Lemon pepper pork chops
Two juicy pork chops with a lemony butter sauce and garlicky green beans from the same skillet, a small-batch dinner in 25 minutes.
- 25 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $2.98 a serving
- 490 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: I’d make this on a weeknight. It’s on the table in 25 minutes.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 boneless pork chops, boneless, about 1 inch thick
- 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 8 oz green beans, trimmed
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 lemon, halved
From your pantry
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
Each serving has about 490 calories, 38 g protein, 12 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $2.98 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No green beans? Frozen green beans work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chops dry and both sides with the lemon pepper and garlic powder.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Dolly’s tip: Most lemon pepper has salt in it, so taste a pinch before you add any more.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it . the chops 4 minutes without moving them, until underneath.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 4 min
Flip, turn the heat to medium, and cook 3 to 5 minutes more, until the middle reads 145°F. Move the chops to a plate.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Add the green beans, water and salt to the pan, cover, and 4 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 minutes more, until the water is gone and the beans are .
Steam. Steaming means cooking food over or in a little simmering water with a lid on to trap the steam. It cooks gently and keeps vegetables bright and tender.
How you’ll know: The color turns vivid, and a fork goes in with just a little resistance.
Tender-crisp. Tender-crisp means vegetables cooked until just tender but still with a little snap. They keep their bright color and crunch instead of going soft and dull.
How you’ll know: A fork goes in with slight resistance, and the color is bright, not olive or gray.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Push the beans aside, add the butter, and squeeze in the juice of half the lemon. Swirl the pan until the butter into a sauce.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Low heat
Plate the chops and beans, spoon the lemon butter over the chops, and serve with the other lemon half in wedges.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
