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
Chona says
So good. Thank you Jason. God bless.
Chris Brown says
Absolutely fantastic. Wife said it was the best thing I ever made. Thank you.
RecipeTeacher says
Ahhh, love that kind of feedback. Thanks Chris!
Janet says
Just wanted to “confess” so that I might save someone from making the mistake I made. I followed the recipe exactly up to the 12 minute cook time. I “thought” they were not done enough so added 5 minutes to the cooking time. Wrong!!! They were over cooked and dry. The rub was delicious and I am sure that had I followed the instructions, they would have been perfect. Lesson learned, hope this helps someone who is tempted to make their own adjustments.
Rachel says
Absolutely delicious and very easy to make! Will definitely be making this again!
David J says
I’m going to try this tonight.
My convection oven has an “air fryer” setting (my air fryer is too small to do 3 chops)
What do you think if I were to stand these on their side, bone down??
If it works, I’ll repost
Carol says
This sounds like a great recipe that I will try but I am missing whether or not you put your pork chops on a tray or in a basket or on a wire rack. I have all three in my fryer that came with very few instructions.
thank you.
RecipeTeacher says
Sounds like you have a tray style air fryer. Use the tray in the middle position.
Amanda says
I have a grill/airfryer, so I used the attached meat thermometer and preset medwell pork function on the Grill setting.
I only had light brown sugar, so that’s what I went with and I added in 1/8 tsp of cayenne to the recipe.
Everything else I did exactly as the recipe said and I have to agree with all the other comments here; my husband and I were absolutely blown away! He, literally, said that these were the best pork chops I had ever made! I poured the leftover juices from resting the meat into a ramekan and we both proceeded to dip each piece, savoring every amazing bite. 10 out of 10!
Chris says
Just tried this pork chop recipe and the name was correct! Best damn pork chops ever! I’ll definitely be using this in the future. Thank you Recipe Teacher
Carol says
Had these tonight and they are amazing omg, everyone should try these. I am going to try other recipes from your site.
Nikki Moulins says
This is the first recipe I’ve tried in my new air fryer and it is very aptly named! I didn’t have any paprika, so I substituted with cayenne. My family said they were the best pork chops they ever had! Can’t wait to try them again! Thank you!!!
Jan says
I don’t have an air fryer, but do have a CrispLid for the Instant Pot. Can Chops be done with the CrispLid using the same time & temperature?
Thank you
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Jan. The cripslid essentially turns an Instant Pot into an air fryer. Same time and temp, just make sure the air fryer basket is used.