Smothered Pork Chops Recipe + Homemade Gravy and Caramelized Onions

These smothered pork chops are pan-roasted to perfection and then simmered in a delicious caramelized onion gravy and finished with fresh herbs.

This classic southern dish is the epitome of comfort food. It’s an incredibly easy to make one-pan meal consisting of pork chops, caramelized onions, and a homemade gravy that makes for the perfect weeknight meal.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 4 thick-cut bone-in pork chops
• 1 ½ tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 3 peeled and thickly sliced medium-size yellow onions
• 3 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 32 ounces chicken stock, beef stock, or combination of both
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• sea salt and pepper taste

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Procedures:

1. Season the pork chops well on each side with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
2. Add the oil into a large frying or cast-iron pan over high heat until it begins to lightly smoke.
3. Next add in the pork chops and butter and turn the heat down to medium-high and cook for 3-4 minutes or until very browned.
4. Turn the pork over, baste, and cook for another 3-4 minutes and set aside.
5. In the same pan turn the heat down to medium and add in the onions and cook for 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. Next, stir in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Stir in the flour until completely mixed in and then add in the stock and turn the heat up slightly to medium-high and cook until it becomes thick like gravy, about 3-4 minutes.
8. Add the pork chops back in the pan to heat them up and finish by stirring in the heavy cream.
9. Garnish with optional finely minced fresh parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: While these are meant to be eaten right away, you can make these up to 1 hour ahead of time, just keep the pork chops in the gravy over very low heat.

How to Store: Cover and keep in the gravy in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. These will freeze covered in the gravy for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of pork and gravy to a medium size pan and cook over medium-low heat until warmed, which takes about 10 minutes. You can also reheat in a microwave.

You can use chicken stock, or beef stock, or a combination of both like I did.

I prefer to use double thick-cut bone-in pork chops for the most flavor. You can easily substitute with thin cut pork chops, pork loin, or pork tenderloin.