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.
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!
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PrintRecipe
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
Kristen Flower
So good!! I didn’t have any brown sugar, so I just used 2 tbsp of regular sugar for the glazed effect and it was still just as good! I also cooked an extra minute on each side because I like my pork a little more done. Perfectly cooked with a sweet & spiced flavor.
Al C
Just made them for the first time. Very excellent! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!
Jan
Can you marinade in oil & spices a couple hours ahead of baking in air fryer?
RecipeTeacher
Hi Jan, you certainly can marinade them that way, but, i’ve found the best results are to go with the dry rub as is. The flavor and texture is the best that way.
Debbie Moore
What if we don’t have dry mustard??
RecipeTeacher
Hi Debbie, you can just leave it out. But when you get a chance to pick some up, I think you’ll be pleased with what it adds to the overall flavor.
Jessica
Anyone made these with boneless? How do you adjust temp or time?
Rebecca C
Yes! I make this recipe with boneless pork chops every time! I have to adjust the time, takes about 8 or 9 minutes max.
Cathy
Best Dam pork chop is appropriately named. This is my go to pork chop recipes. Thank you for such awesome recipes.
Diane
Made this tonight for my son & myself using our new toaster oven set on the air fryer setting. Pork chops turned out flavorful & juicy! Will definitely be making this one again!
Mary
These are indeed the best damn air fryer pork chops ever! No changes to the recipe except we used thick-cut boneless chops. Definitely a keeper!
Jade
What mode should I use? I have the ninja air fryer that has Air crisp, Bake, Dehydrate, Grill, Roast and Broil.
RecipeTeacher
So i’m not familiar with the particular model that has air crisp as opposed to air fry. Can you let me now which model it is?
Lois Demers
I don’t know why this didn’t work out as well for me as it did for others. I got my air fryer up to the correct temp, pre-heated for 5 minutes. My chops were 1 1/2″ thick. I didn’t get that nice char at all, and after 12 minutes my temp was only 112. I put them in for an additional 6 minutes and they got up to 145, but no char. I followed the recipe exactly, with the rinsing, drying, oiling, rub etc. They were nice and tender, but no char.