Roast Pork Belly
Roast Pork Belly with Crispy Crackling, Potatoes & Vegetables
Golden crackling, tender pork, and roast vegetables. The ultimate comfort roast.
Pork belly wasn't always the star of the show. It used to be one of the cuts nobody really wanted, and now it's the kind of dish people plan a whole dinner around.
15 Mins. 1 hr 50 mins - 2 hrs 10 mins (Oven) 4-5
1 hr 10 mins - 1 hr 25 mins (Air Fryer)
🛒 Ingredients:
👨🍳 Method – Oven
Pork Belly
- 1kg pork belly, skin on
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Vegetables
- 4 potatoes, cut into large chunks
- 2 carrots, chopped
- ½ pumpkin, cut into chunks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & pepper
👨🍳 Instructions:
Prepare the Pork
- Pat the skin completely dry with paper towel.
- If not already scored, score the skin carefully.
- Rub olive oil over the skin.
- Sprinkle sea salt evenly over the skin.
Prepare the Vegetables
- Toss potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Arrange in a roasting dish.
Roast
- Place the pork belly skin-side up on top of the vegetables.
- Roast at 220°C for 25-30 minutes until the crackling begins to blister and puff.
- Reduce temperature to 170°C.
- Continue roasting for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes until the pork is tender and the vegetables are golden.
Finish
-
- If the crackling needs more colour, increase the oven to 230°C for 5-10 minutes.
- Check the internal temperature has reached at least 63°C in the thickest part of the meat before resting.
- Rest pork for 10 minutes before slicing.Seo title, keywords, description and slug
👨🍳 Method – Air Fryer
An air fryer isn't just a smaller oven, it circulates heat more aggressively, which is part of why it works so well for crackling in a Hong Kong kitchen.
Prepare the Pork
- Pat the skin completely dry.
- Rub with olive oil and sea salt.
Cook
- Air fry at 200°C for 20 minutes to start the crackling.
- Reduce temperature to 170°C.
- Continue cooking for 50-60 minutes until the pork is tender.
Vegetables
- Cook vegetables separately at 190°C for 20-25 minutes.
- Shake or toss halfway through cooking.
Finish
- If the crackling needs extra crispness, most air fryers won't go above 200°C, so simply extend the final stage by 5-10 minutes at 200°C rather than trying to increase the temperature further.
- Check the internal temperature has reached at least 63°C in the thickest part of the meat before resting.
- Rest pork for 10 minutes before slicing.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions:
Serve thick slices of pork belly over the roast potatoes and vegetables, spooning any rendered juices over the top. A little apple sauce on the side is optional but always works beautifully.
✨ Pro Tip:
For the best crackling, leave the pork belly uncovered in the refrigerator overnight before cooking. Dry skin creates crisp, blistered crackling, while the slower cooking stage renders the fat and keeps the meat juicy.
🔍 Educational Notes
- Crackling is created by drying the skin and exposing it to high heat at the start of cooking. We've written a full guide if you want to go deeper on getting it right every time.
- The second, lower-temperature stage is what makes pork belly tender and succulent.
- Thicker pieces may need slightly longer at the lower temperature, but the crackling stage remains largely the same regardless of size.
This recipe uses:
We're not here to sell you meat. We're here to make you better at buying it.
— The Meat Guy Hong Kong