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
Beverly says
Once you try it, there’s no other way to cook the pork chops.. The rub is right on and I use it for everything, chicken, ribs… Excellent recipe, thank you.
Mary McDonald says
My husband and I loved this recipe! My pork chops were not as thick, maybe about 1 1/4”, so I cut the time by two minutes. They were perfect! We loved the seasonings. This is a keeper!
Gail says
Followed the recipe exactly and it took about 7 minutes per side. Absolutely the BEST pork chop recipe I’ve ever made!!! Make sure you get the thick “Iowa” chops.
Brian says
I didn’t have enough Paprika on hand, so I used 1/2 T of Paprika, and 1/2 T Smoked Paprika. They turned out delicious! When I get some more Paprika, I’ll try your original recipe. It’s a keeper.
Jaime says
How would you adjust the cooking time/temperature for thinner pork chops?
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Jaime, You’re likely looking at just a couple of minutes less cooking time. The best way to get the perfect chops, no matter the size, is to keep an eye on the internal temp with an Instant Read thermometer.
Celeste says
Tasty recipe. Boyfriend loves it. Look no further, this is a great recipe.
Sam Bieksza says
These r really good pork chops. I’ve made them a couple of times now.
Indy says
Great recipe…it was a nice change and it came out perfect!
Melanie Morales says
Turned out delicious. Perfect Sunday dinner.
Jo says
Delicious!! Comes out perfect every time.
Nancy says
Wow, so good! Usually my pork chops are barely tolerable. We’ve just been using our air fryer to crisp up leftovers of takeout. This is a great start. Thank you.
Marg byerley says
Made these tonight. Yummy. So moist. My air fryer set at 200 cooked the chop in 6 min
My husband is food safety specialist so he always takes temp before we flip. It was done. Will try all the others.