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
Sandy Arnold
Perfection, super moist and delicious!!
Family loves❤️
★★★★★
Lynds
The best! 3rd time cooking.
★★★★★
Lydia
We made it tonight. My family DESTROYED it! We subbed Dijon mustard mixed with olive oil because we didn’t have the mustard seasoning recipe called for. Family loved. Adding to rotation. Thank you
★★★★★
Linda
This was the most delicious, moist pork chop I have ever eaten. I’m a 70 year old widow and hate cooking for one. I’m also looking to use my air fryer more because it’s quick and easy. The chop was so good, I had to fight with myself not to eat the second one. However, I used it the next day sliced cold and put it in my salad. I’m going to make it again this week.I signed up for your recipes and look forward to trying more. Thanks very much.
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
Thank you SO much for the kind words, Linda! Lots of great new recipes on the way too!
Teea
I just made this, and let me say, they were amazing! Even my kids ate them! Definitely will be making them again!
★★★★★
Helen Louise Leduc
Made this recipe. The rub is amazing. Pork Chop so tender.
★★★★★
Carole
I used 2 boneless chops. They came out ok but I had to make a couple of adjustments. First, the chops didn’t come out with the char I was expecting. I had to reduce the brown sugar to 1 tablespoon since my husband and I have serious health issues. Also, I had to cook a few minutes longer as it was not charred or cooked enough. I must say, the taste was very delicious and I will make this again; next time, with bone-in chops! Thank you.
★★★★
Zelda Haro
I have used your recipe numerous times, but have not written a review. This is our favorite pork rub, I use it every time I make pork chops and a pork roast. The only change I make is I add a tsp French tarragon, which gives it a very nice citrus flavor, that goes well with the rest of the rub ingredients. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us.
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
I LOVE tarragon. Great idea to add it!
Matthew L. Ickler
Excellent dish. This recipe is a keeper.
★★★★★
RecipeTeacher
Thanks, Matthew!!
Carichar
Family loved this recipe. I will save it an keep if for the future. I have never been able to cook pork chops that weren’t to dry, under-cooked or falvorful. Decided to try the air fryer and found this recipe online. The rub was simple and delicious, and I had all the ingredients. All I had to do was adjust the cooking time for the thickness of my pork chop (mine were thinner). Delicious!!!
★★★★★