The Best Juicy Skillet Pork Chops

Say goodbye to dry and flavorless pork chops. With a few simple tricks, you can make juicy and tender pork chops with very little fuss. I love how juicy these are! Jump to the Juicy Skillet Pork Chops Recipe

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How To Cook Pork Chops So That They Are Juicy and Tender

We are sharing more of a method rather than a recipe. We highly recommend our spice rub and pan sauce, but you can use your favorite spices instead. For the best results, we cook the pork chops on the stovetop — hello, beautiful sear! If you’d prefer to bake them, you can still take advantage of some of the suggestions below. We’ve also shared this Easy Oven Baked Pork Chops as well as these Cheesy Apple Stuffed Pork Chops, if you want to take a look.

Tip #1: Don’t cook chops straight from the refrigerator. Thirty minutes before you plan to cook, take the chops out of the fridge.

The time out of the refrigerator lets you bring the meat up to room temperature, which helps the pork cook more evenly throughout. Use this trick for other cuts of meat like pork tenderloin or steak.

Tip #2:Season the chops with salt half an hour before cooking. This way, the salt has a chance to improve the flavor and texture of the meat.

Pork chops are pretty lean, so seasoning with salt before cooking is essential for making the most flavorful chops.

Tip #3:Rub the chops with spices and a little bit of flour. Here’s where your favorite spice rub can come in. Alternatively, you can use our spice blend in the recipe below. Whichever you choose, add a little flour to it.

Rubbing a small amount of flour over the chops helps to add a flavorful crust. We use this trick a lot. When cooking scallops, we add a little flour to the outside so that they brown evenly.

Tip #4: Sear on one side, flip then cover with a lid. We use this trick a lot, it’s how we cook chicken breasts so that they are juicy and use the same concept when grilling meat.

First, we sear one side of the chops until browned then we flip them, turn down the heat to low and cover the skillet with a lid.

The second side will slowly turn golden brown, and since we added the lid, the heat from the pan will gently cook the middle. By gently cooking the chops this way, they remain juicy and become tender.

This is the same method we use when making our favorite recipe for stovetop chicken breasts!

Tip #5: Let the cooked chops rest. The moment they are cooked, transfer them to a clean plate and cover with foil. After 5 minutes all the juices inside the chops will have distributed around the meat.

How To Tell When Pork Chops Are Done

Pork is done when an internal thermometer reads 145° F. Depending on how thick the chops are, you might need to subtract or add a few minutes from the suggested cook times in our recipe below.

If you look closely, the pork chop in the back of the pan (pictured above) is thicker than the one in the front.

When we were cooking them, we removed the thinner chop first since it reached 145° F a few minutes before the thicker chop.

So if your chops aren’t all the same thickness or size, it’s best to check the temperature of each chop and remove them as they finish cooking.

For The Juiciest, Tastiest Chops, Make a Pan Sauce

While the chops rest off of the heat, add chicken stock, a little bit of apple cider vinegar and some honey to the skillet.

Bring everything to a simmer, and then reduce by about half. When it has reduced, slide the pan away from the heat and swirl in some butter.

Grab your chops and place them back into the skillet. You can add them whole or sliced. We love adding them sliced since the pan sauce gets all over the meat.

And that’s it, our no-fail method for cooking juicy and tender pork chops.

What To Serve With Pork Chops

We hope you give these tender pork chops a try soon. If you do, try one of these side dishes to go alongside:

This colorful coleslaw would be perfect and adds lots of crunch. With a generous amount of acidity from apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard, our favorite coleslaw is anything but dull. I also love this Mayonnaise-Free Slaw.

Add a healthy, low-carb side of mashed cauliflower. It takes about 20 minutes and would be excellent served with the pork. Or, for a more traditional side, give our favorite homemade mashed potatoes a try.

For some veggies, try this roasted asparagus (I love the sauce), our lemon garlic sautéed cabbage, or my favorite sautéed zucchini.

More Easy Pork Recipes

• Try our recipe for making the BEST, juicy pork tenderloin.
• This recipe for pork tenderloin with apples and onions has so many happy reviews.
• Our easy pork tacos call for ground pork, so they come together FAST.
• Everyone loves this pulled pork recipe. We show you how to make it in the slow cooker as well as in a pressure cooker.
• We love this stuffed pork chop recipe with apples, onions, and cheese.