Where to Buy Pork Belly: Best Prices and Sources

Pork belly is uncured, unsliced bacon in its whole form. It’s a thick slab of layered meat and fat that’s become a restaurant favorite and a backyard barbecue staple. Finding it at a good price takes a bit of knowledge, but once you know where to look, pork belly opens up a world of affordable, flavor-packed cooking.

A typical whole pork belly weighs 10 to 15 pounds and measures about 2 to 3 inches thick. The meat-to-fat ratio runs close to 50/50, which is what gives properly cooked belly its richness. Expect to pay anywhere from competitively priced to competitively priced per pound depending on where you buy and whether it’s commodity pork or heritage breed.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Where to Buy Pork Belly

Asian Grocery Stores

This is consistently the cheapest source. Asian cuisines use pork belly extensively, so stores like H Mart, 99 Ranch, and local Asian markets stock it regularly at competitive prices. You’ll find it fresh, skin-on, and often in various thicknesses. The per-pound price here is typically well below what mainstream grocery stores charge.

Most Asian grocers carry belly in whole slabs or pre-cut into 1 to 2-inch strips for stir-fry or hot pot. If you see “pork belly block” or “samgyeopsal” (Korean for pork belly), that’s what you want. These stores also stock skin-on and skinless options side by side, and the turnover is high enough that the product is always fresh.

Pricing tends to run competitively priced to competitively priced per pound for commodity pork belly, sometimes even lower during sales. For comparison, mainstream grocery stores often charge competitively priced to competitively priced per pound for the same cut.

Costco

Costco carries pork belly seasonally, usually in large slabs. When available, the per-pound pricing is competitive. Check the fresh meat section and the frozen section, as availability rotates.

Costco’s pork belly typically comes in 8 to 12-pound vacuum-sealed packs. The per-pound price hovers competitively priced to competitively priced, which beats most supermarkets but doesn’t quite match Asian grocery pricing. The advantage is convenience: one stop, known quality, easy parking. The downside is inconsistent availability. Some locations stock it year-round, others only carry it during barbecue season or around major holidays.

If your Costco doesn’t have it in the fresh case, ask the meat department. They can sometimes special-order whole bellies with a few days’ notice.

Butcher Shops

Local butchers can order whole pork bellies and sell them at moderate prices. They can also slice to your preferred thickness and remove the skin if desired. Building a relationship with your butcher often gets you better pricing on specialty cuts like belly.

A good butcher will break down whole hogs weekly, which means they have access to fresh belly without needing to special-order. Pricing varies widely depending on the shop and the pork’s source. Expect competitively priced to competitively priced per pound for standard pork, and competitively priced to competitively priced per pound for heritage breeds like Berkshire or Duroc.

The real value at a butcher shop isn’t always the price. It’s the ability to get exactly what you need: skin-on or skinless, sliced into strips, cubed for burnt ends, or left whole for a big roast. They can also point you toward belly from specific farms if you care about feed, breed, or raising practices.

Online Meat Retailers

Services like Crowd Cow, Porter Road, and Snake River Farms ship pork belly directly. The quality is typically excellent (heritage breed, pasture-raised), but the per-pound price is higher than local sources.

Online pricing runs competitively priced to competitively priced per pound before shipping, and shipping often adds another competitively priced to competitively priced depending on weight and distance. The trade-off is access to pork you can’t find locally: Berkshire, Mangalitsa, pasture-raised, or specific regional breeds. These bellies tend to have deeper marbling, richer flavor, and firmer texture than commodity pork.

For a special occasion or if you want to taste the difference between commodity and heritage pork, online is worth trying once. For regular weeknight cooking or experimenting with techniques, stick to local sources.

Mainstream Grocery Stores

Chains like Kroger, Safeway, and Publix sometimes stock pork belly, but availability is hit or miss. When they do carry it, expect competitively priced to competitively priced per pound, and it’s often skinless and pre-sliced. If you don’t see it in the case, ask the meat counter. Some stores keep belly in the back and will pull it for you.

Walmart occasionally carries pork belly in the fresh meat section, usually skinless and vacuum-sealed in 2 to 3-pound portions. Pricing runs competitively priced to competitively priced per pound, which is decent but not the cheapest option.

Sam’s Club

Sam’s Club stocks pork belly less consistently than Costco, but when they have it, the pricing is similar: competitively priced to competitively priced per pound in large vacuum-sealed packs. Like Costco, availability varies by location and season.

Five Ways to Cook Pork Belly

1. Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends

Cube the belly into 1.5-inch pieces. Season with a BBQ rub, smoke at 250°F for 2 hours, then toss in a mix of barbecue sauce and butter. Return to the smoker for 1 more hour. The result is candy-like cubes of smoky, sticky, melt-in-your-mouth pork.

Start with a 3 to 4-pound slab of skinless belly. Cut into uniform cubes so they cook evenly. A simple rub of brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt works well. Smoke over hickory, oak, or cherry until the cubes develop a dark bark and the fat starts rendering. For best results, season your pork belly burnt ends the night before to let the flavors penetrate deep into the meat.

After 2 hours, pull the cubes and toss them in a foil pan with 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, 4 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons honey. Cover the pan with foil and return to the smoker for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The sauce caramelizes, the fat renders further, and the texture becomes almost custard-like inside with a sticky, crispy exterior.

Internal temp should hit 200°F to 205°F for full tenderness. If the cubes still feel firm at 200°F, give them another 15 minutes. You want them to jiggle slightly when you shake the pan. The choice of wood can dramatically impact the final flavor profile—learn more about selecting the right wood for smoking pork.

2. Crispy Roasted

Score the skin in a crosshatch pattern, salt heavily, and refrigerate uncovered overnight. Roast at 300°F for 2.5 hours, then blast at 450°F for 20 to 30 minutes until the skin puffs and crackles. The contrast between the crispy skin and tender meat is incredible.

Use a sharp knife to score the skin in a diamond pattern, cutting through the skin and just into the fat layer but not into the meat. Space the cuts about 1/2 inch apart. Rub coarse salt into the scores and all over the skin, then place the belly on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Refrigerate uncovered for 12 to 24 hours. This dries out the skin, which is what makes it puff and crisp.

Before roasting, pat the skin dry again and add more salt if needed. Roast skin-side up at 300°F. The low temp renders the fat slowly without burning the skin. After 2.5 hours, crank the oven to 450°F and watch closely. The skin will start to bubble and blister. Once it’s uniformly crispy and golden, pull it out.

Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing. The skin should shatter when you bite it, and the meat underneath should be tender enough to pull apart with a fork. If you’re making bacon from pork belly for breakfast, the same attention to temperature control applies—check out our guide on cooking perfect oven bacon without flipping for similar techniques.

3. Braised (Asian Style)

Cut into thick slices and braise in a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, star anise, ginger, and brown sugar for 2 to 3 hours. The belly becomes meltingly tender and deeply flavored. Serve over rice with the reduced braising liquid as a glaze.

Slice the belly into 1.5 to 2-inch thick slabs. Sear them in a hot pan or Dutch oven until browned on both sides, then remove. Add sliced ginger, garlic, and star anise to the pan, then deglaze with rice wine or dry sherry. Add soy sauce, water, brown sugar, and a splash of rice vinegar. Return the belly slices to the pot, bring to a simmer, cover, and braise in a 325°F oven for 2 to 3 hours.

The belly is done when a fork slides through the meat with no resistance. The braising liquid reduces to a thick, glossy sauce. Skim off excess fat before serving. This method is close to Chinese hong shao rou or Japanese chashu. The belly soaks up the aromatics and the soy caramelizes into a rich, savory glaze.

Serve over steamed white rice with blanched bok choy or Chinese broccoli on the side. The braising liquid doubles as a sauce for the rice. Similar braising techniques work well for other cuts, as you’ll find in our guide to braised venison brisket with caramelized red onions.

4. Pan-Fried Slices

Slice the belly into 1/4-inch strips and pan-fry over medium heat until crispy on both sides. Season with salt and pepper. These crispy strips work on sandwiches, in ramen, on salads, or as a side dish. Think of them as thick-cut, ultra-premium bacon.

Use skinless belly for this. Slice it thin and even, about 1/4 inch thick. Heat a cast iron or stainless pan over medium heat. No oil needed, the belly will render its own fat. Lay the slices in the pan without crowding and cook until the edges brown and crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

The fat renders out and the meat crisps up like bacon, but the texture is meatier and the flavor is pork-forward without the cure or smoke. Season with black pepper and a pinch of flaky salt right after cooking.

These strips are perfect for topping ramen, adding to banh mi, layering in a BLT, or serving alongside eggs for breakfast. You can also batch-cook them and store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in a dry pan for 1 minute per side.

5. Homemade Bacon

Cure the whole belly in a mixture of kosher salt, curing salt (Prague powder #1), brown sugar, and black pepper for 7 days in the refrigerator. Rinse, dry, and smoke at 200°F until the internal temp hits 150°F. Slice thin and fry. Homemade bacon is a project, but the results are far superior to store-bought.

For a basic cure, mix 1/2 cup kosher salt, 2 teaspoons pink curing salt (Prague powder #1), 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper. Rub this all over a 5-pound belly, place it in a gallon zip-top bag, and refrigerate. Flip the bag daily. After 7 days, rinse the belly under cold water and pat dry. Refrigerate uncovered on a wire rack for another 12 to 24 hours to form a pellicle (a tacky surface that helps smoke adhere).

Smoke at 200°F to 225°F over apple, cherry, or hickory until the internal temp hits 150°F, which takes 2 to 3 hours. Let it cool completely, then slice as thin as you can manage. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze in portions for up to 6 months.

Homemade bacon has a cleaner pork flavor and you control the smoke level, sweetness, and salt. It’s noticeably different from mass-produced bacon, which often tastes more like