Smothered Pork Chops {Slow Cooker}
These slow cooker smothered pork chops are fantastic. They are the perfect way to get a great meal on the table without heating up the whole house.
I’ve tried no less than eight smothered pork chop recipes in the last year. That may not sound like very many, but let me tell you, when eight smothered pork chop recipes fail miserably, you might get in what I like to call a “Smothered-Pork-Chop-Recipe-Funk.” It’s an official diagnosis. I’ve had it for a while.
But I’m happy to report I have been cured of my funk thanks to this recipe.
Oh, it is wonderful. Tender, fall-apart pork chops are, well, smothered in a flavorful gravy enhanced with smoky bacon, aromatic onions and garlic, a hint of thyme and a little soy sauce.
The flavor in this meal is out of control. Which is why I have to insert here – right here – that although you may weep and wail and gnash your teeth at the advance prep work to get the pork chops in the slow cooker, it is worth it. Worth it, I tell you! So please don’t skip those essential steps.
The browning of the pork and onions (sweetened by a touch of brown sugar – heaven!) adds a depth of flavor you won’t want to miss. And to make it up to you, I’ll send a special blog fairy to wash that skillet for you since you followed my wishes and the recipe.
Ok, not really. But I will think good thoughts for you while you do it.
Even though the weather has finally warmed up here to full summer force, I’ll be using my slow cooker all hot season long. Perfect way to get a great meal on the table without heating up the whole house.
I don’t know what it is about smothered pork chops but they just kind of scream Sunday Dinner to me, which is why these babies are going straight into the Sunday Dinner Rotation.
What To Serve With This:
I’ve served this a few ways; with these salt-crusted rosemary potatoes and we’ve also enjoyed it with our favorite cheesy potatoes. Throw in a steamed vegetable, dinner roll if you are so inclined, and/or a fruit or green salad and wow, that’s one delectable meal.
Smothered Pork Chops {Slow Cooker}
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon, chopped
- 6 bone-in pork loin chops, about 3/4-inch thick
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 yellow onions, peeled, halved and sliced into 1/2-inch thick half moons
- 1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, fry bacon until lightly browned, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels, leaving the drippings in the pan. If you have more than 2 tablespoons drippings, drain the excess. If you don’t have quite that much, supplement with canola oil. When the bacon is cool, transfer to a small bag or tupperware and refrigerate until later.
- Heat the skillet with the drippings over medium or medium-high heat until rippling and hot. Meanwhile, pat pork chops dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook pork chops until they are golden brown on each side, about 2 minutes per side, cooking them in batches in the skillet if your skillet isn’t big enough to hold all six at a time in a single layer. When golden on each side, transfer the chops to the slow cooker and repeat with remaining pork.
- Pour off all but 1 teaspoon of fat from the skillet; add onions, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup water to empty skillet. Using a wooden spoon, scrape browned bits from bottom of the pan and cook over medium-high heat until onions are soft, about 4-6 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour onion mixture over chops in the slow cooker. Add broth, soy sauce and remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar to skillet, bring to a boil and add bay leaves. Pour mixture over onions in slow cooker.
- Cover slow cooker and cook on low until pork is tender, about 8 hours (or cook on high for 4 hours).
- When ready to serve, carefully transfer chops to serving platter with a large spoon and tent with foil. Discard bay leaves and pour liquid through a mesh strainer into a saucepan, reserving the solids. Transfer solids to a food processor or blender with 1 cup liquid and blend until smooth. Stir the blended mixture back into remaining liquid in the saucepan. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and remaining 2 tablespoons water together in a small bowl and stir into sauce. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, season with salt and pepper, pour over chops and sprinkle with reserved bacon and parsley. Serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from The Cook’s Country Cookbook
–love that the recipes DO NOT contain condensed soup ! Love my slow cooker- hate the processed salt and idea of canned soup in my homemade slow cooked dinners… Takes the fresh homemade feel right out!! Thank you for the awesome recipes .. New follower- Kristin
This was LOVELY MEL! My bf is petrified of pork and never wants me to cook it. Damn ugly rumors. But I made this last night and he was in HEAVEN. He now loves pork and won’t speak badly of it. My store doesn’t make or cut thick chops, so mine were thinner and I just cooked them less in the frying pan and in the crock pot. They turned out fabulous, they weren’t over cooked. And I recommend following the instructions to use your mixer to mix up all the ingredients for the sauce, especially if you hate the consistency of onions like myself. I also cut back on the onion and only used one since I made only 4 chops (that’s all my store put together in a package and didn’t want more than 8.) Again, fabulous dish and will try again! Mel I love how you often use a lot of the same ingredients and for this meal I only had to buy chops and onions so thank you!
Hey Mel! Made chops tonight, they were great! However I used boneless and poured more of bacon drippings in than I should have, and cooked on high for 2 hours a d they were on the brink of dry. WAs this because of too much bacon drippings as I know it heats quicker?? Very tasty recipe!!
Krystyna – boneless pork chops tend to be a bit dryer than bone-in so that is probably the main issue. Other than that, possibly try cooking on low instead of high. Even though the recipe says high, low and slow will produce a more tender pork chop, most likely.
Jessica – if you use a pork roast, I’d recommend cutting it into pieces approximately the size of pork chops.
Hey Mel~ I was thinking about trying this recipe tomorrow but with a pork roast instead of chops. Do you think it would work? And if you think it will work should I cut the roast into slices or just do it whole? Thanks!!
I made this recipe last night. The pork chops were so tender they fell apart when removing them from the crock pot. The meat was a little dry. I prefer to thicken the sauce w/cornstarch alone, not removing the onions to a food processor.
Wonderful to find a recipe for smothered pork chops that doesn’t require creamed soup! I too would like to curtail my use of processed foods. These chops were delicious! I also put the foil packet of carrots on top of the slow cooker, and they were perfect. All I had to do was make mashed potatoes, and dinner was served! LOVE your site, can’t wait to try more recipes. You have one lucky family to have you for a cook, wife and mother! You are amazing!
Made it tonight for dinner. Really great! Thanks.
Hi Marcia – I’m sure the thicker chops will work, just keep an eye on cooking time and increase if necessary. Good luck!
Hi Mel, I love your website and recipes. Quick question for you. I have some lovely pork chops that I purchased from Costco. They are quite thick, about 2 inches. Do you think they would work and turn out tender in your recipe? Thanks very much. We are having dinner quests over the Labor Day weekend and this recipe sounds delicious.
Oh my goodness, Mel. I had given up on pork chops. When I found 8 chops in the freezer this weekend, I rolled my eyes and said ‘blargh.’ They never turn out, but I refused to throw them away. So I thought you might have a way to rescue them and get me out of my “pork-chop-recipe-of-ANY-kind” funk. And you did. These were flavorful and tender, tender, tender which is not an adjective I have used for a pork chop in a long time. De-LISH. Thank you!
I think next time I might throw in a few potato wedges for my “meat-and-potato” kind of husband. 🙂
This was DELICIOUS!!! I followed the recipe exactly (except I used 4 thick boneless chops) the pork was so tender & the gravy was sweet & savory…. So yummy! We had mashed cauliflower with it & it was a perfect dinner! Can’t wait for left overs tomorrow! Thank you… Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. : )
This was a huge hit! I’ll definitely be making this one again, so tasty!
Alison – yes, I think that should work. I haven’t specifically tried it that way but I have made other slow cooker recipes like that -prepping the night before – and it’s worked. Good luck!
can you prep the meat and sauce the night before and cook it in the slow cooker the next morning?
This was amazing! Pork chops never tasted so good to me!
These are the best pork chops I’ve ever made . I followed your recipe exactly and
I wouldn’t change a thing . I will be making these a lot , we loved them !
Mel…this was wonderful! I used 8 boneless pork chops (1/2″ thick), did everything as directed, except that I diced up 3 fresh carrots and threw them in the crock pot before the onions, and I added 3 chopped celery ribs to the onion sauté near the end of cooking. My kids never even knew they got extra veggies in their gravy! Husband and teenaged sons loved it!
This was an amazing recipe! My whole family loved it. My husband and I both wanted to pick up our plates and lick the gravy off of the plate! My husband might have..okay I did too. We served it with Mashed potoatoes, it is a great sunday meal! Thanks for sharing!
These are delicious!! I’ve made them twice now. I used bone-in chops and didn’t use bacon or do the food processor step at the end. They turned out great! Will definitely make again.
So Melanie, I’m embarrassed to admit that at the age of 34 and after 11 years of marriage, you are teaching me to cook. : ) My husband says thanks. I love that your recipes don’t leave me going HUH? and they don’t use a lot of things I can find overseas. I made this last night, along with your drop biscuits, and my husband declared it was the best thing he’d eaten all week and definitely wanted me to make it again. He also said that the biscuits were the best bread I’d ever made. We had them for breakfast with bacon and gravy. Yum! So I just wanted to express my gratitude to you for taking the time to post your recipes and respond to comments. You are such a blessing to me.
Well, another winner from your extensive collection! Pulled out some chops from the freezer and they turned out so delish! I couldn’t have made them taste any better…..that’s for sure. And I’m not a huge pork chop fan, but with this recipe…..I am now 😉
I just found your site last week when I was searching for a recipe that would help me make edible pork chops. This was such a great recipe. Finally pork chops that are not as tough as shoe leather. We loved the chops and the sauce. I thought I might have 1 leftover for lunch today, but no way. They were gone before the night was over. This was the first recipe that I tried from your site and I can’t wait to try more.
So yummy! I used boneless chops and they were great. Thanks for posting this wonderful recipe! The gravy is A-mazing!
OMG! These were so good. We had company over and when we all walked in from church the house smelled like pork heaven! Everyone enjoyed this dish and it will make our Sunday dinner rotations.
I wrote a review on my blog…
http://therickettchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/07/recipe-review-smothered-pork-chops.html
Thanks so much for an awesome recipe that my entire family enjoyed!
Wende
I made this today and WOW!! It was DEE-LICIOUS!!! I didn’t use bacon b/c we’re not fans of bacon and it was still very very tasty. Can’t wait to enjoy it again tomorrow as leftovers!!
I made this recipe tonight – soooo delicious I can’t even believe it. THANK YOU for sharing
Just thought I’d add my 2 cents worth. I made these with 5 boneless, 1/2″ thick chops, and didn’t make any other changes to the recipe, and they were delicious! I had TONS of gravy left over, but it was really good. The sauce didn’t thicken as much for me, but we were hungry so I didn’t bother adding more cornstarch. They didn’t even come close to drying out. If I were to make them again with thinner chops, I would definitely double it because I had that much sauce left. Delicious!
Thanks for the recipe, we had this last night. My family enjoyed it! Served it with wild rice and roasted veggies. Loved the sauce!
Mel, I am back to say you have hit a home run with this one. I used the basic recipe to make dinner tonight. I had pork steaks on hand so used them and cooked them in the oven, covered with foil for about an hour. (They were on the thin side.) Delicious, delicious gravy. You’re right there is lots of gravy. I will freeze any extra for another time. I am now anxious to try this with a pork roast in the slow cooker. I know I can always count on you for great stuff. I posted this recipe in my Friday Finds and linked up with Finding Joy in My Kitchen. Keep up the great work!
This looks like a dinner even my pickiest eater would love. Sounds heavenly over mashed potatoes.
This was delicious, my kids loved it!!!! After having not really cooked for the past couple of weeks due to crazy and late sports nights with the kids, I gave it a whirl. There was the prep work, but it was well worth it. As always thanks so much for all your yummy recipes.
I have tried SO many slow cooker pork chop recipes and most are disappointing so I’m VERY excited to try this one! I’m not a huge thyme fan so I may use rosemary instead…who knows, maybe I’ll give thyme another try…
Thanks Mel for trying so many slow cooker pork recipes and finding the perfect one. Now I don’t have to!! This looks like the perfect Sunday Dinner, the prep can be done Saturday evening, just plug in before leaving for church!
I’m a slow cooker snob, this looks excellent.
Oh the ingredients do sounds good, no funk here!
This dish looks like a winner with my boys–meat topped off with bacon–They will LOVE it:) Thanks Mel!!
Yummy, I made this for dinner. Next time I won’t add any additional salt. It didn’t need it with the bacon and broth (I didn’t have low sodium). It was totally worth the dirty skillet. I hate extra prep with crock-pot meals, but I had everything I needed for this dish on hand and it just sounded so good. Well it is good. My 15 month old kept going “mmm, mmmm, mmm” as he ate bite after bite. I served it with creamy homemade mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. A keeper for sure.
The meat looks so tender & juicy. I always love slow cooker meat. The gravy blend in so well inside the meat. Thanks for sharing & hope you’re having a lovely day.
Kristy
Mel, do you think we can use boneless pork chops? Its the only thing we have right now. I’m worried that they might be too dry.
Bianca – I think boneless chops would probably work ok as long as they are on the thicker side. Just be sure to watch the cooking time so they don’t dry out.
Mel, do you think we can use boneless pork chops? Its the only thing we have right now?
My husband loves pork, I will have to try this one out!
Mel, these look soooo! good. I am going to try them soon. Was planning pork steak for
tonight, but it won’t be thawed in time to use the slow cooker. Boo Hoo! Sometime a little extra prep makes all the difference in how a slow cooker recipe turns out.
Thanks for the recipe, my husband will LOVE it!
The only thing worse than pork chop funk would be brownie or cake funk. ;). I too have been in a slow cooker pork chop funk. Hard to find a recipe full of flavour! This one looks great! As my husband would say “bacon makes everything taste better”. 🙂
Thank you! I, too, have been in “pork chop funk”. I got a craving for fall-off-the-bone pork chops and have been trying recipes lately myself. I settled on pork chops and rice in the oven, but the pork chops were not tender enough and the kitchen got really hot. I looked for a slow cooker recipe, but was not sure I wanted to try again and fail. This recipe sounds wonderful. Pork chops, bacon and brown sugar get my vote. I’ve got a few pork chops left in the freezer after buying in bulk at Sam’s. I’ll give this recipe a try.
Oh man, my mouth is watering. What a great & easy recipe. This is something my husband would for sure love.
oh man, my husband would LOVE this!
This looks wonderful! It may even be worth all that extra work 🙂
It is going to be 99 degrees here today (feeling like 105+ with the humidity), so I am dusting off my slow-cooker, too. Last summer I managed to not turn my oven on much at all, thanks to you and your delicious slow-cooker recipes! Thanks for sharing a new one, Mel! 🙂
We left our slow-cooker behind when we came east from Denver. I’m happy to slow cook on the stove or in the oven. Nice recipe.