Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Garlic Butter
Bone-in pork chops seared hard in a cast iron skillet until deeply golden, then basted with garlic butter and fresh thyme until juicy and done. The same technique as a great steak — hot pan, good crust, butter baste, rest before cutting. Twenty minutes start to finish.
Ingredients
Meat & Protein
- 2 bone-in pork chops rib chops or center-cut, at least 1 inch thick, brought to room temperature for 15 minutes
Produce
- 4 garlic cloves smashed, skin on
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
Dairy
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter cold, cut into pieces
Pantry & Canned Goods
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Seasonings & Spices
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper freshly cracked
- 0.5 tsp garlic powder
- 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Pull the pork chops from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Pat completely dry with paper towels — both sides and edges. Season generously on all sides with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat for 3 minutes until smoking. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat. Lay the pork chops in the pan — you should hear an immediate aggressive sear. Do not move them.
- Sear for 3 to 4 minutes until deeply golden and releasing naturally from the pan. Flip once. If they stick, they're not ready — give them another 30 seconds.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the butter, smashed garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs to the pan. As the butter melts and foams, tilt the pan slightly and use a spoon to continuously baste the top of the chops with the butter for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Check internal temperature — pull at 140°F. Transfer to a plate or cutting board and rest for 5 minutes. Temperature will carry over to 145°F during rest. Spoon the garlic butter from the pan over the top just before serving.
Notes
Bone-in pork chops stay juicier than boneless because the bone conducts heat more evenly and slows the cooking slightly. If you use boneless chops, reduce the sear time by about 1 minute per side and watch the temperature carefully — they go from perfect to overcooked faster.
The single most important step: pull at 140°F, not 160°F. The USDA updated safe pork temperature to 145°F in 2011. A chop pulled at 160°F is overcooked, dry, and why pork chops have a bad reputation. Get a thermometer and use it.
Thick chops (over 1.5 inches) can be finished in a 400°F oven after the sear — 5 to 8 minutes until they hit 140°F.
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