Pork rinds rewards a little know-how: how to choose them, cook them, store them, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 4 recipes to cook with them.

What are pork rinds?

Pork rinds are pork skin that has been rendered of fat, dried, then fried or roasted until it puffs into a light, crunchy crisp. In Latin cooking they are chicharrones; in the American South they are cracklins.

Either way the appeal is the same: airy crunch with a deep, savory pork flavor.

Two textures exist under the same name. The big puffed bag-snack kind shatters like a cloud, while denser cracklins keep chewy bits of fat and meat and crunch harder.

They are almost pure protein and fat with zero carbohydrate, which is why they have become a staple snack and breading on low-carb and keto kitchens.

Ways to Use Pork Rinds

As a snack they need nothing but salt, though a dusting of chili and lime, or vinegar powder, is classic. Beyond the bowl they earn their keep two ways: as a crunchy topping and as a zero-carb breading.

Crushed fine, they replace breadcrumbs to coat chicken cutlets and fish fillets before frying. They brown fast and stay crisp, so use a slightly lower oven or oil temperature than you would for breadcrumbs to keep them from scorching.

Whole or in big shards, they go soft and savory when simmered in sauce. Fried Pigskin in Green Sauce - Chicharron En Salsa Verde does exactly this, stewing fried pork skin in a tangy tomatillo salsa until it turns tender.

Posole gets a similar garnish, with crisp pork rinds crumbled over the hominy stew at the table for crunch.

Crumbled, they also top mac and cheese, salads, deviled eggs, and soups where you want a salty crackle.

Cooking and Pairing

Pork rinds love acid and heat. Lime, hot sauce, pickled jalapeños, and a cold beer are the natural partners. The fattiness wants something sharp to cut it.

The big thing to know: moisture is the enemy. A fresh pork rind goes stale and chewy fast once it meets humid air or a wet sauce. If you are using them as a topping for crunch, add them at the very last second, not while the dish sits.

When breading with them, the common mistake is treating them exactly like breadcrumbs. They have no starch to absorb moisture and they carry their own salt, so go easy on added salt and pat your food dry first.

Substitutes

For a crunchy zero-carb topping or breading, crushed pork rinds are hard to replace, but a few things come close. Panko gives similar crunch with carbs added; crushed nuts or parmesan crisps stay low-carb with a different flavor.

For the snacking crunch, fried chicharrones de harina (wheat-puff snacks) mimic the texture without real pork. In a dish like posole or salsa verde where you want soft, savory pork skin, simmered fresh pork skin or even cooked pork belly does the job.

Buying and Storing

Bagged pork rinds and cracklins live on the snack aisle; fresh-fried chicharrones come from Latin markets and carnicerias, where the dense, meaty ones are best bought the day you will eat them. Look for puffed, dry pieces with no greasy translucence, which signals they were underfried and will be tough.

Keep them sealed and dry. An unopened bag lasts for months at room temperature, but once opened they pick up moisture and go stale within a day or two, so press the air out and clip it shut.

Do not refrigerate them. The fridge is humid and will turn a crisp rind limp faster than the counter will. If they do soften, a few minutes in a hot oven crisps them back up.

Quick facts

In Chinese

猪肉外皮

British (UK) term

Pork rinds

en français

couennes de porc

en español

cortezas de cerdo

Recipes using pork rinds

There are 4 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 4 recipes