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!
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°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
Dawn Coronno says
Yumble bumble lovely taste and cooking times spot on.Thank you will use this recipe again.
Tricia Mason says
Awesome recipe. Awesome taste
JoAnn Gardner says
We choose to leave out brown sugar and mustard. I used tablespoon ranch seasoning. It always comes out great. Moist, flavorful and I get great compliments.
JAX says
So you basically didn’t make these and have no idea what they taste like and you leave a review for this recipe ? That’s not right. YOU shouldn’t be leaving reviews
Diane says
Made them last night for dinner. My husband said they were the best pork chops he has had. Needless to say we enjoyed our dinner thanks to your recipe.
Debi Sapolin says
We have been making this recipe weekly. It takes no time to throw everything together and is so excellent. For those Keto peeps – I substitute Monkfruit Brown Sugar and the recipe works well. I’m not too cracked up with Paprika. Initially I made this with the tablespoon of Paprika in the recipe. I have since reduced to 1 teaspoon and find this perfect for our taste.
Dawn says
OMG…I have to admit I switched the brown sugar with Swerve brown sugar and it did take my air fryer a bit longer for the chops to get done, but the flavor was fabulous!! Will be cooking again.
Rachel Battle says
So good! I cooked the chops in my Samsung oven air fryer. The hint of sweet with the spices worked well. I used a Cajun seasoning that contained all the spices in the recipe along with the brown sugar. The chops were flavorful and tender. I paired the chops with some frozen roasted veggies using the air fry option on the oven. Cooked both the chops and the veggies together in under 20 minutes. I cooked everything in a 400 F oven for about 15 minutes. The chops were about 1 inch thick.
Teresa says
Tried this a few months ago, great tasting, making this again tonight. Just check the temperature I had thinner chops so I kept a close watch on the temperature for 145°
Yan says
this was so good and easy to make
this will be my go to dinner recipe for lazy days
Ann says
Seriously the best pork chops I have ever made. The seasoning mixture would also be great on chicken. I used a digital meat thermometer since I have a tendency to overcook pork, and I have an air fryer option on my oven and wasn’t sure if the cooking time would be the same. I took them out at 145 degrees and they were perfect.