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!
Recipe
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 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.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 12 min
- Category: Pork chops
- Method: air fryer
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: air fryer, pork chops
Lisa
They are the “Best Damn Air Fryer Porkchops”! My husband loved them and he didn’t do his usual barbecue dip like with all the others!
★★★★★
Hubers
Made it in our conventional airfryer/oven. It was a HIT for all of us, even our 9month baby loved it!
Definitely sharing this recipe and making it again.
★★★★★
Michelle
Delicious…my chops took closer to 8 minutes per side to be done though. Will absolutely make them again.
Raphaele
What if I don’t have thick pork chops? Mine are 1/2 an inch thick (and frozen). I presume I need to thaw and reduce cook time? Using the Instapot Airfryer for the first run….
RecipeTeacher
1/2″ chops will be ok. They will be done a few minutes sooner. Defrost first for best results.
Douglas Sass
WOW….. No kidding perfect pork chops from the tenderness to the flavor!!!
★★★★★
Mouse
Can I use boneless chops
Shirlee Ausman
I am using this recipe for a second time tonight. The first time I slightly overcooked the chops. I think they were not as thick as called for. I am adjusting the cooking time tonight. The flavor is so good. I made the rub as written.
★★★★★
Megan
These are the most tender chops I’ve ever made that are not deep fried. And the flavor WOW! so good! I had thin chops so I decreased the time. Will def be on rotation in our house.
★★★★★
Timothy Riding
I’ve made pork chops in air frier but they came out like horrible jerky. New Air frier, this new recipe, absolutely great (for a guy who makes crunchy rice!) Will make again. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Karen
Just received an air fryer and this was the best pork chop I have ever eaten! Definitely doing again. I didn’t have dry mustard or paprika so substituted a small amount of cayenne. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
Bethany
Love love love it! I’m saving.this recipe. I used garlic herb seasoning McCormick makes because its keto friendly still flavorful and juicy and easy! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Sheena
Any idea of the time/temp adjustment for 3 chops or 4?
RecipeTeacher
Same time and temp. Just make sure each pork chops has enough room in the air fryer.
Ryan Henson
Dang! So good!
★★★★★
Margie
I used yellow mustard instead of dry and was very pleased! One question though – why does it say to use “most of the rub” why wouldn’t I use it all? (PS: I used it all)
★★★★★