Slow Cooker Pork Belly

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the crockpot pork belly recipe in the points below:

• Minimal prep time: we need less than 10 minutes from prepping the pork to getting it ready for slow cooking. This quick prep time needs only minimal effort and then we are hands free until we transfer the pork to the oven.
• Simple ingredients: each of the ingredients needed to make the recipe are simple and easy to get your hands on year round at the grocery store.
• Versatile: whether you want to make the pork in place of a lamb roast or for a special occasion, you will find that it works for a wide variety of settings. This makes it the perfect recipe to have up your sleeve so that you can whip it out be it needed for dinner parties, Christmas, a family get together or the Sunday roast.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the slow cooker pork belly recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see this slow cooker recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: salt and a little bit of black pepper is used to season the meat.
• Garlic powder.
• Onion powder.
• Fennel seeds: are we even cooking pork if we don't have fennel on the list 😂.
• Brown sugar: we have a lot of savory going on in the flavor profile of the dish. Adding a little sugar helps to balance and give us both sweet and savory flavors.
• Balsamic vinegar: adds to the 'sweet' flavor of the pork.
• Worcestershire sauce: gives the pork a little oomph and is one of the savory contributors.
• Chicken stock: this gets poured into the base of the slow cooker. It helps to ensure that the pork stays moist and juicy as it cooks.
• Pork belly: you will be able to get this from your local grocery store or good-quality butcher depending on how much money you want to spend. It is a boneless cut of meat with a thick, rubbery skin. Cooking it in the slow cooker ensures that the tenderness of the meat is flavored with its own juices. For a simple recipe it is remarkedly packed with flavor!

• Olive oil: we use this before putting the pork under the grill.
• Salt: as above, the olive oil and salt are the final 2 ingredients to help us achieve crispy pork crackling.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• Sugar: you can use the equivalent of white sugar in place of the brown sugar if you wish to.
• Fennel: you can use crushed fennel (powder form) in place of the fennel seeds if you want.
• Stock/broth: you can use vegetable broth in place of the chicken stock (equivalent amount).

👩‍🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Pork Belly

To make pork belly in the slow cooker we start by preparing the pork. This is best done by removing any packaging, placing the pork on a plate (skin side up) and leaving in the fridge overnight as it dries out the skin.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by:

• Drying the skin (Photo 1)
• Massaging with the spice rub (Photo 2)
• Adding liquids and sugar to slow cooker bowl (Photo 3)
• Placing the pork on top (Photo 4)

Place the pork belly on a clean, dry chopping board skin side down. Next sprinkle the flesh with the fennel seeds, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Then use your hands to massage this mixture into the pork.

Next grease the slow cooker insert with cooking oil. Then pour in the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Once done use a wooden spoon to give the liquids and sugar a gentle stir.

🥩 Crockpot Pork Belly Recipe

Then take the seasoned pork and place it skin side up on top of the liquids. Place the lid on the slow cooker and set the timer on high for 4 hours.

• Remove the lid (Photo 5)
• Transfer the pork to a wire rack (Photo 6)
• Baste with olive oil (Photo 7)
• Sprinkle with salt (Photo 8)

Once the pork has cooked, we remove it from the slow cooker, transfer it to a wire rack and cook till the crackling is golden brown and crispy.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

The pork is so delicious and juicy with this one that we need only a couple of extras to call it a complete meal. Carve it into thin slices using a sharp knife and get ready to dive in!

Roast potatoes are always a good choice and peas and green beans to partner will to bring it all together. The bonus of the last 2 vegetables being ones that can be frozen leading to less leg work and effort when serving your pork (ie purchase frozen and pull them out and microwave when the need arises).

For other potato sides you might like to try the Potato And Sweet Potato Bake, Creamy Garlic Potatoes, Skin on Roast Potatoes or the Garlic Butter Potatoes.

For further potato bakes try the Potato And Broccoli Bake, Potato And Onion Bake or the Potato And Cauliflower Bake.

Or bread sides are your thing try the Tortilla Garlic Bread, Turkish Garlic Bread or the Ciabatta Garlic Bread.

Or keep things super simple like you see in the photos below, reheat and you are good to go!