Air Fryer Parmesan-Crusted Boneless Pork Chop Recipe

In many recipes that call for Parmesan cheese, the directions often specify that you must use the freshly-grated kind, and they may sneak in a few gratuitous digs at the kind that comes in a sprinkler can. If you do have such a can in the pantry or refrigerator, though, there's no need to be ashamed. "For this recipe," developer Joe Dillard specifies, "you'll want to use grated, powdered Parmesan cheese — the shelf-stable green plastic can that you sprinkle on spaghetti, [and] not the freshly-grated Parmesan." The reason is that this kind of Parmesan results in the crispy crust achieved in this recipe.

Dillard calls these air-fried pork chops a "crowd-pleasing dish," although they'll be equally pleasing to the solo diner, as any leftovers can be easily heated up again in the air fryer. As he notes, "This simple dish comes together in less than 25 minutes." The recipe only require 6 ingredients, too, and most of them are pantry staples. This means you won't need to expend too much effort at the grocery store or in the kitchen, so you can bookmark this pork chop dish as another time-saving recipe to add to your repertoire.

For this recipe, you'll be using boneless pork chops, although Dillard says that you can also use the bone-in kind, as long as you add 5 to 10 minutes to the cook time. The total time needed will depend on how thick they are, though, so Dillard reminds us to "check... [the] internal temperature often." 

For the crumb crust, you'll need an egg, powdered Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and breadcrumbs. While Dillard feels that "Italian-style breadcrumbs add lots of flavor to this recipe," he notes that you can diy this ingredient by adding 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning to 1 cup of plain breadcrumbs.

While some air fryer recipes say that there's no pre-heating required, this isn't one of them, so set that appliance to 400 F, and wait until it reaches that temperature before adding the pork chops. As it preheats, combine the Parmesan breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Beat the egg in another shallow bowl.

Dip each pork chop first in the egg, then into the breadcrumb mixture, making sure to coat both sides. Once all of the chops have been coated, mist each side of the pork chops with cooking spray. If you're not a fan of aerosol sprays, you can invest in an oil sprayer for times such as these, which you can fill with your own cooking oil.

Put the chops into the air fryer basket, being sure not to overcrowd it. Unless you have an extra-large air fryer, you may need to cook them in batches. Air fry the chops for 6 minutes, then turn them over, and cook them for another 3 to 5 minutes. Test the internal temperature with a meat thermometer, making sure they reach 160 F. As Dillard points out, "Air fryers can cook differently based on brand and size," meaning that the time your pork chops may need to cook could be different. Should you have any leftover pork chops, they should be good in the refrigerator for 3 days. When you want to heat them up again, just put them back in the air fryer for about 5 minutes, and enjoy.