I often get asked about the best way to cook pork chops to keep them from drying out. The truth of the matter is that it’s more about how long you cook them rather than how you cook them.
Food safety standards recommend cooking pork to an internal temperature of 145°F. Doing that will ensure it’s safe to consume and still juicy! But you shouldn’t just guess at it. The only reliable way to do it is to test the meat using an instant read thermometer.
It’s something that I recommend everyone have in their kitchen and can be purchased rather affordably from places like Amazon. This is the one I use in the test kitchen: ThermoPro TP18 (aff link)
Now, not only so we want our chops to be juicy, but we want them to be flavorful too, right? Well, I’ve got ya covered! These Skillet Chops with French Onion Gravy are seriously the bomb.com.
Searing them in oil and butter adds great flavor. Then we add mushrooms, beef broth, onion soup mix for a huge flavor blast, a little vinegar for bite, and we tighten it all up into a delicious gravy that you’ll be eating with a spoon. Well, I do. But don’t tell anyone.
One thing to remember is that many things will continue to cook after they’ve been taken off the heat because of the residual heat in the meat. It’s called carryover heat or carryover cooking.
Keeping that in mind, I use an instant read thermometer to measure the internal temp of my chops and pull them from the heat at about 140°F then tent them with foil. The carry over heat combined with the foil, will get them to that 145°F mark without overcooking them.
Recipe Card
Skillet Chops with French Onion Gravy
Ingredients
- 4 3/4-inch bone-in center cut pork chops
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups reduced sodium beef broth, divided
- 1 (1-ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
Instructions
- Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and season them with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-heat and melt the butter in the oil. Once hot, add the pork chops. They should sizzle when you add them. Cook on one side for 4 to 5 minutes or until brown. Turn and cook an additional to 4 to 5 minutes or until brown and the internal temp registers 140°F on a instant read meat thermometer. Remove to a plate and lightly tent with foil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in 1 cup of the beef broth, the dry onion soup mix, and the vinegar. Bring to a bubble, scraping the bottom of the pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk the corn starch into the remaining 1 cup of beef broth. Pour it into the skillet and stir well. Bring to a simmer and allow the gravy to thicken. Return the pork chops to the skillet and spoon the gravy over them. Serve immediately.
Notes
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Tiana Cutts
Do you ever just toss all this on a crockpot?
Thanks!
I’ve never tried that. Love the idea though!
Chrissy
I try to avoid onion. Any ideas for a sub with this?
If you’re trying to avoid onions, I’d imagine that you’d need to avoid garlic and shallots as well. As such, I’m just not sure about a replacement. But you can always just leave it out.
Jenine
Excellent! Only thing I did differently was to simmer the pork chops an hour longer in the sauce. I like my chops to fall off the bone.
Thanks for sharing your tip! Simmering the pork chops longer sounds delicious and definitely a great way to get that tender, fall-off-the-bone texture.
Melody
Hi, Stacy!
In the video fir this recipe, you said
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.. but in the written recipe you wrote
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar . Which is it? I am excited to make this.. sounds delish!!!
Go with the written recipe. I often get mixed up when filming the videos. 🙂
Holly
Amazing flavor & so easy & inexpensive. I followed the recipe exactly & will make no adjustments. Delicious & my family loved it.
Love hearing that! Thanks, Holly!
Mike Richards
Fantastic recipe, keep up the good work.
Thank you!
Jennifer
Big hit!
Awesome! Love hearing that!
Gayle
Made this tonight and my husband loved it! the mushroom gravy was great over the mashed potatoes too! Only change I made was that I had to use canola oil since I was out of olive oil. Was easy and didn’t take much time at all….we will be making this again at our house.
Wonderful! I’m so glad y’all enjoyed it!
Shirley Standridge
I have never used fresh herbs, would it be possible to substitue dried herbs instead? If so what would be the teaspoon sub for 3 fresh of each?
CTY
I do love cast iron skillet meals–this dinner sounds like just what I needed–a grown up version of my DIY hamburger helper: brown some ground beef in a bit of fat as needed, add in beef broth or water, envelope of onion soup mix and stir in egg noodles. Cover and simmer till the noodles are done and gravy thickens. But like I said yours sounds more like a proper grown up dinner.
Thanks!
Denise
This sounds like it would be delicious with hamburger patties too! With a salad, a side of mashed potatoes, hot rolls and fried okra! ????
Yes! That sounds amazing!!
Sue Dodson
Sounds and looks yummy. “I want them tonight
Thanks, Sue!