What to Serve with Belly Pork: 20 Mouthwatering Side Dishes

Have you ever wondered what to serve with belly pork? There are actually so many amazing sides that are delicious alongside pork belly.

Pork belly is a super rich, savory, meaty dish. It is crispy on the outside and tender in the center. A bite of pork belly literally will melt in your mouth.

Pork belly strips are often served as a bite-sized appetizer. A tray of crispy, juicy pork belly with some BBQ dipping sauce is sure to be a hit at any party.

Pork belly is also a delicious entree. Roast it, fry it or bake pork belly to make a yummy, irresistible main course.

No matter how your plan to serve your bacon-flavored, tender but crispy pork belly meat, we have the perfect side dish for you. Take a look at all these delicious sides and choose one that makes your mouth water.

Pork Belly Sides: 20 Recipes You’ll Love

We carefully considered the savory, juicy flavors in pork belly when we chose these sides. Each one will compliment the taste of your pork belly perfectly. The hard part will be choosing just one side! Maybe you should choose two.

1. Roasted Asparagus

A healthy green vegetable can be a great choice to serve with a decadent pork belly. Our Simple Green Moms roasted asparagus is an easy recipe to make. It also tastes great and gives your dinner some much needed vitamins and minerals.

Roast the asparagus in the oven alongside your pork. Cooking everything in the oven makes your meal nice and simple.

2. Crispy Noodle Salad

Serve pork belly with this crispy noodle salad recipe from Recipe Tin Eats to create a perfect meal. This is an especially great side dish if you want to give your pork belly dinner an Asian flair.

Shredded cabbage, green onions, slivered almonds, and crispy noodles are mixed together. A homemade dressing of white vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil tops the salad.

The crunchy texture of the noodles and cabbage is delicious with the juicy, slow-roasted pork belly. The sweetness of the dressing is perfect with the savory meat.

3. Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes and pork belly strips sound like a dream dinner. This may be a great combination to serve on Christmas! It is certainly holiday-worthy.

We like this mashed potato recipe from Lauren’s Latest. Idaho potatoes are boiled until tender and mashed with butter, cream cheese, milk, and a little salt and pepper.

The simplicity of this mashed potatoes recipe makes it a great weeknight dinner. However, it is so rich that you may want to save it for a special occasion.

4. Pasta Salad

We are big fans of this creamy pasta salad from Barefeet in the Kitchen. It is slightly sweet, tangy, and beautiful, thanks to the multicolored pasta.

Pasta salad is a great pork belly side dish for the summer. The cold salad helps make the hot meat not so heavy. Pasta salad is also a great picnic food.

Make this easy pasta salad recipe in advance, and then bring it to your bbq pork belly cookout!

5. Corn Casserole

Corn casserole is one of the absolute best side dishes on this list. The tender, warm corn casserole is delicious with crispy pork belly. The different textures of the soft casserole and crunchy pork belly will make you swoon.

Try this highly rated corn casserole from Show Me The Yummy. It is made with cornmeal and real pieces of corn. We love the corn bites in the side dish because it means we added a vegetable to the hearty meat entree! Balanced meals are the best.

Serve this corn pudding with your pork belly, and we guarantee the whole family will be licking their plates.

6. Roasted Sweet Potatoes

These oven-roasted sweet potatoes from Chelsea’s Messy Kitchen can bake in the same oven as your slow-roasted pork belly recipe. Anytime you can cook everything at once is a dream!

These sweet potatoes have a nice, simple seasoning. The chili powder and cumin do give the potatoes a bit of spice. This is actually very tasty next to the savory pork belly.

Skip the chili powder if you’d like a less spicy dish. Try adding a little cinnamon to make the potatoes have a sweeter, warm taste.

7. Garlic Dipping Sauce

Thinking of serving your pork belly strips as an appetizer? Then you need a great garlic sauce to go with it!

This traditional garlic sauce recipe from The Mediterranean Dish is very easy to make. It is creamy, thick, and full of delicious garlic flavor.

Make the garlic dip ahead of time and store it in the fridge. Serve the garlic dip cold next to crispy, hot pork belly strips. No one will be able to resist an appetizer like this!

8. Baked Beans

These delicious baked beans from Crunchy Creamy Sweet are one of the most delicious recipes on our list. The sweet, brown sugar beans are tender and hearty.

They are cooked with a ham bone, giving them a great pork taste. This goes perfectly with your pork belly entre!

We love cooking the baked beans in a slow cooker. It makes the beans very tender and also is very easy. Toss all the ingredients into the crockpot and set the heat to low.

Come back later to a perfectly cooked side dish.

9. Roasted Pumpkin

BBQ pork belly or really any kind of delicious pork belly is a great fall or winter meal. It is so hearty and rich that it is definitely a good cold-weather food.

Roasted pumpkin is another fantastic cold-weather food. In fact, this roasted pumpkin from Dinner at the Zoo is one of our favorite recipes to make in the winter.

Small sugar pumpkins are sliced and seasoned. Cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper are the perfect spices to make the pumpkin extra flavorful.

The pumpkins are roasted to be tender and soft. That soft texture goes great with the texture of a good pork belly.

10. Cornbread

A nice slice of buttermilk cornbread like this one from Damn Delicious is exactly what you should serve with pork belly. It may actually become your favorite side dish recipe!

Cornmeal, sugar, butter, eggs, and other seasonings are stirred into a thick batter. The batter is poured into a cast-iron skillet to cook. We love cooking in cast iron skillets because the cornbread looks incredible when served right in the pan! It also makes for easy clean-up!

Cook the cornbread in the oven alongside your pork belly. A complete meal will be ready in no time.

11. Rice Pilaf

Rice is a classic side dish to serve with pork belly. It is a great side dish to serve with almost any meat! However, we especially love how the juice from the pork belly can act as a sauce for the rice. It is amazing!

Give this rice pilaf recipe from Skinnytaste a try. It is very similar to Rice a Roni but completely homemade.

The rice side dish doesn’t take long to cook. Add some vegetables to your plate, and you have a fantastic, well-rounded pork belly meal.

12. Spinach Salad

A fresh spinach salad next to a bbq pork belly sounds like a wonderful meal. Placing crunchy pork belly strips on top of a spinach salad sounds even more amazing!

Our Simple Green Moms strawberry and spinach salad go really well with salty, savory pork belly. The sweetness of the strawberries and tender spinach leaves is a great compliment to the flavors of the meat.

We also love the feta cheese alongside the pork belly. Salads and pork belly meals really do go wonderfully together.

13. Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables can be a delicious and healthy side dish for pork belly. When serving such hearty meat, you may want a vegetable dish to make the meal a little lighter.

Follow one of our favorite recipe ideas from Minimalist Baker to learn how to roast perfect vegetables. You can use almost any kind of vegetable you’d like!

We like to use sweet vegetables that compliment the salty taste of the pork belly. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or carrots all work well. Each will add a new flavor and exciting taste to your pork belly dinner!

14. Broccoli Bites

These yummy broccoli cheese bites from Healthy Recipes Blog are some of the best side dishes we have ever tried. They are cheesy, easy, and full of healthy broccoli. They are the perfect side to serve with pork belly.

Chopped broccoli florets are mixed in an almond flour batter and are deep-fried until golden brown. They are also gluten-free and keto-friendly!

Be sure to serve the bites right after cooking them. They are definitely best when fresh!

15. Fried Green Beans

These fried green beans from Lil Luna are a fantastic appetizer to serve with pork belly strips. Put the warm, golden brown, green beans on a buffet alongside your pork belly, and everyone will devour them!

Fried green beans are a great way to get a healthy vegetable on the table with your hearty pork. However, the tasty batter makes the green bean dish more like a snack than a veggie.

We love how easy it is to eat these green beans. Vegetables have never tasted so good!

16. French Fries

Potato dishes always go well with pork belly. Hearty potato dishes just naturally taste great with juicy pork belly. French fries are definitely one potato side dish that works very well with a juicy, tender pork belly.

Try this recipe for baked French fries from Rasa Malaysia. The potato strips are tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper and then cooked on a sheet tray.

Try cooking the fries in the oven alongside your pork belly. The flavor from the pork may permeate into the fries while they cook together!

17. Goat Cheese and Pecan Salad

Salad is always a good side dish to serve with pork belly. Not only is salad healthy, but it adds a nice sweet and tangy flavor to the salty pork meal.

We love the flavor of this goat cheese and pecan nuts salad. The cheese is creamy and salty, while the candies pecans are crunchy and sweet. Tender mixed greens make up the bulk of the salad and add some nutrition to the meal.

Try making this salad with goat cheese, pecan nuts, and pears from Two Healthy Kitchens next time you serve pork belly. You may want to make some extra maple syrup dressing to drizzle over your pork. The sweet flavor is just so amazing!

18. Mac and Cheese

Mac and cheese is one of the best side dishes of all time. It adds so much amazing cheesy flavor to any meal. There are a lot of great mac and cheese recipes out there, but this one from The Chunky Chef may be the best ever.

Cooked pasta is tossed in a cheese sauce made with Gruyere and cheddar cheese. The mac and cheese is baked in the oven to give the top a nice crisp layer of cheese.

This is one of the best side dishes you can choose to pair with pork belly. It will make one incredible, hearty meal!

19. Cabbage Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a staple among side dishes. It is simple, tasty, and goes with just about anything. Coleslaw is especially great next to hot, bbq pork belly in the summer.

It is refreshing, flavorful, and just what you need next to a heavy pork dinner.

Try this apple and cabbage coleslaw from Jo Cooks. We love the sweetness of the apples next to the tangy cabbage dressing. It is one of our favorite side dishes and best recipes on our list for sure!

20. Brussels Sprouts

It is always a good idea to choose a vegetable side dish when serving a main dish of bbq pork belly. You need some healthy veggies to go with that decadent meat!

Our Simple Green Moms sauteed brussels sprouts are very easy to make. They have a soft texture on the inside but a crispy outside, just like pork belly!

Use olive oil to replace coconut oil. This will make the sprouts a little less tropical.

Incredible Side Dishes to Serve with Crispy Pork Belly Strips

From yummy salads to sweet cornbread, we have covered so many great pork belly side dishes. There is something here for everyone!

Prepare one of these amazing side dishes to pair with your favorite pork belly recipe. Each one will add so much flavor to your pork meal. Enjoy.