a 9×13 pan. Rip off 2 sheets of aluminum foil a little longer than your pan. Lay them side by side, overlapping the edges by about an inch. Fold the edges over to create a seam that can trap the juices.
Lay the foil in your 9×13 pan, then pour out your pork sirloin roast and the entire marinade into the pan on top of the foil. Do not fold the edges of the foil over at this time. Insert your meat thermometer into the thickest part of your roast.
3. Smoke the Pork Roast
When your smoker is ready and heated, place your pan with the roast onto the grates of your smoker.
Close the lid and leave it to smoke for about 2 hours over low heat (250 degrees F), or until it reaches 160 degrees.
The best way to determine the temperature of your piece of meat is to use a meat probe thermometer. I recommend the Meater+. It’s a game-changer!
4. Add more OJ & Create Foil Tent
When the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees, take it off your smoker temporarily to add another 1/2 cup of orange juice around the roast. Slice an orange and lay the slices on top of the roast.
Fold the sides of the foil up around the roast to seal it in, adding another small sheet on top if needed to completely cover it.
Place it back on the smoker until your pork roast reaches a temperature of 200-205 degrees F.–this took me 3 hours. If you want to speed it up, you can turn the smoker up to 275.
5. Rest the Meat
Once your pork roast reaches the desired temperature of 204, remove it from the smoker and let it sit on the counter, still covered in foil, for at least 30 minutes.
This resting period is really important to allow the juices to redistribute so that the meat is tender, not tough. It will be hard to wait, but it’s worth it!
6. Slice or Pull Meat for Serving
When the rest is finished, decide how you want to eat the roast and either slice the meat or pull it apart. We love it pulled apart! It’s so versatile, and the spicy, smoky flavor is perfect for so many dishes.
Tips & Variations
This smoked boneless pork roast recipe does have a good kick from the chipotle peppers. You could cut the amount in half to better suit your personal preference. We found the spice level to be perfect with the half can–it was just the right amount of kick for those who love a bit of spice, but not so much that it overpowered the other flavors.
If you are one of those cilantro haters, you could swap it out for some Italian flat-leaf parsley.
If you want to try an option other than orange juice, you could try this with apple juice! Replace the orange juice in the marinade and foil pack with equal amounts of apple juice or apple cider.
If you love this marinade, it would also work great for other cuts of pork. Try it with pork shoulder, pork tenderloin, or even pork chops! If you don’t want to smoke them, toss your marinated meats in a slow cooker and cook them low and slow that way–it would be fabulous!
Serving Suggestions
This makes a satisfying and delicious main dish that you can eat with some nourishing side dishes, such as homemade sweet potato wedges and roasted orangey Brussels sprouts. My air fryer butternut squash cubes recipe is another great choice!
This also goes great over a bed of rice to make a burrito bowl, or with some tortillas to make deliciously spicy carnitas.
Related Recipes to Try
Want to try some other dinner recipes or Traeger smoker recipes? You’ll love my Traeger Ribeye (boneless Prime Rib) recipe or my smoked Traeger Picanha steaks with chimichurri.
Give my Easy Smoked Whole Chicken or Smoked Chicken Legs with Chimichurri a try. Or if salmon is more your game, try my Honey Garlic Grilled Salmon recipe!
I also have a great collection of pork recipes. If you have a pork roast you want to make but no smoker, try my Hearty Irish Pork Stew.
Recipe Notes
If using a wood pellet smoker, the type of wood pellets you use for this recipe is up to you. I use a general hardwood pellet blend from Costco for our Traeger grill. Apple wood would be a great choice, as would cherry.
This recipe can also be made on other smokers such as a Big Green Egg or charcoal smoker. Fire up your individual smoker as indicated in the manufacturer’s instructions.
FAQ
How long you should smoke a boneless pork roast will depend on the size of your roast, the temperature of your smoker, and how you want to serve the meat. We smoked a 2.25 lb boneless pork sirloin at 250 degrees F. It took us 5 hours to reach an internal temperature of 204 degrees. While pork roasts are safe to eat once they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees, if you want to pull or shred the pork, you need to cook it to at least 190-205 degrees in order to break down the collagen. We followed our Meater thermometer’s suggestion and went to 204. Overall, a general estimate is 2 hours per pound.
One benefit of roasts with lots of marbling is that they stay moist when cooking. Since we are cooking a lean roast, we do not have much marbling and need to utilize other tactics. We utilize several strategies in this recipe. First, marinating the roast and then cooking it at a low temperature is important. Creating a foil tent (as we do partway through the cooking time) and adding enough liquid (as we do with the orange juice) is also helpful to keep the meat moist during cooking.
Generally speaking, 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for smoking pork— it just depends on how soon you want to eat! This recipe calls for 250, but you could go down to 225 if you want a longer smoke time, or bump up the temp to 275 partway through if you want to get it done faster.
Smoke Yourself a Juicy Pork Sirloin Roast Today!
If you made this delicious smoked boneless pork roast recipe, please leave a comment and review! It means the world!
Smoked Boneless Pork Roast
Equipment
- Smoker
Ingredients
- 2-3 pound Boneless Pork Sirloin - or pork loin
- 1/2 large Onion - diced
- 3.5 ounces Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
- 5 cloves Fresh Garlic
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 cup Orange Juice - divided into two 1/2 cup portions
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 cup Cilantro (stems and leaves) - loosely packed (about 20 grams)
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade. Dice your onion and toss into a Ziploc bag or other marinating container along with your boneless pork roast. Then add the following to a blender cup: the chipotle peppers in adobo, garlic cloves, olive oil, 1/2 cup orange juice, cumin, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and cilantro. Pulse the marinade ingredients in your blender a few times to mix, but it does not need to be perfectly smooth. Pour over the meat and onion in your marinating bag. Close the bag and squish it around to evenly coat everything. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Take out a 9×13 pan. Rip off 2 sheets of aluminum foil a little longer than your pan. Lay them side by side, overlapping the edges by about an inch. Fold the edges over to create a seam that can trap the juices. Lay the foil in your 9×13 pan, then pour out your pork sirloin roast and the entire marinade into the pan on top of the foil. Insert your meat thermometer into the thickest part of your roast.
- Place on your smoker and smoke until it reaches 160 degrees F, about 2 hours.
- When the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees, take it off your smoker temporarily to add another 1/2 cup of orange juice around the roast. Slice an orange and lay the slices on top of the roast. Fold the sides of the foil up around the roast to seal it in, adding another small sheet on top if needed to completely wrap it. Place it back on the smoker until your pork roast reaches a temperature of 200-205 degrees f.–this took me 3 hours. If you want to speed it up, you can turn the temp up to 275 degrees F.
- Once your pork roast reaches the desired temperature, remove it from the smoker and let it sit on the counter, still covered in foil, for at least 30 minutes. This resting period is really important to allow the juices to redistribute so that the meat is tender, not tough. It will be hard to wait, but it's worth it!
- When the rest is finished, decide how you want to eat the roast and either slice the meat or pull it apart. Enjoy!
Video
We loved this so much! It was a great way to use the pork sirloin I got from butcher box, and we loved this lean, healthy dinner that tasted just as good as a butt/shoulder without all the fat!
Very delicious! Love this for tacos. SO good, smoky, with some spice–just perfect