Baked Stuffed Pork Chops

My P.S. {Personal Shopper/spouse} is a bread man and we always have bread being ignored. Often I will cube a loaf or two and toast it in a 400°F oven until it’s lightly browned and dried. I store it in zippered bags until I need stuffing or salad croutons. I add seasoning and have seasoned cubes without high amounts of salt or the evil msg.

Stuffed pork chops are one of our comfort foods. They’re easy to make then pop into the oven to finish off while I make a side dish. I slow the process down slightly by making my own stuffing. We like to avoid the salt and msg in the packaged stuffing mixes. If you don’t mind those, you could use the box mixes and cut the time.

I made stuffed pork chops with a roasted asparagus risotto the other night and mmmm they were both excellent. It had been ages since I’d made stuffed pork chops and I’d never made risotto. That will be a separate post later, but I’m not going to take the making of risotto away from my P.S. He is the expert and has the patience. I do not. It was delicious, but I’m done now. I just wanted to try it once.

Slice chops in half, leaving 1/2″ joined at one side

I used a knife to slice the boneless pork chops down the center, then set them aside. I’d thrown 3 cups of toasted bread cubes into a bowl, added sage, garlic, dried diced onions, salt and pepper. I tossed them together and added about a cup of beef broth. I used beef because I had an open carton in the fridge; chicken broth would have worked as well.

Season with salt, pepper and paprika

When the stuffing was the right consistency, I shaped them into handfuls and put them into the pork chops. I filled them very full; I wanted a good amount of stuffing in them. I’m a stuffing fan.

Fill with stuffing

Then I realized I’d forgotten to melt butter and put it into the stuffing, so I sliced pieces and laid them on top of the stuffing before I closed the halves of the chops. I seasoned them with salt, pepper and paprika.

Heat a nonstick skillet with a tablespoon of oil and sear the chops

I heated a nonstick skillet over medium high heat with a tablespoon of oil. I put the loaded chops into the pan and seared them on one side, then flipped them and seared the second side.

Carefully flip and sear second side

I placed the chops into an ovenproof dish and put them into the oven that I’d preheated to 350°F to finish them off. I set the oven timer to 20 minutes.

Place in ovenproof dish and place in oven for 20 minutes

In the meantime I’d been making my risotto, and was hoping the chops would be done when the risotto was. The chops had to sit in the oven to keep warm a little longer than they should have, so they were a bit dry. We didn’t mind, they were delicious anyway.

Stuffed Pork Chops

The stuffing makes the pork chop a little more exciting that just frying it up and serving it. The toasted flavor of the cubes and the beef broth made a tasty stuffing. And it certainly looks more exciting when plated.

Stuffed Pork Chops

2 boneless pork chops

Stuffing:
3 cups toasted bread cubes
1 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons butter; melted
1 cup beef or chicken broth; or more to desired texture

Toss together bread cubes and seasonings.  Stir in butter, then broth until well  mixed.  Add more broth to desired consistency.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F,

Slice pork chops in half, leaving 1/2″ joined along one side.

Mound up stuffing and place in chops.  Place in ovenproof dish and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered.

Serve hot.

2 servings