Buttermilk Pork Chops

These buttermilk pork chops are brined for tenderness and flavor. They’re perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or Sunday dinner. So, make our buttermilk brined pork chop recipe tonight and you’ll have a new family favorite!

Why Use a Buttermilk Brine?

I’ve learned that buttermilk is the ideal brine for pork, chicken, and turkey.

It helps tenderize pork, keeps it moist during cooking, and seasons the meat. The acidity and calcium in buttermilk help break down the proteins in meat. That makes the meat more tender.

Since pork contains a lot of water and a little salt, using a salty brine creates a reverse osmosis process (see the chart below). Over time, it allows a natural shifting of moisture in the meat.

Learn how it works in this brining article, and why:

• Marinated/brined pork and poultry are more flavorful, tender, and juicy.
  
• It infuses flavor, while the acidity and calcium break down the protein, rendering it more tender.
  
• The reserve osmosis process keeps the meat juicy.

How Long Should I Brine Pork?

As you can imagine, brining is a long process. For the best results, I recommend brining overnight or all day.

The reverse osmosis process takes about 8 hours. Although you don’t want to overbrine your meats, 8 to 24 hours is ideal.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

The ingredients for this recipe are simple. In fact, most of them are already in your pantry or fridge:

• Bone-in pork chops – I recommend using bone-in, center-cut chops as they tend to stay juicy (more on this below). Look for those that are well-marbled and at least 3/4″ thick – see our tenderizing pork chops article for more tips.
  
• buttermilk – is essential for the brine. You can use any type of buttermilk, including non-fat. It’s the acidity, calcium, and sodium that do the work. If you don’t have any on hand, substitute it for milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice added as a substitution.
  
• brown sugar – helps balance the salt and is essential for this recipe. We will just be soaking the meat in it, not ingesting it.
  
• olive oil – use any type of cooking oil here: olive, avocado, corn or canola, even refined coconut oil.
  
• garlic – fresh is best, but any type of raw minced garlic works in this recipe.
  
• Bay leaves – these add seasoning to the brine, but they aren’t a must-have ingredient. You can skip them if you don’t have any bay leaves on hand.
  
• hot sauce – or red pepper flakes for added flavor. It doesn’t add any real spiciness to the meat.

What Pork Cut Should I Use?

I recommend using bone-in pork chops for this buttermilk brine recipe. Although my preference is center-cut, bone-in, other cuts will work, too. Look for well-marbled cuts for the best results.

While testing this recipe, I tried different cuts of pork, including boneless. However, boneless loin chops were not quite as tender and juicy as the bone-in.

Typically, boneless chops are leaner with less fat marbling than bone-in chops. So, the cut of meat (pork) is important here.

To learn more about the differences, read this post about the different cuts of pork.

Want a tender meat? Learn how to make pork tender with our tips!

Prepare the Brine and Marinate

To get started, let’s make the buttermilk brine. It is simple, easy, and takes less than 5 minutes to make!

First, mix the ingredients for the brine marinade.

Add pork chops, cover, and let them marinate overnight in the refrigerator for 8-24 hours.

4 Methods to Make the Juiciest Pork Chops

This recipe works with several different cooking methods. Our preferred method is grilling, but you can also get equally great results from frying and baking.

Before cooking:

• Remove meat from the brine, and discard the brine.
  
• Rinse off the chops and dry them with paper towels.
  
• Coat with a thin layer of olive oil.
  
• Season with salt and pepper or all-purpose seasoning (whatever your preference).
  
• Let rest at room temperature for 15- 30 minutes before cooking.

Then, you are ready to fry, air fry, make, or grill the pork chops. Get the full directions for these different cooking methods in the recipe below.

Frying

Fry them for a delicious low-carb and keto pork dinner. I love using my cast iron skillet or Dutch oven! Have them ready to serve in just 20 minutes or so.

Air Fry

Did you know you can air-fry a juicy pork chop in less than 10 minutes? Talk about the ideal quick weeknight dinner!

Baking

When you’re busy in the kitchen, baking is the perfect fix-it-and-forget-it method. After all, baking frees you up to focus on the other parts of your dinner.

Grilling

Grilling is our favorite way of preparing meat. There’s nothing like cutting into a perfectly grilled pork chop with those hallmark grill marks with that smoky grilled taste.

Now you know how to make the best tender, juicy buttermilk pork chops. And how brining brings out the best in pork and poultry.

With this easy, make-ahead process to brine your meat, dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes.

Serving Suggestions

Of course, you want the perfect side dishes that go well with your tender, tasty pork chops! Here are some recipes to create the perfect dinner:

Serve them with a casserole pressure cooker, biscuits with self rising flour, and roasted green beans. And, learn how to make strawberry cobbler, it would be the perfect dessert.

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Pork Recipes to Love…

• Pork Chops Pressure Cooker
  
• Sheet pan pork tenderloin
  
• Dutch Oven BBQ Pulled Pork
  
• Crock Pot ranch pork chops
  
• How To Cook Pork Steak

If you tried this buttermilk pork chop recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

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