Honey Glazed Crispy Pork Belly
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
My honey glazed crispy pork belly is basted in honey to contrast a Spanish dry rub that includes smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. It’s so good it’s like meat candy!
If you’re on the hunt for a delicious weekend recipe, you’ve found it! Crispy pork belly is one of my favorite snacks. It’s honestly one of the only things that hold me back from becoming a vegetarian! I just love me some bacon, don’t you?
Whenever I come across a pork belly recipe, it’s usually prepared in an Asian-inspired marinade, glaze, or spice mix. While I do enjoy that, I love my spice rub made with smoked paprika and earthy cumin. When I eat it, I feel like I’m in a bar in Madrid munching on delicious Spanish tapas. Tapas are small plates of savory appetizers, just enough to whet the appetite and keep you wondering what’s next.
If you’ve ever wondered how to cook pork belly, I’ve got the ultimate recipe for you. You can enjoy this dish as an app, or you can pan-fry it and enjoy it in a sandwich. No matter which way you eat it, you’ll want to go back for seconds!
INGREDIENT NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
- Pork Belly – Not to be confused with bacon, pork belly is a fatty boneless piece of pork.
- Cumin – Earthy, warm, and complex, this spice is a must-have for my Spanish-inspired spice rub.
- Smoked Paprika – The smokiness of the paprika adds even more richness to my crispy pork belly spice rub and pairs wonderfully with the meat.
- Garlic Powder – It wouldn’t be a savory spice rub without my favorite flavor add-on, garlic!
- Cayenne Powder – For some added heat. You can feel free to adjust the quantity so that it meets your spice preferences.
- Honey – My honey glazed pork belly gets its sweetness from, of course, honey!
- Salt – The final touch to the spice rub.
- Dry Sherry – You’ll add your honey to the dry sherry in order to create the glaze. Don’t worry — the alcohol will get burned off as it cooks.
HOW TO MAKE CRISPY PORK BELLY
- Prepare The Meat. You can keep your pork belly as is, or you can slice it into two 10-inch by 1-inch by 1-inch slabs, depending on its size. To prepare it for cooking, score the skin with crosshatch marks using a sharp knife.
- Add The Spice Rub. Place the cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small bowl and mix. Then, rub the mix all over the pork belly. Make sure to press it so that it adheres to the meat. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. If you have time to leave it overnight, all the better!
- Roast The Pork Belly. If you did refrigerate the meat overnight, make sure to bring it to room temperature an hour before you roast it. While you wait, preheat your oven to 350°F. Place the pork belly on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. You can also use a deep baking dish. Roast the meat uncovered for 60 minutes with the skin side up.
- Make The Glaze. Combine the honey and dry sherry in a small bowl and then baste the meat with it to complete your honey glazed crispy pork belly recipe. Lower the temperature of your oven to 250°F and roast for 20 more minutes. Then, baste the meat once more and cook for 10 minutes.
- Slice & Serve. Take your crispy pork belly out of the oven and allow it to cool a bit before slicing. Now you know how to cook pork belly. Enjoy!
Why Is My Pork Belly Not Crispy?
Pork naturally has a lot of excess moisture in it, so you need to dry it out a bit before roasting it in order to ensure that it crisps up nicely. You can do so with my dry rub — the salt helps to draw out that moisture. Letting it sit overnight in the fridge uncovered with the dry rub can also do much to help make sure that the meat gets crispy when roasted. If you have the time, don’t skip this step!
Should You Boil Pork Before Roasting?
One of the questions that often comes up around how to cook pork belly is whether or not you should boil the pork before roasting. Blanching the meat can help make scoring the meat easier and it helps to retain moisture. This extra step isn’t necessary for my honey glazed pork belly, as we want a crispy outside!
How Do You Get Crunchy Crackling on Pork?
If you want your honey glazed pork belly recipe to be extra crispy, you can play around with the heat a bit and cook it for a lot longer. Roast it at 320°F for 2 and ½ hours, then crank up the temperature to 485°F for 30 minutes to get the crackling and crunchy results you’re after.
This recipe post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking May, 2016, and was updated with new content, photos and/or video in August, 2022.
Subscribe to my Newsletter, follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube for all my latest recipes and videos.
Honey Glazed Crispy Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 1 lb pork belly
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 tbsp dry sherry
Instructions
- Keep whole or slice into 2 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.
- In a small bowl mix together the spice rub. Rub the spice blend on all sides of the pork belly, pressing to ensure it adheres and is coated. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (preferably overnight).
- If refrigerated over night, place on counter to come to room temperature an hour prior to roasting. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place pork belly on baking tray lined with parchment or a deep baking dish. 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 slightly before slicing.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Glazed and crispy – how could you miss with that combination?
So true Jeff! How have you been? Long time no chat. I need to get online more and come for a visit.
Can I make this on a airfryer? My over will be roasting the leg of lamb and I want to make this as an amouse-bouche for my dinner guests
I have not ever used an air fryer, so I can’t speak to that Fred. Maybe Google or look up the brand of air fryer you purchased and see if they have recommendations?
Hi, when the recipe says ‘skin side up’ does this mean the ‘crackling’ should be uppermost. Sorry if this sounds a bit duh but I never seem to get the crackling quite right ! Help !
You are correct Mike, enjoy!
I have everything in but the Sherry !! Any ideas on what I can do as am cooking my pork belly today and have just came across this insane version !!!
Sorry I can’t get to every comment daily Sonia. How did it turn out? One of my favorites!
I have made this several times with Costco pork belly (skin removed. 🙁 ). I miss the Chicharrón, but it ends up beautiful anyway! Making it again tonight, with plenty to share. Merry Christmas all!
I am glad you enjoyed it! Happy New Year!!
Do you think this recipe would work in an air fryer to get more crispy?
I have no experience with an air fryer, but if you do please let me know!
I did this last night on pork belly strips I bought in the market. The only thing I did differently was to slow cook them entirely on the grill over indirect heat for several hours, and after the first hour basted them about 3 times, for a total of 3 hours or so. Then put them over direct heat for a few minutes each side to ensure crisping the glaze. Theye were excellent and the smoked paprika cumin seasoning was wonderful!
I am so glad you enjoyed them! That sounds amazing!
What do you serve with it? Sweet potato and…..?
Any vegetable would be delicious with this! Maybe try out my Roasted Brussels Sprouts! Here is the link https://keviniscooking.com/roasted-brussels-sprouts-balsamic-vinegar-honey/
Hello,
I made this today but mine was not crispy at all, what did I do wrong?
Ann I can’t imagine this NOT get crispy. I have no idea since I was not there. Very strange, sorry that was your experience. Did you follow the recipe as written? This is the first comment of it’s kind/concern?
Hi Kevin, thank you so much for getting back to me. I cook pork belly all the time, it’s my favorite. All I can think is that I had too much sauce, I will try again and work with exact proportions. I really want it to work! I will be picking up my meat from the farmer next week so hopefully next time is a charm. Thank you!
Me too…..have made it twice…but lacking crispy …..wonder what’s wrong
Depending on the thickness and fat on the pork belly sometimes a longer cook is needed. Use your best judgement on this!
I made this recipe in to tacos and it changed my life and also makes my wife very happy
Thank you so much for sharing!