Pork belly
This is a blimmin’ fantastic slow-cooked pork belly recipe. With very little effort, you end up with that wondrous contrast of meltingly delicious meat and salty crunchy crackling. I’ve tried loads of pork belly recipes using all manner of spices, brines, sauces and seasonings, but we’re going back to basics here. I just serve this chopped up on a board and people can pick at it – it’s heaven, although it doesn’t last long! Sometimes, I add a little homemade apple sauce to cut through the richness.
Ingredients
1-2kg pork belly (free range is best)
Olive oil
Salt
Note: If you’re buying pork belly from your local butcher, ask them to ‘score’ the skin for you so you don’t have to. Sometimes it’s already scored when you buy it – even then I usually add a few more cuts for good measure.
Method
Preheat the oven to 130c conventional bake.
Place the pork belly skin-side up on a clean chopping board and pat the skin very dry with paper towels. If the skin has not already been scored, carefully slice lines right across the belly using a sharp knife, about 1cm apart. You want to pierce through the tough skin and just go into the fat layer, not cut into the meat underneath. Scoring helps the crackling puff up later.
Place the pork belly skin side up in a roasting pan, preferably sitting on a wire rack if you have one. Drizzle and rub a good amount of olive oil all over the whole pork belly (including the underside) so it’s all coated. Sprinkle the skin side generously with salt and massage it in. I give it a hit of cracked pepper here too.
If there’s any meat poking out, try and tuck it under best you can so it’s not exposed.
Place the pork in the middle of the oven (skin side up) and cook in for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, increase the temperature to 150c and cook for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, change the oven setting to ‘grill’ on medium-high. Move the pork belly to the top of the oven and grill the skin until it goes puffy and golden all over (it might only take a minute – watch it closely or it will burn!).
Transfer to a chopping board and cut into pieces to serve. For a meal it’s delicious with a nice zesty salad or a slaw and pumpkin or orange kumara mash.
Betcha there’s none left at the end…
Hi Chelsea, am planning on making this tomorrow night with your perfect crispy potatoes (I’ve made them twice already can confirm they are perfect!). Would it best for me to take the pork out after the 30mins cooking at 150c and allow to rest while I turn up the oven and do the potatoes…then put the pork back under the grill for the crackling to puff up?
Yes that’s a good idea.
Hey Chelsea, the antispam for this recipe comment was SEXHL !!!!!! Heh heh…..I can’t wait to try this recipe.My family LOVE pork belly. Do you have a book with the lamb shanks, beef shin and this recipe in it ? I have created my own Chelsea folder on my laptop but wondered if there was a book.
Hi Julie, the lamb shanks are in my first book, the pork belly will be in my second book out in October, and the beef shin is just on the website!
thanks Chelsea, what a great but, easy recipe with very good advice on how do things! This is the first time in ages that I have successfully roasted a tender, juicy Pork belly with great crackling!
Gonna try this tomorrow. Belly already sitting in the fridge to dry and keen to try your method of first slow roasting and then blasting to get the crispy skin. The other way around never worked for me!
Hi Chelsea. I have a Pork Shoulder Roast(1.75kg) too cook for visitors tonight. My oven is on permanent Fan-Bake. Please How do I bake??
Hi Chelsea,
My partner and I cooked this for the first time tonight! It was ammmmazing thank-you so much, the pork was tender and the cracking was perfect! I can’t wait to share this recipe with family and friends!
Hi, I have a 2.4 kg pork belly with bones in? Does it matter if there are bones in or should I take it back to the butcher and ask him to de-bone it . Has yours got bones? Will 2.4 kg need much longer, it’s to feed about 10 people. Thanks!
Don’t worry it will work fine! That should be enough, as long as there are filling sides.
Thanks Chelsea. I plan on doing your crusty potatoes and a coleslaw… Anything else you’d suggest? I am doing the chocolate puddings for dessert. A relaxed and yummy birthday dinner I hope!
What about if I only have 640g? I can’t get a free range one that big, where I’m located.
Hi Chelsea, I’m going to attempt making this tonight as it looks amazing! My oven is only fanbake so do you recommend lowering the temperature at all? Also, will your crispy potatoes cook well enough alongside the pork on the lower heat? Thanks :)
It’ll be fine! Potatoes will cook but not go crispy – you’ll need to crank the oven up at the end when the pork isn’t in it!
I think I am going to buy some pork tomorrow! My mouth is watering – delicious.
Can I use this receipe for a pork roast (rolled)?
Hi there. Would this also work for a piece of bone in pork leg. It’s about 2kg:). Thanks
Just wanted to let you know that this is easily one of my favourite recipes. So simple, and such amazing results every time. Fool proof!! We have is every couple of weeks, and look forward to it every time. Thank you!!
OMG- YUM!….. That is all :-)
I love this recipe, this is my favourite way to cook port belly, thanks heaps :-)
This looks super YUM ….. will be getting 1 when next at butchers… love that you are sooooo REAL on this site!! hope it works… love pork!!
Do you have a yummy sauce recipe to go with this? I have made this many times and it is just beautiful but could be better with something other than my homemade gravy…….
This looks amazing!!! My hubby and I are addicted to pork belly…yummo :) looking forward to trying this one out Chelsea. Thanks for the recipe X
Hi Chelsea, this sounds amazing and I’m going to try it tonight. Can I ask please why you change it to 150 for the last 30 mins? Would it work just as good if I left it in for another hour at 130 degrees? Thanks
Hi Andre, it helps the crackling to crisp up better with that little bit of high temperature, that’s all. Up to you!
In the oven now, fingers crossed it comes out right! : ) Pork belly is my fav
Yum i am soo going to do this tomorrow night, my absolute favourite meat, thank you for this great yummy recipe :-)
Hi, this looks amazing. Do you put oil over the skin aswell or just the meat? Thanks
Yes, you put it all over the skin too, Charlie.
I would love to put this recepie in my Pinterest account but can’t find a tab fr that??
If you hover your mouse over the main photo you should see a Pinterest button pop up on the image?
Making this tomorrow with crispy spuds of yours. Will the pork with crispy crackling be okay to rest while for the 20 mins the spuds are in the oven? The heat is to low for them to be put in with pork.
Hi Chelsea, thanks for the recipe and the advice. Made it tonight for dinner with a bit of sage and onion stuffing and some new potatoes and it was divine. It worked out perfectly, just as you said. I tested the temperature at the end and it was actually a lot higher than the 70C, but it was still really succulent, and the cracking literally melted in our mouths. I’m a pork convert because it’s never tasted this nice before.
Hi Chelsea, never been much of a pork fan so haven’t cooked a roast of it, but this looks delicious and am keen to give it a go. What should the internal temperature be when it’s cooked please? (a bit paranoid as it’s my first time cooking it)
Hi Lynne, there’s no way you will undercook it with this recipe! You want it to be about 70c in the middle :)
We asked the butcher to butterfly the pork belly, but it still has bones in. Do we cut them off before cooking, or leave them on. Looks delicious
You can just leave the bones in, just maybe cook for an extra half an hour for the first stage! Yum.
I think this might be my ‘extra’ meat on Christmas Day…my husband and I, we love pork belly but pork just upsets our tums. Small amounts of pork belly will be a nice addition to our lunch/dinner.
Thanks Chelsea.
Hi Chelsea it looks yummy can’t wait to try it . I have seen many ways to do this one pouring boiling water over the fat , cooking at high temp then lowering , and another in a bath of milk or water , have you tried these methods and what are your thoughts ?
Hi Chelsea, made this tonight and it was delicious but the bottom was quite dry. I did only use a 500g piece of pork belly. For less than your 1-2kg recipe who much would you shorten the cooking time by? Many thanks Nick
Hi Nick, was the pork belly on a wire rack when you cooked it?
Hi Chelsea, I didn’t use a rack…..hmmm, sounds like I need a second nudge! Don’t get me wrong was still delicious. Will try again, thanks so much:) Very much appreciated, Nick
This was just beautiful, thank you
I would like to do a rolled pork belly for Christmas Day; probably a 2kg piece of meat. I’m going to use your slow cooking method – as the piece of meat is rolled should I extend the time? And do you have any tips on how to get the crackling crispy all the way around? Hot oven on fan bake maybe? Or would I need to grill as usual and just turn the roll around to get all sides? Any tips welcomed!
I would assume the same method can be transferred to charcoal BBQ? The only thing my BBQ pork is missing is crispy crackling, and that is something I haven’t quite figured out how to master just yet.
I don’t think a BBQ gets hot enough for the crackling to go puffy – I’d pop it in the oven under the grill for the last bit!
Made this last night and it was delicious. Will definitely make a regular appearance, especially with such good crackling. Thank you for posting such a simple and yummy version for cooking Pork Belly.
Also a good trick is wipping off the cracking after the pork is cooked, let if rest and pop just the crackling in under the grill for a few mins and get that badboy well crispy without the risk of over cooking the pork
I am making this along with your crunchy potatoes and it is smelling divine! I love experimenting with pork belly recipes but I find that simple is best and always end up coming back to your recipe. Thanks for keeping it simple for us!
Love this! Was so easy to make and tasted so good.
What about a piece of meat which is half the size? (Say 500g)
About 30 minutes less for the first stage :)
This is such a simple recipe……but tastes sooooooo good. I have made it twice now, and even my husband (who isn’t much of a pork eater) loves it!!!
What oven function should I use for the slow cook process? Bake without fan? Thanks I’m trying this tonight!
Hi Tammy, bake without fan will work :)
Is this cooking method for 2 kg of pork belly. I only have 1kg, so would I half the cooking time?
It’s in the oven…. Nearly finished!!!!! Can’t wait.
What would you serve with this Chelsea for nice dinner?
Hi Jayne, sometimes I serve it with my crunch potatoes, and a nice coleslaw with grated apple in it! Or you can do a nice fresh green salad and new potatoes, or a kumara mash is nice too!
Hi Chelsea. How would you make that work? I love your crunchy potatoes but they are cooked at a much higher heat than the pork belly.
You’d have to blast the potatoes while the pork was resting :)
Hi Chelsie, do you cover this in foil to cook?
No you don’t Kacey, just as it is!
Hi…would this work with a pork shoulder?
Hi Kim, it probably would, yes.
Hi Chelsea,
Could you cook the pork in a Slow Cooker then grill it at the end? If so, how long would you cook it for and at what temperature please?
Hi Steve, I wouldn’t think it would be very good for the crackling – it needs to dry out slowly for a few hours in a hot dry oven, the slow cooker would be very moist and so would your crackling!
How much oil do we actaully put in Chelsea, bearing in mind it is on a rack? I remember Nadia Lim doing a pork belly which had oil poured in, right up to the skin. Am interested in your thoughts about how different that would taste etc? the effect on cooking?
Hi Graeme, cooking the pork in oil is actually ‘confit’, a different method of cooking (I have a confit recipe on my site as well). It’s great for flavour and texture but I just sometimes find it too much effort and the crackling isn’t the same. I prefer this way!
We’re trying this tonight! Just put the oven up to 150, so not long now. Not sure if it’s 20 or 30 minutes at this stage though as it says both. Time will tell :-)
Just wondering is the cooking time for a 1kg or 2kg piece of pork? The recipe says 1-2kg of pork belly so would you cut down the cooking time of you used a 1kg piece?
THANK YOU :)
Hi Rebecca, the same time will work for both.
Is this in your new book?
Hi Tina, no, it’s just a website recipe.
OMG! This looks good. How much is Pork Belly from the supermarket? I’ve never bought it before so would love to make this for the family one day.
It’s not very expensive at all – maybe $15? That’s why it’s awesome!
About $18.99/kg at many supermarkets at the moment. Check out butchers if you can, often they’re cheaper. Be careful of the branded pork pre-packages, we bought one last year with a lovely golden roasted picture on it, only to find out it was “rindless” pork belly. No skin at all, so no crackling!
Just wondering if you could part cook this the day before and finish it the next day??
how times have changed haha! We used to love doing pork belly but its bkt always affordable anymore!
Pork belly is very fatty and has a whopping 500+ calories per 100g ! It must surely be one of the unhealthiest foods on the market. It cannot be good for anyone to eat solid meat fat & when I had it-the first and last time-when all the fat was cut off because no way was I going to eat that, a tiny amount of meat was left-barely 1/5 (if that)
One might as well buy lard and eat that. Ick.
Thanks for that feedback – you are entitled to your opinion, of course! I’m guessing there are a few people out there who may not share your view, though ;)
Too right Chelsea. Pork Belly is the chocolate of the meat section.
Totally agree
I love that response, Nick. “The chocolate of the meat section” is a perfect description. Obviously it is a special occasion treat meal :-)
That’s absolutely right Chelsea! Animal fats are NOT bad for you, I’ve recently started on a low-carb, high-fat diet and this recipe is PERFECT! Looking forward to giving this a go, thank you for sharing your recipe :)
Yes! Nicky Pork Belly is the best,
I never ate Pork because it was too fattening but I too and am eating LCHF and I love it now OMG! cant get enough of PB :)
Good or bad for you, who cares. This is deeeelicous! Pork belly is a fave treat of mine, it’s certainly not something I’d eat weekly (or probably even monthly) but I have some slow cooking right now and can’t wait to eat it tonight. Thanks Chelsea for such a simple recipe!
Every once in a while doesn’t hurt. Can get back to a “healthy ” diet next day. Yum I’m trying tonight.
I don’t care about the amount of fat etc. Pork is my favourite meat and this sounds just divine. Life is too short not to have a scrumptious treat now and then.
Many, many people out there who don’t share that negative opinion!!
Eating fat does not make you fat. Eating too much will but eating too much of anything ” bad” makes you fat. I have lost 20+ kilos since February this year and I enjoy my steak, lamb and roast pork dinners. Anyone want to lose a kilo a week?, stop eating sugar. That includes alcohol as alcohol is made from sugar. You just have to ask yourself “am I serious”?.
Here here :D :D :D …..just popped this in the oven. Cannot wait to eat all the crackling ;)
Crrrrrunchhh. Nom nom.
Also, fat is not the biggest problem, as science is starting to show….thinks that are diet, low in fat and high in sugar and processed foods are much more an issue
This is, unfortunately, one of the myths that has come about because of the lies told by Ancel Keyes and, subsequently, the food industries desire to increase profits.
Natural saturated fats are not inherently unhealthy. They sate far quicker than the starchy carbs that diet advice for 40 years has said we should fill up on. And there is no actual evidence that they cause higher cholesterol – or even that cholesterol is inherently ‘bad’. It’s a building block of life, so it makes you wonder how somebody got away with that big con.
As I mentioned: Ancel Keyes lied over the link between a diet high in saturated fat, leading to high cholesterol leading to heart disease. He was so determined that that was what he was going to prove, that instead of admitting that he had studied 22 countries, he declared only seven, since they were the only ones that matched his idea.
However, Big Pharma has benefitted to the tune of billions by medicalising people with statins, while Big Food has benefitted by flogging you artificial crap like margarine and other vile spreads. Do you really believe that something that has had the fat stripped out, thus rendering it tasteless, grey and lacking in nutrients, which then has to be flavoured, coloured, have some vitamins chucked at it – and then preservatives etc – is healthier for you than plain, old-fashioned butter? Or that a low-fat yogurt, that’s stuffed with sugar because stripping the fat from it has removed any vestiges of flavour from it is a healthy food?
Read up on the (so-called) French Paradox. The French in general consume more dairy produce than anywhere else on earth – yet have lower rates of heart disease than the UK and US. In the south west of the country, they also make – and eat – such delicacies as foie gras and duck confit. And guess what – they still have a lower rate of heart disease than the UK and US.
And try Dr Malcolm Kendrick’s ‘The Great Cholesterol Con’.
Seriosuly. If you don’t want to eat this great but don’t push your views on people. Everyone knows how fatty pork belly is no need to have rant about it here. Some people only eat high fat foods and no carb too btw.
YUM! Making it for the second time tonight! As good as any we have had at a Resturant, and What brownie points I get! Too Easy! Thanks Chelsea we are big Fans.
Anna B …… sucks to be you …..
Lol hello pork belly rocks but if it’s not your deal don’t bark like z dog on heat just go have a kale leaf and get over it …
Way to kill the buzz Anna.
Pork Belly when cooked right is one of the most moist and succulent meats to eat.
I’ve followed Chelsea Winter’s blog tried some of her recipes and must say I’m definitely not disappointed. With how she does her pork belly.
There are good fats and bad fats. This is good fat. You may have had someone who didn’t know how to cook this cut of meat fortunately I haven’t had the same experience as you. I love this young ladies recipe.
? ? pork belly is known for being fatty…that’s why it’s so good!!!!
Logic – ‘I hate Pork Belly so lets look up a recipe online and tell everyone how much I dislike pork belly after trying it once…. Hmmmmm
Awwwww its the best part thanks for your positive comment
What a killjoy! You need to live…it’s not an everyday food … it’s a treat. Try treating yourself ?
Great dish give this to all school kids even our religious so called mates ( Pork Lovers)
The fat is the best part and not unhealthy
We were duped for decades into thinking animal fat was bad but now we know better. Pork belly is a healthy food, especially the crackling. I put cream and butter on everything. Just cut the sugar and carbs and youl be sweet as.
Lovely treat with family , not your even day dish obviously.
Anna B. Fat is not bad for you. Try cutting out carbs and sugar instead. PB is an awesome keto dinner. Its not about the calories !!!!!!
It’s perfect if you’re on a Keto food plan ????????
Late to the party here, but there’s always a party pooper wanting to force their opinions on others. Was looking for a recipe to slow cook a nice piece of PB, and looks like I found it. Don’t think the occasional treat of anything ever killed anyone. Food police pop up all the time, and they’re funny and I always ignore them, because ultimately they’re almost always proven to be wrong.
I paid $22 for a 600gram piece at Woolworths Blenheim, and even that was over my budget, but worth every cent when u finally get to eat it!!
This looks and sounds so easy and divine – I think I might have to make it for a special dinner I have coming up! Thanks for sharing.