Pork is one of the most versatile meats in the world, showing up in everything from breakfast bacon to Italian charcuterie to Korean barbecue. Beyond the obvious chops and roasts, dozens of everyday foods you already eat are made from pork, including many sausages, deli meats, and cured products that don’t always advertise their origin.
Fresh Cuts You’ll Find at the Butcher
A whole pig is broken down into five main sections called primal cuts: the loin, the shoulder (split into the Boston butt and picnic shoulder), the belly, and the leg (ham). Each one yields different products with very different textures and flavors.
The loin runs along the back and produces the leanest meat. This is where pork chops, boneless loin roasts, and the tenderloin come from. A 3-ounce serving of baked tenderloin has just 122 calories and 22 grams of protein with only 3 grams of fat, making it one of the leanest cuts of any meat. Bone-in chops from the same area are fattier but still relatively lean at around 180 calories and 24 grams of protein per 3-ounce serving.
The shoulder is tougher, fattier, and ideal for slow cooking. The Boston butt is the classic cut for pulled pork. Meat trimmed from either shoulder section is commonly ground for sausage or sold as ground pork, which runs about 252 calories per 3-ounce cooked serving with 18 grams of fat.
The belly is exactly what it sounds like: the underside of the pig. It’s heavily marbled with fat and is the source of bacon. Spare ribs are also cut from where the belly meets the loin. Fat trimmings from the belly can be rendered into lard, which was the primary cooking fat in Western kitchens for centuries.
The leg produces fresh ham roasts, which can be sold bone-in, boneless, or sliced into deli ham.
Bacon, Ham, and Other Cured Meats
Curing is the process of preserving meat with salt, sugar, and nitrites or nitrates. It changes the flavor, color, and texture of raw pork into something entirely different. Many of the most recognizable pork products in any grocery store are cured.
Bacon is cured pork belly, usually smoked. Canadian bacon is cured pork loin, which is why it’s leaner and shaped more like a round slice of ham. Buckboard bacon (sometimes called cottage bacon) comes from the shoulder instead of the belly, giving it a meatier texture.
Ham in the traditional sense is the cured hind leg of the pig. Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that’s aged for months and sliced paper-thin. Country ham, Virginia ham, and Serrano ham are all variations on the same basic idea: salt, time, and sometimes smoke applied to a whole pork leg.
Pancetta is Italian cured pork belly, similar to bacon but not smoked. The French equivalent is called ventrèche. Guanciale, the traditional fat used in carbonara and amatriciana pasta, is cured pork jowl (cheek). Capicola comes from the coppa muscle in the pork shoulder and neck, cured and sometimes coated in black pepper or paprika.
Cured pork loin goes by different names depending on the country. In Italy it’s lonza or lonzino, in Spain it’s lomo, and in Portugal the tenderloin is smoked into salpicão. All of these are lean, delicate cured meats typically sliced thin and served cold.
Sausages From Around the World
Pork is the base of most sausage traditions worldwide. The meat is ground, seasoned, and stuffed into casings (which are themselves often made from pork intestines).
- Italian sausage is seasoned with fennel and anise as its signature flavors, available in sweet and hot varieties. The hot version gets its heat from chili flakes.
- Bratwurst is a German pork sausage flavored with pepper, nutmeg, and sage, typically grilled or pan-fried.
- Chorizo comes in two distinct forms. Spanish chorizo is a cured, smoked sausage seasoned with paprika and garlic. Mexican chorizo is raw and fresh, made with chili peppers, vinegar, and herbs, meant to be cooked and crumbled.
- Andouille originated in France but became a staple of Cajun cooking in Louisiana. The American version is smoked, heavily spiced, and made from shoulder meat with garlic, pepper, onions, and wine.
- Kielbasa is a smoked Polish pork sausage, typically seasoned with garlic and marjoram.
Beyond these well-known types, pork sausages include breakfast links and patties, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, and summer sausage. Hot dogs frequently contain pork, either alone or blended with beef.
Offal and Nose-to-Tail Products
Traditional cooking wastes very little of the pig. Organs, extremities, and other parts that might seem unusual in a modern supermarket are still central ingredients in many cuisines.
Liver is the most widely used pork organ. Pork liver pâté is a staple in French and Danish cooking. In Denmark, leverpostej (liver pâté made from pork liver, lard, and onions) is one of the most common sandwich spreads in the country. German liverwurst and braunschweiger are spreadable sausages made from ground pork liver, onions, and spices. Hungarian hurka combines ground pork liver with rice and onions in a sausage casing.
Pork trotters (feet) are braised in Chinese, Korean, and Southern American cooking. Chitterlings (chitlins) are cleaned and cooked pork intestines, a traditional dish in the American South. Pork ears and snout are fried, braised, or pickled in various cuisines. In Central and South America, sopa de mondongo is a hearty soup built around pork or beef tripe (stomach lining). Even the pig’s head gets used: in Argentina, boiled pork head meat fills a regional tamale variety from the town of Salta.
Pork in Global Dishes
Many iconic dishes around the world are built on specific pork cuts and cooking techniques.
Carnitas from Mexico involves slow-braising pork shoulder in its own fat until it’s tender enough to shred, then crisping the edges. Char siu is Cantonese barbecued pork, typically shoulder or belly marinated in a sweet-savory glaze and roasted until lacquered and red. Tonkatsu is a Japanese breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet, usually from the loin, served with shredded cabbage and a thick brown sauce.
Samgyeopsal is a Korean dish of thick-sliced pork belly grilled at the table and wrapped in lettuce with garlic and fermented bean paste. Spain’s cochinillo asado is a whole roasted suckling pig, prized for its impossibly crispy skin. Portugal’s carne de porco à alentejana pairs cubed pork with clams, a combination that sounds unlikely but defines the cuisine of the Alentejo region. Poland’s kotlet schabowy is a breaded pork tenderloin cutlet dating back to the 19th century, similar to a Viennese schnitzel but traditionally made with pork rather than veal.
Processed Foods That Contain Pork
Pork shows up in plenty of processed and packaged foods where it isn’t always obvious. Many canned soups, baked beans, and instant ramen flavoring packets use pork or pork fat. Lard appears in some commercial pie crusts, refried beans, and baked goods. Gelatin, which is derived from pork skin and bones in many cases, is found in gummy candies, marshmallows, and some yogurts.
Pork rinds (chicharrones) are deep-fried pig skin, sold as a snack. Spam and other canned luncheon meats are made primarily from pork shoulder and ham. Even some potato chip flavorings and bouillon cubes contain pork-derived ingredients. If you’re avoiding pork for dietary or religious reasons, checking ingredient labels for lard, gelatin, and “natural flavors” is worth the effort, since these terms can mask pork-sourced components.