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Smoked pork belly that’s cooked like ribs: no bones, all flavor. Pellet grill smoked pork belly seasoned and glazed just like traditional BBQ ribs.
If you’ve been sleeping on pork belly, this recipe is your wake-up call. Instead of the usual burnt ends or bacon route, we’re cutting a whole pork belly lengthwise so it comes out looking just like a slab of ribs – same shape, same rib-style seasoning and glaze, but boneless and easier than the real thing.
I saw somebody mention this trick in a barbecue forum a while back and it stuck with me. So I finally tried it myself on the pellet grill, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this might be one of the best things we’ve smoked. It slices like butter, it’s ready faster than a full rack of ribs, and there’s not a single bone to fight with.
And if you’ve got a pork belly in your freezer, then be sure to check out some of our other pork belly recipes like smoked pork belly porchetta and pork belly burnt ends.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s foolproof. Season, smoke to the correct internal temperature, sauce, and serve. This is truly one of the easiest smoker recipes to make.
- No bones, all meat. You get the same rib-eating experience without picking around bones.
- Only 5 simple ingredients. Simple seasoning, simple glaze, big payoff.
- Great for a crowd. Slice it up and serve it just like a rack of ribs at your next tailgate or cookout.
Video
Ingredients
- Whole pork belly – We used a whole pork belly so that we could cut it in half to mimic the shape of a slab of ribs. We have gotten the best results with a skinless pork belly for this recipe.
- ‘Que That BBQ Rub and Seasoning – You can get our bbq seasoning here!
- Coarse black pepper – I like adding some extra coarse black pepper to my barbecue seasoning. The coarse grind helps to pick up smoke flavor, and the added black pepper gives you that classic Texas barbecue taste.
- Your favorite barbecue sauce – We used a store-bought barbecue sauce for glazing. Feel free to use a homemade sauce, like our Bourbon BBQ sauce recipe.
Buying Pork Belly
- Where to buy: Costco is a great option for a whole pork belly, typically averaging around 11 pounds. Many grocery stores now also carry half pork belly, especially during the summer grilling months, making it easier than ever to find.
- Skin-on vs. skinless: Costco’s whole pork belly usually comes with the skin on, which can be tedious to remove since it’s thick and tough. If you’d rather skip that step, look for a skinless option – more grocery stores are carrying skinless half bellies now.
- What to look for: Choose a pork belly that’s uniform in thickness from end to end. An even thickness helps it cook more evenly on the smoker.
- Pricing: Price-wise, pork belly can run close to what a rack of ribs costs, but with zero bone weight, you may actually get more usable meat per pound – something worth doing the math on for yourself. Our pork belly was $3.99 per pound.
How to Make Smoked Pork Belly
We smoked this pork belly like we do our smoked pork ribs, and it’s pretty much foolproof. Just follow these steps:
Prep the pork belly. If the skin is still on, remove it first, working in small sections, similar to trimming silver skin off a large cut of meat. Try to leave as much of the fat cap intact as possible.
Then slice the whole pork belly in half lengthwise so you end up with one long slab shaped just like a rack of ribs, rather than the more common method of cutting it crosswise into two shorter portions.
*NOTE – You can make this recipe with a half pork belly. You would still cut in half lengthwise, so that you have shorter “rib” pieces – more like half slabs.
Season it. Coat the pork belly with a light layer of apple cider vinegar or yellow mustard to help the seasoning stick, then season generously with ‘Que That BBQ Rub and Seasoning. Finish with a layer of coarse black pepper on top, the same way you’d season a rack of ribs.
Heat up the smoker or pellet grill. While the seasoning sets, get your pellet grill or smoker fired up and settled in around 250°F.
Smoke it. Place the pork belly on the smoker, directly on the grill grates, and smoke at 250-275°F for about 4-4.5 hours, until the internal temp reaches around 196°F.
Glaze it. Brush on your favorite barbecue sauce and continue cooking to let the glaze tack up. Smoke until the internal temp of the thickest part of the pork belly reaches 200-203°F.
Rest. Pull the smoked pork belly off the smoker, and let it rest until the internal temperature drops to about 155°F. It should look pretty identical to a rack of smoked pork ribs.
Slice and serve. Cut crosswise into individual rib-shaped strips, just like you would a rack of ribs, and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
The smoking time will largely depend on the size of your pork belly and the temperature of your grill. You can smoke the pork belly at a grill temp of anywhere between 225-275°F. Obviously, if you choose 225°F, then the pork will take longer to cook.
For reference, we smoked at about 250-275°F, and our pork belly took about 5 hours.
Smoke it until the internal temperature reaches about 196°F before glazing, then continue cooking until it hits 200-203°F. The pork should be probe tender.
No. While bacon is also made from pork belly, this recipe is seasoned and smoked whole, then sliced and served warm – closer to a rib in flavor, texture, and presentation than to bacon.
If you don’t want to go the sweeter barbecue route, then I recommend a simple Texas-style rub that includes kosher salt, coarse black pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. You can get our Texas rub recipe here.
Smoked Pork Belly
Ingredients
- 5-5½ pound whole pork belly, skin removed, see notes
- 3 tablespoons ‘Que That BBQ Rub and Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or yellow mustard, for binder
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, for glazing
Instructions
- Cut it rib-style: Slice the whole pork belly, skin removed, in half lengthwise so you end up with one long slab shaped just like a rack of ribs.
- Season it: Coat the pork belly with apple cider vinegar or mustard (for binder) to help the seasoning stick. Season generously with barbecue seasoning on both sides, then finish with a layer of coarse black pepper on top (the fat side).
- Preheat the smoker: While the seasoning sets, preheat your pellet grill or smoker to around 250°F.
- Smoke it: Place the pork belly directly on the grates of the grill or smoker. Smoke at 250-275°F until the internal temperature reaches about 196℉.
- Glaze it: Once the internal temp reaches about 196°F, brush on about 1/2 cup barbecue sauce. Then continue to smoke until the internal temperature reaches about 200-203℉, as measured by an instant read probe thermometer.
- Rest: Pull the pork belly off the smoker and let it rest until the internal temperature drops to about 155°F. *If using a wireless meat thermometer, I like to leave the thermometer in during the resting period to monitor the temp. Most smoked meats take much longer to rest than what you might think.
- Slice and serve: Cut crosswise into individual rib-shaped strips, just like you would a rack of ribs, and serve.
Video
Notes
- For the pork belly – We used a whole pork belly (about 11 pounds) so that we could cut it in half to mimic the shape of a slab of ribs (about 5.5 pounds). We have gotten the best results with a skinless pork belly for this recipe. You can also purchase a skinless half pork belly, but still cut it in half lengthwise to smoke like ribs.
