You haven't had the best crackling until you try this Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly.
Minimal effort with maximum results and the perfect pork crackling every time!
Did you know that pork belly also makes a great appetizer or snack?
Try these air fryer pork belly bites which only take a few minutes to prepare.
Air fry the pieces of pork belly in a single layer in the air fryer basket for a delicious appetiser.
Serve with your favorite sauce or dip and enjoy!
This air fryer crispy pork belly however, is a game changer in terms of convenience, time and yes you guessed it, the CRISPIEST CRACKLING!
It requires a little prep like making sure the pork belly skin is dry. This step is not optional if you want a super crispy skin!
We use a large piece of foil to create an "oven tray" for the pork belly AND Yes you can safely use foil in the air fryer.
The aluminum foil oven tray will hold the pork belly and all the drippings as it cooks.
TIP! Use heavy duty foil or else double the foil.
This is the best pork belly in air fryer recipe that you will ever find! With the most juicy tender meat!
The results are always the same - DELICIOUS!
✅ Feedback: "I followed the recipe exactly as it's written and I couldn't believe how good it came out! That it was me that made it. The next day we bought another pork belly to make it again”
Air Fryer Pork Belly Recipe
Choose a slab with a good ratio of meat to fat and not just fat.
These pork bellies weigh roughly 1.2kg each.
One of these may not be enough to feed a family of 4 to 6 people unless you are serving it with a side like rice or potato wedges that's filling and a salad.
We do not score the pork skin in this recipe, but if you want to, this is how you do it.
How to Score Pork Belly
Use a sharp knife to score horizontal or diagonal lines on the skin (rind).
Score into the skin but not all the way through to the meat.
If you don't have a sharp knife it's much easier to ask your butcher to do it for you. The colder the skin (overnight drying) the easier it is to score.
Here are the simple ingredients you will need to season the pork belly.
Crispy Pork Belly Recipe Ingredients
Full recipe is in the recipe card below.
- Pork Belly: Boneless cut of meat. Choose organic or the best quality you can find. Happy pig = tasty meat.
- Make sure that it fits in your air fryer basket.
- Fennel: Fennel seeds or fennel spice powder is a great pairing for pork. Feel free to use garlic powder, onion powder etc.
- Salt: Plenty of salt for crispy crackling.
- Olive Oil: To flavour and to help the spices and seasoning stick.
- Vinegar: Yes I know, strange but true, white vinegar helps to dry the pork skin.
- It definitely helps to dry out the skin even if you don’t refrigerate over night. Not as much but it helps. (Chef's tip!)
How To Make Whole Pork Belly In the Air Fryer
Dry the pork belly: If the belly has any packaging over it, remove it and dry well with kitchen paper.
Season/Spice: With the skin-side down and the flesh (meat) facing you, season and spice the belly.
Olive Oil: Add olive oil to help blend the spices into porkbelly flesh.
✅ If there are slits in the flesh, it's best not to rub the spices over as that can cause the meat to tear. Gently pat the spices into the meat.
Foil wrap: Open a sheet of foil and place the now seasoned belly flesh-side down, skin-side up onto the foil.
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Double the foil, create a square or rectangular box (foil basket) to fit your pork belly and simply fold the sides.
White grape vinegar: With the belly skin up (facing you) brush the skin with vinegar.
No salt yet but if you've already added a little salt, it's fine, carry on with the recipe.
Cooking time: Air fry on low heat to start for 30 minutes on 100°C /212°F.
✅ We start on a very low air fryer temperature for 30 minutes before cranking it up to 200°C/400°F for the remaining time.
This is the best way of air frying pork belly! The first 30 minutes on low heat will start to cook the meat but not all the way through.
The vinegar drys the skin out even more.
2nd air fryer time: Pull the belly out after the initial 30 minutes are done.
Now brush the skin with olive oil and add plenty of salt.
Don't turn it!
Back in the air fryer for 45 minutes on 200°C / 392° F.
DONE✅
✅ Air frying on a very low heat gives the meat time to cook through evenly without putting it under stress at a high temperature.
Internal Temperature: Meat like pork, beef and lamb are safe to eat at 62/63°C / 145 degrees F whereas fish is safe to eat at 74°C / 165°F.
Carving: Allow the meat to rest before carving.
✅ Resting the meat for 10 minutes allows the juice to re-distribute throughout the meat.
Expert Tips
Air fryer basket: Consider the size of your air fryer before buying pork belly meat.
Dry the pork belly: Dry with paper towels, pat dry before cooking and my 1st choice would be to air dry without any packaging in the fridge, overnight.
For overnight drying: Place the belly on a rack, skin-side up and leave it in the fridge overnight OR dry well with kitchen paper before starting.
Room Temperature: Use room temperature pork belly.
✅ To refrigerate overnight: Be sure to cover all open foods and a good reason for this is that it helps control "cross contamination" and avoids other foods from spoiling.
Serving Suggestions
Salad: Pork belly has a high fat content so you may prefer to serve it with a light salad like this Tomato Cumber Salad or a Cucumber and Onion Salad.
In saying that however, pork belly is great with Pesto Pasta Salad too!
Potatoes: The most popular way to serve pork belly is with potatoes!
Try these Hasselback Potatoes or a side of Crispy Spicy Baked Potato Wedges
Vegetables: Roasted cauliflower, broccoli, mixed veggies, roasted fennel carrots and more!
Storage Instructions
To store: Refrigerate, once cooled, in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.
To freeze: To freeze any leftover pork belly, wrap in foil or plastic wrap first then place it in a freezer bag, seal and store for up to 3 months.
Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To reheat: Reheat pork belly in a preheated oven on 200 degrees celsius/400 F or air fry for about 5 minutes depending on quantity.
✅ Wrapped raw pork belly in a sealed container can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. The temperature in the fridge should be roughly below 4°C (40°F) to keep your food safe, hence not overloading the fridge.
✅ Whether you are drying it out for 30 minutes or an hour, remove any packaging that it may have. Pork belly needs to be uncovered to air dry.
More Delicious Recipes
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- Seasoned Air Fryer Pork Belly Bites
- Pork Belly, Crispy Crackling
- Easy Lamb Chops and Sausage
- Overnight Slow Cooker Lamb Leg Roast
⭐✅💁🏽♀️Please rate and review this recipe. You can do this, in the recipe card below. Thank you!
Easy Air Fryer Pork Belly
Equipment
- Air fryer
- Drying Rack (also an oven rack)
- board
- Small sharp knife
Ingredients
- 2 kg pork belly this recipes uses two 1kg each pork belly. Check the size so it fits in the air fryer basket
- 1 tbsp. salt or more if needed
- 1 tbsp. fennel spice
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp. white vinegar
- olive oil
Instructions
- Pork Belly Prep: Remove the pork belly from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking. Dry the skin really well with kitchen paper towel. See notes.2 kg pork belly this recipes uses two 1kg each pork belly. Check the size so it fits in the air fryer basket
- Season: Place the pork belly on a board infront of you with the skin-side down. Season the meat (flesh) with salt, pepper and both the ground fennel and the fennel seeds. Add olive oil and pat the spices into the meat.1 tbsp. salt or more if needed, 1 tbsp. fennel spice, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, olive oil
- Make a foil tray/box: Use a large enough sheet of foil to make a foil box for the pork belly. It's more like an oven tray so make sure that you double the base on which the belly will sit and fold up the sides. The foil will collect the fat and juices from the belly when cooking in the air fryer.
- Place the pork belly with the now seasoned and spiced side-down on the foil and then lift the sides of the foil to create the tray.
- Dry the skin: While the pork belly is in the foil, skin-side up, dry it again with kitchen paper. Now brush the skin with vinegar this will help with start the drying and crackling process.1 tbsp. white vinegar
- 1st Air Fry: Place the pork belly in the air fryer and air fry for 30 minutes on 100°C /212°F.
- 2nd Air Fry: Remove the air fryer basket from the air fryer and brush olive oil over the skin and sprinle plenty of salt over the skin. Don't turn it! Back in the air fryer for 45 minutes on 200°C / 392° F.
- Rest the pork belly: Let the belly rest for 10 minutes before cutting into it.
- Carve and Serve: Slice into approxiamately 2cm or (¼ to 1-inch) slices cutting against the grain which means cutting along the width not the length, to ensure a tender flavorful meat.
mary-lyn Kelly says
Hi there, was wondering whether you cut the skin before cooking? Thanks
Miranda's Anosmic Kitchen says
Hi there, if the skin is not already scored when you buy it then yes, carefully do it yourself with a sharp knife. The drier (I've shared how to dry) the skin and the sharper the knife the easier it is to do. Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions, Im here to help! (Remember that scoring the fat helps the fat render but you can still get crispy skin without scoring the fat).