Roasted Pork Belly Czech Recipe

Heavenly delicious! That’s the taste of vepřové výpečky (roasted pork belly), in a style that only Czechs can make. Výpečky are served with potato or bread dumplings and either braised sauerkraut or sautéed spinach. They taste the best with ice-cold Czech beer.

What Is Vepřové výpečky?

Vepřové výpečky is one of several classical Czech foods. It’s marbled pork belly, cut into pieces, slowly roasted in the oven together with garlic and onion.

Pronuntiation

I recorded a short audio clip on how to pronounce the Czech word "vepřové výpečky" (roasted pork belly).

Best Meat to Use

This recipe's best meat is definitely boneless pork belly with nice marbling. It produces enough juice to make a thin gravy which you drizzle over the top of the dumplings before serving.

Don’t try to make them from lean pork. The recipe wouldn’t work, and the meat would be anywhere from dried out to burnt and definitely not juicy.

Look at the piece of pork above that I used to make the výpečky.

The package was labeled „Vepřový bok bez kosti“ – boneless pork side in translation. You can see the part where the ribs were cut off on the left.

There was a thick layer of fat on the meat originally. I cut it off and set it aside, and I’ll use it to prepare cracklings later.

TIP: Try sekaná, Czech meatloaf made from beef and pork meat.

Ingredients

Vepřové výpečky is a straightforward recipe, and you need just a few ingredients and some time to roast it in the oven. The recipe needs these ingredients:

• Pork belly; containing approx. 50 % of lean meat, see the photo above
• Freshly ground pepper; or crushed caraway seeds
• Salt
• Onion
• Garlic

You can season the meat either with ground pepper or with crushed caraway seeds, or both. I like to use pepper, and my mom, for example, swears by the crushed caraway seeds.

Caraway seeds are one of Europe’s oldest seasonings; Czechs often season pork with caraway seeds. Caraway is also commonly used when baking bread and other salty pastry.

Furthermore, caraway seed is a favorite seasoning to prepare potatoes, cabbage, geese, ducks, and other Czech cuisine meals.

Tip: Here is another great recipe made with pork belly: Pečený bůček

Instructions

Prepare a roasting pan with a lid (you can also cover the pan with aluminum foil), a sharp knife, and a cutting board. Let’s cook!

1. Dice the pork.
2. Flavor with salt and pepper.
3. Peel the onion and chop it up roughly.
4. Slice the garlic.
5. Put the ingredients into the pan, mix them and cook for 2,5 hours.
6. Turn up the oven temperature, remove the lid, and roast for a further 30 minutes, until the pork surface turns a golden brown.

Serving

Dumplings are the best side dish for výpečky. Both potato and bread dumplings are awesome. It is also eaten with either Sauerkraut or sautéed spinach.

Tip: Learn how to make Czech bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) from scratch!

If you serve výpečky with bread dumplings and Sauerkraut, the meal resembles another of the Czech classics – vepřo knedlo zelo.

However, the knedlo vepřo zelo recipe uses a different kind of pork, (pork collar – vepřová krkovice) and the roasting and gravy making processes are slightly different.

Vepřové výpečky are very calorie-rich, and although they taste amazing, they’re not exactly a meal to eat when you’re on a diet.

That’s why ice-cold beer is usually served with them, which neutralizes the fat at least a little.

More Czech dishes:

• Svíčková – iconic Czech sauce with cream
• Guláš – famous beef goulash with caraway seeds and sweet paprika
• Rajská – sweet tomato sause with beef