Grilling Recipes don’t need to be fancy to satisfy the family. When all is said and done, that’s what matters right? I love when my 4 year old thanks me for dinner. Now that I have a new born, grilling recipes tend to be very stripped down. It’s kind of hard to think ahead for dinner on a few hour’s sleep, not to mention a little risky mixing up a marinade with a baby in your arms (think about it, blah…).
So keeping with the “grilling recipes don’t have to be hard” theme, we’ll focus on technique this week while producing some delicious grilled pork chops for dinner. Like chicken breasts, pork chops are a favorite freezer dweller for me. Thin and lean pork chops thaw out relatively quickly, making them perfect to keep on hand for last minute dinner grilling. Rub on a little fresh ground black pepper, some garlic power and kosher salt and boy-oh-boy, you’ve got the potential for a great dinner of grilled pork chops…as long as you don’t screw them up on the grill! Let’s get to grilling these pork chops.
Simple Grilled Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 Boneless Pork Chops
- Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- Fresh Black Pepper
Instructions
- Again, we are going to keep this simple, so rub those pork chops with some kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and a little garlic powder and let them sit on the counter. We always want to let our meat rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes before grilling. This time to warm up from the refrigerator helps them cook more evenly. Don't let chicken or pork sit out longer than 30 minutes and make sure we are talking a counter in an air conditioned place!
- Preheat the grill on high heat.
- Clean the grill and oil with some tongs and cooking oil soaked on a folded paper towel.
- Now place the pork chops on the hottest part of the grill. We want to sear these pork chops and cook them rather quickly.
- Note what time you put the pork chops on the grill and then sit back and observe. What's cool about thinner meats like pork chops, is that you can watch them cook. Once the edges of the meat starts to get opaque, you know it's time to turn them over! This is easy, once you turn them over take a look back at the clock. It will take them about as long to cook through on the other side the amount of time it took them to start getting opaque on the first side. Here's a visual aid for those of you that aren't getting this. Note the edges of these pork chops, compared to the middle of the meat:
- So now that you have flipped the pork chops over to the other side, grill for as long as it took them to start to turn opaque on the first side.
- Remove the grilled pork chops from the grill and ALLOW THEM TO COOL FOR 5 - 10 MINUTES. This allows the juices to redistribute, so that they don't all run out when you cut into the chops.
Works very well. Was a bit concerned about cooking them to what the thermometer said is appropriate for pork – 170 degrees. I figured that 160 sustained was good enough and they did have 2 thicknesses so one did get to 170 and the thicker was a bit over 160 in the middle. Turning out tender and very good I will definitely try this again. I used what I had. Some Italian dressing, garlic salt, some pepper, and some McOrmic steak seasoning. Worked out great. A repeat performance will occur for sure.
A question about a little pink near the bone (these had bone in) so I didn’t eat the pinkish meat near the bone. Hopefully our stomachs will be fine tomorrow. Any tips/tricks are welcome.
Simple.
Totally trying this tonight! Sounds simple enough! Is it ok to just use seasoned salt??? I hope so!
Perfect quick dinner. And yes…a little pink in the center of pork chops or loin is fine!
OK, the best pork chops recipe. Awesome, works like a charm. This persuaded even the most anti pork chop family members. Thanks
Best pork chops I’ve ever made. Very moist no sauce needed.
Excellent, quick and easy. Will be making this again. Thank you
going to try this. I”m not a cook, so I wish you’d given so idea as to what:
“a little kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and a little garlic powder” actually means in terms of proportions and how much to use. I’m going to look around on the web first and see if someone else says, then give it a try.