Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Butter-seared pork chops
Thick pork chops salted ahead, seared hard in a heavy pan and finished by spooning foaming butter over them until they are just done. Pull them at the right moment and they stay pink at the bone and juicy all the way through.
- Time
- 73 min (55 prep + 18 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 406 kcal
- Protein
- 46 g
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in center-cut chops, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick (about 2 3/4 lb) pork chop, the weight is the cooked meat and fat you eat, about 170 g a chop
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme (optional)
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 3 tbsp butter
Steps
- At least 45 minutes before cooking, and up to 24 hours ahead, pat the chops dry and rub them all over with the salt, and the garlic powder and thyme, if using. Set them on a rack over a plate and refrigerate, uncovered.
- Take out the chops, pat off any moisture and grind the pepper over both sides.
- Heat a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat until a drop of water skitters. Stand the chops on their fat edges, pressed together in a row with tongs, for 2 minutes to render a little fat into the pan. Lay them flat and sear, without moving them, for 3 minutes, then turn and sear 2 minutes more, until deep brown. If they crowd the pan, use two pans; crowded chops steam.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the butter. When it foams, tilt the pan and spoon the butter over the chops again and again for 3–5 minutes, turning them once a minute, until the center reads 145°F.
- Move the chops to a board and rest them 5 minutes; 145°F with a rest is the USDA's safe temperature for pork. Spoon the browned butter from the pan over them to serve.
Good to know
My chops are thin. What changes?
Chops under 3/4 inch overcook before they brown. Sear them hard for 2 minutes a side and add the butter off the heat, spooning it over for 30 seconds.
Not eating strictly carnivore?
Throw a crushed garlic clove and a sprig of fresh thyme into the butter when it starts to foam.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 223
- Protein
- (46%)
- 25 g
- Fat
- (53%)
- 13 g
- Carbohydrates
- (1%)
- <1 g
- of which sugar
- <1 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 844 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1624 kcal goes into the pot and 733 g of ingredients comes out as about 727 g of food: 223 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.