The Best Pan Fried Pork Chops Recipe

Name: The Best Pan Fried Pork Chops Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 18 min
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)

By Courtney ODell

4.61 from 229 votes

Nov 20, 2021, Updated Mar 23, 2024

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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!

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Stovetop Pork Chops
How To Pan Fry Pork Chops
What To Serve With Pork Chops
What To Pair With Pork Chops
The Best Pan Fried Pork Chops Recipe

Stovetop 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!

How To Pan Fry 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.

picture of pork chops on a plate on a table with olive oil and spices

picture of pork chops and olive oil in a pan

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 To Perfect Pork Chops & FAQs

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)

When are pork chops done?

Pork chops are done when their internal temperature has reached 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

How long do pork chops last?

Pork chops can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four days, or frozen for up to four months.

Do I have to marinate pork chops?

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.

picture of pork chops and potatoes on a plate

What To Serve With 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.

What To Pair With Pork Chops

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