Natural form
A full slab of raw pork belly showing distinct alternating meat and fat layers.
Shows the raw ingredient's defining structure — the ribbon-like alternation of lean meat and white fat — so readers can identify it at a butcher or market.
Proteins
Pork Belly
Rich, layered cut for crisp crackling and slow braises
Lush ribbons of meat and fat, pork belly roasts to shattering crackling and braises into melting tenderness. Score the skin and cook it low and slow. Keep it cold.
Pork belly is the rich, fatty cut from the pig's underside — alternating layers of meat and fat that, cooked right, turn into two of cooking's great pleasures: shattering crackling and meltingly tender meat. It's the source of bacon and pancetta when cured, and a showpiece on its own roasted (skin dried and scored for crackling), braised (Asian red-cooked or Korean), or slow-cooked until the fat renders to silk. The trick is rendering that fat fully — undercooked belly is flabby, properly cooked belly is luscious. It's indulgent, forgiving, and cheap, rewarding both slow patience and a final blast of high heat.
- Measured in
- g
- Storage
- Refrigerate
- Shelf life
- 3 days
Find it in
Types & varieties
For crackling roasts and red-cooked braises.
Easier for braises, glazes, and slicing.
Salt-cured, sometimes smoked, for everyday cooking.
Thin for grilling (Korean samgyeopsal) and stir-fries.
How to choose
Look for even, generous layers of meat and fat and, for crackling, intact skin you can dry out. Thicker belly suits roasting; thinner, sliced belly suits grilling. Skin-on is essential for crackling; skinless is more convenient for braising and glazing.
How to store / food safety
Refrigerate at or below 4°C and use within a couple of days, or freeze. Slow-cook until the fat is fully rendered and the meat reaches at least 75°C for tenderness (texture, not just safety). Pour off and save the abundant rendered fat. Cured belly (bacon) keeps longer thanks to salt.
How to cook
For crackling, pat the skin bone-dry (even leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight), score it, rub with salt, and roast — start or finish very hot to puff and crisp the skin while the meat below cooks gently. For braises, brown then simmer in aromatic liquid (soy, ginger, star anise; or wine and stock) until fork-tender, optionally crisping at the end. Don't undercook — flabby fat is the failure mode.
Common uses
Tips & pitfalls
- Dry the skin thoroughly — uncovered overnight in the fridge — for real crackling.
- Score the skin, salt it, and blast with high heat to crisp.
- Render the fat fully; undercooked belly is flabby, not luscious.
- Braise in soy, ginger, and star anise for melting Asian-style belly.
- Save the rendered fat — it's liquid gold for roasting.
Nutrition
Energy
2167 kJ · per 100 g
Where the calories come from
Protein
9.3g
19% DV
Carbs
0g
0% DV
Fat
53g
68% DV
Fiber
0g
0% DV
Sugars
0g
of which
Sodium
32mg
1% DV
Source · USDA FoodData Central · Pork, fresh, belly, raw
View on FDC →In the shops
Matched grocery products
€3.24Pork Belly
590 g · Mercadona
€2.36Iberian Pork Belly
BONPREU · ud · Bonpreu
€0.75Pork Belly 50% Duroc
BONPREU DE L'ERA · ud · Bonpreu
€1.24Pork Belly 100% Duroc
BONPREU DE L'ERA · ud · Bonpreu
€3.49Fresh Pork Belly Slices
BONPREU · kg · Bonpreu
€1.99Cured Pork Belly Bonpreu
BONPREU · kg · Bonpreu
Good to know
- Cut/type
- Layered fatty belly; skin-on or skinless
- Flavor
- Rich, unctuous, deeply porky
- Cook to
- Slow-cook till fat renders (~75°C+); crisp skin hot
- Nutrition
- Raw ~518 kcal/100g, ~9g protein, ~53g fat; cooked ~580 kcal, ~14g protein
- Buy
- Even meat-fat layers, dry skin for crackling
Substitutes
- Pork shoulder — Less fatty but similarly forgiving slow-cook cut.
- Bacon — Cured belly for everyday flavoring.
- Beef short rib — Rich, fatty braising alternative.
Also called
panceta de cerdo
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