Baked Lemon Garlic Pork Chops

Need a new idea for a fast weekend dinner? Try these Baked Lemon Garlic Pork Chops. They’re crunchy, tasty, fast, and super easy to make.

Start by preheating your oven to 350F. Arrange your pork chops on a work surface. I purchased a large boneless pork loin and cut it into chops, but buy them from the grocery store already cut if that's what works best for you. Boneless or bone-in... doesn't matter. Just be sure your chops are between 3/4 and 1-inch thick.

Have ready a shallow container of corn flake crumbs, and a shallow container for the egg mixture. Also, make the seasoning mixture by combining the salt, lemon pepper, and garlic.

Sprinkle the seasoning mixture all over the top side of the chops - use every last bit.

Then dip the chops in the egg mixture followed by the corn flake crumbs. Just coat the top and sides because no matter how hard you try, the bottom of the chops will get mushy if you coat them, so don't bother.

Place the chops on a rack suspended over a cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes. Squeeze the juice of one lemon on the chops. Serve immediately.

Baked Lemon Garlic Pork Chops

Makes 6 (recipe can be doubled)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 pork chops, between 3/4 and 1-inch thick

• 2 teaspoons lemon pepper

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic (or garlic powder, but not garlic salt)

• 3 cups corn flake crumbs

• 3 eggs

• splash of milk

• juice of 1 lemon to squeeze on chops after cooking

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Combine milk and eggs in a shallow container.

3. Place corn flake crumbs in another shallow container.

4. Combine the salt, garlic, and lemon pepper together; sprinkle all over the top of the pork chops.

5. Dip each chop in the egg mixture, followed by the corn flake crumbs (top and sides only).

6. Place on a rack suspended over a baking sheet.

7. Bake in a 350F oven for 25-35 minutes.

Note

• The crust will not retain its crunchiness after refrigeration, so it's best to make just enough to not have leftovers.

Indoor Grilled Pork Chops

No dry, tough pork here... look at these deliciously juicy Indoor Grilled Boneless Pork Chops. Mmmm - you want some don't you? Good news - you can have as many as you like, but you'll have to make them yourself. Don't worry, they're easy, but plan to make extra because you'll crave them the next day like my kids do when they come home from school. Have you every heard of kids begging to eat leftover pork chops for their after school snack? It's Crazy!

Funny story - a relative was visiting recently when I served these chops for dinner. He went on and on about them... asked me what I did to make them taste so good. I told him nothing special, I just seasoned them with salt and pepper. He responded, "Are you sure?". Me, "Yep, I'm very sure". I could tell he wasn't satisfied with my answer, but he nodded slowly and continued eating.

Over the next couple of days he mentioned the pork chops quite a few times - I was so pleased that he liked them. As his visit came to an end, he asked one more time, "What did you say you put on those pork chops?". "Just salt and pepper" I said. Again he started nodding slowly... "Really, that's it?" Then I nodded slowly and said, "Really, that's it!". He obviously thought I was holding out on him because as he walked out the door he stopped nodding and started shaking his head saying, "I sure don't know what you did to those pork chops... you say just salt and pepper, but I don't know". Then he shrugged his shoulders as if giving up in defeat... he's such a character!

Well, it's true... just salt and pepper... really!

Of course, not over cooking the chops helps a lot too. :)

There's no real recipe here... just a couple techniques that can be applied to as many or as few pork chops as you wish. I like to cook BIG, so I went to my favorite store Costco and purchased this huge vacuum packed pork loin. This sucker weighed 8.5 pounds - enough for 18 (yes eighteen) thick pork chops... and it cost less than $16. You can't buy dinner at a restaurant for that.

Okay, start by preheating the oven to 350F. Don't forget to do this! Now cut the loin into 1 1/4-inch thick chops. If you buy a big loin like I did, you'll need a couple of large cutting boards. Or, feel free to purchase pre-cut boneless pork chops. Whatever works best for you. Just be sure they're about 1 1/4-inches thick.

Trivia Question: what's the difference between a really good restaurant chef and your average home cook? Answer: a restaurant chef knows how to properly season, while most home cooks don't. So, season both sides of your chops well with Kosher salt and pepper (remember, these guys are pretty thick). Btw, Kosher salt is much less salty than table salt so be very careful if you use table salt.

Now, I preheat my non-stick grill pan over a med-high flame for a minute or two - just long enough so the meat sizzles a bit when it hits the pan - you definitely don't want your non-stick pan to be screaming hot. Overheating non-stick pans will ruin their coating and make them emit harmful but odorless fumes so save super high heat for stainless and cast iron pans. I’m using an All-Clad Double Grill Pan. I LOVE this pan - it leaves nice grill marks on everything, is oven safe up to 450F, and it cleans up like a dream.

When your grill pan is hot, place your chops on the pan diagonally and DON'T TOUCH THEM for at least 4 minutes, then you can take a quick peak to see how brown the grill marks are. Flip them when those grill marks are nice and brown (brown equals flavor - they should cook on the first side for a total of 4-5 minutes). As soon as you turn the chops, turn off the burners. If you have an oven safe meat probe/thermometer, insert it into the center of the thickest pork chop now, and transfer grill pan to the heated 350F oven.

Cook until the internal temperature reaches 160F (about 12 minutes). Remove from the oven and let them rest for 4-5 minutes before serving. Mmmmm, so good!!!

NEW GUIDELINES: At the time this recipe was first published, the USDA recommended cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160F, but in May 2011, that recommendation was lowered to 145F, followed by a 3-minute resting period.

I hope you give these a try - they're really, really delicious!!!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• all-clad double burner grill pan https://amzn.to/2OZsi11

• oven probe thermometer https://amzn.to/2LFiNBT

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Indoor Grilled Pork Chops

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2-inch thick pork chops (or cut your own from a pork loin)

• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center position.

2. Season pork chops with kosher salt and ground black pepper on both sides.

3. Heat grill pan on stovetop over medium heat.

4. Place chops on preheated grill pan and don’t touch for 4-5 minutes or until you like the color of the brown grill marks on the first side.

5. Flip chops over and carefully insert oven-safe probe thermometer into one of the chops.

6. Immediately place pan in preheated oven and roast until an Internal temperature of 160F is reached (10-12 minutes). As of May 2011, USDA Guidelines state pork is safe to consume when it reaches and internal temperature of 145F.

7. Remove chops from oven and rest for 5 minutes before serving.