Simple skillet pork chops have been a staple in my home for many years. If you can master seasoning meat and simply cooking in a skillet, you can make these pork chops with ease. We don't need fancy ingredients or methods to eat well. We just need to know a few easy techniques and use quality ingredients. I hope the skillet pork chops will become a staple in your home as well.
I'm realizing more and more that as a society we are losing the ability to just know how to cook. It's an odd phenomenon because cooking shows, Pinterest recipes, Facebook recipe videos, and YouTube demonstrations are at an all time high. So if lack of access to recipes is not the problem, then why do so many people still not know how to cook? I think it's because people are dependent on recipes instead of learning techniques. Once you know techniques, you can transfer them to many different foods and come up with an endless amount of "recipes" on your own.
Every time I post something super simple on one of my social media channels, people ask for a recipe. Most of the time I think, "this is too simple to post a recipe for," but in reality it's these simple things that I want people to see and learn so that they can gain confidence and not be tethered to "recipes". So today I'm sharing with you skillet pork chops that are so simple even you beginners can do this. Not only can you do this but you can also use this method for other lean cuts of meat. I use this method in my sautéd chicken tenders, so give those a look too.
Steps for simple skillet pork chops
- Heat your skillet well before adding your cooking fat.
- Pat your meat dry and season well.
- Cook on one side until well browned and flip to the other side to finish. I like to to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. If the outside is cooking faster than the inside, lower the heat and put a lid on.
Once you have mastered the technique of cooking a piece of meat in a a skillet, try mastering a pan sauce. It takes minutes to make one and your taste buds with thank you. You've already spent the time to cook the meat, so you might as well go the extra step and put to good use those brown bits that you've created on the bottom of your skillet. This is where you can get creative and change up your liquid (broth, wine, beer, water, etc), aromatics (onions, garlic), herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano), and flavor enhancers (lemon, mustard, etc.)
Simple skillet pork chops
A simple method for cooking pork chops that even a beginner can master.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops not too thick
- 1 tbsp fat of choice
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
Instructions
-
Heat large skillet over medium heat. When hot add fat of choice.
-
Pat pork chops dry and season one side liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
-
Place in skillet, season side down. Liberally season second side of chops.
-
Cook for about 4-5 minutes or until well browned.
-
Flip to second side and cook another 4-5 minutes until well browned.
-
Keep cooking until no longer pink. If inside is not cooking but chops are getting too brown, turn down the heat and cover with a lid.
-
When chops are finished cooking, remove from pan and set aside. If making a pan sauce, proceed with steps linked in post above.
Tessa Simpson
simple classics like this are THE best weeknight dinners!
Renee D Kohley
Now this is my kind of recipe! There is so much flavor in pork chops, so just keeping it super simple is definitely where it's at! Thanks!
Jean
This is exactly how I like to cook my pork chops too! Always comes out flavorful every time. YUM.
Raia
Those have got to be about the tastiest looking pork chops I've ever seen. And they sound easy enough that I just might try them!
Alicia
These turned out really nice 🙂 Had to cook them a few minutes longer to reach the right temp but they tasted great. I even tried the pan sauce!
Tara Buss
Great! You did the right thing by going by temp. Every pork chop is a different thickness and every stove cooks a little differently too. Temp is where it's at! And good for you for trying the pan sauce. 🙂