Pan-seared pork chops with a sweet and sour pear and ginger sauce. Perfect for the fall, cooks up in minutes and only uses one pot!
This is a quick and easy pork chop recipe with skillet seared pork chops, served with a sweet and sour gingery sauce with fresh pears.
Pork chops are our stand-by midweek meal approach because they are so easy to prepare and they cook up so quickly!
Pork pairs especially well with many types of fruit — pineapple, apples, citrus, cherries, pears. The sweetness in the fruit brings out the natural sweetness in the pork.
An acid added to the fruit, like vinegar, will brighten both the flavors in the fruit and the pork.
In this recipe we are first searing the pork chops on the stovetop and then lowering the heat until they finish cooking.
- Pro-tip on the pork chops: Score the fat on the edges of the pork chops. This will keep the chops from buckling up while they cook.
Then we remove the pork from the pan and cook up shallots, ginger, and pears in a little butter and any remaining pan sauces from cooking the pork.
We add some stock, a little honey and vinegar to intensify the sweet-sour aspect of the sauce. The whole dish is done in only 20 minutes!
Pork Chops with Ginger Pear Sauce Recipe
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
We used fairly thin, bone-in pork chops for this recipe. If you use thick chops, bring them to room temperature before you cook them.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops
- Salt
- 2 Tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup minced shallots
- 2 Tbsp minced ginger
- 1 large pear (anjou, bartlett, or bosc), peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 3 Tbsp cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Salt the pork chops and score the fat: Salt the pork chops well and let them sit at room temperature while you chop all the vegetables and the pear.
Make a few cuts in the outer fat layer of the pork chops, all the way through to the meat, to prevent them from curling up when you cook them. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering.
2 Sear the chops: Working in batches as to not crowd the pan, when the oil is hot, pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and lay them in the pan. Sear the chops until nicely browned, about 3-5 minutes depending on how hot your burner is.
Turn the pork chops over and sear on the other side for a minute or two.
3 Finish cooking the pork chops: Then lower the heat and cook until done, 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops. Remember you no longer need to cook pork well done. The recommended minimum temperature for cooked pork is now 145°F in the U.S. (Use the finger test for meat if you don’t have a meat thermometer.)
When done, remove the pork chops from the pan to a plate to rest.
4 Sauté shallots, ginger in butter, then add pear: When the pork is done, remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan. Add the butter, shallots and ginger and toss to combine.
Cook this for 1 minute, then add the chopped pear and toss to combine. Cook another minute.
5 Add stock, vinegar, honey, reduce: Add the chicken stock, vinegar and honey and bring to a rolling boil. Boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by 2/3, about 4-6 minutes.
Turn off the heat and add the rosemary and some black pepper. Add salt to taste.
Serve the pork chops with the sauce on the side.
