This Honey Glazed Crispy Pork Belly is roasted and crunchy on the outside, fork tender on the inside, with a basting of honey to contrast the Spanish dry rub spices. Meat candy right here people. Delish.
Here’s a great one for the weekend friends. I mean who doesn’t love a Crispy Pork Belly? It’s the only thing holding me back from ever being a vegetarian. I loves me the bacon.
Every time I see a pork belly recipe it is usually Asian in marinade, glaze or spice mix and while I do enjoy that, I enjoy other spice blends that transport me. One that does that for is smoked paprika. Add some earthy, warm cumin and others spices and I feel like I could be sitting at a bar in Madrid snacking on this cut up into little nibbles.
Tapas are small little plates of savory appetizers in Spain, just enough to wet the appetite and keep you wondering what’s next.
First things first you need to score the top skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife. Not cutting all the way through, just a cross hatch marking on the top. Most pork bellies come in one piece. I like to cut mine into long strips. I feel this way you get more edges all crispy and coated in the dry rub for maximum flavor and crunch appeal. The inside is still tender.
Next up is a tasty spice rub and I felt influenced by Spanish paprika. It’s a smoked paprika to be exact, and I mixed some up with kosher salt, cumin, garlic and cayenne. If cayenne scares you, the slow render of this pork belly mellows the heat.
Just look at this after 1 hour in the oven roasting! The pork skin bubbles up and gets super crispy like chicharrón. Chicharrón are made from pork skin that has usually been seasoned and then deep fried. The hard, dried pork skin puffs up and get crunchy. Usually this is served with a sprinkling of salt or a spice mix.
At this point after an hour of slowly rendering we baste this with the honey and dry sherry mixture. Added sweetness with a beautiful nuanced flavor.
After basting twice and another 30 minutes at a lower temperature, this roasted, crispy pork belly is ready to rest before slicing. The outside is super crispy, crunchy while the inside is a beautifully tender and unctuous rendered pork. The warm and earthy smoked paprika and cumin are wonderful with the rich pork. The honey glazes this to a sweet and sticky, finger licking bite. After bite. After bite.
Served warm in small chunks with your favorite beverage of choice, this is wonderful. Sometimes at this point after it’s completely cooled I wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it straight and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove from wrap, and slice lengthwise. Pan fry to crisp up and serve it in a sandwich.
Although that rarely happens. There is usually none left. Enjoy!
Crispy Pork Belly roasted and crunchy on the outside, fork tender on the inside, with a basting of honey to contrast the Spanish dry rub spices.
- 1 lb pork belly
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne powder
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tbsp dry sherry
- Slice into 2-3 10" x 1" x 1" slabs of pork belly, depending on size of pork belly. Score the skin with a sharp knife with crosshatch marks. Cut the one piece of pork belly into 2-3 long strips (see Note 1).
- In a small bowl mix together the spice rub. Rub the pork belly all over with spice rub to ensure it's coated. Refrigerate covered for 30 minutes or preferably overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Roast uncovered in greased pan for 60 minutes skin side up.
- In a small bowl combine honey and dry sherry. Baste pork belly with honey sherry mixture. Drop temperature to 250°F and continue to render for 20 minutes. Baste one more time and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.
- Allow to cool before slicing.
I like to cut the pork belly into strips so you get more of the outside crispy. Just be sure to coat with the dry rub. Cut first, dry rub second.
Hi Kevin! I was looking for a crispy/sticky combo recipe – since mostly its one or the other! Trying this this weekend. Just a quick question, do you recommend searing the skin with boiling water as I’ve seen in many other recipes? Or will it be crispy even if i just put the spice rub and leave uncovered in the fridge over night?
What you see here is what you get. Crispy indeed! I did not do any boiling in water first. Let me know how yours turns out. I think you’ll find it works just fine Este. 🙂
Ahhhh don’t even talk to me about going vegetarian! Bacon+Pork Belly+Plus perfectly roasted chicken = home to me 🙁 Roasted pork belly is SO damn easy to make right?!? And it has suuuuuch a flavor payoff! When I saw this on instagram…I could not help myself…I shared it and showed it to my hubs telling him…”Look this is my friend Kevin…from San Diego…Look at what he cooked! Isn’t it amazing!” He replied “aha Mila…ever since you went meat free I can only wish to see things like this at home.” Such a complainer 🙂 Lovely recipe my dear!
Completely agree, so good and when it bastes in it’s own fat and crisps up – heaven! Thanks so much for sharing that, I think your husband deserves this this weekend. Right? 🙂
Seriously Kevin! You’re killing me with this… I think you guys need to move to Sydney to be closer to us all… then we can feast on this delicious pork together!
Thanks Amanda! Nagi came and stayed with us for a few days and we had so much fun. She mentioned we needed to come down to Sydney too and gather you, Scott, John and Dean and have a restaurant crawl in Sydney or hop over to New Zealand for a proper holiday. One of these days for sure! 🙂
Smoked paprika is the best and I sneak it in wherever I can. Who could say no to pork belly that looks this good?
Thanks John. Tasty grub right there. 🙂
So I’ve yet to try making pork belly at home. I think I’ve been jaded by some really subpar homemade pork belly in the past…but this looks amazing! I love that spice rub my friend. #WolfpackPorkInMyBelly
Pork belly is so good, but I hear ya, if it’s not rendered and cooked well it looks like a big, chewy piece of fat and that’s no bueno.
Slow and rendered, breaks the fats down, bastes the meat and the honey and sherry glaze really compliments the smoked paprika and other spices. I actually made a big batch and we had them again last night over polenta and wilted spinach. Happy holiday weekend Dave.
Putting pork belly on the shopping list right now! You are right. We do tend to see it mainly done in recipes with Asian flavours so this is a nice change. I always have smoked paprika on hand and just bought some more Spanish sherry vinegar last week so great timing!
Excellent! So glad you like it and thanks for stopping by Sue. Save a little of the honey and sherry for a quick toss in after you chop the pork belly – heaven!
Hahahahaha – I loves me the bacon too, Kevin! 😉 This pork belly is seriously the most delicious thing I have seen in a long time! SOOOO perfectly crispy and that sticky honey glaze is EVERYTHING! I could eat just this for every meal of the day! Pinned! Cheers, friend!
I love to read comments like this one! 🙂 I wrapped 2 of these up for this weekend, but might have to have them tonight with some flatbreads…. This weekend is looking better by the minute. Have a great weekend yourselves, hopefully at a beach hideaway!
Hey Kevin! You know you had me with that first photo! Holy baconliciousness! I have some pork belly in the freezer and it is coming out to be transformed!! I love tapas, it is so much more fun to get a variety of small plates to share! Gary introduced me to tapas when he returned from a trip to Spain many years ago and every few months we will do homemade tapas for dinner. Have a great holiday weekend guys! 🙂
Transform that pork belly Dorthy! A tapas dinner sounds so fun. Have a great holiday weekend you two. 🙂
Oh Kevin! This looks amaze balls! Meat candy? Hahaha….so true, though. I’ve never actually made pork belly before…can you believe it?! And I’ve probably only eaten it once or twice in my life. I LOVE it, though. I think I have a level of guilt there from eating all that fat. Maybe I know that I can’t control myself if it is in front of me, lol 😀 Imagine if we could just eat whatever we want and not worry about the calories and fat. Dream world, right ? I can just picture that crispy skin bubbling up as it’s cooking. Drool. However, if I do make it myself, your recipe would be the place I’d start. Looks absolutely delicious! Enjoy your holiday weekend, friend 🙂
Just keep it low and slow to render. I have had many at restaurants where they are still quite fatty and it’s not rendered, which makes it tough to cut. It should be fall apart tender.
Love your dream world, good minds think alike! 🙂 Have a fun weekend!
Looks delicious! Would you recommend the same treatment for any other meats?
Most definitely Jeff, except fish might not be right. I might have to dry rub and smoke some chicken this weekend! Have a great holiday weekend.
I’ll never forget the first time I tried pork belly. My life has never been the same! You had me with ‘crunchy on the outside, fork tender on the inside.’ Exactly as it’s meant to be! I really love this recipe, Kevin. And your pictures tell a beautiful story! Have a wonderful weekend, my friend! Stay cool! 🙂
It’s simply the best, indulgent snack I know! Have a great 3 day weekend yourselves Annie. It’s actually drizzling rain right now this morning, can you believe it? 🙂