Juicy Baked Pork Chops (easy recipe that always turns out tender)
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These oven baked pork chops are the most popular baked pork chop recipe on the internet for good reason: they’re easy to make, tender, super juicy, and flavorful. A few simple ingredients and pantry-staple spices are all you need to make this incredible dinner.
I’ve been told I’m an expert at making pork chops and have more than 16 pork chop recipes for you. Try these smothered pork chops and pan-fried pork chops next. Or go for my popular baked pork tenderloin!
Let’s give it up for easy and delicious pork chop recipes! This is one of my family’s favorite dinner recipes, and we go back to it repeatedly. The flavorful pork chops always turn out tender and juicy. After you make these baked pork chops, you’ll make them again and again. The recipe is speedy and easy to prepare and is a great one to keep in your back pocket for when you need dinner stat or can’t figure out what to make tonight. You can use boneless or bone-in pork chops – it’s your choice!
In this recipe, I keep it simple and don’t sear the chops on the stove. Instead, they go straight into the oven. From my experience, this makes the chops more tender and saves an extra step of work. And with the gorgeous color of the spices, you won’t miss the sear. Serve these with a big salad and some potatoes roasted in the oven at the same time as the pork chops. It makes for the best dinner.
Why you’ll love these baked pork chops
- 100% juicy pork chops. ← truth!
- With these chops, in just over 20 minutes you can be sitting down to a delicious dinner.
- The easy spice rub, made with spices you probably have in your pantry right now, makes the chops taste amazing.
- Pork chops are a budget-friendly protein option. Knowing how to cook them so they don’t dry out will make your dinners less expensive and more delicious.
- The kitchen-staple ingredients mean you shouldn’t have to run to the grocery store to make our recipe.
- Easily made with bone-in or boneless pork chops. Choose whichever you like best!
How long do pork chops take to bake at 400 degrees?
The biggest trick to making oven-baked pork chops is not overcooking them. Since pork chops are lean, they will dry out if left in the oven for too long. But don’t worry, here’s an easy way to know exactly how long you should cook your chops.
Boneless pork chops should cook for 7 minutes per ½-inch of thickness in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven. If you use bone-in pork chops, cook them for 8 minutes per ½ inch.
- Boneless pork chops 1 ½ inches thick should be baked for 21 minutes.
- Bone-in pork chops 1 ½ inches thick should be baked for 24 minutes.
If you’re new to roasting pork chops, using an instant-read meat thermometer is the best way to determine whether they are fully cooked. Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. We use our meat thermometer to make sure the meat doesn’t overcook.
What spices are the best with pork?
This spice blend is made with simple ingredients and you can use it on both chicken and pork. It’s a delicious way to create flavorful pork chops. It’s my go-to recipe and I’ve made it so many times and never get tired of it. Here are the pantry staples it is made with:
- Paprika
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Oregano – you can substitute Italian seasoning if you’d like
- Salt – sea salt or kosher salt
- Black pepper
It’s a basic spice rub that takes only a couple of minutes to make and has so much flavor. I recommend doubling (or tripling) the amounts so you can have some on hand for other dinners. Try sprinkling a little bit on some potatoes or sweet potatoes and baking them at the same time as your chops.
Pork recipes often call for brown sugar, but it is really not necessary. There is no reason to take a lean cut of meat and add a bunch of sugar. These chops are sugar-free and delicious.
What to serve with your oven baked pork chops
I like to serve these with a simple green salad and a veggie side that gets roasted on a baking sheet in the oven alongside these delicious pork chops. For a great meal that the whole family will love, try adding one of my favorite side dishes:
- Crispy Roasted Potatoes
- Roasted Asparagus or Roasted Broccoli
- Basmati Rice or brown rice
Store and Reheat
Store: I love a good pork chop sliced over a salad for lunch, so sometimes I make extra to have leftovers. They will keep for 3-4 days in an airtight container in your fridge.
Reheat: I like to slice them thin and warm them briefly in a pan over medium heat. You can also use a microwave.
Freeze: Yes! If you’d like to meal-prep, these baked pork chops will keep for at least three months in the freezer.
Watch how to make baked pork chops:
Juicy Baked Pork Chops (easy recipe that always turns out tender)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
- 4 boneless pork chops
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Measure the thickness of your pork chops so you know how long to bake them – see notes.
- In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and oregano.1 tablespoon paprika, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon salt
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over both sides of the pork chops. Sprinkle the spice mix evenly over both sides of the pork chops, then place them in a baking dish – see notes. Drizzle them with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.2 tablespoons olive oil, 4 boneless pork chops
- Bake the pork chops uncovered for 7 minutes per ½ inch of thickness, or until they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit – for 1 ½ inch pork chops, you'll bake them for 21 minutes. Once you remove them from the oven, let them rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving.
Last step:
- After you make this recipe, take a picture with your phone and share it in the comments section below. I love seeing it when you make my recipes!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Delicious! Made this exactly as instructed. So tasty and juicy. Husband loved it and wants it again very soon. Thank you for sharing this. Definitely a keeper!
Two things,
I don’t have olive oil on hand , will canola work ?
The chops I have are frozen , how much longer do I have to cook them ?
It sounds good Thank you
Robert DuPont
Canola oil will work fine. But we don’t recommend cooking chops from frozen. If you need to quickly thaw them, but them in a bowl of cold water. They won’t take long to thaw.
This was (is) a very good simple rub (but I did add cayenne) and cooking method. Very juicy.
Can you delete my previous recipe and replace with this:
I have never been a fan of pork chops, they have always seemed dry and tasteless to me – but there was a sale and I could not resist the price, I got several packages of chops. Then I went online and tried different recipes, still didn’t like pork shops afterwards. UNTIL I found this recipe. I made these 4 times last week!! That is how good they are. They turn out so moist and tender, the flavour rivals that of the best steak I have ever eaten. I am now prepping a dish of them to deliver to shut in family members and I am sure they will love them too! Thank you for changing my mind about pork chops!
Awesome & juicy!
This is always a big hit with my family! And it’s easy!
This was delicious! At first bite, I thought I had too much Paprika, on the second bite – I couldn’t get enough of the spices! The chops were in fact very juicy! Will definitely make again!
I made this recipe tonight using two 1 and 1/2 inch thick bone in pork chops. I took all the dry ingredients and mixed them in a very small container. I used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika. I put the two pork chops in a storage back, rubbed one side generously with olive oil, then poured 1/2 of the dry mixture onto the pork chops and rubbed the seasoning in. Then I flipped the storage bag, and repeated the process with the olive oil, and dry ingredients. I let the pork chops marinate for about 3 hours that way. I bake them at 400 for 15 minutes, then flipped them over and baked another 15 minutes. I have to say they were the most favorable and moist pork chops I’ve ever had. Thanks for this recipe.
I have tried several bone in pork chop recipes, but they always seemed too dry! This recipe resulted in restaurant quality pork chops. A great recipe with pasture-raised pork! Thank you! This will be my go to recipe.
I made this recipe according to the directions and it did turn out tender and juicy. I enjoyed the flavor of the seasoning. I used a thermometer for the temperature. Two comments, I ran out of seasoning before the 4th chop so I would mix more next time and when cut we found the chops had baked unevenly so I would probably flip them and rearrange them half way through the cooking process.
Can this recipe be done in a skillet with a cover
Cooking pork chops on the stovetop is a bit of a different process. I wouldn’t recommend seasoning them with spices (only salt and pepper) as the spices will burn. But we have a pan fried pork chop recipe here and it’s the one that I use for stovetop chops all the time: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/pan-fried-pork-chops/
Very juicy
Excellent. Timing was perfect. Moist and so delicious! Thanks. I’m going to make this for company the next time.
Delicious but needed a few more minutes of baking. Wouldn’t change anything else!
3/4 inch pork chop 400 degrees 18 minutes in still not done and my oven is pretty true
Everytime I follow cooking instructions They are way off
delicious!! My pork chops usually come out dry and boring but these pork chops came out moist and they were really good. It took exactly 18 minutes just like the recipe said. I will add this to my rotation of dinners and I can’t wait to do the grilled version once summer comes.
Thank-you! So easy. So delicious!