Easy Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

November 20, 2015

Easy Sweet and Sour Pork Chops
This recipe is the shining example of what a few well-placed ingredients and good cooking technique can do to a plain piece of meat.
Thick and succulent pork chops are seared, baked, then slathered with sweet glaze, and roasted until perfectly caramelized.

You see that glossy glaze?
It’s so easy to make you won’t even believe it.
There’s no starch involved; just balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, and few herbs. It reduces quickly to a thick, rich, sweet-tart, dark balsamic syrup.
Rosemary and oregano are the perfect accents for me, but I suspect thyme would work just as well.
I like to add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of heat that goes nicely with pork chops.
But I’ll let you be the judge of that. This is a technique that begs for your own personal touches.
All in all these are super easy, uber juicy, and very tasty pork chops.
Perfect for a weeknight dinner!

Easy Sweet and Sour Pork Chops


Easy Sweet and Sour Pork Chops                                                                                                    Print this recipe!
Barely adapted from Giada De Laurentis’ recipe

Ingredients
Serves 4

4 pork chops bone-in (about 8 oz / 225 gr each)
1 teaspoon fine grain salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter

Glaze

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Melt butter in a large cast-iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet) over medium-high heat.
When sizzling, add pork chops and sear on both sides until golden, about 2 minutes per side.
Place in the oven and roast for about 6 minutes.
In the meantime combine all glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook until reduced, about 5 minutes.
Remove pork chops from the oven, pour glaze over them, return in the oven and bake for further 4 minutes until caramelized.
Serve immediately!

Nutrition facts

One serving yields 215 calories, 13 grams of fat, 11 grams of carbs, and 13 grams of protein.

14 comments:

  1. Yum! I love how simple and delicious this looks.

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  2. Yum I love porkchops. Glaze sounds perfect, I might even add some sriracha in there!

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  3. Hi Mike, my husband loves sauces on anything, I will make this for him, he will love it!!

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  4. I love this simple and yummy chops

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  5. Man these look good - and I just had dinner!

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  6. You always make me question my preconceptions of pork chops. My mother used to cook the life out of them and I totally cut them out of my cooking repertoire. I think I'll have to give them chops a second chance.

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  7. Dude! I would be all over these pork chops. Actually, I would be all anything that isn't hospital food right about now. Seriously, though, these look awesome, Mike! #WolfpackChops

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  8. The chops really look perfect, they are not something I often cook, but I would love them in this combination.

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  9. I rarely buy pork chops because I don't know what to do with them (bad excuse, I know). Can't wait to try these! Pinned for later :)

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  10. WOW, Mike. These pics are beyond amazing. I literally want to drink the sauce! Pinned!

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  11. Made this last night - wow. SO GOOD. When I told the boyfriend I was making pork chops there was a pause on the other end of the line (he was used to the breaded/fried/dry as chalk chops he grew up with). He couldn't get over how good they were. Admittedly, this was my first time making pork chops and THIS RECIPE IS IMPOSSIBLE SCREW UP. So easy, wonderful flavor, straight up dinner party worthy. Thanks Mike!

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  12. Just made this for dinner and it came out amazing!! My husband attacked these chops like they owed him money. So simple and extremely tasty! Thanks Mike

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  13. Made it. Great! Double the glaze recipe!

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  14. Friggin' amazing! So easy to make, yet special enough to serve to guests. It even made cauliflower rice seem like a treat.

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