Have you ever had a recipe in your to-be-tried pile for years and finally get around to it and wonder, “Why the heck didn’t we eat this sooner?” This recipe has been gathering dust in my house and I decided to finally shake the dust off and try a new pork chop dish for a new weeknight meal.
The skeptics in my house were not impressed with my enthusiasm of pairing apples with pork chops and it took a lot of coaxing to take them over to the dark side of this deliciously sweet pork combination. Before the end of the dinner though, I had sold everyone on the idea of pairing these ingredients and decided that this would be a great meal to add to our rotation.
It is a satisfyingly sweet and savory dish that pairs ingredients that I typically have around our house. The brown sugar and cinnamon sauce adds a delicious glaze to this perfectly cooked pork. Baking the pork helps it to achieve the perfect temperature and my husband couldn’t believe how tender these chops were.
The best part for me about this dish though is the timing of other dishes and being able to cook an entire meal at the same temperature. Paired with my roasted green beans and a side of baked brown rice, dinner was all baking along together and I was enjoy a magazine reading before the dinner chaos. I love when everything can bake at the same time so I don’t have to stand over the stove!
Simply Delicious Apple Pork Chops (Adapted from Recipezaar)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 pork chops (1/2-inch thick)
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
2 apples, peeled cored, and sliced (I used Granny Smith apples)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup apple juice
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet. Brown the pork chops on both sides in oil. Place chops in a baking dish just large enough so they do not overlap and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, apple juice, and and apples. Give them a toss together. Pour the mixture over the chops.
Pour over the chops. Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes. (My chops took about 35 minutes, but it will depend on the thickness of the chops).