This post contains affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
The Best Pan Fried Pork Chops Recipe – easy and delicious thin sliced pork chops perfectly pan fried in under 10 minutes with just 4 ingredients!
Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.
At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!
Table of contents
Pork chops are one of my family’s most requested dinners – they are simple and easy to prepare, and this method for quickly pan-frying thin-cut chops has been one of my busy night dinner hacks for decades!
When I first got married, my husband would always request pork when I asked what he’d like me to make – but I didn’t grow up eating a lot of pork and would always make dry, tough dinners. After testing tons of techniques and trying different recipes, I came up with this simple method that will get you great, juicy pork and perfect results – every time!
Pan Fried Pork Chops
If you love delicious, easy, and moist pork chops – this easy recipe is going to be your new go-to for a busy weeknight, a dinner party, or anytime you’re looking for a perfect keto, low carb dinner! These easy pan fried pork chops come together lightning quick – they are simple, bursting with flavor, low carb, and make a perfect weeknight dinner!
The best part – these delicious, juicy, thin cut pork chops are pan fried with just 4 ingredients total – so you can get this meal on the table in 20 minutes or less! That’s right – these pan fried pork chops go from fridge to fork in less than 20 minutes!
Boneless pork chops are often called “America’s Cut” or “loin filets” – boneless loin chops are both the most popular cut of pork and the trickiest chop to cook perfectly since they have little fat and no bones to help lock in moisture and flavor of the chop – so having the perfect method down is essential for delicious, juicy, and tender pork flavor. This recipe will help you rock it, every time.
Just like my favorite crock pot pork steaks , my garlic pork chops, and my baked garlic pork tenderloin, these easy baked pork chops are perfectly tender and juicy – not dry and tough like pork gets a bad reputation for! One-pot pan fried pork recipes can be notoriously dry and tough – but this skillet pork chop recipe is juicy, tender, moist – and so delicious!
Ingredients For Juicy Pan Fried Pork Chops
To make pan fried pork chops, we will need the following ingredients:
- Thin cut pork chops. This recipe is meant to quickly pan fry pork chops that are ultra-thin pork chops – around 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick. Thin cut pork chops cook really quickly, defrost fast, and are incredibly delicious – they are very versatile and don’t dry out easily since they cook so fast.
- Olive oil or avocado oil. Olive oil isn’t perfect for deep frying since it has a lower smoke point – but since we are quickly cooking thin cut pork chops, and not at an incredibly high heat, it won’t burn, and olive oil can work in this recipe.
- Lemon. Lemon juice and zest brings out a lightly sweet, bright, and tart flavor to balance out the rich pork flavor and helps to break down and tenderize the meat.
- Adobo seasoning, Italian herbs, or cajun spices (or other herb blend you love). This recipe is meant to be customizable – so you can use any type of seasoning you love!
- Salt and pepper. If your seasoning blend doesn’t contain salt and pepper, you will want to season your pork with celtic sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
How to Make Juicy Pan Fried Pork Chops
- Marinate. Add pork chops to a plate or bowl and drizzle with olive oil and coat generously with herbs and seasoning. Let marinate at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Pan fry. Heat a heavy, large skillet on medium high heat. Add pork chops to pan and brown, about 4 minutes per side. When pork chops are well browned and firm to the touch, they are cooked. Pork is done when most pink is gone, and internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Let rest. Before serving, pork should rest at least 10 minutes.
Tips For Making Pan Fried Boneless Pork Chops
- What Pork Chops To Use. For this recipe, I am using thin cut boneless chops – but you can also use a thick cut pork chop, center-cut pork chop, a bone-in pork loin chop, or a bone-in rib chop. Using a bone-in pork chop for this baked pork chop recipe will add cook time to the dish – about another 10-15 minutes (please use the method in this garlic baked pork chop recipe for this oven baked pork chop to bake your thick cut pork after pan frying until it reaches 145 degrees internal temperature.) To learn more about pork chops, and how they cook, please visit my Ultimate Guide To Pork Chops here.
- Marinate. Marinating helps to keep the juices locked into the boneless pork chops. Boneless chops taste best when marinating before cooking since they have no bones and little fat or connective tissue for moisture and flavor.
- Cook quickly. Boneless chops should be cooked very quickly on high heat – you want to sear and brown the outside of the pork chop, and cook the middle without drying it out. Boneless chops are the most commonly used pork chops in quick and easy one pot pork recipes – they are trimmed, often thinner cut pork chops that are commonly presented in a grocer’s bulk pork flat section.
- Use a hot pan. Get your pan as hot as possible, and add a small amount of fat (I use clarified butter or avocado oil), and sear each side for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown, and flip to cook on other side.
- Don’t overcook. When thin cut pork chops are well browned outside they are cooked inside – do not over cook!
- Check the temperature. If you’d like to check the doneness, and your pork chop is too thin to get an accurate reading with a digital thermometer, you can let the pork chops rest for about five minutes (they continue cooking after removing from heat)
Pan Fry Pork Chops FAQS
Pork chops are done when their internal temperature has reached 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pork chops can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four days, or frozen for up to four months.
It isn’t mandatory to marinate your pork chops – but it helps the texture and flavor. If you can marinate for even 20 minutes, do it.
To pan fry pork chops: Start by seasoning the pork chops with salt, pepper, and any other desired spices. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add a tablespoon of oil or butter. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add the pork chops to the skillet. Cook the chops for about 4-5 minutes per side, or until they reach an internal temperature of 145°F. Let them rest for a few minutes before serving to allow the juices to redistribute.
Thin pork chops typically take about 2-3 minutes per side to pan fry. Because they cook quickly, keep a close eye on them to avoid overcooking. Ensure the internal temperature reaches 145°F, and let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving.
What to serve with Pan Fried Thin Pork Chops
Pork chops are great because their light, lean flavor goes with just about any side dish.
We love serving roasted asparagus, pan fried broccolini, air fryer baked potatoes, scalloped corn, whole roasted onions, roasted tomatoes, Easy Sautéed Squash and Zucchini, Easy Peach Cobbler, Easy Lemon Jello Poke Cake, and Easy Caramel Apple Spice Cake!
For more of our side dishes that pair perfectly with pork chops, see some of our recent favorites:
You can find our complete side dish recipe archives here.
Drink Pairings
We love serving pork chops with lots of different drinks – while conventionally you might go for a white wine with pork, there are a lot of delicious options we love to serve!
- White Wine – Reisling, Viognier, Chenin Blanc
- Red Wine – Pinot Noir, Grenache
- Pilsner, porter, stout
- Gin or Vodka Martini
- Apple Cider Gin and Tonic
- Cardamom and Juniper Gin and Tonic
- Port and Tonic Cocktail
- Mulled Beer
- Scotch and Soda
Only have 30 minutes to get dinner on the table? Sign up for my 30 minute dinner plans direct to your inbox!
Find and shop my favorite products in my Amazon storefront here!
More like this from Sweet C’s Designs
Juicy Pan Fried Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 8 thin cut pork chops
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
- 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning, Italian herbs, or cajun spices (or other herb blend you love)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add pork chops to a plate or bowl and drizzle with olive oil and coat generously with herbs, lemon juice and zest, and salt.
- Let marinate at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
- Heat a heavy, large skillet on medium high heat.
- Remove pork chops from marinade, but do not pat dry.
- Add pork chops to pan and brown, flipping after 4 minutes. Cook about 4 minutes per side, 8 minutes total.
- When pork chops are well browned and firm to the touch, they are cooked.
- Pork is done when most pink is gone, and internal temperature reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Toddler approved!! ?? Thank you!!
I made some changes. Since I didn’t have adobo seasoning, I used chipotle powder, along with salt and pepper (on both sides of the chops). I used ghee in place of the butter. I marinated the chops in the olive oil/chipotle for about 2 hours. My pork chops came out juicy and tender. This will now be my go-to recipe for pan fried pork chops.
Thanks for saying you use ghee. Been wanting to buy and try… but I will now in ace of butter… thank you
Ghee’s flavor is fabulous with meat, I love cooking with ghee.
Excellent recipe! Super easy, next to no effort! I used Italian spices and served it over red beans & rice. BF is a huge fan.
Italian style is better. Just marinate awhile in some robust Italian dressing [Homemade is best] lightly brown then sit. Do not overcook 135 is enough. Best ever.