CarneAtlas
Guanciale

Guanciale substitutes

What to use when you can't find Guanciale at your butcher

Guanciale is the traditional name in Italy. Outside that tradition, butchers carry comparable pork cuts under different names — sometimes the same anatomical piece, sometimes a close cousin. The alternatives below are grouped by country so you can match what your local butcher actually carries.

Italy

Pancettaapproximate

Both Italian cured pork products used to render fat as the base of pasta sauces; guanciale is jowl, pancetta is belly. Roman recipes specify guanciale; pancetta is a common substitute outside Italy.

Mexico

Cabeza de cerdoapproximate

Guanciale is cured pork jowl, anatomically a subset of the head. The whole head as a cut is the parent category.

United Kingdom

Pork cheekclose substitute

Same anatomical cut — guanciale is the cured form of fresh pork cheek/jowl.

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