Smothered pork chops
Golden bone-in pork chops that finish cooking in a pan of silky onion gravy, spooned over rice the Southern way.
- 55 min total
- 35 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.30 a serving
- 750 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 4 bone-in pork chops, about ¾ inch thick
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken broth
From your pantry
- 3 cups water
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 750 calories, 44 g protein, 73 g carbs and 30 g fat, and costs about $2.30 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice, water and of salt in a and over high heat.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 18 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Dolly’s tip: Keep the lid on the whole time. The trapped steam is what cooks the rice.the chops dry and both sides with 1 tsp of the salt, the pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
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.
Put the flour in a shallow dish and press each chop into it on both sides, shaking off the extra. Keep the leftover flour.
Dolly’s tip: You need 2 tablespoons of that leftover flour for the gravy, so don’t throw it out.Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it , then the chops 3 minutes a side, until . Move them to a plate.
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.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
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: 6 min
Dolly’s tip: They won’t be cooked through yet. They finish in the gravy.Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and of salt, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until soft and . Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
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 heatTimer: 7 min
Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the leftover flour over the onions and stir for 1 minute, until no dry flour shows.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Slowly pour in the broth while you stir, , and bring it . It into gravy as it bubbles.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Add a splash at a time and stir each one smooth before the next. That’s how you avoid lumps.Nestle the chops back into the gravy, cover, and 8 to 10 minutes, until the meat near the bone reads 145°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 9 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.
Taste the gravy and add the last of salt if it needs it. Fluff the rice and serve the chops over it with the onion gravy spooned on top.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
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.
