Crispy Slow Roasted Pork Belly

Incredibly succulent, juicy meat, perfectly crispy crackling, and just 10 minutes of hands-on prep? Thisgorgeous slow-roasted pork belly is truly something special. A simple five-spice rub and a long, slow roast do most of the work. Served with a sticky spiced plum sauce, it’s a very lovely centerpiece for a Sunday lunch, dinner party, or Christmas feast.

Crispy Slow Roasted Pork Belly, at a Glance

⏳CookingTime: 4 hours

⏰Plan Ahead: Marinate the pork and dry the salted skin uncovered in the fridge for at least 3 hours, ideally overnight

🍽️Serves: 8 as main with sides

🛒 Key Ingredients: Boneless pork belly, salt, Chinese five-spice, plums, red wine vinegar, sugar

🧠 Skill Level: Beginner-friendly

🥖 Serve With: Crispy skin-on roast potatoes, steamed rice or loaded baked rice, or stuff into fluffy bao buns with a crunchy Asian-style slaw

👩‍🍳 Why it Works: Super slow roasting keeps the meat gorgeously juicy and tender, while a hotter finish transforms the skin into beautifully crispy crackling

💃 Perfect For: Sunday lunches, dinner parties, Christmas or Thanksgiving feasts, and feeding a crowd

A Centerpiece Without the Fuss

It’s hard to think of a more irresistible combo than gorgeously juicy, tender pork belly and crispy, crunchy crackling. It feels a bit special, which makes it a lovely choice for dinner parties or Christmas lunch. And the work involved is ridiculously minimal for the beautiful result you get.

A little planning ahead makes all the difference. Salting the skin and leaving it uncovered (ideally overnight) in the fridge helps it dry out and gives you the best chance of that lovely crispy crackling.

Cooking the pork low and slow tenderizes the meat, then blasting it at a high temperature at the end gives you the crackling. While it takes time to cook, there’s only about 10 minutes of actual hands-on prep. Just rub it with spices and salt, let the skin dry, then leave most of the work to the oven.

I’m serving it with a sticky, tangy, spiced plum sauce, loaded with Asian flavors, that pairs brilliantly with the pork and cuts through any richness. Serve it on the side so everyone can help themselves to a very good dollop.

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the pork –

• Pork belly. Use a good quality, free-range piece of boneless pork belly here. To save time, get your butcher to score the skin for you.

For the sauce –

• Plums. I love the flavor of plums with the Asian-inspired ingredients in the sauce, but you could also use peaches. You could also use drained canned plums.
• Star anise. This brings a lovely aniseedy flavour (it’s not overpowering though, so don’t worry!) Leave it out if you can’t find it.
• Cinnamon sticks. You could also use 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon if you can’t find cinnamon sticks.
• Red wine vinegar. I love the fruitiness and color this brings to the sauce, but you could use rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar instead if needed.

How to Make Crispy Pork Belly

This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the pork belly – the full recipe with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.

1. Mix the 5 spice and salt, then rub it all over the flesh side of the pork belly.

1. Turn it over, and rub off any that’s gotten onto the skin. Pat the skin side as dry as you can, then scatter over the salt, rubbing it all over. Transfer to the fridge, and leave uncovered for up to 24 hours.

1. Add the halved plums, star anise, cinnamon sticks, sugar, fish sauce, red wine vinegar and honey into a small pan over medium heat.

1. Cook until the plums have softened but are still keeping their shape. Remove from the heat.

1. Pat dry any liquid that’s formed on top of the pork, then transfer it to the oven.

1. After the first cooking time, turn the oven up and cook until the skin is crackly, crispy, and blistered all over.

1. Remove from the oven and let sit briefly. Reheat your plum sauce during this time.

1. Use a very sharp knife to slice the pork into squares, then serve with the spiced plum sauce on the side.

Kate’s Top Pork Belly Serving Tip

Use a super sharp knife to get neat slices, without squashing that gorgeous, fall-apart meat. After resting the pork, I like to follow the scored lines in the crackling to cut through it firmly and decisively.

If you’re finding it tricky to slice through the crackling, flip the pork over, then slice through the softer flesh first, before pressing firmly through the crackling.

Make a Feast of It

This lovely pork belly makes a gorgeous centerpiece, whether you’re going all out for a Sunday lunch or the holiday season, or keeping things more low-key.

1. The full spread. Serve with crispy skin-on roast potatoes, roasted butternut squash salad, grilled broccoli crunch salad, or miso glazed sweet potatoes, with no yeast garlic butter dinner rolls and a peach, tomato and burrata salad for a gorgeous Sunday lunch or Christmas feast.
2. Build your own bao. Make thinner slices, then stuff them into fluffy steamed bao buns, with a crunchy Asian-inspired slaw, egg-free garlic aioli or gochujang aioli, and the sticky plum sauce dolloped on top.
3. Simple and fresh. Serve it over steamed rice or loaded baked rice, with a smacked cucumber salad, or pan-fried garlicky broccolini, with the sticky plum sauce on the side.

Crispy Pork Belly FAQs

Do I have to dry the pork belly overnight?

You don’t have to, but give it at least 3 hours.

The goal is to dry the skin out as much as possible (salt will draw the moisture out) so that you get gorgeously crispy crackling at the end.

How long will the pork belly last?

Once cooked, leftovers will keep for 3 days, stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Leftovers make brilliant tacos, wraps, sandwiches, dumpling fillings, or they’re lovely tucked into fluffy steamed bao buns.

Why isn’t my pork belly skin crispy?

Moisture tends to be the reason. It’s important to pat the skin dry before you salt it, and again before roasting. If you score the skin yourself, be careful not to score too deeply and cut into the meat because juices can seep up and get the skin wet.

Can I prepare the pork belly ahead of time?

This recipe is kind of designed for this anyway! You’ll get the best crispy crackling and deeply flavorful pork if you marinate it and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight, ready to cook the next day.

The plum sauce can be made three days ahead of time – cool it, then store it in a covered container in the fridge. Gently reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave before serving.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @Zageer on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.

Incredibly succulent, juicy meat, perfectly crispy crackling, and just 10 minutes of hands-on prep? Thisgorgeous slow-roasted pork belly is truly something special. A simple five-spice rub and a long, slow roast do most of the work. Served with a sticky spiced plum sauce, it's a very lovely centerpiece for a Sunday lunch, dinner party, or Christmas feast. Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 4 hrs
Total Time 4 hrs 10 mins

Servings: 8 servings

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian-inspired

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

For the slow roasted pork belly –

• 2 kg Boneless, skin-on pork belly, (4.5lb)
• 2 tablespoons Chinese 5 spice
• 3 tablespoons flaky salt

For the sticky plum sauce –

• 400 g fresh plums
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 whole star anise
• ⅓ cup superfine (caster) sugar
• ½ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey

Method

1. Prepare and marinate the pork belly.Mix your Chinese 5 spice with 1 tablespoon of flaky salt. Place the pork belly in a large oven dish, skin side down. Rub the mix all over the flesh side of the pork belly. Turn it over, then wipe off any spice mix that might have found its way onto the skin.Using a very sharp knife, slice thin lines into the pork skin, being careful not to cut too deeply and into the meat (skip this step if your butcher has already scored the skin). You want to score the skin so the fat can bubble up to the top and help create crackling. It's also super important that the skin is dry at this point, so pat it down with paper towels. Sprinkle another 2 tablespoons of salt onto the skin, and rub it all over.Place it in the fridge uncovered, ideally overnight (or at least 3 hours).
2. Roast the pork belly.When you're ready to cook, remove the pork belly from the fridge and heat your oven to 150°C fan (170℃ or 340°F conventional). Pat dry any wet spots on the skin. Prepare a large wire rack above an oven dish, and brush the rack with oil. Carefully place the pork on the rack, skin side up, then transfer it to the oven for 3 hours.
3. Make the sticky plum sauce.Halve your plums, then remove the stones. Add the plums to a pot with the cinnamon sticks, fish sauce, superfine sugar, red wine vinegar, star anise, and honey. Set the pot over medium heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves and the plums are soft, about 15 minutes. You want them to keep their shape if possible, so don't stir them too much. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise, then set aside.
4. Crisp up the crackling. After 3 hours, the pork should be super tender. Now we're going to finish it off and get that lovely crispy crackling. Turn the oven up to 200°C fan (220℃ conventional or 425°F conventional) and roast for another 40 to 60 minutes until the skin is blistered and crispy all over. Start checking after 40 minutes, and keep an eye on it as the crackling develops.
5. Garnish and serve.Remove the pork from the oven. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before slicing and transferring the pieces to a serving plate. Spoon a little of the sticky plum sauce over the crispy pork pieces, and serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

Nutrition

Calories: 635kcal
Carbohydrates: 19.6g
Protein: 48.5g
Fat: 40.7g
Saturated Fat: 14.6g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 6.3g
Monounsaturated Fat: 16.7g
Trans Fat: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 178mg
Sodium: 1970mg
Potassium: 840mg
Fiber: 1.2g
Sugar: 17.8g
Vitamin A: 180IU
Vitamin C: 5mg
Calcium: 33mg
Iron: 2mg

Notes

While this recipe takes time, the actual hands-on time is minimal, making it great for feeding a crowd on special occasions. The sticky plum sauce can be three to four days in advance and stored in the fridge – just bring it back to room temperature or gently heat it before you serve. The best way to get nice, tidy square pieces of pork belly is to have a very sharp knife! Use the scoring lines as your guide to firmly and confidently cut through the crackling, then go straight down through the tender meat. If you’re finding it hard to cut through, flip it over so it’s crackling side down, then slice through the flesh first.