There is something very persuasive about a pork chop with a properly browned edge. Add apples that have softened in butter, onions with a little color, and enough pan sauce to make you grateful for mashed potatoes, and dinner at home starts looking like the best plan of the evening.
This is the sort of fall supper that deserves a real plate and a few unhurried minutes at the table. The shopping list is short. The skillet does most of the work. The apples bring sweetness, the onions keep things savory, and the pork gives the whole arrangement a reason to exist.
Apple cider is the choice here. Beer, white wine, or chicken broth can also be used.
Pork Chops With Apples and Onions
Serves 6
Equipment: A 14-inch cast-iron skillet, or a smaller skillet for searing in batches; an instant-read thermometer.
What you’ll need
- 6 bone-in pork chops, loin or shoulder, each ¾ inch thick
- Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large white onion, sliced
- 2 to 3 apples, cored and sliced, about 3 cups
- 1 cup apple cider, or substitute beer, white wine, or chicken broth
Choose apples that keep some shape in the pan. Options include Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji, and Braeburn. The red-skinned apples shown here bring a little color to the finished dish.
1. Give the chops a good start
Trim away excess fat and season the pork on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the skillet over high heat, add the oil, and turn the pan to coat its cooking surface.
Set the chops in the hot pan with space between them. Leave the first side undisturbed for a few minutes so it can brown, then turn and brown the other side. Allow about 10 minutes total for this stage. If your skillet is smaller, work in batches rather than squeeze all six chops together. Transfer the browned pork to a warm plate.
2. Let the apples and onions take their turn
Add the butter to the same skillet. Once melted, add the sliced onion and apples. Cook, stirring as needed, until the onions take on light golden edges and the apples begin to soften, about 8 minutes.
Pour in the cider or your chosen liquid, stirring through the apple-onion mixture and loosening the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
3. Bring everything back together
Return the chops to the skillet and spoon some of the apples and onions over them. Let the liquid simmer gently, turning the pork about halfway through. Allow about 15 minutes for this stage, depending on the chops’ size; begin checking earlier if they are cooking quickly.
Use the thermometer to decide when they are ready. USDA guidance for pork chops calls for at least 145°F before the meat leaves the heat, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes before serving. Check the thickest part of each chop without touching the bone.
If the sauce is thinner than you would like, move the cooked chops to a clean warm plate and let them rest while you briefly increase the heat under the apple mixture. A few minutes of reduction will concentrate the sauce without keeping the pork in the pan longer than it needs.
4. Make a proper plate of it
Spoon the apples, onions, and pan juices generously over each chop. Mashed potatoes, as shown below, give the sauce somewhere very agreeable to land. Rice or polenta would also work; prepare whichever accompaniment you choose separately.
Set the table while the pork rests. Dinner already has everything it needs: a little sweetness, something savory, and a very good reason to put the phone down.
