How Long To Bake Pork Chops For The Best Doneness

There's a lot of uncertainty out there about how much you need to cook pork chops, and that extends to how long you should bake them. Baked pork chops are pretty much the perfect weeknight meal, as they are quick to make and require little cleanup, but, because of concerns around undercooking pork, they frequently end up dry and tough in the name of being cautious. Well the good news is that you can actually take steps to enjoy medium and even medium-rare pork without concern, as most of the health fears around slightly pink pork are a thing of the past. That means cutting back a bit on how long you would normally bake your pork chops — so what then is the target time and temperature for a juicy, lightly pink cut of pork?

For recipes like our pesto-marinated pork chops that sear the chops first and then finish them in the oven, you'll want a little less time to prevent them from drying out. Baking pork chops at 400 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for getting them brown on the outside without overcooking the center, and at that temperature a seared pork chop will get to a nice, tender medium in about seven to eight minutes. You'll hit medium exactly at the 150-degree internal temperature normally recommended for pork, so use a meat thermometer to check and be careful not to go over. You can cut that timing back by a minute if you're comfortable with medium-rare pork at 145 degrees.

When cooking your pork chop recipe entirely in the oven, there will be a bit more of a range in cook times because of the less intense heat. First, you'll want to aim for a thickness between ¾ and 1 inch for the ideal amount of pink. At that thickness, and the recommended 400 degrees Fahrenheit baking temperature, pork chops will take from 12 to 16 minutes to get to medium doneness. If you prefer chops that are more than an inch thick, it's best to cut down on the temperature and extend the time so they can fully cook through before being overcooked on the outside. In that case you can pull the oven back to 350 degrees, but it can take between 20 and 30 minutes for the pork to finish.

If you really want to nail the perfect temperature coming out of the oven, you should also take resting into account. Letting meat rest helps it stay juicy by allowing the muscle fibers relax and reabsorb moisture lost during cooking, but the residual heat will also raise its internal temperature by 3 to 6 degrees as the meat sits. So, to hit your target, pull your pork chops out five degrees short of the target, and let them sit tented with foil for five minutes. You'll be sure to end up with the juiciest baked pork chops you've ever made.