chicharron

noun

chi·​char·​ron ˌchē-chä-ˈrōn 

variants or chicharrón

plural chicharrones ˌchē-chä-ˈrō-ˌnes 

ˌchē-chä-ˈrōnz

also chicharrónes

: a small piece of pork belly or pig skin that is fried and eaten usually as a snack : pork rind

The highlight … was the chicharron, a length of skin-on pork belly so crispy that the plastic utensils I was given did nothing to cut through.

—Alice Levitt

Let the experts show you the best places for quesadillas, seafood ceviche, pork chicharrones, and jumbo shrimp enchiladas.

—David Hudson

also : a piece of food that resembles a chicharron

The frying turns the head and the tail into a crunchy fish chicharrón, and the skin and flesh cook evenly, keeping the flesh moist and the skin crisp.

—Von Diaz

Examples of chicharron in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Every part of the animal ends up in a home—offcuts end up folded into croquettes, parts of all manner end up as old school charcuterie and fat from beef is turned into chicharron. — Kate Dingwall, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026

The restaurant’s Tokyo Gangster dinner experience features kakuni pork belly chicharron finished with mole and elote riblets, carnitas empanadas, gochugaru carne asada, chicken bulgogi flautas, pozole kimchi, sunomono and crispy rice with guajillo and lime crema. — Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 June 2026

For this Design District restaurant, consulting chef Quiñones-Pittman was an excellent partner to create dishes like mussels with chicharron-leek butter and pulpo al pastor. — Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas Morning News, 1 Mar. 2026

Amezquita said his favorite dish for the awards show is the Botana Board, which includes mole verde, mole rojo, mole negro, longaniza sausage, vegetarian chicharron de harina, pork belly chicharron, plantain chips, blue corn tortilla chips, roasted garlic white bean, and fruit escabeche. — Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 31 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Spanish chicharrón "crackling," of expressive origin

Note: As pointed out by Joan Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico), comparable words with varying suffixation exist in Aragonese dialects, Gascon, Basque and, though more distant phonetically, Italian (cicciolo). Coromines suggests that the word is imitative of the sound of cracklings as they fry.

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chicharron

• acheron
• operon
• percheron
• polaron
• charon
• herren
• karen
• marron
• perron
• terran
• lactoferrin