Hog Maw
intro
Hearty Pennsylvania Dutch comfort food: tender roasted pig stomach stuffed with savory sausage, potatoes, and cabbage, slow-cooked for deep, cozy flavor.
Ingredients
Steps
Prep the Hog Maw
Rinse the whole fresh hog maw under cold running water, turn it inside out, and scrub away any remaining residue or excess membrane. Rub all surfaces with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature, then rinse thoroughly until no slimy texture remains. Pat completely dry with paper towels.
Mix the Stuffing Filling
In a large 4L mixing bowl, combine 450g bulk mild pork sausage, 600g 1cm-diced russet potato cubes, 300g shredded green cabbage, 200g diced yellow onion, 15g minced garlic, the remaining 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage. Use clean, bare hands to mix all ingredients evenly for 2 minutes until the sausage is fully broken up and seasonings are uniformly distributed.
Stuff the Hog Maw
Lay the cleaned, dried hog maw flat on the cutting board, with its natural open cavity end facing you. Spoon the prepared stuffing mixture loosely into the cavity, filling it only ⅔ full to leave room for potato and sausage expansion during cooking (overstuffing will cause the stomach to burst). Fold the open edge over twice to create a tight seal, then secure the closure with water-soaked wooden toothpicks spaced 2cm apart.
Prep for Oven Roasting
Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F) with the rack positioned in the middle position. Place the stuffed hog maw seam-side up on a wire rack set inside a 33cm x 23cm roasting pan. Use a sharp dinner fork to prick 8-10 small holes across the top surface of the stomach to allow built-up steam to escape during cooking.
Slow Roast Until Tender
Place the roasting pan on the middle oven rack, and roast uncovered for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes, carefully pull the oven rack out slightly and baste the top of the hog maw with rendered pan juices collected in the bottom of the pan. The dish is fully cooked when a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the stuffing reads 74°C (165°F), and the outer stomach is deep golden brown with slightly crisp edges.
Rest and Slice to Serve
Remove the finished hog maw from the oven, transfer it to a clean cutting board, and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature to allow internal juices to redistribute. Carefully remove all wooden toothpicks from the sealed edge, then slice the hog maw into 2.5cm thick rounds, and serve warm with a drizzle of reserved pan juices over top.
Tips
2.If using un-cleaned hog maw, add 20 minutes of prep time to fully scrub the interior, remove all residual food particles, and peel off the thin, tough inner membrane before salting and rinsing.
3.For an authentic sweet-savory Pennsylvania Dutch variation, add 100g of 1cm-diced Granny Smith apple to the stuffing mix for a bright, tart balance to the rich sausage and potato.
OMG I’ve been looking for a real PA Dutch hog maw recipe for YEARS after my grandma passed and I lost her handwritten recipe card. Made this for our Sunday family dinner last weekend and every single person went back for seconds! The balance of potato, sausage, and onion is exactly how I remembered it, not too salty, perfect texture even after the 3 hour cook time. Total game changer, I’m bringing this to our church potluck next month!
I was a little intimidated at first because I’ve never cooked hog maw before, and the medium difficulty rating had me nervous, but the steps were super straightforward! I swapped the regular pork sausage for spicy bulk sausage to give it a little kick, and wow, SO good. My kids turned their noses up at it first until they tried a bite and ended up fighting over the last serving. Will definitely be making this again for our fall cookout.
Made a big batch of this on Sunday for meal prep for the week and it held up so well in the fridge! I was worried the potato would get mushy when reheated but it stayed perfectly tender, and the flavors actually got better after a day or two. Only note is I wish I’d added a little more black pepper for my taste, but that’s just personal preference. Solid recipe, would recommend.
Back in my day we made hog maw every butchering day on our family farm, so I know good stuffed maw when I taste it. This recipe is pretty close to what we made! I added a diced apple to the stuffing like my mom used to, it cuts the richness a little bit. My only complaint is the 3 hour cook time felt a little long to me—I pulled mine out 20 minutes early and it was perfect. Great base recipe though!
I’ve been dying to try stuffed hog maw ever since I had it at a food festival in Lancaster last year, but I had a couple quick questions before I dive in! First, can I adapt this for a slow cooker instead of the oven to work around my long 10-hour work shifts? I’d love to toss this in before I leave so it’s done when I get home instead of needing 3 hours of oven time when I’m already exhausted. Second, do I have to special order hog maw from a butcher or do regular grocery stores carry it? Would hate to drive all over town looking for it for nothing!
Brought this to my neighborhood block party last weekend and people were literally coming up to me asking for the recipe all night! I was a little worried at first because a handful of neighbors said they’d never even heard of hog maw before and were pretty skeptical, but the pan was completely scraped clean by the end of the night. 10/10, I’ll be making this for every big gathering from now on. Pro tip: serve it with a side of tangy sauerkraut, it’s chef’s kiss.