Ever get into a groove of making dinners with the same protein over and over? Can you really help yourself when there are SO many tasty options for chicken?! Actually, yes. You can. There are plenty of options for turkey, pork, beef, so I decided to challenge myself with something different.

A few weeks ago I decided to make pork chops with the bone in.

If you’ve read ANY of my previous reviews, then you know that I always want to find something that won’t keep me confined to the kitchen for more than 30 minutes. Weekends are for relaxing, and I think we can say the same about cooking during the week. You went to work and you come home tired–you’re either ordering in OR you’re looking for something quick to whip up. I gotcha.

I’ve never cooked pork chops before, so I found a recipe for One Pan Ranch Pork Chops and Veggies.
You can find this recipe, courtesy of Damn Delicious–> here!

As always, I got my meat at Whole Foods. I actually got the last 2 pork chops with the bone in. I debated getting ones without the bone, but since this was my first time making this recipe–I was going to follow the directions without making any changes.

Again, I never cooked pork chops before, so I knew very little going into this. I put the fate of my food in this recipe!

The beauty of this recipe was in the title: “One Pan”.

The only portion of this dish that I was missing was the greens. Fun fact about that day: I was getting over a stomach bug, so nothing looked appetizing to me. For this recipe, I really relied on my boyfriends opinion since he wasn’t sick.

The main seasoning for this dish that was sprinkled on both the pork chops and potatoes was actually a Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning. I never used it before, but it definitely didn’t taste awful. Could the amount have been reduced a bit? Sure, but we’ll get to that in a second.

When it came to cooking it all, the recipe called for the goodies on the pan to be baked at 400 F for about 20-22 minutes and then broiled for 2-3 minutes. I’ll admit that after making this recipe, I will be buying myself a meat thermometer, so I have some more confidence with cooking meat. Last thing I want to do is serve something that’s under-cooked, let alone, OVER-cooked! The shame!!

Grey’s Grade 3.5/5

Despite being ill, I could still put together an opinion on this recipe. I’ll definitely give it a good score for convenience, but if I were to make this again, I’d make some changes. These changes will take add an extra step, but it could definitely save the texture of the meat. Now, by keeping the bone in the pork chop, the meat should have been more moist. That wasn’t the case with this recipe. I cooked it for a little under 20 minutes, but even then I think it was too long.

Next time, I’d sear the pork chop before baking it in order to close the pores and keep the moisture in while baking. I feel that at a high temperature and for 20-22 minutes–the pork chop loses that.

My boyfriend enjoyed the recipe, which made me very happy, but I always try to find something that would make it better. I’m confident that by searing the meat first, we’d have a better color and it would be even more enjoyable.

Also, I’d add some greens into the mix next time, haha. The stomach bug is NEVER fun. The recipe calls for green beans, but any substitutions would be good, I think. Could be a salad, or bake some asparagus, or even just steam it. Of course, that would change the premise of the recipe, which would be keeping everything on one pan.

All in all, I’m glad that I tried this because I was definitely tired of chicken for a few weeks.

As always, if you guys end up making this dish, feel free to let me know how it turned out for you.
Do you have any tips for cooking pork without searing it first? I’m just a bit confused by so many recipes don’t call for searing the meat first? Hmm, a good question to discuss.

Well, as always…till next time…happy nomming!

-Grey