This post is sponsored by the National Pork Board. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
How Do You Make Perfect Grilled Pork Chops Even Better? Top Them With Fresh Mozzarella and Tomatoes!
When it comes to quick and easy summer dinners, grilled pork is about as ideal as it can be! Meaty and juicy, it doesn’t need much help to taste really delicious, and we seem to have a bottomless reserve of ideas for grilled pork chop recipes! They just lend themselves to almost any flavor combination. For this recipe, we were craving something hearty and filling, but tomatoes are in season and we knew we wanted to incorporate them somehow, too. We never think about fresh, ripe summer tomatoes without thinking of caprese and thus this grilled pork chop caprese recipe was born! Lightly seasoned and grilled to perfection, topped with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, this grilled pork chop caprese is a quick and beautiful crowd-pleaser!
For more pork cooking ideas and inspiration, visit pork.org!
A Few Grilled Pork Chop FAQs:
Juicy grilled pork chops are just a few minutes away, and they’re SO easy to pull together. You can even grill plain pork chops and have a winning meal (though we do hope you try our super summery caprese-inspired recipe). If you’ve never grilled pork chops before, you might have some questions about the process. We’ll walk you through some of the most frequently asked questions:
- How long do you grill 1 and 1/2-inch pork chops? Cooking pork chops on the grill takes almost no time at all! Just 3-4 minutes per side until you see an internal temperature of 145°F.
- How do you keep pork chops moist after grilling? We’d suggest eating them right away if you can, and as long as you haven’t overcooked them, they should stay moist and juicy. This grilled pork caprese recipe is especially moist, thanks to the tomato and mozzarella topping!
- Should you sear pork chops before grilling? Nope! Let your grill do all the work. No need to prep the pork chops before they hit the grill.
- What cut of pork chop is best for grilling? It’s true, “pork chops” can come from any number of places on a pig, from the hip to the shoulder, and there is some variation depending on where your chops are cut from. For the most part though, they come from the loin. If you really want to get technical, for a quick recipe like this, you want pork chops from the lion end, not the shoulder end (which is fattier).
How to Season Pork Chops for Grilling
We think that the best grilled pork chops are ones where the juicy, meaty flavor of the pork really shines through, so we like to keep our pork chop recipes as simple as can be. Marinades are fine and all, but they take a little time and planning ahead and sometimes we just want to pop some pork chops on the grill and know that dinner will be ready in ten minutes. A quick seasoning is all they’ll need before hitting the grill. For this caprese-inspired grilled pork recipe, we season the boneless pork chops with a simple spice blend of:
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Brown sugar
- Basil
How to Grill Boneless Pork Chops
For the best pork chops ever, have a light hand with the seasonings, pay close attention and make sure you’ve got an instant-read thermometer! Here’s how to make this grilled pork caprese:
- Make a quick seasoning rub. Mix together salt, pepper, garlic powder, brown sugar and dried basil.
- Prep the pork chops! Drizzle them with olive oil and season them generously all over with the seasoning mix.
- Grill the pork chops! Lay them down on a hot grill and cook for about three minutes per side. Right when you flip the pork, top each chop with a slice of mozzarella.
- Check for doneness! More than the amount of time the pork chops spend on the grill, pay attention to the internal temperature of the pork chop. Use an instant-read thermometer and keep an eye on that temp! We’ve got more on exactly what internal temp you’re watching for in the next paragraph.
- To serve, top each pork chop with slices of tomato, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and dig in!
The Secret to Juicy Grilled Pork Chops? Don’t Overcook Them!
Here comes kind of a long-winded explanation of how to grill juicy pork chops. If you want the TL;DR it’s that the USDA lists 145°F as the pork chop done temp, as do our friends at pork.org (where, btw, you can find lots of delicious pork recipes like this one and who sponsored this post). But the perfect done temp for grilled pork chops is something that a lot of chefs and home cooks debate! If you grew up thinking that pork chops were dry, that’s probably because until 2011 it was recommended that you cook them to an internal temp of 160°F, and cooking pork to that internal temp before removing it from the heat pretty much ensures that your pork will be completely dry. Thankfully, now they’ve lowered the "safe" recommended internal temperature to 145°F. And that’s great! If you pull the pork right when you see that temp, you should have delicious, juicy pork chops. Some notable, smart food scientists and food writers (hello Kenji Lopez-Alt! Hello Michael Ruhlman!) call for even lower done temps (usually they suggest 135°F with a 5-minute rest after cooking) but we’re sharing that info with the caveat that 135°F is below the USDA recommended temp.
Tools You’ll Need
- A gas or charcoal grill, or a grill pan.
More Pork Chop Recipes to Try
The Best Grilled Pork Chop Recipe Ever
It really is, though! Juicy grilled pork chops and melty mozzarella, plus ripe-to-bursting tomatoes? What’s not to love? Try the recipe, and let us know how you like it, OK? Share a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!
