How to cook pork belly slices in the oven so it’s crispy and delicious! Enjoy fork tender salted pork baked perfectly on a sheet pan tonight. Sliced with a bit of brown sugar to add some sweetness it is wonderful served for breakfast or dinner.
If you loved our or Instant Pot pork belly kept whole but it is missing something because the outsides should have some cracklin this is how to do it easy and quick. (affiliate links present)
Wondering how to cook pork belly in the oven? It’s super easy and you can use a bunch of different flavors to season it with too. Enjoyed for breakfast or dinner, it is a very flavorful cut of pork that may become your favorite in the future after trying this.
Baked Pork Belly
Have you had this goodness at a restaurant and wondered how they made it just so good? I mean it’s kinda’ comfort food x100. If baked right it melts in your mouth and just a few bites is all you need to satisfy your taste buds. When I started cooking it I realized there were two types. You can usually find a largish piece in the meat section of your store, or this packaged type called salt pork.
Can I use salt pork instead of pork belly?
You can. The biggest difference is in the name itself. Salted means well….that it already has a decent amount of it added, the other is smoked but without anything else. So kinda’ flavorless itself.
Pork Belly Slices in Oven
This is what this one looks like. It is vacuumed packed and pretty darn cheap. You will want to slice this like you would a big hunk of bacon, or into smaller bite size pieces. Everything in moderation when it comes to this. No it is not a health food and pretty high in saturated fat but it’s just a bite or two you’re enjoying y’all. 😉
How to Cook Pork Belly Strips
You can either cut it into smaller bite size pieces like you see here, larger strips more similar to bacon but thicker. The only real difference will be the cook time. The thicker the longer it will take to bake in the oven. Increase cook time to 1 hour 10 minutes if slicing as you would ribs.
The rest of the instructions will remain the same. Keep it super simple with just salt and pepper or add all the things like brown sugar to bring out a more sweet and savory flavor. Just roll around or shake inside a freezer bag to coat the outside. For a really bold flavor you could toss with our dry rub for pork chops that has some heat too.
Make sure you either use non stick foil or spray with a little cooking spray before laying down the pieces though. That will make it a lot easier for you to clean up later.
Pork Belly Dry Rub
If you want bolder flavors, use our steak dry rub recipe. The mixture below is somewhat similar with fewer ingredients and less of it. You can double it if you want a thicker layer on the outside. Then you will need 2 baking sheets, foil, and these items:
Ingredients
- Cubed or strips of defrosted pork belly
- Olive oil will crisp them up
- Brown sugar gives it a bit of sweetness
- Garlic powder for a pop of flavor
- Kosher or smoked salt and black pepper
This is the simple mixture we used. You could add some chili powder or dry Sriracha in it to give it some heat too. If yours is not salted you will want to add all the things or it won’t taste really like anything. If you have had bacon from the butcher that hasn’t been smoked or salted it is pretty awful really, tasteless, not worth eating at all.
Slow roasted is kinda’ key when it comes to baking pork in the oven. Like our VERY popular baked pork chops you also don’t want to overdo it and make it super dry. Allowing it to rest once you remove the pan is important too, more so the thicker your pieces are.
How to Cook Oven Baked Pork Belly
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with tinfoil, spray top with non stick spray.
- With a sharp knife slice pork belly into 2-3″ pieces. In a small bowl whisk together dry seasonings. Coat each piece on top and bottom or add to a bag and shake to coat.
- Lay pieces in a single layer on cookie sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes flipping halfway through total time. Remove when they’re as golden brown with crispy skin as you would like.
If you are making thick long pork belly slices instead of bite sized they will take closer to an hour to become crispy pork belly. I don’t like to cook this in one large piece with skin side up. You can if you score the skin but you’d double this cook time and it doesn’t come out as crispy as if the pieces are thinner.
I’d just opt for this 30 minute pork belly recipe / method for so many reasons. It is easier to eat once done that is for sure. Larger pieces are difficult to slice and the texture is not as appetizing as far as I’m concerned. You can add another baking sheet with roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic vinegar on it to serve together too.
Why is my pork belly not crispy?
You may not have your oven at a high enough temperature to render the fat down enough for the outside to get really crisp. Some like to cook it for longer at a lower temp. and then crank it up to 400 at the end so the meat stays more tender. Not wrong, just different. These are my go to steps to roast pork belly.
Of course there are other ways to cook it as well, we have done it two others we will share with you below. If you have a Ninja Foodi it is excellent in that using the air crisp function!
In order to be safe to eat your slices or whole piece needs to reach 150 degrees F. inside. If you want to get it crispy however you will likely need to leave in the pan, oven or smoker longer than that to render the fat and brown well.
This isn’t a lot different than bacon strips other than the fact that if unseasoned you’ll want to add what we suggest below. Rub all over on all sides generously before frying on medium high heat to render down that fat and really crisp it up. If you want a sense of tenderness leave it thicker than store bought packaged strips.
Can you cook this in an air fryer?
The other way I suggest you try is our air fryer pork belly, that is just amazing!! If you don’t have one of these countertop appliances I implore you to spend about fifty bucks to get a basic one. I use it almost on a daily basis to cook all the things. It crisps like nothing else, quickly, while leaving the insides tender and moist.
I like wider thick slices like you see here using this method. One slice with an over hard egg and toast in the morning is a great start to the day. My husband and kids seriously rave over this when I make it. You can get that whole hunk you see at the top of the screen for under $5 which is cheaper than it’s “typical” counterpart and seasoned by YOU.
That way you can have low sodium slices if need be, spicy pieces for others, a wallop of garlic seasonings for you, whatever you love. Give it a try and let us know which method you love the most. YUM is served and so easy to do now right??
There is a printable recipe here you can print out and keep handy if you want, or just come back to “see” us again and again.
How to Cook Pork Belly in the Oven
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork belly
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with tinfoil, spray top with non stick spray.
- Slice pork belly into 2-3" pieces. In a small bowl whisk together dry seasonings. Coat each piece on top and bottom or add to a bag and shake to coat.
- Lay in a single layer on cookie sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes flipping halfway through total time. Remove when they're as browned as you would like.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a very easy recipe that worked well. I bought a package of cut pork belly pieces at a Filipino market and they were thicker so took a few minutes longer to crisp. I should have trimmed some pieces that still had skin on them – those got very hard.
So glad it worked well for you