This recipe for the Best Damn Air Fryer Pork Chops is so juicy, tender and delicious, it’s sure to quickly become a favorite air fryer recipe. With a few simple ingredients, and only 12 minutes cook time, these air fryer pork chops are perfect for a tasty dinner any day of the week.
Let me start my saying how much i’m loving my air fryer. I’ve owned a lot of kitchen gadgets over the years and my two favorites are my air fryer and my Instant Pot. And honestly, not far behind is my George Foreman Grill – but that’s a discussion for another day. The thing about an air fryer, is that, well, you’re not really frying in the traditional sense. It’s honestly more like a rapid cook oven/broiler. And there’s plenty of times I don’t want to heat up the house by turning on the regular oven. Besides, for this pork chop recipe I get the best results in the air fryer anyways!
What are the best pork chops for the air fryer?
I’ve found that the very best pork chops for the air fryer are thick, center cut, bone-in chops. I try to get them as thick as possible – somewhere between 1 ½ inches to 2 inches thick. The reason I like the thick chops the best is that with the cooking time required, it’s gives the pork chops a beautiful char on all sides. Thin pork chops will cook too quickly and never get that nice char on them. Thick pork chops require a cooking time of about 12 minutes. And with our rub from this recipe, we get that beautiful char on them that’s delicious!
Make a rub for air fryer pork chops
For this recipe for air fryer pork chops, we will not be breading the pork chops. Rather, we will be making a rub seasoning mix which we are going to very liberally apply to the meat. The rub is very simple too. We’ll use brown sugar, paprika, ground mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. We mix it together and rub it all in to pork chops that have been rinsed, dried, and coated with a little olive oil. Rinsing the pork chops and patting them dry with a paper towel is important so don’t skip that step.
Preheat your air fryer
Preheating your air fryer is an important step! You’ll want to preheat at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Then when it’s ready, cook the pork chops in the air fryer for 12 minutes, flipping them over after 6 minutes.
When the pork chops are done, remove them from the air fryer and place them on a plate and let them rest for a couple of minutes. Then you’re ready to serve and enjoy! There will be a nice juice that will form from the seasonings and the natural juices of the pork. Slice the pork chops in thin slices, and get some of the seasoned juice on each bite. You’re gonna love it!
Best Damn Air Fryer Pork Chops
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 2
Description
Juicy, tender and delicious air fryer pork chops.
Ingredients
- 2 center-cut, bone-in pork chops, 1 ½ – 2 inches thick
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees for 5 minutes
- Rinse pork chops with cool water and pat dry completely with a paper towel.
- In a small bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
- Coat the pork chops with olive oil and rub in the mix. Rub it in well and liberally. Use almost all of the rub mix for the 2 pork chops.
- Cook pork chops in air fryer at 400 degrees for 12 minutes, flipping pork chops over after 6 minutes.
- Category: Pork chops
- Method: air fryer
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: air fryer, pork chops
Midge
Just had the best pork chops ever. Thank you I just got a new kitchen stove with air fryer. First recipe I tried SUCCESS ,
★★★★★
Bronwyn
Awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing!!
Mary Ellen Minton
How long do I cook the pork chops if I have 4of them?
Thank you
RecipeTeacher
Hi Mary Ellen,
So it should be the same time, but all air fryers are different so it’s possible it could be another 1-2 minutes.
Hailey A Birdsall
All 6 of my picky eaters loved it!
★★★★★
David P.
WOW…What more can I say as these were indeed the best pork chops I’ve ever tasted and made. Did exactly as directed in my Foodie Grill and they were so juicy and darn to die for flavorful. Amazing how all of those spices seemed meant for the pork chops because we just smacked our lips and kept putting more meat in our mouths.
Thank-you again but you have a winner for sure.
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
You just made my day! Thank you so much, David!
Wendy
First meal I made in our air fryer. I’m not a huge pork lover but this recipe might turn me into one. I did a little longer 8 mins on either side and it was still just as juicy and yummy. Thanks for the “Best Damn…” recipe can’t wait to try the other ones.
★★★★★