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Pork belly is something I took a while to get perfect when I would make it – until I stumbled upon my absolute favorite method to Roast Pork Belly to perfection, resulting in a dish that is both crispy, crunchy, and tender. I’m sharing my top tips and the easiest way to achieve juicy, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly – even if it’s your first time making it!
This is one of the best Costco Pork Belly recipes – their prepackaged, sliced strips are the perfect pork belly for this meal!
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of Contents
How to Roast Pork Belly
Pork belly is one of the easiest dishes to get right every time – after you have the right ingredients to season and prep the pork – and pay special attention to our high low roasting method.
Roasted Pork Belly Ingredients
- Olive Oil: Helps the seasonings stick, promotes even browning, and aids in crisping the skin and rendering the fat for a golden, flavorful crust.
- Coarse Salt: Essential for enhancing the pork’s natural flavor and drawing out moisture from the skin, which is key to achieving ultra-crispy crackling.
- Pork Belly Strips: The main ingredient — rich, fatty, and meaty with layers that roast beautifully. The fat renders while cooking, keeping the meat juicy and creating that signature crisp texture on the skin.
- Fresh Cracked Pepper: Adds a touch of heat and earthy spice, balancing the richness of the pork and enhancing overall depth of flavor.
Roast Pork Belly Bites Process
Once you gather your ingredients, we will use the following process:
Prep Pork Belly
Pat the pork belly completely dry with paper towels (especially the skin).
Season Pork Belly
Rub olive oil all over the pork belly, including into the scored skin.
High – Low Roast
Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
Rest & Slice
Let the pork belly rest for at least 10–15 minutes before slicing. This helps retain the juices.
My Pro Tip
Crispy Pork Belly Essentials
- Scoring helps the fat render and the skin crisp – this is optional but very recommended.
- Use a roasting rack or prop the pork on onion slices to allow air circulation – roast pork on a cooling rack for the best airflow!
How to Get Perfect Crispy Roast Pork Belly
Start with Dry Pork Belly: Pat the pork belly very dry with paper towels, especially the skin. Moisture is the enemy of crispiness!
Season Overnight: For extra crisp skin, leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry out.
Score or Poke the Skin: Use a very sharp knife to score the skin in a crosshatch or straight-line pattern (just through the skin and fat, not the meat). This helps fat render and skin crisp. You can also poke lots of small holes in the skin with a meat pricker or metal skewer.
Salt the Skin Generously: Salt draws moisture out of the skin as it roasts, helping it blister and crackle. Use coarse salt and don’t be shy. For a foolproof crisp: rub salt only on the skin, not the meat (to avoid drying the flesh).
Use a Two-Stage High-Low Cooking Method: The secret to pork belly is developing a crispy, crunchy crust – and slowly rendering the belly fat until it melts in your mouth when you eat it. This process is vital for ideal results.
- Blast first: Start at a high temperature (425–450°F / 220–230°C) for 25–30 minutes to crisp the skin.
- Roast low: Drop the heat to 300–325°F (150–160°C) and cook for 1.5–2 hours until tender inside.
- Optional finish: Broil for a few minutes at the end if the crackling needs extra crisping — watch closely to prevent burning.
Cut After Roasting: Roast the pork belly whole and cut into bite-sized pieces after cooking for maximum juiciness and easier crisping.
Opt for Serrated: Use a serrated or very sharp knife to cut through the crisp skin cleanly.
Use a Roasting Rack or Elevate: Place pork on a rack or bed of sliced onions to let hot air circulate underneath, ensuring even cooking and crisping.
Rest Before Slicing: Let the pork belly rest for 10–15 minutes before cutting. This keeps juices inside and makes slicing cleaner.
For Bites with All-Over Crispiness: After roasting, cube the pork belly and return the pieces to a hot oven or air fryer for 10–15 minutes to crisp up all sides — like pork belly “burnt ends.”
What to serve with Pork Belly
Roast Pork Belly Bites
Ingredients
- 2 –3 pounds pork belly, skin-on, ideally scored
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 –1½ teaspoons coarse salt, plus more for skin
- ½ –1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Pat the pork belly completely dry with paper towels (especially the skin).
- If the skin isn’t already scored, use a very sharp knife to score it in a crisscross pattern, cutting just through the skin and fat (not the meat).
- Rub olive oil all over the pork belly, including into the scored skin.
- Season generously with salt and pepper — rub it into the meat and fat.
- For ultra-crispy skin, you can sprinkle a little extra coarse salt just on the surface of the skin.
- For the crispiest skin, place the pork uncovered on a rack over a tray in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight to dry out the skin.
- Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
- Place pork belly skin-side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes to crisp the skin.
- Reduce temperature to 325°F (160°C) and roast for another 1.5–2 hours, until tender and deeply golden.
- If the skin isn’t crisp enough at the end, blast it under the broiler for a few minutes, watching closely.
- Let the pork belly rest for at least 10–15 minutes before slicing. This helps retain the juices.
- Slice with a serrated knife for best results, especially through the crackling.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
