This easy slow cooked Pork belly roast is gonna be a family favorite! This cheap cut of meat is totally delicious when slow roasted and needs nothing more than a little olive oil and seasoning. Crispy crackling and fall apart pork....Mmmmmmm :)
Slow Cooked Pork Belly Roast
This slow cooked pork belly roast is one of the tastiest roasts around. Really. Pork belly's a pretty cheap cut of meat, it used to be really popular but then it went out of fashion thanks to it's high fat content....but that's the beauty of it.
The fat gives you the crispiest pork crackling, and slow cooking this cut of meat means you get meat that falls apart, is soft and tender and super tasty.
You can either cook this as one piece, as you'd buy it, or you can cut it into smaller squares that can then be served as they are. I've slow cooked this one as one whole piece but it can be less messy to cut it into smaller ready to serve pieces before you start.
You'll need to shorten the cooking time by an hour if you do this.
Oven Roasted
While I love the slow cooker, this needs to be slow cooked in the oven. The crackling needs then direct heat from the oven and unfortunately the slow cooker just doesn't cut it.
Scoring Pork Fat
Where I buy pork belly from, it comes already scored. But! The scoring that's done before you buy it can be very shallow, so I like to make far deeper scores into the fat so I can really get the olive oil and seasoning into it.
You need a seriously sharp knife to do this and I then criss-cross score about 1cm into the fat, not quite reaching the meat below the fat layer.
When you add the olive oil and seasoning, use your hands really work the oil into the skin, massage it in so every little bit of the fat's covered. You'll be pleased you did later on!
Crispy Pork Fat
One of the best things about this roast is the crispy crackling you get.
I use a little olive oil and seasoning to start this off in the oven but once the fat starts to be released when the cooking process has started, I spoon a bit of the pork fat a couple of times over the crackling.
This really makes a difference to the crunch!
Pork Belly Roast Time
There's two stages to slow cooking this pork belly, not that it's work as such, but it's important to do it. The first 45-60 minutes your oven needs to be super hot. My oven is in Celsius and the hottest it gets is about 230c which is about 440f.
What this does is to crisp up the crackling fat. The crisscross scores you made with shrink causing gaps in the top layer and you'll see them turn golden and start to look like that delicious crackling we love!
Grab the FREE 7 Day Clean Eating Challenge Pack & Take The Kids Diet From Zero To HERO!
The second part of this is to turn the oven right down.
When you're doing this take the baking tray out of the oven and using a dessert spoon, spoon a little of the fat onto the top of the crackling. Then pop the belly back into the oven, having your oven turned down to 150c or 300f.
And that's where it's going to stay for another 2½ hours.
During this time you can take it out and pour another couple of spoonfuls of the pork fat on the crackling again.
What To Eat With Pork Belly
Cauliflower cheese has become something of a tradition in our house to serve with pork belly. It just works! We also have roast potatoes and a veggie of some description.
Treat this belly of pork as you would any other roast meat, we prefer it as a traditional British Sunday roast and make an occasion of it!
More Roast Recipes
- Roast chicken with lemon and thyme
- How to cook Beef topside
- Half leg of lamb recipe
- Roasted cauliflower
- Beef pot roast
- Clean eating meatloaf
How To Slow Cooked A Pork Belly Roast
Ingredients
- 1 Pork Belly
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Turn your oven up as high as it'll go
- Prepare a baking tin with tin foil or parchment and turn the edges up so the fat is contained and doesn't spill over onto your tin
- Put the belly onto the foil or parchment paper and score the pork belly until slightly before you hit the meat, using a crisscross pattern
- Season well and then pour the olive oil onto it and using your fingers, massage the oil into the fat really well
- Roast for 45-60 minutes until the crackling is really golden and then take out of the oven and pour a couple of tablespoon of the released pork fat onto the crackling
- Turn the oven down to 150c or 300f and slow roast for 2½ hours
- Let the roasted pork belly sit for 20 minutes, and then serve
Slow Cooked Pork Belly Roast Recipe
Slow Cooked Pork Belly Roast
Ingredients
- 1 Pork Belly
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Turn your oven up as high as it'll go
- Prepare a baking tin with tin foil or parchment and turn the edges up so the fat is contained and doesn't spill over onto your tin
- Put the belly onto the foil or parchment paper and score the pork belly until slightly before you hit the meat, using a crisscross pattern
- Season well and then pour the olive oil onto it and using your fingers, massage the oil into the fat really well
- Roast for 45-60 minutes until the crackling is really golden and then take out of the oven and pour a couple of tablespoon of the released pork fat onto the crackling
- Turn the oven down to 150c or 300f and slow roast for 2½ hours
- Let the roasted pork belly sit for 20 minutes, and then serve
