This easy pork chop marinade guarantees flavorful, juicy pork. It’s a savory, thick marinade that sticks to your pork chops. We adore this recipe, and we’re confident you will, too!
This marinade brings out the best in pork, boosting its natural savory flavor. Any time spent marinating will make your pork taste better but aim for 4 hours or more to achieve the best results. If you’ve followed us for some time, you know we are serious about pork chops (see our highly reviewed juicy skillet pork chops and baked pork chops for reference). With this marinade, we aren’t playing around. You will make some of the most delicious and tender pork chops you’ve had at home.
We call this a pork chop marinade, but it works wonderfully with any cut of pork, especially pork tenderloin. We love grilling the pork after it’s sat in this easy marinade, either on a grill pan or outdoor grill, but you can cook it however you like. I’ve shared my favorite cooking method below.
Key Ingredients
- Garlic: I love the fresh garlic in this marinade and prefer to finely grate it so it sort of melts into the mixture. We only use a couple of cloves for a marinade that will do for 4 chops, so we aren’t making the pork super garlicky.
- Soy Sauce: This adds umami, making the pork taste richer and more porky. It also adds a bit of color and helps to season the pork. Use tamari or soy sauce. I also use soy sauce for the same reasons in our favorite steak marinade.
- Mayonnaise: I’m calling this the secret ingredient to our pork marinade. Mayo is amazing with meat since it’s thick, helping the marinade cling to every surface. It also helps to tenderize the pork, and thanks to the oil in mayo, it self-bastes the pork as it cooks, keeping it juicy. And, if that wasn’t enough, it helps browning when cooking. Can you tell I am a fan? Plain Greek yogurt is a good substitute for the mayo, but you may want to increase the brown sugar by a teaspoon to balance out the yogurt’s tangy flavor. I use yogurt in our Greek chicken marinade.
- Mustard: We use mustard a lot in our marinade recipes (see this lemon chicken marinade as one example). We don’t use enough to get a strong mustard flavor in the end, but it helps season the pork and bring out its natural flavors. Use Dijon mustard or whole-grain mustard.
- Brown Sugar: I’ve seen many pork marinades call for a lot of sugar, and I’m happy to report that this one only calls for a little bit (1 teaspoon for 4 chops). It’s there to balance the mustard and soy sauce and helps the pork to achieve a nice caramelized crust when cooking.
- Pepper and Salt: We love Aleppo pepper, which adds a gentle, sweet heat. If you don’t have that on hand, use crushed red pepper flakes or black pepper as a last resort. We also add a little salt to the marinade to make sure the pork is well-seasoned.
How to Make Our Pork Chop Marinade
This pork chop marinade is super easy to make. You’ll add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix until blended. Then, add your pork and move it around the marinade until coated. Since this marinade is so thick, I sometimes use my hands to rub it all over the pork chops. We recommend marinating for at least 4 hours, but even 1 hour will make a big difference!
This marinade does well on a grill or in a grill pan. I like to sear the chops in a grill pan over medium-high heat to add some color and then finish them in the oven at 375°F (190°C) for perfectly cooked, juicy pork chops. I’ve also included tips for an outdoor grill in the recipe below. You can, of course, cook your chops however you like, but the method shared in the recipe is my favorite.
Easy Pork Chop Marinade
- PREP
- TOTAL
This savory pork marinade is perfect for pork chops, but you can also use it for other cuts like pork tenderloins. Thicker pork chops are the easiest to cook since they don’t overcook and dry out as quickly, but thin pork chops will work nicely, too. Whatever cut you choose, marinate your pork for at least 1 hour and if you can, go for 4+ hours (up to overnight). Keep the pork in the fridge while marinating.
You can cook your chops however you like, but my favorite way is to get a bit of color on the chops in a grill pan first and then slide them into the oven to finish cooking. This makes them beautiful, gets some char, and then guarantees perfectly cooked pork in the middle (it’s also the same method as our baked pork chops recipe).
You Will Need
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard or 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 pork chops, 1-inch thick or 1 ½ to 2 pounds, use boneless or bone-in chops
Directions
- Marinate the Pork Chops
1Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well. This marinade is on the thicker side so that it will stick really well to the pork. If it’s large enough to hold them, add the pork chops to the same bowl or transfer the marinade to a resealable food-safe bag and add the pork chops.
2Rub the marinade all over the pork and let marinate in the refrigerator. Even 1 hour will make a difference, but 4 hours or overnight will create the best results. About halfway through the marinating time, move the pork chops around a bit to make sure the marinade is stuck all over them.
- Cook Pork Chops
1Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set aside a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2Heat a grill pan over medium heat. Lightly oil, and then place the chops into the pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until grill marks, but do not cook until cooked in the middle. Watch your heat is not too high during this step as the brown sugar can burn.
3Transfer the pork chops to the prepared baking sheet and brush over any remaining marinade from the bowl (even the tiniest bit helps).
4Bake until an internal thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chops reads 145°F, about 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how thick your chops are. Rest for 5 minutes, slice, and serve.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Grilled marinated pork chops: To grill marinated pork chops perfectly, begin by preheating your grill: for gas, aim for a high heat of 400°F to 450°F for ten minutes; for charcoal, wait until the coals are ashy white, then create a hot zone by piling most coals on one side. Place the marinated chops directly over the hot zone and grill, with the lid closed, until golden brown with slight char marks, for about 3 minutes. Flip the chops and grill until they reach your desired internal temperature (we cook to 145°F), typically 4 to 6 minutes. If the exterior browns too fast, move the chops to a cooler area of the grill—for gas, turn off a burner. For charcoal, move them to the side with fewer coals.
- Nutrition facts are estimates based on 1 ½ pounds of pork chops (assume 4 chops, about 6 ounces each).
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