Honey Garlic Pork Chops (Easy One-Pan Dinner!)
These honey garlic pork chops are juicy, golden and covered in a sticky, buttery honey garlic sauce that tastes considerably more ambitious than the 25-ish minutes you actually spent making it. A little Dijon and apple cider vinegar keep the honey from wandering into pancake territory, while six cloves of garlic make sure nobody mistakes this for a timid pork chop.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops, about 1-inch thick
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- Fresh parsley, chopped, optional
Instructions
- Pat the pork chops dry (so the seasonings stick better) and season both sides with salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the pork chops and sear for about 3–4 minutes on the first side until deeply golden. Flip and cook for another 2–3 minutes.
- Transfer the pork chops to a plate. (They don’t need to be completely cooked through yet, so don’t keep cooking them into little pork coasters.)
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 1 tbsp butter and minced garlic to the skillet. Cook for about 30 seconds, just until fabulously fragrant.
- Add the honey, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes, if using. Stir everything together while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Let the sauce simmer for 2–3 minutes until it starts to thicken and look glossy.
- Return the pork chops and any juices from the plate to the skillet.
- Spoon the honey garlic sauce over the chops and simmer for another 2–5 minutes, flipping once, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145°F.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and let the pork chops rest for 3–5 minutes. The sauce will continue to thicken as it sits.
- Spoon plenty of that honey garlic sauce over the pork chops and serve while they’re hot. Add a little chopped parsley on top if you’re feeling fancy.;)
Tips & Variations
- Use thick pork chops: Chops around 1 inch thick are much easier to keep juicy than the super-thin ones, which can go from perfectly cooked to roofing material while you reach for a plate.
- Don’t cook pork to death: Pork is safely cooked at 145°F followed by a short rest. A meat thermometer is your best defense against the dry pork chops many of us were personally victimized by in the 1980s and ’90s.
- Pat the chops dry: Removing surface moisture helps the pork actually brown instead of steaming in the skillet. Golden crust = flavor.
- Watch the honey: Once the honey goes into the pan, keep the heat under control. Sugar burns quickly, and burnt honey garlic sauce is considerably less charming than sticky honey garlic sauce.
- Make it spicy: Increase the crushed red pepper to 1/2 tsp or add a squirt of sriracha to the sauce.
- Make it extra garlicky: Add another clove or two. Six cloves is merely where negotiations begin.
- Use bone-in pork chops: Absolutely. They’ll usually need a little longer to cook, so rely on internal temperature rather than the clock.
- Add rosemary: Toss a sprig or two of fresh rosemary into the sauce while the pork finishes cooking for a savory little upgrade.
- Make extra sauce: Increase the honey, soy sauce, Dijon and vinegar by half if you’re serving the pork over rice or mashed potatoes. You’ll want something underneath specifically designed to absorb the evidence.
- Serve it with vegetables: Roasted broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts or asparagus all work beautifully and help create the appearance that this wasn’t primarily an elaborate delivery system for honey garlic butter.
Love cozy dinners? Check out this Creamy Lemon Pasta with Crispy Bacon and this Creamy Garlic Parmesan Pasta, this viral Marry Me Chicken, these Ultra-Crispy Oven Baked Boneless Chicken Thighs and this delightfully easy Cheesy Baked Macaroni with Beef! And if you’re in the mood for a simple one pot wonder meal?! This EPIC One Pot Lasagna dinner that’s ready in less than 27 minutes will absolutely become your new favorite busy-night dinner!
Want an easy and delicious dessert to make with this dinner? Try this viral Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Copy Cat recipe – it’s creamy, no-bake and ALWAYS a hit!
Love garlic? We triple-dog-dare you to click here.. 😉
