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
Sheila says
Just cooked them and they came out superbly and tasted delicious š
Sarah says
This is an easy recipe and tastes really good. I made it exactly as written. Thank you for sharing it.
Judy says
Best pork chop recipe ever! They come out juicy, tender, and full of flavor. The air fryer makes it so easy! ā¤ļø
Maddy says
Love this! The first time we made pork chops in the air fryer and this is the only way we do it now! Even our guests love it. We reduce the sugar by half due to personal preferences but it is perfect!
Neil Loewe says
Thank you for this recipe. Your rub is now a staple in our kitchen, and we use it on both boneless and bone-in chops, both in the air fryer and on the grill. It’s the only way we eat chops!
Drew says
My husband ALWAYS wants pork chops but Iām not a very big fan. I eat them only out of necessity. Or at least I used to before I found this recipe. Now when he wants his nearly weekly pork chops, I can actually look forward to them too š
RecipeTeacher says
Awesome!! Glad the chops are being enjoyed. Thanks for the feedback, Drew!
Kathy says
My husband has always wanted me to cook really thin pork chops (bleh) I made these chops recently, and he has been converted! I will use this recipe for the rest of my pork chop cooking days!
Lucinda S. says
This recipe is so yummy it is a regular in my household. Pork chops are juicy and delicious!
Try it, you’ll like it!
Julia says
This is my favorite pork chop recipe. I just love how all the spices complement each other. Not too spicy at all.
Thank you!
Monica says
One pork chop was juicy. Not as tender as like. Seasoning was good although a bit spicy for people with stomach problems. Flavor was definitely there but maybe a little bit much. I liked it and will use the base seasoning, however I will cut back bit on the amount. Good recipe overall just have to work through the weeks. Thank you.