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
- 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
Sonja Hill
These are the best damn pork chops I’ve had in a very long time!!! I was dreading pork chop night…ohhh not anymore!!
The whole family loved them. Thank you
★★★★★
Heidi
Great taste but I think they went too long for my AF as they were a bit tough.
★★★★
Lindsay
This rub is my most favorite and my husband adores it!! I usually double the amounts because, well, more is better. I had a bone in butt, 8 lbs. I cut the bone out and trimmed the fat. Made the pieces about the same size and used my air fryer. I had large pieces so it was about a 20 min run time at 400, flipping at 10 mins, to get them to 160 degrees. Covered in foil and let them rest. Perfectly caramelized on the outside and tender and juicy with a ton of flavor inside. Absolutely FABULOUS!
★★★★★
SassyMama
Tried this recipe tonight. Followed it exactly as it said “except for the cooking time because my pork chops were on the thinner side” Wasn’t impressed at all. The flavor was not good. Defiantly not a recipe i’ll be making again. To each their own though. I love trying new recipes and you never know if you like something until you try it.
★
Nuriya
The cooking time is perfect, my pork chops came out nice and juicy
★★★★★
Dee F.
First time I’ve ever truly enjoyed pork chips. So glad I found this recipe. TY!
★★★★★
Shonda Smith
Wow! I followed your directions exactly. They were the best pork chops my husband and I have ever had.
★★★★★
Olga
I’ve been cooking for over 40 years. These have got to be the best pork chops I have ever made. My adult children would like them once a week. Bravo to the recipe teacher 👏
★★★★★
Jana
My husband grills almost every meat we eat but I wanted to try this recipe. I was lazy and instead of mixing the spices & herbs listed I used our favorite rub mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with brown sugar. Otherwise I followed your recipe exactly. It was so delicious and juicy! We loved it! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
★★★★★
Susan Marie
One of the first recipies I tried in my new Air Fryer. Delicious.
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
Awesome! Thanks, Susan!
Irene
Absolutely best damn pork chop we have ever had. Moist and juicy.
Will never cook pork chops any other way again. Followed the recipe exactly!
★★★★★
Kate Bemis
Spot on directions for an air fryer. My chop was a bit thinner so I cut the time to 5 min/3 min. With a few minutes resting it was perfectly slightly pink. The juiciest chop ever!!
★★★★★
Connie
I came across this recipe and had to try. Honestly the best pork chop I’ve ever eaten. Thank you for sharing!!!
★★★★★