Salt Crust Pork Belly

This salt crusted pork belly is a easy, crispy pork belly recipe that is roasted entirely in the oven. With a simple two part roasting process, you’ll have the best pork belly you’ve ever had right at home.

I still remember the first time I had pork belly. It was a pig-inspired food truck in Portland and out came this paper tray with a perfect dry rubbed, succulent pork belly on a bed of slaw all wrapped in a delicious bun. I was hooked.

Ever since then I pretty much order pork belly whenever I see it. There are TONS of ways to prepare pork belly, and each delicious in their own way. BUT, when I’m roasting pork belly at home, I tend to fall back on this one simple salt crust pork belly recipe. It was a hit the first time I made it, and it’s been our favorite ever since.

What do you mean by Salt Crust?

To make perfect pork belly you have to account for the fat in some way. That’s a significant portion of the cut! Without consideration of how to treat the fat, you can end up with chewy or flabby results. No thanks.

By first scoring the fat on the top of your pork belly and coating it with a good layer of salt, you help that fat render and draw out moisture, leaving seriously delicious crispy roast pork belly in it’s wake. It’s a simple, 2 step baking method that you’ll find easy, I promise.

Ingredients

If you’re a pork belly newbie, welcome, if you’re just looking to change up your methods for cooking those pork belly slabs, also welcome. To make this, you’ll need just a few very simple ingredients.

• Pork Belly – Most grocers sell pork belly in manageable skin-off slabs or strips. You can also request it from the butchers counter and they often can sell you a larger slab if you’d like it. I prefer skin off slabs because they’re easier to handle and cook.
• Salt – My go to salt for pretty much everything is Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt. You can use what you like but I do recommend a coarser salt rather than fine table salt.
• Seasonings of choice – What’s important here is the method, rather than the specific spices I use, it’s very flexible!

Ingredient Tips

• When choosing pork belly, look for good marbling. By this I mean a good ratio of white fat to pink meat. If the belly you’re looking at is mostly white, you won’t get enough yield for it to be worth it. Your ideal slice is 2 to 3 inches thick.
• If you have skin on pork belly that’s totally fine! I don’t like it but there are plenty who would disagree with me. It can get tough when baked or roasted, so here’s a video on how to remove it, or ask your butcher to! If you prefer it on, simply be sure to score it deeply into the fat (more on that later)
• I like to rub the sides and bottom of my pork belly with a rub made up of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. This is usually a 2:2:2:1:1 ratio (ex, 1 tsp of each, then a 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper). You can use whatever you like, but DO NOT rub the top, white fat part. If you can let the pork belly refrigerate for an hour or two after the rub, even better.
• You can also use a marinade! If you’d like to marinade your pork belly be sure to place it and the marinade in a wide, flat bottom dish or plastic bowl. You want the white fat part to be sitting up out of the marinade (don’t submerge it). Cover and refrigerate anywhere between 1 to 24 hours.
• This method works with both pork belly strips or slabs, you can easily adjust it to whatever size you have.

How to Make Salt Crust Pork Belly

This method not only yields delicious crispy pork belly, it’s also fun! It’s a ‘yea I did that’ moment when you pull the finished belly out and see how it’s transformed from inedible to entirely decadent. The whole process takes maybe 90 minutes, and as far as portion…well that depends on how willing you are to share.

1. First create your rub if using and rub the sides and bottom of the pork belly, do not apply to the top fat. Either chill for an hour or two, or move ahead and preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. While your oven is preheating, place your pork belly, fat side up, on either a broiler pan or an oven safe baking sheet and rack. Line the bottom pan with foil and pour in enough water to have an inch or two in the bottom pan. Score the pork belly with a sharp knife by cutting diagonal lines across the top, try to slice deeply into the fat without cutting the meat.
3. Pat the fat layer dry with paper towels. Cover the scored fat with a thick layer of salt. You should not see any meat coming through, and the salt layer should be even. For 2 lbs of pork belly, this is usually about 1 1/2 cups of salt. Make sure your belly is even on the pan as well (See tip below).
4. Carefully (the water will spill so keep it even!) place the pan in the center rack of your oven and roast for 40 minutes.
5. Remove your belly from the oven and turn it up to 450°F. The salt will have formed a crust that breaks off easily. Remove all possible salt from the top of the pork belly and the pan (it will burn). If need be, momentarily move the pork belly to a plate and wipe the top rack off.
6. Return the pork belly to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top layer is crispy and golden brown.
7. Allow to rest on the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then slice and serve!

Pro Tip: If you pork belly is not sitting evenly on your rack, fold up little squares of foil and slide it under to level it. This is important for even crisping!

FAQ’S

Serve, Eat, & Enjoy

Now that you have this gorgeous, glistening perfect pork belly recipe, it’s time to eat it! While my husband would happily just steal slices straight off the cutting board, it’s a lovely protein to serve with a great variety of side dishes. It works with tangy, saucy, hearty, or light meals as a flavorful addition.

Because it’s a very rich piece of meat, I usually say a slice or two per person is enough, but I’ll let you have the final say on that ;). In any case, check out my recommended sides, and as always Happy Eating!

What to serve with pork belly…

• Grandma’s Easy Potato Salad
• Brussels Sprout Slaw
• Easy Italian Polenta
• Kale Strawberry Blueberry Salad
• BBQ Lentil Bake
• Tomato Spinach Salad
• Apple Coleslaw
• Rustic French Style Lentils
• Pasta with Asiago Cream Sauce
• Quick Overnight Sauerkraut