These Honey Garlic Pork Belly Burnt Ends are a classic with a sweet and spicy twist.
Tender, bite-sized cubes of perfectly seasoned, smoked, and caramelized pork belly are drizzled in a sweet and spicy honey garlic sauce.
Plus they are so good!
First, We Season These Honey Garlic Pork Belly Sliders!
As we all know by now, all great meat starts with great seasonings. Now, there are a couple of different ways you can season your pork belly.
First, you can grab yourself some of my Adobo Honey seasoning. It’s what I used for this recipe because it’s sweet heat pairs perfectly with the honey garlic sauce. Alternatively, you can use your favorite BBQ seasoning, whatever that may be. If you don’t like either of those options, don’t worry, I have a third option for you! That is to whip up a quick homemade BBQ seasoning, I’ve listed ingredients for this below.
To make your own BBQ seasoning, simply mix together brown sugar, kosher salt, chipotle powder, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper. This is another go to for me because simple, it’s sweet, it’s smoky, it’s spicy, and it’s perfect for honey garlic pork belly burnt ends!
For more with pork belly, check out my Fried Pork Belly Tacos, Crispy Korean Pork Belly Sandwiches and Maple Bourbon Pork Belly Burnt Ends.
Smoked Pork Belly for Honey Garlic Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Now, we prep our pork for our honey garlic pork belly burnt ends. First, cut the pork into 1-2″ cubes. Make sure all of the cubes are pretty even in size so they cook at the same rate. Next, toss the pork belly cubes with oil, then season liberally with the BBQ seasoning of your choice. Set the prepped pork belly on a wire baking rack. Make sure that the pork cubes are evenly spaced out so they cook properly.
Next, preheat your smoker for medium-low heat around 250ºF. Top the smoker with wood chips or wood chunks, because who doesn’t love some extra smoky flavor?
Add the pork belly onto the smoker and cook for 2-2.5 hours or until the internal temperature is anywhere from 160-180ºF.
It’s a Crutch!
So, the next step in the smoking process is to utilize the Texas Crutch method, which speeds up the cooking process and makes the honey garlic pork belly burnt ends extra tender and juicy, because why wouldn’t you want extra tender and juicy meat?
First, pull the pork belly cubes off of the smoker. Place them into an aluminum foil pan, then top with cubes of unsalted butter, brown sugar, and honey. Next, cover the pan with foil and place it back into the smoker for another 1.5 hours or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 205ºF.
To finish, open the foil pan and discard any excess liquid. Place the pan back onto the smoker and let it cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes to caramelize the pork.
Next, pull it off the smoker and let it cool for 5 minutes.
Other delicious burnt ends recipes Poor Man’s Burnt Ends, Smoked Salmon Burnt Ends and Smoked Tequila Lime Burnt Ends.
Honey Garlic Sauce for Honey Garlic Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Now, the MVP of this recipe. The honey garlic sauce! This sauce is perfectly buttery, sweet, and spicy.
So, to make the sauce, heat a skillet over medium heat at about 350ºF. Add the butter to the skillet and allow it to simmer for a couple of minutes. Next, mix in the brown sugar, minced garlic, honey, and hot sauce, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 5-7 minutes.
Pull the skillet off of the smoker and let the sauce cool for 5 minutes or so before serving.
Time to Serve Up Our Honey Garlic Pork Belly Burnt Ends!
So, finally we can serve our honey garlic pork belly burnt ends! To serve, simply scoop the pork belly cubes into the serving dish of your choice, drizzle with honey garlic sauce, and devour!
For more delicious recipes, check out my second cookbook Flavor X Fire or my first cookbook Food X Fire!
Needing more spice in your life? My spice line can help with that. Check them out here.
Full Length Recipe Video on Facebook!
Honey Garlic Pork Belly Burnt Ends
Ingredients
Pork Belly:
- 2 lbs Pork Belly cubed
- ¼ cup Adobo Honey or your Favorite BBQ Seasoning
Alternate BBQ Seasoning:
- 2.5 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1.5 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tbsp Chipotle Powder
- 1 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- ¾ tbsp Onion Powder
- 1.5 tsp Cayenne Powder
Crutch:
- 2 Sticks Butter unsalted and cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 2.5 tbsp Honey
Honey Garlic Sauce:
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1.5 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1.5 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1.5 tbsp Honey
- 1.5 tsp Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Start by cubing your pork belly into 1-2” cubes. Next, start lathering your cubed pork belly with oil then thoroughly season with your favorite BBQ seasoning or my homemade BBQ season below. Place your pork belly on a baking wire rack evenly spaced out and set aside.
- Preheat your smoker for medium-low heat (250F). Top with wood chips or wood chunks for added smoke flavor.
- Add your pork belly onto the smoker and cook for 2.5 hours. Once they are around 160-180F, pull off and place in an aluminum foil pan & top with butter pads, brown sugar and honey. Cover with foil and place back in the smoker for 1.5 hour or until they are 205F internal.
- As the pork belly is finishing, preheat a skillet over a medium heat fire (about 350F) for the Honey Garlic Sauce. Begin by adding your butter and let simmer for 2 minutes. Next, add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Let simmer over medium low heat until well incorporated (about 5-7 minutes). Once done, pull off and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Once the pork belly is done, open it up and discard any excess liquid. Place back on the smoker, uncovered, to caramelize for 15 minutes. Once done, pull off and let cool for 5 minutes
- When done, drizzle over the top with the Honey Garlic Sauce and serve. Enjoy!
How about an equipment blog dealing with smokers & fire pits…
Made these today and they were delicious.
Can these be pre-made and taken to a party the next day?
Absolutely! Might need to reheat them at 250F for 20-40 mins (havent done it so youll be shooting in the dark). Let me know how it turns out!
Very tasty! I was a little worried about the fat, on some of the pieces, but after the full cook, I only separated a few of the larger fat chunks. Can’t wait to try another one of your recipes!
Absolute bomb. First time cooking pork belly and had no problem. Thanks for the recipe! Bravo