6 Tips You Need For Irresistible Southern-Style Smothered Pork Chops

When you're cooking a meal at home, do you want it to be just okay? Mediocre? Positively decent? No. You want outstanding. Memorable. Dare we say, irresistible. Southern-style smothered pork chops can be just that, as long as you have the right guidelines to help along the way.

A dish with Deep South roots — think Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina — smothered pork chops don't require a lot of expert-level cooking techniques or kitchen gadgets. What they do require is a handful of quality ingredients and a bit of patience. There's a method to get deeply flavored results, which is why we sat down with two experts in Southern cuisine to give us expert insight on this comfort food classic. We talked to Chris Stewart, head chef at The Glass Onion in Charleston, South Carolina, and Alec Bradford, owner of Herd Provisions and Leaping Waters Farm in Charleston, South Carolina.

In the simplest terms, you're searing the pork chops, making a gravy, then putting the chops back in the pan and braising the entire thing in the oven. But there's nuance relating to the type of pork chops you decide to use, the brine required before cooking, and the ingredients and cooking method for your gravy. Regardless of the pork chop recipe you choose to follow, these chef-approved tips are guaranteed to elevate yours to top-notch, shout-about-it-from-the-rooftops levels of deliciousness. Grab your heavy-bottomed pan and love for soulful cooking, and see if you've got the (pork) chops to make a truly irresistible version of this classic dish.

When prepping this dish, your grocery list should start with pork chops as the most important ingredient. For those not educated in the ways of pig butchering, you've got options when perusing the pork aisle: shoulder chop, rib chop, sirloin chop, and loin chop are all possibilities.

From there, you can opt for a bone-in or boneless option. When Alec Bradford is preparing his smothered pork chops, he's opting for the bone-in variety, approximately ⅔ of a pound as a single serving. Chris Stewart, on the other hand, goes for a 5-ounce boneless pork chop, specifically from the sirloin end. Whether you go bone-in or boneless, make sure you go for a chop with some fat on it, as opposed to a leaner one. "Keep in mind that sourcing leaner chops can result in a dryer product post-cooking," said Stewart, "which is why I prefer them from the sirloin side."

Once you've gotten the chops, just like a Thanksgiving turkey, it's time to brine. Bradford and Stewart both agree that a brine for the chops before cooking is crucial (how long you brine for is really up to you, but you can go for up to 12 hours). For Stewart, this is where the majority of the herbs and seasonings come into play, allowing the flavors to permeate the meat and enhance natural flavors. And because you're brining ahead of time, Bradford warns not to use too much salt once the chops hit the pan to avoid over seasoning.

Pork chops are a bit of a blank slate, giving you a fairly broad brush with which to add maximum flavor. However, with so many different flavor elements going on in smothered pork chops, the seasoning doesn't need to be heavy or over-the-top. Like Chris Stewart mentioned, the classic herbs he's using — fennel, garlic, thyme, and rosemary to name a few — are there to inject flavor into the meat while also bringing out the pork's natural richness.

Other than these handful of herbs and aromatics, salt and pepper are the only other spices you need to have on hand. Since the gravy (more on that in a minute) has such an unctuous, complex flavor and is doing a majority of the heavy lifting in this dish regarding flavor elements, the seasoning going directly on the pork can be subtle, while still being flavor-forward.

Making gravy without a roux is like making cookies without butter. Theoretically, you could do it, but why would you? The roux is the foundation, and for Chris Stewart, starting his gravy with a dark roux is non-negotiable as it ensures that the pork chops have a gravy that's truly smotherable. The best part? Since you'll be giving your pork chops a sear in the pan before you start to build the gravy, some fat, seasoning, and crispy caramelized bits are already at the bottom of the pan, acting as a flavor base perfect for building your gravy house.

As opposed to a traditional roux, Stewart's dark roux, which starts by toasting the flour in the pan until it's almost red, yields a richer, more complex flavor. After the flour reaches that desired color, Stewart adds in quality stock, chopped onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. He finishes with a splash of Worcestershire sauce and Crystal Hot Sauce for added spice. It's also at this point where, if you want to turn your smothered pork chops into grillades and grits, a classic New Orleans dish, Stewart recommends adding a splash of red wine to your roux. Alec Bradford relies on the meaty, rich flavors in mushrooms for his gravy, while using sage, rosemary, thyme, chili flakes, and white pepper to give the sauce an added note of savory spice and a balanced, earthy flavor.

To get a rich, creamy, and downright luxurious gravy for smothered pork chops, it seems logical that a crucial ingredient would be dairy of some kind. Milk or heavy cream both seem like viable options to make this gravy truly irresistible, right? Not according to Chris Stewart and Alec Bradford.

Chris Stewart, who doesn't use any milk or heavy cream in his gravy, notes that it's the roux and the slow, steady building of ingredients in the pan that will make the gravy silky and smooth. Slowly adding the liquid and whisking constantly on low heat will keep the gravy lustrous and lump-free. Allowing it to reduce in the pan and thicken up during the cooking process will result in a smooth and velvety final product. However, if you do want to add some dairy to your gravy to give it a little extra body, Bradford recommends using milk instead of heavy cream, as it mixes better with the flour.

You've given your pork chops a quick sear in the pan before starting that gravy, and now that the gravy has spent time thickening and building flavor, it's time to put the chops back in the pan and truly let the smothering begin. It's at this point that you may think the heat needs to be turned up high and that things need to move quickly, but in true Southern style, Chris Stewart and Alec Bradford are almost exactly in sync with their tips for the finishing steps of the dish, keeping things slow and steady.

"For the pork, keep a close eye on the meat thermometer, and in the sear don't have the heat on high — a mid-high heat is best," says Bradford. Stewart also recommends, "Stay attentive and don't let the heat get too hot; at no point should your pan get any hotter than medium heat."

You've taken the time to brine your chops and make a rich and flavorful gravy, why ruin it with overcooked, chewy pork chops? Letting the chops go for a slow, tempered swim in the gravy will make all the difference, resulting in pork that is juicy, tender, and loaded with savory flavor.

Assuming you've applied some or all of the tips we got from Chris Stewart and Alec Bradford for achieving smothered pork chop perfection, you've created juicy, tender pork chops with a crisp sear on the outside and a rich, savory gravy that is so decadent that it may be considered a crime to let any of it go to waste. A dish with this much going for it deserves to be accompanied by a starchy side that can soak up every element like a savory sponge, not leaving a single drop behind.

There's no need to think too hard or get overly fancy with your side dishes here — Bradford recommends some absolute classics, like creamy mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and sauteed spinach to go with all that extra gravy and make this a complete meal. Chris Stewart also suggests mashed potatoes or white rice, or if you went his grillades and grits route, make a pot of creamy, buttery grits to serve alongside or underneath the chops.