Pan Fried Pork Chops (with Pan Sauce!)
These Pan Fried Pork Chops are easy to make in a skillet with the most delicious pan sauce! The flavor profile is truly restaurant-worthy!
Serve these with potatoes and roasted vegetables for a complete meal that your family will love!
Pan Fried Pork Chops
These incredible Pan Fried Pork Chops are the best way to incorporate gourmet flavor with simple ingredients! This pan sauce is magic. The way that we build layers of flavor in this dish is simple, straightforward, and so delicious.
The pork chops are dry brined to ensure the most flavorful, juicy results. They’re then seared in a skillet that’s deglazed with white wine before a simple pan sauce is prepared and used to baste the pork chops at the end. (Sounds incredible, right? Your kitchen is about to smell amazing!)
This dish pairs so well with a side of greens and beans, potato side dishes, vegetables, pasta salad, and more!)
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Sprinkle each side of the pork chops with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and let them sit for 35-45 minutes. This brining technique makes them more tender, flavorful, and juicier. If short on time, pat completely dry and season just before searing.
Sprinkle with flour and rub it into the surface of the pork. Heat olive oil and sear the pork in batches until golden brown and crisp. Set aside.
Deglaze the skillet with white wine. Add the chicken broth, seasonings, crushed garlic, and thyme. Reduce the liquid by half. Add the butter and the cooled pork. Baste the pork until warm and cooked through. Serve with mashed potatoes and green beans!
Best Pork Chops to Use
- Center cut, Bone-in Pork Chops – pictured in this recipe
- These are the best cut for this recipe as the bone adds more flavor to the meat and sauce. The thicker the cut, the juicier they’ll be. Aim for nicely marbled meat.
- Loin Chops
- These may also be used, although they are a leaner cut.
- Boneless Chops
- These will work as well, although they are the leanest cut which makes them prone to becoming dry. Salt them first and let them sit to mitigate this.
Pro Tips
- Brining: If you’re able to dry brine the pork chops for 35-45 minutes, you can salt the pork more liberally than you normally would, as the salt will penetrate through the surface and flavor it inside and out. The exact amount of salt will vary, as it depends on the cut and size of pork chops used.
- Searing: Sear the pork chops in batches, don’t overcrowd the skillet. This allows the edges to get nice and crisp. Use kitchen tongs to prop the pork on it’s side to sear the edges as well. Adjust heat up/down as needed while you sear.
- Wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc are my go-to dry white wines for this recipe. My next recommendation would be non-alcoholic white wine, which is widely available. While the wine does really elevate this recipe, chicken broth can be used instead.
- Vegetable Pairings: Roasted Broccoli, Green Beans, and carrots are great with this recipe.
- Potato Pairings: Smashed, Mashed, Roasted, Scalloped, and Greek Potatoes are my go-to choices for this recipe. Check out all of my potato recipes here!
- Lemon Wedges are also great to serve with this dish!
- Chicken: I have Pan Fried Chicken and Chicken Bites recipes that are just as easy and delicious as well!
- Be sure to try my Garlic Parmesan Pork Chops and my Apple Pork Chops next!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover pork chops do freeze/reheat well.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Large/Wide Skillet– Mine is 12-inches and can just fit all of the pork, so make sure you go wide!
- Meat Tenderizer – Using this tool really does make the pork more tender, you’ll barely have to chew it!
- Meat Thermometer– Pork chops should be 145° prior to serving.
- Kitchen Tongs– makes it easy to handle the pork when searing.
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Pan Fried Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops, I use center cut. See notes.
- Salt/Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Pan Sauce
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3-4 tablespoons butter, salted
Pan Sauce Seasonings
- ½ teaspoon EACH: dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon seasoned salt
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
Prep Work
- Place saran wrap over the pork and use the textured side of a meat mallet to pound the meat on each side. This will make it more tender.
- Season each side of the pork chops with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. If possible, let them sit out at room temp for 35-45 minutes. This will give the salt a chance to penetrate through the meat and flavor it. It will also make the pork juicier. If you’re short on time, season the pork chops just before searing.
- Meanwhile, combine the seasonings and stir them into the chicken broth. Measure out remaining ingredients before beginning.
- Sprinkle each side of the pork with flour and rub it over the surface of each side.
Sear the Pork Chops
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pork chops and sear them in batches for 2-3 minutes on the first side, and 1-2 minutes on the second side. Extra thick cuts can be seared a little longer. Set aside and let it rest.
Make the Pan Sauce
- Turn the heat off and add the wine. Set heat to medium and add the chicken broth/seasonings, crushed garlic, and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer and let it reduce by half, 5-6 minutes. (Make sure you can no longer smell alcohol from the wine.)
- Add the butter and the pork along with any juices from the plate. Let the butter melt and tilt the skillet to transfer the pan sauce to one side. Use a spoon to baste the pork for 2 minutes, or until the pork is 145° F.
- Remove from heat and let the pork chops rest for 3-5 minutes, the internal temperature will increase a few more degrees and the juices will absorb. Serve with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. (See notes for other pairing options!)
Notes
- Center cut, Bone-in Pork Chops - pictured in this recipe
- These are the best cut for this recipe as the bone adds more flavor to the meat and sauce. The thicker the cut, the juicier they'll be. Aim for nicely marbled meat.
- Loin Chops
- These may also be used, although they are a leaner cut.
- Boneless Chops
- These will work as well, although they are the leanest cut which makes them more prone to becoming dry.
Pro Tips:
- Brining: If you're able to dry brine the pork chops for 35-45 minutes, you can salt the pork more liberally than you normally would, as the salt will penetrate through the surface and flavor it inside and out. The exact amount of salt will vary, as it depends on the cut and size of pork chops used.
- Searing: Sear the pork chops in batches, don't overcrowd the skillet. This allows the edges to get nice and crisp. Use kitchen tongs to prop the pork on it's side to sear the edges as well. Adjust heat up/down as needed while you sear.
- Wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc are my go-to dry white wines for this recipe. My next recommendation would be non-alcoholic white wine, which is widely available. While the wine does really elevate this recipe, chicken broth can be used instead.
- Vegetable Pairings: Roasted Broccoli, Green Beans, and carrots are great with this recipe.
- Potato Pairings: Smashed, Mashed, Roasted, Scalloped, and Greek Potatoes are my go-to choices for this recipe. Check out all of my potato recipes here!
- Lemon Wedges are also great to serve with this dish!
- Chicken: I have Pan Fried Chicken and Chicken Bites recipes that are just as easy and delicious as well!
- Be sure to try my Garlic Parmesan Pork Chops and my Apple Pork Chops next!
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover pork chops do freeze/reheat well.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe.
Made this tonight, family enjoyed it said its delicious and flavoursome. Thanks for recipe
Wonderful! I’m so glad that your family loved it Hettie, thank you so much!
This very scrumptious
I’m so happy to hear that Nancy, thank you so much!! 🙂
My husband gave me an Excellent! 6 out of 5 stars! Thank You very much!
Sounds like you nailed it, nice work Nanette! I’m so happy it was such a success!💕
This was incredible! I had almost given up on pork chops (unless they were made with Shake n Bake) because they were always dry and tough. This recipe was easy to follow, with fantastic results! Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed these Nelda! My husband used to be against pork chops until I made him this recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!💖
This recipe was a big hit with my entire household (husband, adult daughter, and five grand-kids). I used five thick bone-in center cut pork chops, searing in two batches, and barely fitting into my largest skillet, but it worked out. The chops were tender and very, very tasty. I will be making this again.
I am soooo happy that it was a hit Alice!! My family loves it too, which is great because it’s so simple! Thank you so so much for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
So easy to follow and probably one of the best pork chops I’ve ever had. Delicious!
Wahooo! That makes me so happy Alisa, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!🩷
It was absolutely delicious! Came together fairly quickly and has easy instructions. I will 100% be making this again
That makes me so happy Morgan! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️
These Pan Fried Pork Chops are fantastic! I used thin sliced center cut pork chops. They were tender without using the meat mallet. I doubled the pan sauce. My husband loves lots of sauce/gravy. This recipe is a keeper. I’ll make them again soon!
I’m so happy it’s a keeper! I like extra sauce/gravy too 😋. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!🩷
Absolutely delicious!!! I’ve never written a review in all of my 20+ years of cooking but felt compelled to write this one. The flavor profile was outstanding and the chops themselves were sooo moist and juicy. My husband raved about them too! I used dry thyme as I did not have fresh on hand but didn’t seem to make a noticeable difference. I also accidentally minced the garlic instead of crushing but u feel like that just made it even more flavorful. Once the chops were done cooking in the sauce and were removed, I added a few mushrooms I had leftover and they soaked up a lot of the sauce but were amazing! Will def be making this again. Thanks for a DELICIOUS and fuss free recipe!
This makes me so happy Theresa! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your first review! This recipe got my husband to start liking pork chops. Mushrooms are the perfect addition, nice work! Thanks so much for the review!🩷