Recipe
Classic British Roast Pork with Crispy Crackling
A traditional British roast pork joint with crunchy crackling, rich pan juices and classic Sunday-roast comfort.
Ingredients
Method
20 mins prep130 mins cook150 mins total
Remove the pork from the fridge 45 minutes before cooking and pat the skin very dry with kitchen paper.
Score the skin if needed, rub with oil, then season generously with sea salt, black pepper and crushed fennel seeds.
Heat oven to 240C fan. Put onions, garlic and thyme in a roasting tin and place the pork on top.
Roast for 25 minutes at high heat to blister and start crisping the crackling.
Reduce oven to 170C fan, add hot stock to the tin and roast for 1 hour 35 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes until cooked through.
Rest the pork for 20 minutes loosely covered with foil.
Carve and serve with the pan juices or make a quick gravy from the roasting tin.
Notes
Drying the skin thoroughly and salting ahead of roasting helps produce crisp crackling.
If crackling needs extra crunch at the end, return it to a very hot oven for a few minutes while the meat rests.
Rest the pork well before slicing to keep the juices in the meat.
Secret crackling trick: rub the skin with sea salt and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before roasting for extra blistering and crispness.
About this recipe
This Classic British Roast Pork with Crispy Crackling delivers everything you want from a proper roast: juicy slices, deeply savoury flavour and golden crackling with real crunch. The pork is seasoned simply,
roasted hot to start the crackling, then finished more gently so the meat stays tender. Serve with roast potatoes, seasonal veg and pan gravy for a dependable centrepiece meal that feels special without being complicated.
