Air Fryer Pork Belly

This is the best air fryer pork belly recipe. Slightly sweet and a little salty with a melt in your mouth meat layer and nice and crispy skin. It's so easy to make in just 20 minutes with ingredients from your pantry. Plus the clean up is so simple!

I have always struggled to make the perfect pork belly in the oven, I could just never get the meat to be that tender or the pork belly skin to be that crispy. The air fryer has changed all of that! It took me a few tries to get the perfect air fryer pork belly strips recipe but I did it! You guys are going to love this recipe. It's so easy to make and is ready in just 20 minutes. It is slightly sweet yet a little salty with a perfectly tender meat layer and nice and crispy pork belly skin.

Why you will love this recipe:

• This air fried pork belly turns out perfectly! The meat layer is so nice and tender yet the skin is nice and crisp, just how pork belly should be!
• It's so easy and simple to make pork belly in air fryer.
• It's ready in under 30 minutes, taking just 20 minutes to cook.
• This pork belly is made without boiling first. 
• These marinated pork belly strips taste incredible! Plus the marinade is made with pantry staple ingredients. 
• It's so much healthier and less messy to make pork belly in an air fryer when compared to deep frying. 
• These fryer pork belly bites are so versatile. You can serve them as a main dish, as an appetizer or as a side dish.
• This recipe is healthy, gluten free, dairy free, and paleo.

Key ingredients and substitutions: 

• A piece of pork belly - I prefer to use pasture raised pork, but any type of pork belly will do. If you can't find pork belly at your grocery store you can find it at your local butcher.
• Soy sauce - to help tenderize the meat and give it a delicious flavour. Instead of soy sauce you can use coconut aminos. 
• Balsamic vinegar - this also helps tenderize the meat and give it a slightly sweet taste. 
• Brown sugar - to add just the perfect amount of sweetness to this pork. Instead of brown sugar you can use coconut sugar. 

How to make this recipe:

Step one:

First, wash and dry the pork belly, and if there is any hair on it, scrape that off. Then cut the pork belly into ~1″ sized strips.

Step two:

Next, place the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir them well to combine. Then put the pork belly strips into the bowl and coat them well with the sauce.

Step three:

Lastly, place the pork belly strips onto the top rack of your air fryer and cook for 18 minutes at 390 degrees Fahrenheit. Then flip the pork belly strips and cook them for an additional 3-5 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to crisp up the pork belly skin even more (note that the cooking time will depend on the size of your pork belly strips and your air fryer).

Chef's tips:

• Every model of air fryer is different, so depending on the air fryer you are using you may have to adjust the cooking times. 
• Try and cut the strips of pork belly into the same sized pieces so that they cook at the same rate.
• I cook all the pork belly pieces on the top rack of my air fryer, if you use the lower rack you may have to increase the cooking time.
• Feel free to double this recipe if you are serving more people.
• You can serve these pork belly bites as an appetizer or a main dish.

Variations and add ins:

• To make this gluten free: use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
• To make this recipe paleo: use coconut aminos and coconut sugar instead of soy sauce and brown sugar. 
• For a different flavour feel free to use other spices such as garlic powder.
• Try serving these fryer pork belly bites with bbq sauce to give them even more flavour. 

How to serve:

You can serve pork belly strips as a main dish, appetizer or as a snack. You can eat them as is or serve them with a sauce such as barbecue sauce. Pork belly also pairs nicely with many different side dishes such as Asian coleslaw, kale salad, rice dishes, cauliflower rice, or pasta.

How to store:

Keep this pork belly in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Frequently asked questions:

Other air fryer recipes you will love:

• Air fryer frozen hamburgers
• Air fryer lamb chops
• Air fryer salmon cakes with lemon dill aioli
• Air fryer salt and pepper chicken wings
• Air fryer frozen meatballs
• Air fryer frozen French fries
• Air fryer BBQ ribs

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