Recipes

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Thick chops that are hard to overcook: salted the night before, brought up slowly in a low oven, then seared for a crust and finished in a sticky, garlicky honey pan sauce. The thermometer does the worrying.

Total time
5 h 15 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
1 h
Serves
4

Course Main

Cuisine American

Main ingredient Pork

Techniques brining browning deglazing reducing

Tags dinner-partymake-ahead

Ingredients

For the chops

  • 4 bone-in pork chops, double-thick, 336–392 g (12–14 oz) each
  • salt
  • black pepper
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil, or lard or any high-smoke-point oil

For the sauce

  • 14 g (1 tbsp) unsalted butter, for the garlic
  • 6–8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 1 dried Thai chile, mild to hot, roughly chopped
  • 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 120 g (½ cup) chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 170 g (½ cup) honey
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 42 g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter, to finish
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Equipment

  • wire rack set over a sheet tray
  • probe or instant-read thermometer
  • large cast-iron skillet

Instructions

  1. Pat the chops dry all over with paper towels, set them on the rack over the sheet tray and salt them on every side. For the dry brine, leave them uncovered in the fridge for 4 to 24 hours. It is optional, but it is what keeps them juicy.
  2. When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to 120 °C (250 °F). Season the chops with pepper, insert the thermometer and put the tray on the middle rack. Cook until the centre reads 46–48 °C (115–118 °F), which takes about 45 minutes. Take them out and set them aside.
  3. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat until it just starts to smoke. Holding two chops at a time with tongs, stand them fat cap down in the pan for 2 minutes to render and brown the edge.
  4. Lay them flat and sear for 2 minutes, until deep golden, turning the heat down a little if they colour too fast. Flip and cook for about 2 minutes more, until they read 57–60 °C (135–140 °F). Rest them on the rack while you sear the other two.
  5. Pour the oil out of the skillet and let the pan cool for 2–3 minutes. If it is too hot, the butter and garlic will burn and you will have to start the sauce again.
  6. Over low heat, melt the 14 g of butter and cook the garlic and chile for 30–45 seconds.
  7. Pour in the vinegar, scraping up the browned bits, and let it bubble over medium heat until only 1–2 tbsp is left. Add the stock and soy sauce and reduce for 1–2 minutes.
  8. Stir in the honey and cook for 1–2 minutes, until it starts to thicken. Turn the heat to low and stir in the Dijon, the remaining 42 g of butter, the lemon juice and the green onions. Taste and adjust.
  9. Return the chops to the pan for a minute to warm through in the sauce, and serve. Sliced fresno chiles, chilli flakes or more green onion are optional garnishes.

Notes & tips

From the source.

  • The author serves pork medium, 60–63 °C (140–145 °F). Past 71–74 °C (160–165 °F) a chop loses a lot of moisture and dries out, which is why he pulls them at 57–60 °C (135–140 °F) and lets them rest.
  • Buy thick chops, ideally double-thick and bone-in. Thin ones go from raw to overcooked in a couple of minutes and do not have the fat to stay moist.
  • Make ahead: the sauce takes about 10 minutes, keeps in the fridge for up to a week, and improves as it sits; warm it as needed. The chops are best straight from the pan, but they can sit covered in the sauce, off the heat, for up to 20 minutes before serving.
  • Storage: leftover chops keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or covered in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge for a day before reheating.
  • Reheating: reheat the chops covered and without sauce in a 175 °C (350 °F) oven for 6–8 minutes. Warm the sauce separately in a small pan over low heat.

Variations

  • Without the reverse sear: skip the dry brine and heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Pat dry and season the chops, sear them fat cap down for 2 minutes and then flat for 2 minutes a side until golden. Insert the thermometer and finish them on the middle rack for 12–13 minutes, to 57–60 °C (135–140 °F). Rest, then make the sauce in the same way.

Source

Chef Billy Parisi, billyparisi.com, published 2026-09-24. Instructions rewritten. Weights are converted from the source's cups and ounces with this collection's table. The source gives 4 tbsp of butter as one line and uses it in two places, so it is split here. The total time of 315 minutes is the source's own figure and includes the minimum 4-hour dry brine.