This crispy pork belly recipe follows the cooking directions on our own product page: score and season the belly, roast it fat side up on a rack at 450°F for 30 minutes, then lower the oven to 325°F and roast 1.5 to 2 hours more until tender, and rest it 10 to 15 minutes before slicing. Our belly is skinless, so the hot start browns and renders the fat cap instead of blistering a skin.
That is the first thing to know about a skinless square cut pork belly: most crispy pork belly recipes online are built around skin, and ours has none. The method below is our product page’s method, step by step, with one salt rule stated once and the signs that tell you the belly is done.
- What you need
- Step by step
- Time and temperature stages
- What a skinless belly gives you
- Questions people ask
What you need for this crispy pork belly recipe
- 1 skinless square cut pork belly, thawed in the fridge (two nights)
- Kosher salt: 1 teaspoon per pound of belly (weigh the thawed belly on a kitchen scale)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- A wire rack set in a rimmed sheet pan, and a meat thermometer
The seasonings are the ones on our product page: olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. The product page does not give a salt amount, so we use one rule: 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound.
How to make crispy pork belly in the oven, step by step
- Heat the oven to 450°F. Set the wire rack in the sheet pan.
- Score and season. Pat the belly dry and weigh it. Score the fat cap in a crosshatch, cutting into the fat but not the meat. Rub the whole belly with olive oil, then the salt (1 teaspoon per pound), pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Roast hot. Set the belly on the rack, fat side up. Roast 30 minutes at 450°F, until the fat cap is browned and rendering.
- Roast slow. Lower the oven to 325°F and roast 1.5 to 2 hours more, until the belly is tender and a probe slides into the meat with no resistance.
- Rest and serve. Rest 10 to 15 minutes, then slice across the grain into slabs or cubes.
Pork is safe at 145°F with a three minute rest, per the USDA safe minimum temperature chart. Belly passes that early and keeps going, because the long slow stage is what turns the fat and connective tissue soft.
Time and temperature stages
| Stage | Temperature | Time | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot start | 450°F | 30 minutes | Browns and renders the fat cap |
| Slow roast | 325°F | 1.5 to 2 hours | Softens the fat and connective tissue until tender |
| Rest | On the board | 10 to 15 minutes | Juices settle; slices hold together |
Every row is from our product page’s cooking directions. Ovens vary, so start checking for tender at 1.5 hours into the slow stage.
What a skinless belly gives you
Skin on belly gives crackling. A skinless belly gives a browned, rendered fat cap over soft layers of fat and meat, which is easier to slice and easier to cube for tacos, rice bowls, and salads.
Scoring the fat cap gives the hot start more edges to brown and lets the fat render. A dry surface helps too, so pat the belly well before you season it.
Serve the slabs over rice with something pickled, or cube them for tacos and salads through the week. Cooked pork keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, per USDA’s fresh pork page, so a whole belly can cover several dinners.
We compared the raw cut with its cured cousin in our pork belly vs bacon guide, which explains why belly tastes like roast pork and not like bacon: no cure, no smoke, just the cut itself.
Heritage Duroc belly has the marbling to stay juicy through a long roast. The same low and slow thinking is in top tips for cooking the perfect pork chop, and every fresh cut we sell is in heritage pork fresh cuts.
Questions people ask about crispy pork belly
How do you make the crispiest pork belly?
With skin, by drying and blistering the skin. With our skinless belly, by scoring the fat cap and starting hot at 450°F so it browns and renders before the slow roast.
Why won’t my pork belly get crispy?
Usually a wet surface or a covered pan. Pat it dry, leave it uncovered on a rack, and give the hot start its full 30 minutes.
How do you get crispy fat on pork belly?
Score the fat cap, salt it, and roast it fat side up at 450°F first. The scoring lets the fat render and gives the cap more edges to brown.
What is the secret to tender pork belly?
Time at a low temperature. The 1.5 to 2 hours at 325°F is what softens the layers, and no hot start can replace it.
What are common mistakes when cooking pork belly?
Skipping the hot start, covering it with foil, cooking it fat side down, and slicing it right out of the oven. Give it the rest so the slices hold.
Start with the belly, not the skin. A crispy pork belly recipe without skin is simpler than the skin on kind, and a Heritage Duroc belly, raised crate free with no antibiotics ever on Iowa family farms, has the fat to make it worth the wait.
Check availability on the skinless square cut pork belly, or see every cut in heritage pork fresh cuts. It ships frozen from the farm shop.