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
- 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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