When we buy half of a pastured pig from a really great farmer, we get A LOT of pork chops in our order. At first I picked them up to load them from large boxes and into our chest freezer and thought, “What in the world will I possibly do with all of these pork chops?!” It turns out that we would eat them very quickly. Maple Dijon Pork Chops are a big hit around here and they are rapidly consumed with small children all around begging for seconds and thirds and my husband and I sneak in bites off of the cooking tray straight out of the oven. Of course we also put some on our plates and wonder if we should set the table with a hanky by our plates to wipe the warm, gently falling tears that only come when you experience true tastebud nirvana.

These chops have the elements of savory, salty, sweet and sour. Basically they make a party on your palate and while they are caramelized on the outside, they are juicy and tender on the inside. I’ve seen recipes where they want you to brine your chops and pre-brown them in a pan and all kinds of other time wasters and pan messer-uppers. These are easy peasy and just get popped into the oven while you go on about your life and do fantastic things.

Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

3lbs of bone in pork chops (we like leftovers!)

1/2c dijon mustard smooth or whole grain (I prefer smooth, but I was out! I found organic at my local market for about $3)

1/2c real maple syrup

4T coconut aminos here (It’s a soy sauce alternative that tastes better than soy sauce and doesn’t taste anything like coconut.)

mineral-rich salt here or here or here

pepper here

Instructions:

They will bake for 90 minutes total (1.5 hours). 84 minutes will be at 300F and 6 minutes will be at 425F.

Place the mustard, maple syrup and coconut aminos into a bowl all together

Stir it all together

Place the chops on a cookie sheet with a silicone mat underneath (here) or a piece of parchment paper (here). I like to use the mat on the bottom to save money in the long run but prefer the parchment for the top for perfect browning.

Evenly salt and pepper each side. At this point let the chops reach room temp or if room temp, proceed. Please don’t cook cold chops! They will be tough. 

Spoon your sauce onto both side of your chops.

Tuck them in with the parchment paper for their trip to the oven. Bake at 300F for 45 minutes.

At the 45 minute mark, turn all the chops over. Use a spoon to get some of the juices from the bottom and spoon over the tops of the turned chops.

At the 84 minute mark, crank your oven up to 425F and bake for a remaining 6 minutes or so (till they are nicely browned and carmelized)

Wasn’t that easy? Let the meat rest 5-7 minutes before slicing into it so the juices can settle. I like to use the juices on the bottom of the pan to spoon over the meat when served.

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