Easy Fried Pork Chops with Apples Recipe (Tender and Juicy)

One skillet, simple dish for pan-fried pork chops with apples that has a great Dijon sauce!

Pork Chops that are perfectly soft are gently cooked with onions and delicious, luscious red apples. This meal tastes wonderful over handmade egg noodles or even mashed potatoes.

Components & Alterations

HAM CHOPS

In this dish, boneless chops are utilized. To ensure consistent cooking, choose chops that are thicker (.75′′ to 1′′ in thickness) and roughly the same size.

APPLES

Any apple will go well with the pork, but I prefer red apples because of their slightly richer flavor and thinner skin that doesn’t go rough with time. The apples can be peeled first if you’d like.

SAUCE

A fantastic sauce is made by whisking together apple cider (the drink, not apple cider vinegar), dijon mustard, garlic, and thyme.

The majority of the items in this recipe are probably already in your pantry, but take note that apple cider, not apple cider vinegar, is called for!

Technically, any type of mustard will do, but yellow mustard lacks the depth that Dijon (or stronger grainier mustard) can.

Pork Chops: How to Cook Them

As they will finish cooking in the sauce once the other ingredients are added, it is preferable to only sear the exterior of the pork chops when frying them for this dish.

Pork chops can (and should) be cooked to a temperature of about 145°F on an instant-read thermometer before serving. Avoid overcooking.

1. In a skillet, brown the pork chops on all sides. Place aside.
2. After softening the onions and apples, add the sauce’s ingredients (per the recipe below).
3. Re-add the pork to the pan and cook them thoroughly until they are tender. (Avoid overcooking)

Along with rice, roasted sweet potatoes, parmesan-roasted broccoli, or garlic mashed potatoes, serve the pork with apples. A handmade loaf of French bread is also a must-have to sop up the flavorful sauce.

How to Make Juicy Chops

• Use unused bacon grease to cook the chops for even extra flavor!
• To ensure that the apples cook at the same rate, slice them thinly and consistently when preparing them. It is entirely up to the cook to decide whether to peel them or not. Peeled apples provide a little more elegance to the meal while unpeeled apples will give it a little more color and fiber.
• The internal temperature of pork chops should be 145°F at their thickest point. They will keep cooking even after the skillet is taken off the stove.

Apples with Pork Chops

These apple-glazed fried pork chops are cooked in an apple-dijon sauce to perfection!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless loin chops about 1” thick
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• kosher salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ red onion sliced
• 2 large tart apples sliced
• ⅔ cup apple cider or as needed, not apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
• ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions for Pork Chops

1. Salt, pepper, and garlic powder can be used to season pork.
2. Over medium-high heat, warm up the olive oil in a big skillet. Pork should be cooked for about five minutes on each side (be sure not to overcook the pork). Lift out of the pan and place on a plate.
3. To the skillet, add onions and butter. Cook onions for about 2-3 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Cook the apples for another 5 minutes or so after adding them, or until they start to soften.
4. Add thyme to the skillet along with the apple cider, mustard, and cinnamon after whisking. 2–3 minutes of simmering.
5. Refill the skillet with the pork and any accumulated juices from the plate.
6. Pork should be pushed into the apples. Simmer for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly reduced and a meat thermometer reads 145°F for the pork.

Notes

Be sure to use apple cider in this recipe rather than apple cider vinegar.

Pork can (and should) be cooked to a temperature of about 145°F on an instant-read thermometer before serving. Avoid overcooking. Remember that after being taken off the heat, the pork will continue to cook a little bit.

The cider may evaporate fast if you’re using a particularly large skillet, in which case you might need to add a little bit more.

If you’d rather, red apples (or apples with thinner skin) can be peeled. To prevent the skins from becoming harsh, peel the apples if they have thicker skin.

Nutrition information

Calories: 430 | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 165mg | Potassium: 764mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 172IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg