Heather says:
Fried pork chops are a quintessential Sunday Dinner and depending on the number of minions you are cooking for, they are fairly low effort. They are less touchy than fried chicken and completely company worthy, especially if it’s the kind of company that will hang out in the kitchen and talk while you burn the rice. Oh wait, that’s just me getting distracted by a 9yo making simple sweet cornbread. Multiple cooks in the kitchen = yay, unfortunately to get there we still have to go through multiple novices in the kitchen which is a wee bit distracting.
It’ll be worth the effort. Eventually.
If you’re cooking for more than 4 people, I highly suggest setting your oven to 200°F and holding the finished pork chops on a paper-towel lined plate. Unless of course you’re making roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts, which I strongly suggest as an accompaniment, then just cover the plate to keep them warm.
I had been planning on making onion gravy, like I serve with country-fried steak, but I realized the kids hate gravy of all kinds -weirdos- and I’m the only one I had to please, so I just sauteed the onions in the same pan I cooked the pork chops and well, I was quite happy. If you want to make onion gravy, by all means, be my guest.
*Novice Tip* The exact cook-time is going to be highly dependent on your stove and your cookware. If you have a gas stove and thin cookware, this recipe is going to be extremely touchy and I don’t recommend trying it without a thermometer.
If you have sturdy cookware it’s going to be a lot less touchy.
: Fried Pork Chops
: Classic Fried Pork Chops
- 4 – 8 Bone-in Pork Chops, at least 1/2″ thick but not more than 1″ thick
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 rounded TBSP Garlic Powder
- 1 rounded TBSP Onion Powder
- 1/2 TBSP Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 TBSP Kosher Salt
- 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup peanut or vegetable oil *This depends on the size of your skillet. . . as in, use more for a 10″ skillet than for an 8.
- Mix the seasoning with the flour.
- Dredge the pork chops in the seasoned flour and set aside.
- Save any remaining seasoned flour to re-dredge the chops just before frying.
- Heat the oil to 350F on my electric stove this is just below medium, but it takes quite a while to get there. While you’re waiting for the oil to heat, make a couple of side dishes. Do not turn the burner to high and wait for the oil to smoke and turn it back down. We can get into a discussion about that later. Just be patient.
- Cook two or three chops at a time, depending on the size of your pan and the size of the chops. Do not crowd the pan.
- These chops were 1″ thick and took between 8 – 10 minutes, about 4 minutes a side. If you use thinner chops, it will be less. If you have thicker chops, I recommend cooking three minutes a side and finishing in a 350F oven, covered, to prevent them from drying out.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
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Enjoy! (The 9yo called these “Heaven.”)
I read in Cook’s Illustrated years ago a tip that has helped me a lot, you might want to try. Instead of preheating, they start the chops in a cold pan that has been greased. I know it sounds weird, but they had a scientist explain why it worked to keep the chops tender; had something to do with the protein structure. It has never failed me.
After making my chops, I make a quick cream gravy with milk, browned flour and drippings, and my kids would drink it in smoothie form if they could. 🙂 But hey, if your kids don’t like gravy, more for you! 🙂
Do you cook this type of dish, breaded, in a cold pan, or do you mean you use that method with an unbreaded pork chop?
Thanks! I feel like I’ve never made pork chops very well, and I’ve stopped trying. I’ll try this next week, I hope.
Pork chops are, in general, more lean than they used to be. You’ll probably have better luck with bone-in than boneless. Additionally there are new safety recommendations that say you no longer have to cook pork to well done, even medium rare is safe. Just use your own judgment and don’t cook the devil out of them. 🙂