How To Cook Thin Pork Chops | Juicy & Pan Seared In 10 Minutes

If you've ever wondered how to cook thin pork chops perfectly every single time, this easy recipe is it. These thin chops are packed with so much flavor and are perfectly tender and juicy with a crisp seared crust. Best of all, they're ready in just 10 minutes and made with just a few pantry staple ingredients!

The Best Thin Pork Chops

These quick and easy pan fried pork chops are the ultimate speedy dinner recipe! Seriously, they're effortless to make, take practically no time at all, and cook up perfectly every single time.

The thin pork chops are coated in the perfect blend of spices, have a gorgeous golden brown sear on the outside, and are perfectly juicy and tender.

They're just so good. And, I know I'm biased, but I think this is one of the best pork chop recipes out there. Well, this and my flavorful air fryer pork chops.

Now, what I love about these thin pork chops is that you don't have to marinate - or brine - them ahead of time to get them to be super flavorful and juicy. So that means you can prepare 'em at a moment's notice and have dinner on the table in as fast as 20 minutes!

Also, since these chops are so quick and easy to whip up, you'll have plenty of time to make some delicious sides to go with 'em. A few of my favorites to pair with 'em are this cauliflower mashed potato recipe, this sauteed eggplant recipe, or this roasted kohlrabi recipe. So, I highly recommend giving one of those sides 

Ingredients

As I mentioned earlier, this simple pork chops recipe is made with common pantry staple ingredients. So, everything you need is likely in your kitchen already, or just a quick trip to the store away!

Anyway, here are all of the ingredients you'll need to make these pan fried pork chops:

• 4 thin pork chops (½ inch thick)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. paprika 
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• Green onions for garnish
• Cooking spray

Not too shabby, eh? 

Also, just so you know, you can actually use a lot of these seasonings to make some of my other delicious meat recipes. Recipes like this air fryer turkey tenderloin, this air fryer chicken breast, these grilled chicken thighs, and this blackened salmon!

Pork Chops To Use

You can usually find thin pork chops in the meat section, sometimes labeled minute pork chops. But, if you aren't able to find thin cuts, you can just get a regular-sized pork chop and pound the entire chop with a meat mallet until it's about ½ inch thick.

Now, as you may have noticed, I used bone-in thin pork chops for this recipe. I like to use them because they have a lot more flavor than the ones with the bone out.

With that said though, you can definitely use boneless pork chops for this recipe and still get some tasty results. They're just not my personal favorite to use.

No matter what kind of pork chops you go with though, the key for both bone in pork chops and boneless pork chops is to find cuts with a lot of marbling. This way, they won't dry out even if you slightly overcook them.

How to Cook Thin Pork Chops

So, as I mentioned, it doesn't take a lot of time - or effort - to cook these thin pork chops to perfection. All in all, the whole recipe takes just over 1o minutes - if that - and pretty much the entire time is passive cooking!

Seriously, once you see how easy it is to whip them up, you'll start stocking thin pork chops in your freezer for last-minute dinners. That's what we've ended up doing in our house.

Anyway, with all that said, let's stop wasting time and dive into the details of how to cook thin pork chops!

Step 1: Season the Thin Pork Chops

First, we'll be seasoning each pork chop to give it that perfect balance of flavors. So, take out a small bowl and combine the garlic powder, paprika, salt, and black pepper for the pork chop rub.

Then, pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and season both sides of each pork chop generously with all of the mixed seasonings.

Step 2: Cook The Pork Chops

Now that the pork chops are seasoned to perfection you can coat a large skillet, cast iron pan, or grill pan with some olive oil and heat it over medium-high heat.

Then, once the pan and oil are hot, you can add the pork chops to the pan and sear them for 3 minutes on each side to cook through. You'll know they're cooked once a meat thermometer is stuck into the center of the thickest part and the internal temperature reaches at least 145°F.

Now, a little pro tip here - the trick to making these juicy thin pork chops is searing them in a hot pan, untouched. So make sure not to move the pork chops around while cooking, and just let them pan fry until well-browned with some charring.

Step 3: Serve

Finally, after the thin pork chops are cooked to perfection, transfer them to a plate to cool for a minute before serving. 

Then, garnish the tender chops with green onions, serve with your choice of veggies or side dish, and enjoy!

What to Serve with Thin Pork Chops

These pan fried pork chops are the kind of main dish that tastes good with anything!

Seriously, they go with mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, roasted or steamed veggies, and really anything that you can think of. 

But, with that said, I think they go particularly well with one of these recipes:

• Air fryer brussel sprouts
• Roasted broccolini
• Coleslaw
• Zuppa Toscana
• Broccoli cheese soup
• Green bean casserole
• Cheesy broccoli casserole

How to Store Cooked Pork Chops

This recipe for thin pork chops will make 4 chops or around 2-4 servings. But, if you think you'll want more, you can easily double or triple the recipe by adjusting the number of seasonings.

And, if you have any leftover pork chops, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Oh, and if you want to keep them for longer, you can freeze the cooked pork chops. To do this, just let the meat cool and then transfer it to an airtight container - or freezer-safe bag - with the excess air squeezed out.

Stored this way, the pork chops can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Reheating Thin Pork Chops

Now, I'm not going to lie, but I actually enjoy eating these pork chops cold day/s after I make 'em. But, if you want, you can also reheat them.

The best way to reheat pork chops is in a covered baking dish in the oven. To reheat, add a little bit of water - or broth - to prevent your chops from drying out, and then cook them at 350°F (176°C) for about 5-10 minutes - or until heated through.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's everything you need to know about how to cook thin pork chops!

This quick cooking method is effortless but results in perfectly tender and juicy pork chops packed with flavor. Seriously, it's my go-to recipe for busy weeknights whenever I want something delicious and high in protein, 

Anyway, I hope you love these thin pork chops as much as I do.

As always, if you make 'em, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

More Easy Recipes

If you're looking for more easy recipes with perfect cooking results, I have a ton on the blog you have to try next!

Here are some of my favorites:

• Pork loin
• Baked chicken legs
• How to cook chicken sausages
• How to cook chicken thighs
• How to cook chorizo
• How to cook salmon
• How to cook turkey legs
• How to cook turkey bacon
• Stuffed pork chops

Oh, and for even more deliciousness check out my Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok pages. I post new recipes on them all of the time.