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.
Which Pork Chop Do You Have?
Not all pork chops cook the same way. Start with the cut you’re using, then choose the method that works best for you:
- Using Boneless Chops? If you’d rather use your oven, my Best Damn Oven-Baked Boneless Pork Chops are a reader favorite for staying juicy and tender.
- Have Bone-In Chops? For that traditional “Sunday Dinner” flavor, follow my simple Guide for Bone-In Chops in the Oven.
- Want a Savory Twist? Try these Parmesan Garlic Air Fryer Pork Chops for a buttery, cheesy crust that uses basic pantry staples.
- No Air Fryer Available? If you want to use your stovetop, my Best Damn Pan Seared Pork Chops are perfect for a quick, 10-minute weeknight meal.
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.
Cooking
Preheating your air fryer is an important step! You’ll want to preheat at 400°F 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. Check for doneness with an instant-read food thermometer. We’re aiming for an internal temp of 140°F. If your pork chops are very thick, they may require an additional few 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
- 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°F 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 on the air fry setting at 400°F for 12-14 minutes or until internal temperature of 140°F. Flip pork chops over after 6 minutes.
Notes
Air fryer temperatures can vary. Remove pork chops when internal temperature reaches 140°F. The carryover cooking will bring the temp up to 145°F.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Category: Pork chops
- Method: air fryer
- Cuisine: American
Deborah says
Made this twice and it was delicious each time. Thank you for an easy and yummy recipe!
Janet says
I just made these OMG they are absolutely the best. I used thick boneless chops and cooked them 14 mins. Turning them over halfway as instructed. The rub is perfect and they came out so juicy. Definitely a keeper.
RecipeTeacher says
Awesome! Thank you for the feedback, Janet!
shayna says
hi janet, what temp did you use?
Mandy says
Wow! I used mustard as a binder instead of dried mustard. Will use this again and again!
JG says
Made these last night and they are juicy and delicious!
Tonuya says
I’m late to the game but I made it. Definitely a tasty chop recipe! Thank you.
Stella Browne says
OMG…this was the best pork chop I’ve ever cooked…..tasty…tender…melt in your mouth. DELICIOUS
Lucianna Ascanio-Momose says
These are LITERALLY the BEST pork chops I have ever eaten. They were truly restaurant quality! Thank you for not only making my dinner an easy one to make but outstanding and enjoyable as well! My family and I couldn’t get enough!
Dawn says
I made these today! I used Swerve Brown Sugar but that was the only sub. They were devine. I never ever had a more tender pork chop. Thank you!
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Dawn. Thanks for the feedback! We’ve used Swerve for these too and they indeed came out great.
Craig B Carter says
crazy good!! please advise if you can substitute chicken breast? how would you adapt cooking time, temp.?
Tina Kearns says
This was the best recipe!! I overcooked them the first time i made them but they were still delicious. My very picky son requested them again and they were moist and juicy.
Marc says
HOLY CRAP!
This is fantastic. I usually sous-vide my pork chops but came across this and all I can say is WOW. I was suspicious that it would come out on either side of perfect but I have to say, nope, Perfect.
I substituted the paprika for half smoked paprika and it gave it a nice smoky hint. This one goes into the bookmarks forever
RecipeTeacher says
Thanks, Marc! Sous vide is almost always outstanding. But yeah, these air fryer pork chops are about as good as it gets. 🙂
Smoked paprika is awesome! Have you ever tried smoked hot paprika? It’s not too hot at all, but adds such an amazing smokey heat.
Jim says
I also used half smoked paprika, but wasn’t nuts about the smokiness, which I usually enjoy. Other than that the cops were very tender and juicy, but I had one 1 inch chop and one 1.75 in and the thicker one was raw in the middle. I had to throw it in the frying pan for another 6 or 7 minutes. 12 minutes works for 1in, thicker needs more time. I used an instant pot 8 qt air fryer.
JT says
The recipe doesn’t call for smoked paprika, so you dock it a star for a weird Smokey flavor that you added yourself. Weird. “Yea this motorcycle is amazing, but I switched the street tires for these racing tires on it and I wiped out. 4/5”
This recipe is amazing, I usually marinate my chops, but this time I went with the rub, added some chipotle chili pepper and it was fantastic. 5/7.
Crispy says
Looked interesting, so I tried it & oh! So happy I did! Great flavor and pork chops came out tender and very juicy. Had to modify the recipe a little: used bone-in 1 inch pork chops, used French’s mustard (no dry mustard), and increased garlic. Will definitely use this recipe again and wish my chops looked as good as some of the pictures — but I will settle for the great taste!