These Instant Pot pork chops are quick and easy to make. They are simply seasoned with salt and pepper and are super delicious with a sprinkling of parsley or with your favorite sauce.
I love making pork chops for dinner. My preference is the center cut bone-in loin chops because both the bone and the marbling add so much flavor to the meat. Making them in the Instant Pot makes for a quick, hands-off method that I use a lot on weeknights. Scroll down to read more about cooking pork chops in the Instant Pot, or click here to jump down to the recipe.
Why Are Pork Chops Dry Sometimes?
The problem with pork chops is that they are often over-cooked, dry and more like shoe leather than juicy, tender pork. I blame the old public service announcements about the dangers of eating undercooked pork. These days pork only needs to reach 145°F to be safe. Note that dry overcooked pork is not just an issue with chops. It’s an issue for all kinds of pork, like roast pork, pork loin, and pork tenderloin too. But if you cook these cuts to 145°F instead of 160°F, you’ll have much juicier results.
Why Cook Pork Chops In The Instant Pot?
Cooking at a high temperature for a short amount of time keeps the meat juicy and using the sauté function creates a beautiful golden crust. I have the Instant Pot DUO Plus 8 Qt, and I absolutely love it.
The salt and pepper I use to season the chops may seem simple but I think you will agree that the results are anything but plain.
If you are ready to overcome the over-cooked-pork-chop syndrome, give this method of cooking pork chops a try!
Making Instant Pot Pork Chops
I use bone-in pork chops for this method, I think they have more flavor and can be kept more tender than boneless pork chops.
Start by seasoning with salt and pepper, then sear your chops in the Instant Pot with the sauté setting. This will take about 3 minutes on each side.
Remove them from the pot and pour in your broth or water. You’ll want to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Not scraping those all up can result in them starting to overheat and burn later, which can cause the Instant Pot to give you the Burn notice and turn off.
Next, add a trivet to the Instant Pot and put your pork chops on top. Seal it up and set it to pressure cook for 5 minutes. The pressure cooker will come up to pressure and then it will pressure cook for those 5 minutes. After that, let it sit, still sealed, for an additional 5 minutes after the cook time, then release the pressure.
You should check the internal temperature of the pork at this time and make sure it is at least 145°F. If it is lower, simply put the lid back on and seal it, make sure the Instant Pot is set to Keep Warm, and then wait another couple of minutes. This technique of letting the heat from the Keep Warm setting finish cooking the pork works really well. I first started doing it for Instant Pot Pork Loin, and now I use the technique for cooking all kinds of things.
Serving Pork Chops
You can serve these with a sprinkling of parsley or try them with your favorite sauce. During the summer, I like to serve them with my Best Ever Barbecue Sauce and baked beans. Pork is also great served with an easy homemade applesauce.
Or, you can try one of my amazing gravy recipes and serve them with mashed potatoes. My Classic Gravy is here but I also have a recipe for gravy without drippings, and you can make gravy in the Instant Pot as well.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Here are some of my favorite Instant Pot recipes for you to try:
- Instant Pot Farro
- Instant Pot Ribs
- Instant Pot Chuck Roast
- Instant Pot Short Ribs
- Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
- Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut
And if you love the Instant Pot as much as I do, head over here to browse through all of my Instant Pot recipes. Enjoy!
Podcast Episode About Making Instant Pot Pork Chops
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make these pork chops, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintInstant Pot Pork Chops
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
These Instant Pot pork chops are quick and easy to make. They are simply seasoned with salt and pepper and are super delicious with a sprinkling of parsley or with your favorite sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 thick pork loin chops, bone-in
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup unsalted chicken broth or water
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Season pork chops with salt and pepper.
- Select the Sauté button to heat the Instant Pot. When “Hot” is displayed, add the olive oil.
- Add the seasoned pork to the Instant Pot and sear both sides making sure the chops do not overlap, approximately 3 minutes per side. You may need to sear the pork in two separate batches.
- Remove the pork from the Instant Pot and set aside on a plate.
- Add the broth or water to the Instant Pot, scraping any bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
- Place the trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot and lay pork chops on top of the trivet. They can overlap.
- Cover pot, lock on the lid, and set the steam release valve to Sealing.
- Select the Meat/Stew or Pressure Cook button and set the cook time to 5 minutes.
- When the cooking cycle has finished, allow the pot to sit for 5 minutes, and then do a quick release by moving the valve to Venting.
- Garnish with parsley or serve with your favorite sauce.
This post originally appeared in October 2019 and was revised and republished in May 2022.
Cindy says
So easy and I like that most of it is hands off so I could focus on making the rest of dinner. Thanks!
Christine Pittman says
Glad you enjoyed, Cindy!