Here’s a really quick and simple recipe for some delicious southern fried comfort food. Next to fried chicken, these Southern Fried Pork Chops are a long time family favorite. It really is the “other white meat” as the Pork Council tells us.
Southern Fried Chicken may have taken first place when I was growing up, but I’d have to say that these Southern Fried Pork Chops would have to be second in line. They really are just that good. You can have them bone-in or boneless, whichever you prefer…or…whichever you find on sale at your favorite grocery store this week.
Some folks say that the bone-in pork chops are better because the bones help make the meat more moist by holding in more moisture. That may be true. Also, those bone-in pork chops kind of resemble a nice T-bone Steak so whats not to like about that? Bone-in also gives you that bone to gnaw on, kind of like a chicken bone, but just harder to manipulate.
I suggest that either way, you be careful to select a somewhat thicker chop. Since pork is usually cooked a little longer, you don’t want some thin pork chop that’s going to fry up tough and dry. Pork chops can normally be found to be cut between 1/2 inch, up to 2 inches in thickness. Thicker ones are often used as “stuffed pork chops,” while the thinner ones usually are found in those “family packs.” If you get the thinner ones, be sure to get enough for about 2 chops per person.
I’m using some boneless center cut pork chops in this recipe. They just happened to be on sale the day I went looking for some. I would normally buy the bone-in pork chops since thats what we had all the time when mama cooked them.
You want to watch them closely as they are cooking. Don’t cook them too fast and don’t let them overcook. Overcooking will make them tough and dry them out and you don’t want that to happen. They cook up pretty quickly so this is a quick and easy meal to get on the table.
Ready to give them a try? Then….Let’s Get Cooking!
Southern Fried Pork Chops Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients.
We’ll begin by making a breader for our pork chops. Using a medium sized mixing bowl or similar container, add one cup of flour. Just use what you have available, self-rising, or all-purpose.
Add TWO Tablespoons of corn starch. Just pretend I did this twice….because I really did. TWO Tablespoons.
Add one teaspoon of Garlic Powder.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Salt.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Paprika.
Use a fork or spoon and stir the ingredients together.
Make sure you mix all the ingredients well. Set the breader aside for the moment.
Break one egg into another shallow dish. This is a plastic container from where I’ve ordered Chinese Take Out. I can’t throw them away for some reason. They come with clear plastic tops and are very sturdy. They make great dredge type dishes and you’ll see me use them often. I’m recycling I guess.
Now, add about 2 Tablespoons of Buttermilk.
Use a fork to break the egg yolk and stir the mixture well.
Mix it all up real good.
Open up your pack of chops and rinse them gently under cool running water.
Place the rinsed pork chops on a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels and let them drain.
Use another couple of paper towels to pat the tops of the chops dry.
Gather everything together to setup your dredge station. We’re going to dip the chops in flour, then the egg wash, and back into the flour once again to coat them with the breader. Keeping an organized dredge station makes it quick and simple.
Place one of the pork chops in the seasoned breader mixture. Use one hand to coat the top of the chop and make sure it’s fully coated all around the edges.
Pick the chop up with the same hand you used to flour it and then place it in the egg wash mixture.
Use your other hand and flip the pork chop over in the egg wash. If you’ll use one hand for the dry mixture and the other hand for the wet mixture, you will keep your hands cleaner and not have lumps all over your fingers. It’s a simple idea but the little things make cooking fun…and easy.
Use the “wet hand” and lift the pork chop from the egg wash. Let any excess drip off.
Place the coated with egg wash pork chop back in the flour breader mixture once again.
Flour both sides of the pork chop, making sure to coat all around the edges. Oooops….looks like I forgot which hand was the wet one and which was the dry one. Flip the chop over and make sure you coat both sides completely with the seasoned breader.
Lift up the pork chop and gently shake off any excess flour. Any loose flour will just fall off in the pan and burn quickly. The less of that we have in the pan, the better things will be.
Place the coated chop in a plate and just let it sit while you coat the other pieces.
Once you get them all coated, you could even place them in the refrigerator to “dry out” a bit. So, if you wanted to do these steps ahead of time, then fry them closer to serving time, that will work fine.
This is a great dish to cook up in your cast iron skillet. If you don’t have one, any large skillet will do. Just add about 1/4 inch of cooking oil and set the heat to medium or maybe just one notch above. Let the oil heat up slowly and test it before starting to fry the pork chops. You need just enough cooking oil to come about half way up the side of the thickness of your pork chops. Adjust accordingly.
One mistake most new cooks will make is either heating the oil too fast…or too slow. If you start seeing smoke, more than likely the pan is too hot. Lower the heat and lift the pan off the burner for a minute to let it cool down. You’ll need to “test” the temperature of the oil before you add the pork chops to start frying. Once you see the oil heating up, you can drop a pinch of corn meal or flour into the oil and watch for it to “sizzle.” If it does, you”re ready to start frying the pork chops. You could also carefully place a drop of water in the pan. If the temperature is at the right point, the water will start to pop or “talk” to you as it also dances around. Just be careful if adding water and remember that all you need is about one drop. As always, use extreme caution when frying anything. Keep the handle of your pan turned away from the front of the stove and make sure the kids aren’t around the stove. You can thank me later.
Gently lower one of the coated pork chops into the pan of hot oil. You should hear it start to sizzle once it touches the hot oil. Also, remember that adding the meat is going to cool the pan down a bit. Add the pieces one at a time, allowing just a minute or so before adding the next one to let the oil come back up to a good frying point. It just takes a little practice but you can learn it quickly.
Don’t crowd the pan. I’m only going to cook two pieces at a time. Watch the bottom of the pork chops as they begin to cook. Once you start to see the bottom edge begin to turn brown, you’re getting close to the point to flip the chops over.
If you look at the pork chop on the right, you can see the bottom has started to brown. At this point, use some tongs and carefully turn the chops over to fry the other side.
With the bottoms brown, flip over the chops and let them cook. This will take about 6-8 minutes depending on your stove and how fast you’re cooking. You want to make sure they are done, but you don’t want to over cook them as this will dry them out and make them tough. If in doubt, take a sharp knife and cut a small slice in one of the chops so you can see if it looks done towards the middle.
When they’re done, remove the pork chops from the skillet. Place them on a plate with a layer of paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
Serve and Enjoy!
Serve the pork chops while warm. They go great with all types of vegetables and really well with some mashed potatoes. You could use the leftover drippings in the pan to make a gravy for them that would also be really good. I’m going to cook the ones left from this pack in another recipe and make some mushroom gravy to go with them. Watch for that recipe and post soon.
I opted for the string beans and red potatoes mostly for the sake of not having everything on Taste of Southern served up with mashed potatoes and gravy. Ha! We southerners just love our potatoes and gravy don’t we? And, if you know me, that hunk of Fried Pork Chop would make a great Pork Chop Sandwich slapped between a couple of slices of bread. OK….I’m hungry….Let’s Eat.
