Um, excuse me – hello, beautiful. You are perfection in every sense of the word. You are absurdly crispy on top, fall-apart moist and juicy in the middle, and full of delicious, fatty goodness.
I AM IN LOVE.
I have only every eaten pork belly in super fancy restaurant situations, so I figured it would be crazy expensive to buy at the store. But for two big chunks of pork belly – two and a half pounds all together – guess how much it was?!
NINE DOLLARS. What is this insanity?! I think the reason it’s so expensive at restaurants is because it’s not a super quick and easy thing to prepare. You have to either slow cook or pressure cook it, otherwise it will be uuulllttrraa tough and chewy.
Which is why the Instant Pot comes in to save the day here, per usual. Love you, IP.
If you’ve never had pork belly before, it might throw you off a little bit if you don’t know what you’re about to eat. Pork belly is essentially a slab of bacon. Aka – it is INSANELY fatty. Definitely different than eating a pork chop!
We do render a lot of the fat cap on the top, but the inside still has some fat that is almost soft and silky while you’re eating it, and then there is the portion on the bottom that is just pork meat (almost like a pork shoulder) that is SO tender and fall apart delicious.
So you basically have three amazing layers happening in each bite: the crazy crispy crunchy seared layer of rendered fat on the top, the soft fatty layer underneath that, and the ultra tender meat on the bottom. TO DIE FOR.
So we started something new on Monday – you probably haven’t ever heard of it because it’s not popular at all…Keto? Ring any bells? Lolol jk…it’s literally the faddiest thing ever right now. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to try, and we have some family and friends doing it who LOVE it, so we figured why not?
I love trying all the new food challenges because I think it’s super fun to switch things up and try new stuff. We really enjoyed doing Whole 30, and keto is similar to that in a lot of ways, just more particular about your carbs and way more encouraging of high, high, hiiiiigh fat. And you can have dairy, which was restricted on Whole 30.
We are one full week in as of today, and so far we really like it! We definitely had some “keto flu” going on throughout the first week, but it tapered off towards the end and now we feel great. We officially went into ketosis on Thursday of last week (according to our breath-sensor thing) and have pretty much stayed in it since!
Anyway, get ready for some keto recipes, ’cause I’ve got a lot comin’ ‘atcha! This pork belly is the perfect keto meal – lots of fat, moderate protein, and zero carbs. It’s really rich, so you only need two or three slices to be super satisfied!
Crispy Instant Pot Pork Belly (Keto, Paleo, Whole 30)
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 27 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds pork belly, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (coconut aminos if doing Whole 30)
- 1 inch knob fresh ginger, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
Instructions
- In your instant pot, add your soy sauce, chicken stock, ginger, and garlic – stir to combine. Add your pork belly, close the lid, seal the vent, and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes and then quick release the pressure.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Heat your oil in an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat (a cast iron is great for this). When hot, add your pork belly fat cap side down and sear for 5 minutes
- Place the skillet into the oven and roast for 20 minutes
- Remove from the oven, remove the pork belly (crispy fat side up) to a plate/platter, and let rest for several minutes
Notes
The fat cap gets SO CRISPY between the sear and the oven time – so crispy that it’s hard to slice through. I like to turn the pork belly upside down to slice it so the crispy side is against the cutting board, allowing you to cut through it more easily. And then I serve it crispy fat side up.
The weight of the pork belly here can vary – the cook time will remain the same regardless. So don’t worry about it being 2 1/2 pounds even!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 slices of pork belly
- Calories: 768
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 423 mg
- Fat: 79 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Cholesterol: 102 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries so I can see!
In the mood for more yummy keto recipes? Check these out:
Blackened Chicken with Avocado Cream
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Do you turn it over before the 20 minute bake time?
Nope! You will sear it with the fat cap down and put it in the oven that way too – that way it has plenty of time to render that fat and get nice and crispy.
I have a pork belly that is vacuum sealed and frozen. Do I need to wait for it to thaw completely before trying this recipe, or can I start from frozen?
Thaw it completely if you want to keep the same cook time as the recipe calls for! You could probably do it from frozen, but I’m not sure what the new cook time would be.
Hey! If I were to use half the amount of pork belly or like 2 slabs, would I shorten the pressure cooking time a bit or just keep it the same?
Hey David! So with the Instant Pot, it’s not about quantity, it’s about size (if that makes sense…like 1 pound of shrimp would cook the same time as 2 pounds as long as the shrimp are the same-ish size). In my recipe, I have 2 1/2 pounds broken up between 2 “slabs”, like you see in the pictures. If I was going to only make one slab, but it was thick like the ones photographed, I’d keep the cook time the same. So it depends on the thickness – sometimes pork belly comes in thin slices, like several pieces of bacon put together. Does that answer your question? When it doubt, just use the same cook time the recipe calls for unless your pork belly is thin.
Natural Pressure Release or Quick Release? The recipe doesn’t specify.
Whoops – you’re totally right, I didn’t specify that. It’s a quick release, not natural – I’ll go back and edit the recipe now to include that detail. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Looks so good, I want it to work when I make it! Thank you for the update. :)
You are so welcome!
Does the pork belly not fall apart after being in the instant pot for an hour?
Seems like a long cook time.
It doesn’t fall apart at all! It’s just super tender and juicy. Pork belly is a tough meat so it needs a long cook time. So yummy!
Did you use the trivet in the instant pot or do you put the pork belly right in the liquids?
Put it right in the liquid!
I would agree that the font styles chosen are very light and difficult to read on the web, have no idea how they print since I don’t print unless necessary.
I have no idea why it is appearing that way to some people! I’m sorry it looks that way for you – that’s very frustrating! I will try and talk to my hosting platform and see if there is something going on with the coding on this page.
If your pork belly doesn’t have the cap on it do you need to cook it for as long in the instant pot?
Good question! I haven’t tried it without the fat cap, but I would probably go with the same cook time!
If my pork belly is in one to two inch slices, should I change the cook time.
Yes, you should definitely change the cook time for that drastic of a change in size – since I haven’t tried it, I’m not totally sure what to recommend…maybe 30-40 minutes? It might be a trial and error situation!
Hi,
My belly has skin on. Is that the fat cap side ? I hope so as it is sizzling away atm.
Yeah that should be it! Mine didn’t have skin but I think the skin goes on top of the fat cap. You will be able to see the fat cap, though! It’s white and can sometimes be around a half inch thick!
Would you mind explaining the reason for low contrast printing? This may be the best recipe in the world, but it is entirely too difficult to read, particularly given the “ normal” contrast printing of all of the advertisements surrounding it.
Not sure why yours is coming out that way! I tested this recipe on my own printer and it printed just fine on my end.
I bought pork belly slices at Costco. They are about 10 inches long and about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. How long should I cook them in the Pot since they are a lot thinner?
Hmmm…this is a total guess since I haven’t tried it, but maybe 30 minutes? You still want it to have a decent cook time because it needs to tenderize. I’d maybe start with that and give it a try!