This recipe makes the juiciest baked pork chops you’ve ever had.
Juicy, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned with everyday ingredients, these baked pork chops are quick, easy, and sure to impress!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: These baked pork chops are savory with a nice sweet glaze.
- Difficulty: These are easy to prepare, but they can overcook quickly so be sure to keep an eye on them.
- Ingredient tip: Ensure the pork is at least ¾-inch thick for the best results.
- Technique: This recipe uses a brine which is salt, sugar, and water. It’s easy to do and makes a really big difference in the texture and flavor.
- Tools: I highly recommend a meat thermometer for this recipe—they’re inexpensive (less than $20) and will ensure all of your meats are cooked perfectly.
What You’ll Need For Baked Pork Chops
- Pork Chops: Choose lean ¾-inch center cut pork chops or pork loin chops. If the chops are thinner or thicker than ¾-inch, the cooking time will need to be adjusted.
- Brine: A pork chop brine is a blend of salt, sugar, and water. This simple mixture helps break down tougher proteins and adds flavor. While brine is not required, I recommend it for the most tender and flavorful pork chops.
- Rub: The homemade rub is a simple blend of brown sugar and spices for flavor and to help the pork chops caramelize.
How to Bake Pork Chops (so they’re tender!)
- Brine: Bring the brine to a boil and cool (recipe below). Brine the chops at least 30 minutes, up to two hours.
- Rub: Season pork chops with the brown sugar rub.
- Bake on a prepared pan until the chops reach an internal temperature of 140°F.
Kitchen Tip!
Use an instant-read thermometer for the best results. The pork should reach an internal temperature of 145°F. Remove it from the oven at 140°F, as it will continue to rise in temperature as it rests.
Did you love these Baked Pork Chops? Leave a rating and a comment below.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops ¾-inch thick
For the Brine
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 2 cups ice
For the Rub
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- To make the brine, in a small saucepan, combine the water, salt, brown sugar, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the ice to the brine and cool completely.
- In a large bowl or freezer bag, pour the cooled brine over the pork chops and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
- Remove pork chops from the brine and pat them dry with a paper towel. If the pork chops have a fat cap on one side, make small cuts into the fat to help them cook evenly.
- To make the seasoning, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, garlic powder, mustard powder, and paprika. Apply the rub to both sides of the pork chops and massage it into the meat.
- Place the seasoned pork chops on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 16 minutes.
- Turn the oven to broil, and broil the pork chops, 4 to 6 inches from the heat, for an additional 2-4 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 140°F.
- Remove the pork chops from the oven and transfer them to a plate to rest for 5 minutes before serving, allowing the temperature to rise to 145°F.
Video
Notes
Choosing Pork Chops: Choose lean chops, ¾-inch thick. Adjust the cooking time slightly for thicker chops.
Skipping the brine? If time allows, the brine is recommended. If you’re short on time, you can skip the brine and add 1 teaspoon kosher salt to the rub mixture.
Cooking Time: Thicker chops will need extra time, while thinner chops will cook faster. Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness. Pork chops should be baked to an internal temp of 145°F. Remove them from the oven at 140°F as they will continue to rise in temperature as they rest. Pork chops can (and should!) be a little bit pink in the middle.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1pork chop | Calories: 234 | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 500mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 123IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Pork
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Best pork chops I’ve ever made! Making them for the second time tonight!
Excellent recipe!
I’m a working Teacher-Mama. :) Can I leave the pork chops to brine all day while I’m at work?
Hi Natalie, I recommend brining for no more than 4 hours because the pork chops are at risk of getting mushy. Other readers have tried to brine their pork chops for upwards of 12 hours though with success. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Great job
Going to try this recipe this weekend. I’m an inexperienced cook so this is a rookie question, but can someone please go into more detail about the broiling process at the end of the bake? I’ve never done that before! Many thanks!
Most ovens will have a broil setting which is about 500°F (on a high setting). Broiling is often used towards the end of cooking to brown the top of a dish.
In this case, I turn the broiler on to high (or 500°F) and allow it to get hot, the element in the top of the oven will usually turn red. Add the pan to a rack closer to the top of the oven so the chops are about 5 inches from the element (be sure it doesn’t have parchment paper as it can burn). Keep a close eye on it as it can go from brown to burned quickly!
On my oven, if it gets too hot, the red element may turn off so I open the oven door just a bit to keep it the element on the top red hot. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Thanks Holly, it worked great! My oven has a hi broil option. I did sear the top side a bit (user error, too close to the element) but they still tasted delicious!
Can you use a baking sheet/cookie sheet to bake these or does it have to be more like a 9×13 casserole dish?
Hi Whitney, a baking sheet will work great for this recipe too!
Instead of a wet brine, try dry brining. To do this take your pork chops out of the fridge about 5 -6 hours before you want to cook them and sprinkle with salt on both sides. The amount of salt you use is about 20% more than you would use if you sprinkled them with salt just before cooking. You can also add your dry rub ingredients at the same time. Put the chops back in the fridge on a rack and pull them out just before cooking. With wet brining, you need to let the brine cool before using it. Dry brining is a simpler and far less labour intensive method that produces exactly the same result as is mentioned in the recipe. I know from dry brining how tender this makes the chops and wet brining will do the same.
Thanks for sharing, Ric!
Yes Ric your way works really good. I also dry brine my less tender steaks this way.
Can I use bone-in …?
Hi Ruth, we have only tried this recipe with boneless but it should work with bone-in as well. Other readers have had good results with bone-in pork chops.
Tried this recipe because it had one of the highest ratings. The reviewers did not lie! The pork chops came out so moist and tasty. Thank you so much for sharing.
Yay! So happy you loved it!
Made this tonight, cutting the recipe in half for 2 chops. Timing was perfect and the flavor delicious!
HELP!!! I’M ACTUALLY MAKING THIS TONIGHT FOR DINNER AND I HAVE FOLLOWED ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS TO A T, Now I’m ready to bake but I’m not sure if I need to cover while baking??? do you recommend using a casserole glass dish or a baking sheet aluminum pan???
thanks so much!
These are baked uncovered. I usually use a baking pan with a rim but as long as your dish is large enough so they aren’t touching, you can also use a casserole dish.
I’ll be making the pork tenderloin tonight. Your ‘jump button’ and scrolling are easy to do. I usually ‘speed read’ large recipe blogs because I’ve been cooking a long time.
Can I use ground pepper in place of the peppercorns? – I don’t have any!
Hi Cathy, for best results we recommend using peppercorn in the brine mixture.
Omg..the BEST recipe for pork chops ever..infact we had it lady night and we are having it again tonight !!
What if you do not have a meat thermometer? Is there a guide to how long to cook thicker chops at the various temperatures?
Hi Vanessa, since pork is very easy to overcook, I strongly recommend using a thermometer, especially since the bake time will also depend on thickness. Pork chops should be baked to an internal temp of 145°F. ¾” chops should take approximately:
450°F – bake 14-16 minutes
400°F – bake 17-19 minutes
375°F – bake 22-25 minutes
350°F – bake 35 minutes
I have an inexpensive themrmometer I bought on Amazon and I think it works great! I use this one for quick temps (although this one is also highly rated if you’re looking for another option) and this one with a probe to leave in the meat as it cooks.
None of them are overly expensive but I’ve found the two I mentioned I have work great. You can also usually find them fairly inexpensive at the grocery store too.
I made this for the couple I do care giving for and they loved it. Usually they talk during dinner but they didn’t say a word. Too busy stuffing their face with a great recipe.
Can the chops be baked in a casserole pan instead of using a cookie sheet? It seems like the sheet pan would dry them out quicker. I am using your recipe today with 9 extra thick chops.
That should work well as well. Enjoy!
Glad you said to use a meat thermometer. I used 400 for 20 minutes and my pork chops internal temperature was still below 100. It took 40 minutes.
Fantastic!
Simply amazing and mouthwatering porkchops. This is now my go-to!