Delicious, moist and tender, these boneless bbq pork chops cook up easy in your Instant Pot pressure cooker. Just a few simple ingredients and you can have amazing bbq pork chops on your plate in under 30 minutes.
Start with a good pork chop rub
We start by making a good bbq rub. It’s made up of very common ingredients you probably already have in the pantry – brown sugar, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. If you don’t have the ingredients for making the rub, feel free to use a good commercial bbq rub. The one I like to use is Killer Hogs The BBQ Rub
Use thick cut pork chops
When making pork chops in the Instant Pot I always like to use “thick cut” pork chops that are about 1 inch thick. I’ve always had my best results with 1 inch thickness and the actual cooking time of 10 minutes cooks them to moist and tender goodness. Most pork chops purchased at supermarkets will say on the label that the chops include a solution (generally 12%) of salt and other ingredients to keep the pork chops moist and tender. Pork chops with this solution added are called “brined”. Again, the majority of supermarket pork chops do indeed contain a brine solution.
Use your Instant Pot to brown the pork chops first
The first step to making these pork chops is to liberally apply the rub to all sides of the meat, and sear for 2 and ½ minutes on each side with the Instant Pot on saute mode and a little oil added. This searing really adds to the flavor profile. Then we remove the pork chops and set aside on a plate while we press cancel (to stop the saute mode) and add 1 cup of water and “deglaze” the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. This is simply scraping away all the bits, then we add a couple of tablespoons of bbq sauce to the water and stir it in good. Then the pork chops go into the liquid, the lid gets secured and the vent set to “sealing”. Now we pressure cook (manual on some Instant Pots or other electric pressure cookers) for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes are up, we let the pressure naturally release which take 10-15 minutes. Once the pin drops we remove the lid and transfer the chops to a foil lined baking sheet and brush them with your favorite bbq sauce and into the broiler they go for 5 minutes. You can certainly skip the broiler part if you want, but it ads that great caramelization and flavor to the pork chops.
Recipe
Instant Pot BBQ Boneless Pork Chops
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 3 pork chops
Ingredients
- 3 boneless pork chops, 1-inch thick
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- BBQ sauce (your favorite brand)
- 1 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and salt. When well mixed, liberally apply the rub to all sides of the pork chops.
- Add vegetable oil to the Instant Pot and set on saute mode. When oil is hot, add pork chops and sear on each side for 2 ½ – 3 minutes. Then remove pork chops and set aside on a plate.
- Press cancel to stop the saute mode and add water to pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape all the bits off the bottom, then mix in the 2 tablespoons of bbq sauce.
- Add pork chops to the liquid, leaving space between each if possible, secure lid, set seal to “sealing” and pressure cook (manual) for 10 minutes.
- When cooking time is complete, let the pressure naturally release (takes 10-15 min). Once pin drops, carefully remove lid and transfer pork chops to a foil lined baking sheet. Brush bbq sauce on pork chops and place under broiler for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pressure cooker
- Cuisine: American
Lisa B says
Used the instant pot for the first time tonight and we loved these pork chops ! Really easy to make . I used thick cut boneless and they were perfectly cooked in 10 minutes ,moist and tender, not like the dried out overcooked ones we have had in the past.
Eddie says
This is one of my favorite Instant Pot recipes. I cook it once every few weeks. The chops are nice and tender, and the spice mix is perfect. Goes great with potato salad.
Leslie says
Made these tonight for dinner. Cooked for 8 mins & let them natural release for 15 mins. Flavor is great, but chops are tough.
Emily E Allen says
Just made these tonight for dinner!!! However i used the mccormick brown sugar and bourbon spice for my rub. I forgot to natural release and did the quick release and didn’t get them tender like i wanted but they are still damn good!!
Ella says
It might not be this recipe, it might be your chops. I make pork chops about once a week in my instant pot and even if I follow the recipe exactly every time, they don’t always come out tender. We can’t always tell until they are cooked, but some will just not cook tender no matter what we do.
BadBandit says
Planning on making these for dinner tonight. 5 stars for writing a recipe I can actually follow. Totally new to the instapot world and most of the recipes online work under the assumption that I know what I’m doing. Guess what? I don’t. I love your straightforward step-by-step instructions with explanations along the way. Your site has been bookmarked and this recipe downloaded and saved. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
RecipeTeacher says
Thank you SO much for those kind words. I really try to write each recipe specifically so that anyone can understand. I get so frustrated myself when I can’t follow a recipe because something isn’t clear.
Colleen says
Will be making these again tonight. The first time they were a little dry as I made 6 instead of three and overcooked them. Tonight I am making six again and I’ll cut back a minute or two in cooking. It’s a great recipe and a keeper.
D'ANNE says
Really like the flavor. The rub was good with simple ingredients. At the last minute, I realized I had no BBQ sauce. After a short delay, that was made and ready to go. I had 3 nice 1″ plus pork chops and followed the instructions. While I feel the flavor was wonderful, I’ll cut the time 1 minute next time.. While very tender, my chops were a tad dry. Will make again.
Ann Roach says
The recipe doesn’t say what to do with the 1 cup of water.
RecipeTeacher says
Hi Ann. Take a look at step 3.
Jamie Floyd says
Thank you for this easy recipe! I have finally found the way to moist and tender butterfly pork shops. I will definitely be repeating this one!
Lisa D. says
This recipe was delicious. I had all the ingredients. It works up fast and easy.