Easy Pork Chop Marinade Recipe for Grilled or Baked Chops (2024)

FAQs

Should I marinate my pork chops before grilling? ›

Create the most tender and juicy pork chops with this easy TESTED and PERFECTED Pork Chop Marinade recipe! With 8 simple ingredients and a quick 1 hour marinade, say good bye to dry, boring pork chops forever! I recommend grilling the pork chops after marinating them, but you can also pan fry or bake them in the oven.

You can make an effective brine just with salt and water, but additional seasonings do help. If you are just looking to brine one (1) pork chop or tenderloin, or up to 4 at a time, a quick ratio of salt to water is 4 cups of water and 3 Tbsp of salt / for 30 minutes up to 4 hours.

Fat is key to keeping pork chops moist

Basting them with fat, such as butter. Add in aromatics while basting for more flavor — similar to how you might cook a steak — and then you have the added bonus of browned butter and crispy garlic and/or herbs to serve with the meat.

I do not recommend grilled boneless chops, as they are likely to dry out. (You're better off cooking boneless pork chops in a skillet on the stove or trying oven grilled pork chops with a cast iron grill pan.)

Best Seasoning for Pork Chops

Thyme and sage add herby and floral notes complementing pork's flavor exceptionally well. There's also a combination of smoked paprika, pepper, and a little bit of cayenne pepper, which all give your pork chops a lovely, not overly spicy, kiss of heat.

Place meat in a dish and cover with water. Remove meat and stir roughly 4 level Tbs of baking soda into the water. Put meat back in and soak (in refrigerator) overnight. Rinse THOROUGHLY and cook.

High-heat frying sears them to a golden brown; and a moderately hot oven (400 degrees F) bakes the pork chops gently enough to keep them from drying out. This "sear-roasting" method is a great way to cook pork chops in the oven: Fry one side to golden brown, then flip, and place the chops directly in the oven.

That depends on the marinade and how you want to cook it. If you want to grill it, you don't want too much moisture, so you need at least to drain the marinade, and possibly pat it off. Washing off serves no useful purpose. If the meat is to be braised or roasted I'll often leave the marinade on.

Cuts of pork are at their toughest when the muscle fibers making up the meat are long and intact. To begin tenderizing the pork before seasoning or cooking it, try breaking up the muscle fibers using a meat mallet (sometimes called a "meat tenderizer").

Are pork chops better in the oven or on the stove? ›

Cooking pork chops in the oven can yield to a tender and juicy meat. Brine bone-in pork chops then sear them first before finishing them off in the oven.

A quick turn in a hot pan followed by a little time in the oven is another great way to cook pork chops. You build color and flavor in the skillet, then hand the cooking over to the oven, which gives you time to prep the rest of the meal.

There's no need to flip the pork chops in the oven as they cook nice and evenly. Can you eat pork chops a little pink? Pork chops should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees, which produces nice juicy chops that are a little pink inside.

Tender Grilled Pork Chops

Refrigerate and marinade for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours. Heat a charcoal, propane, or pellet grill to medium and grill the chops 6-8 minutes per side (depending on how thick they are) until an instant-read thermometer registers between 145 and 155 degrees F.

Because pork chops are such a lean cut, they are relatively quick-cooking and prone to overcooking. When they're cooked for even a few minutes too long, whether it's in the oven or on the stovetop or grill, they're quick to dry out, and — you guessed it — become tough, chewy, and less than appealing.

Pork can get mushy if it spends too much time marinating in an acidic bath. If it contains an acid like soy sauce or lemon juice, let it marinate for no longer than eight hours to prevent pork chops from breaking down too much. Got other things going on the grill? Check out our guide to marinating pretty much anything!

Tender Grilled Pork Chops

Mix olive oil, soy sauce and steak seasoning together in a small bowl. Add the pork chops to a large ziploc bag or flat dish and pour the marinade ingredients over the top. Refrigerate and marinade for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.

Most recipes for marinating meat and poultry recommend six hours up to 24 hours. It is safe to keep the food in the marinade longer, but after two days it is possible that the marinade can start to break down the fibers of the meat, causing it to become mushy.