Perfect Roast Pork With Crisp Crackling

By
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm
Elaine Lemm is a renowned British food writer, classically trained chef, teacher, and author with over 25 years of experience writing about British food and cooking.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 11/13/23
Roast pork and crackling

The Spruce Eats

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 100 mins
Total: 110 mins
Servings: 6 servings

In traditional British Sunday roast lunches, roast pork appears as often as roast beef. Don't wait for a special occasion to make it, as its flavor and texture are so perfectly delicious, you're going to love our recipe and serve it over and over. Our perfectly moist and evenly cooked meat is surrounded by a crisp and sharp crackling. The crackling can be either left on or removed at the end of cooking and served separately.

Our recipe includes a silky gravy, which is a perfect accompaniment to the meat. Try seasonal vegetables, applesauce, and a sage and onion stuffing to complete your meal. And if it's a Sunday lunch, don't forget the traditional Yorkshire puddings. 

If you buy a large cut of pork, simply adjust the cooking time to suit the size (see below). Plus, you can never have too much leftover pork to make delicious sandwiches for lunch the next day.

What You’ll Need To Make This Roast Pork Recipe
A Dependable Roasting Pan
A Wireless Meat Thermometer
A Sharp Chef's Knife

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds pork loin, center cut, with rind still intact, preferably free-range

  • 1/4 cup rapeseed oil, extra-virgin, or olive oil

  • Sea salt flakes, to taste

  • 1 medium onion, halved with skin on

  • 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup dry cider, or white wine

  • 2 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock

  • 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, ice-cold

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Perfect pot roast ingredients

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  2. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C/gas 7.

Cook the Pork

  1. The pork should be at room temperature before you start this recipe. Remove the loin from the fridge 2 to 3 hours before needed and leave it to rest covered. Use a paper towel to dry the pork all over, including the skin.

  2. Place the loin in a large roasting tin. Using a very sharp knife make slashes across the skin approximately a finger-width apart. Don't cut through to the meat (you can always ask your butcher to do this for you). 

    Cutting pork

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  3. Massage the olive oil into the skin. Rub the salt flakes all over the meat, making sure it goes into the slashes.

    Putting salt on pork

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  4. Tuck the two onion halves under the meat. Cook for 1 hour and 40 minutes. If you are using a larger or smaller cut, cook for 25 minutes per pound of pork, plus an additional 25 minutes.

    Pork in a large roasting pan with onion

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  5. Once the necessary cooking time has passed, turn off the oven and remove the meat from the roasting tin. If you want to check for doneness, use a meat thermometer and wait for a safe minimum of 145 F at the thickest part of the meat, away from any fat. Place the pork onto a serving plate, cover loosely with foil, and place back in the oven with the door slightly ajar. If you need the oven for other dishes, wrap the meat entirely in foil and keep it in a warm place.

    Cooked roast pork

    The Spruce Eats

  6. Allow the meat to rest before slicing.

Make the Gravy

  1. Remove the onion halves from the pan, and place the pan on the stovetop over high heat until the meat juices begin to bubble, without smoking.

  2. Add the flour, and stir well to blend into the meat juices.

    Adding flour to pork gravy

     The Spruce Eats

  3. Pour in the cider or wine and scrape all the juices from the bottom of the pan. Reduce to a sticky glaze. Add the stock and stir well.

    Whisking pork gravy

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  4. Strain the gravy through a fine sieve into a saucepan. Reduce it by one-third over medium heat.

    Pouring pork gravy through a sieve

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  5. Once it has reduced, add the butter in small pieces, shaking the pan gently until all the butter is well combined. Keep warm until needed.

    Adding butter to gravy

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  6. Uncover the meat and remove the crackling from the pork.

    Cutting crackling off of pork

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  7. Cut the crackling into thick strips and carefully slice the pork.

    Carve crackling on pot roast

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  8. Serve pork slices with pieces of crackling and gravy.

    Perfect roast pork with crisp crackling and vegetables

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  9. Enjoy!

For the Best Pork Roast

Try these suggestions:

  • When available, use free-range pork as this will have a good thick layer of fat, needed to keep the meat moist during cooking and to add flavor.
  • As the fat renders down, there's no reason to worry about eating too much of it. But cut any excess fat away before eating if you're worried about the caloric intake.
  • If the pork needs to be stored before cooking, leave it unwrapped in the fridge on a lower shelf. Pork cooks much better when the skin is dry (especially if you want to make crackling) so leaving uncovered helps in this process.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
580 Calories
31g Fat
10g Carbs
62g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 580
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 31g 40%
Saturated Fat 8g 39%
Cholesterol 186mg 62%
Sodium 323mg 14%
Total Carbohydrate 10g 4%
Dietary Fiber 0g 1%
Total Sugars 6g
Protein 62g
Vitamin C 17mg 84%
Calcium 25mg 2%
Iron 2mg 10%
Potassium 944mg 20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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