You can expand your cooking know-how with this easy French recipe that comes together in your kitchen in no time. This Pork Rillette recipe is a fantastic way to add culture to your family’s homestead meal plan. You can make this recipe for everyday meals or fancy holiday hors d’oeuvres. It’s a crowd-pleaser that couldn’t be easier! Read on to learn how.
Why I Love This Recipe
Raising Kune Kune pigs is one of the ways we raise a year’s worth of meat for our family. They provide ample fat for rendering lard, and the cured bacon from the pork belly is delicious.
Another great way to use the pork belly is to combine it with a shoulder roast to make this delicious pork rillette recipe, one of our family’s favorites.
The ease of shredding this melt-in-your-mouth meat and chilling the rillettes for a salad or a sandwich makes this versatile recipe a go-to for our family. We cook up a large batch, making it an easy freezer meal for the holidays and fancy appetizers; it’s a real crowd-pleaser!
What Are Rillettes of Pork
Rillettes of pork is similar to duck confit and is a French recipe that involves slow-cooking seasoned pork submerged in fat. It has been around for centuries and was once considered peasants’ food.
Today, it’s a gourmet dish served in fine restaurants but can be added to any homestead kitchen using seasoned pork slow-cooked in rendered fat, perfectly preserved to serve later.
This low and slow cooking method poaches the meat in its own fat with various seasonings and wine. After it is cool enough to handle, the fat will rise to the surface and solidify, covering the pork.
When you remove all the air bubbles, this method preserves the pork by limiting oxygen exposure and increasing its shelf life.
In The Homestead Kitchen
This recipe was featured in issue no. 17 of In the Homestead Kitchen Digital Magazine. If you find yourself digging through Pinterest or YouTube and scrambling at the last minute to find from-scratch recipes and nutritious meals for your family, this magazine was designed just for you.
Month over month, you will receive a new issue full of delicious recipes, homesteading tips and tricks, money-saving hacks, preservation techniques, and so much more.
As a bonus, you also get access to our Video Vault, full of tutorials and video training on useful homesteading skills. Subscribe here and receive instant access to In the Homestead Kitchen Digital Magazine today!
Supplies Needed
- Dutch Oven – A cast iron Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot with a lid is a must for this recipe.
- Knife – A large sharp knife to cut up the pork makes a big difference when cutting the meat into 1-inch cubes.
- Cutting Board – A large, clean cutting board to cut up the pork is recommended.
- Measuring Cups – Measuring the wine and melted lard in a glass two-cup measure is helpful with this recipe.
- Measuring Spoons – It’s always helpful to get an accurate measure using measuring spoons in any recipe.
- Large Bowl – You will need a large bowl to put the pork and spices in to be mixed thoroughly before adding to the pot.
- Spoons – Spoons to mix and spoons to scoop the finished dish into the jars are helpful.
- Glass Jars – Storing the rillettes in glass jars with the rendered reserved fat on top keeps it preserved for an extended time.
- Mixer – I use and recommend the Bosch Stand Mixer with a paddle attachment to quickly shred the pork after it’s cooked. Homesteading Hack: Two forks, the larger, the better, can be used to shred the cooked pork if you don’t have a mixer.
Ingredients Needed
- Pork – A good quality boneless pork shoulder (cut into 1-inch cubes).
- Pork Belly – We recommend sourcing your meat from a quality producer or raising your own. A good quality pork belly (cut into 1-inch cubes) adds great flavor.
- Wine – White wine is recommended for this recipe.
- Salt – We love Redmond Real Salt and use it for everything from cooking to fermenting and even for livestock! Using that link with code “HFSalt” will get you 15% off your entire order.
- Nutmeg – Fresh ground nutmeg always tastes best, but any ground nutmeg will do.
- Star Anise – This spice adds that little something extra to this recipe.
- Cinnamon Stick – Use a cinnamon stick, not ground cinnamon, for a slow, seeped flavor that will strain out easily.
- Fresh Rosemary – Let the sprig of rosemary slowly flavor this dish as it cooks. I don’t recommend dried for this recipe because it’s difficult to strain out of the juices. Learn how to grow rosemary here!
- Fresh Thyme – As with the rosemary, fresh thyme is best. Learn how to grow thyme here!
- Melted Lard – A good, high-quality rendered lard is best. Avoid hydrogenated lards sold in your local grocery store.
How to Make Pork Rillette
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- In a heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot on the stove, combine the (room temperature) pork, wine, salt, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon stick, rosemary, thyme, and fat and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once at a boil, cover and place in the preheated oven for about six hours; when done, the meat should completely fall apart when you test it.
- Remove the pot from the oven.
- Use a strainer to strain the solids from the cooking liquid, reserving the liquid. Discard any bones and any spices.
- Carefully transfer the pork to a stand mixer and shred it with the paddle attachment or two forks if you don’t have a mixer.
- Rillettes can be stored in smaller servings in covered glass jars with a layer of fat on the top, poured from the pot. Refrigerate rillettes for a few days before eating or freeze for up to 3 months. Homesteading Hack: Remove the pork rillette several hours before serving if you have frozen it for another meal or appetizer. Give it a good stir and warm it up; it tastes as good as the day you made it!
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a star rating in the recipe card below. Then snap a photo and tag us on social media @homesteadingfamily so we can see how your pork rillettes turned out!
Other Articles You May Enjoy
- Rendering Lard (or Tallow) for Homestead Cooking
- Easy Chicken Casserole Recipe | Quick & Cozy Dinner
- Hearty Pot Roast Cottage Pie Recipe – Simple & Savory Comfort
- Easy Freezer Meal Cooking Tips (Recipes and Helpful Tips)
Pork Rillette Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds pork
- 1 pound pork belly
- 2 cups white wine
- 5 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 whole star anise
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 2 cups lard melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- In a heavy-bottomed oven-safe pot on the stove, combine the (room temperature) pork, wine, salt, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon stick, rosemary, thyme, and fat and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once at a boil, cover and place in the preheated oven for about six hours; when done, the meat should completely fall apart when you test it.
- Remove the pot from the oven.
- Use a strainer to strain the solids from the cooking liquid, reserving the liquid. Discard any bones and any spices.
- Carefully transfer the pork to a stand mixer and shred it with the paddle attachment or two forks if you don’t have a mixer.
- Rillettes can be stored in smaller servings in covered glass jars with a layer of fat on the top, poured from the pot. Refrigerate rillettes for a few days before eating or freeze for up to 3 months.
