Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples
Pork Chops with Apples is a simple dinner recipe perfect for any time of year! The apples are caramelized in butter with brown sugar, cinnamon, and honey. The pork chops are pan-seared to a beautiful golden-brown crust and are tender, juicy, and moist.
Servings 4 people
Calories 558kcal
Ingredients
Apples
- 1 green apple Granny Smith
- 1 red apple Gala
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
Pork Chops
- 1.5 lb pork loin chops boneless (4 pork chops)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- fresh thyme
Instructions
Prepare the pork chops
- Pat dry pork chops with paper towels.
- Brush pork chops with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Allow the pork chops to rest while you prepare the apples as follows below. This brings pork chops closer to room temperature which will help them sear better.
Cook apples
- I used 2 apples (1 red Gala apple and 1 green Granny Smith apple, for presentation purposes). Core the apples and slice each one length-wise.
- Place sliced apples into a large bowl, add brown sugar, cinnamon, and mix. Let apples sit for about 10 minutes to release juices.
- In a large pan (I used a large stainless steel skillet), heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil on high heat. Add sliced apples (without juice at the bottom of the pan) and cook on high heat for about 3 minutes on one side, checking periodically. After 3 or 5 minutes, flip sliced apples to the other side, reduce heat to medium and cook the apples for another 3 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Cook the apples in a single layer, without overcrowding to get a slightly "roasted" appearance. That means you might have to cook apples in 2 batches. Use the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter for the second batch.
- Depending on how hot your stove gets, it might take you less or more time to cook apples, the key is to brown them or even get a slightly “burned” effect. But don’t overdo it, remove the cooked apples from the skillet once the apples have this “roasted” appearance.
- Right after you remove the pan with roasted sliced apples from the heat, immediately add honey to the hot skillet – it will make apples sizzle and will caramelize them beautifully, off the heat.
Cook pork chops
- For best searing results, use a cast-iron skillet. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes to heat it through.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil - the oil should shimmer. Add the pork chops, and cook them on one side for 5 minutes, without moving.
- Reduce the heat to medium, flip the pork chops over to the other side, and cook them on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Cook longer (depending on the thickness of your pork chops) until the pork chops are cooked through.
Assembly
- Spoon the cooked apples, together with the sauce from cooking the apples, over the pork chops. Top with fresh thyme.
Notes
- Use cast-iron skillet. It retains heat very well which helps get a nice sear on the pork chops while sealing the moisture inside.
- Bring pork chops to room temperature. Take them out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking them. Tip: Season the pork chops, first, and set them aside. Then, prepare and cook the apples, while the pork chops reach room temperature. After you've cooked the apples, start searing the pork chops!
- Preheat cast-iron skillet first. Heat an empty large cast-iron skillet on medium heat for about 3 or 4 minutes. Only then, add olive oil until it shimmers and the pork chops. This allows the cast-iron skillet to be heated through BEFORE you add pork chops, which creates a nice searing.
- Use 1 green apple and 1 red apple for presentation purposes. I used Gala apple and Granny Smith apple.
- Do not peel the apples. Keep the apples' skin on for texture, color, and vibrancy!
- How do you know when pork is cooked? Pork chops are cooked when they register an internal temperature of 145 F using a food thermometer.
Nutrition
Calories: 558kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 426mg | Potassium: 761mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 241IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg