Pork Chop Marinade
The best Pork Chop Marinade! This simple marinade infuses pork chops with the best flavor. It’s made with just a handful of ingredients and can be used to marinate pork chops for grilling, baking or air frying.
With grilling season here, I’m excited to share my all-time favorite pork chop marinade. It takes just minutes to mix up, and it makes the most amazing Grilled Pork Chops!
I love using marinades because they are an easy way to infuse meats with delicious flavor, making them extra tender and juicy. Marinades also allow for flexibility, since you can marinate pork chops for just one hour or up to 8 hours before cooking. You can even freeze pork chops in this pork chop marinade to cook later.
The Best Pork Chop Marinade
- Simple: You only need 5 ingredients, plus pepper, to make this easy pork chop marinade.
- Versatile: You can use this marinade to make Grilled Pork Chops, Baked Pork Chops, or Air Fryer Pork Chops. It would also make a delicious seasoning for Grilled Pork Tenderloin.
- Delicious: Say goodbye to boring, flavorless pork chops. This marinade makes the tastiest chops!
Prefer a seasoning rub for your pork chops? Try our best Pork Rub!
Pork Chop Marinade Ingredients
- Olive Oil: The olive oil helps to transfer the flavors from the other marinade ingredients to the meat. It also keeps the meat from sticking to the grill.
- Soy Sauce: Adds delicious flavor. I recommend using a low sodium soy sauce.
- Brown Sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness and helps the marinade to caramelize on the pork chops as they cook. You can substitute honey if you prefer.
- Dijon Mustard: Brings so much flavor! You’ll love the subtle tanginess that it brings to the marinade.
- Garlic: You can’t beat the flavor of fresh garlic in a marinade.
- Black Pepper: I add pepper, but not salt, because the soy sauce is plenty salty.
Find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below.
How to Marinate Pork Chops
- You can marinate the pork chops in a large zip top bag or baking dish. Combine the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and whisk. Place the pork in a zip top bag or baking dish and then pour the marinade over the meat.
- Before pouring the marinade over the pork chops, you can reserve a few tablespoons to brush on the meat during the last few minutes of cooking. This is optional.
- This marinade can be used on bone-in pork chops or boneless pork chops. I prefer to use bone-in chops because the bone keeps the meat extra moist and juicy.
- Make sure the pork chops are well coated in the marinade. I like to flip the bag over (or flip the pork chops if marinating in a dish) about halfway through the marinating time to make sure both sides soak up the flavor.
- Always marinate pork chops in the refrigerator.
- For food safety, discard the extra marinade that came in contact with the raw pork.
- Don’t overcook pork chops, or they may turn out dry and tough. According to the USDA, pork chops should be cooked to at least 145° F and then allowed to rest for a minimum of 3 minutes before eating.
How Long to Marinate Pork Chops
Marinate pork chops for at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. You can marinate a little longer than 8 hours if it works better for your schedule.
Can You Freeze this Marinade?
Yes! This pork chop marinade is perfect for freezing, and it makes a great make ahead meal. To freeze, place the pork chops and marinade in zip-top plastic bag and squeeze the bag to make sure all of the pork chops are coated. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to cook the pork chops, place the bag in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Then cook as desired.
What to Serve with Pork Chops
Round out your meal with a few of these side dishes:
- Vegetables: Try Grilled Vegetables or Sautéed Broccoli.
- Rice or Bread: Cook a pot of rice on the stove (How to Cook Rice) or try our favorite Biscuit Recipe.
- Potatoes: Both Roasted Potatoes and Air Fryer Potato Wedges go well with grilled pork chops.
- Salad: You can’t go wrong with a Kale Salad, Fruit Salad or this tasty Southwest Quinoa Salad.
More Marinade Recipes to Love
Enjoy all that grilling season has to offer with these marinade recipes:
Pork Chop Marinade
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, or honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 bone-in pork chops, at least 1-inch thick is best*
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, garlic and pepper. Whisk to mix.
- Place pork chops in a large zip-top bag or baking dish and pour marinade over the pork chops. Put in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 1 hour, and up to 8 hours.
- Cook the pork chops according to your preferred cooking method, such as grilled pork chops:
- Preheat grill to 400° F (medium-high heat).
- Remove pork chops from marinade and discard excess marinade. Sear pork chops on the grill, about 2 minutes per side. Then reduce heat to medium.
- Grill pork chops an additional 4-7 minutes per side to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. Use an instant read thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the thickest portion of the pork chop without touching the bone. Pork chops thicker than 1 inch may take longer to cook through.
- Let pork chops rest for 5 minutes and then serve.
Notes
- You can also use boneless pork chops. Boneless chops may require a few less minutes to cook.
- Nutrition information is for marinade and pork chops, and assumes that all marinade will be consumed, which it will not be.
We grilled the Great Marinated Pork Chops recipe last night using your honey and eight hour options. They were scrumptious.
I wish you had included the recipe for baking these in the oven. We don’t own a grill. Now I have to try & guess.
Hi, If you read the post above the recipe card, I linked to my baked pork chops recipe which you can refer to for cook times. Bone-in pork chops will take longer to cook than boneless.
I tried this recipe yesterday for my family. I doubled the ingredients and Marinated 6 thick pork chops for about 4-5 hours. This was fantastic!!!!! Highly recommend. We had mashed potatoes and roasted fresh asparagus
I’ve never cared much for pork chops until I tried this marinade recipe. Now they are a staple in our meals. Thank you for sharing!
Without a doubt, it’s the best pork chop recipe I’ve ever had that marinade was fabulous. Thank you
You don’t explain how Long to bake if that’s the choice. You leave a temperature but not stating how long to BAKE. DISAPPOINTED WITH INSTRUCTION
Hi, If you read the post above the recipe card, I linked to my baked pork chops recipe which you can refer to for cook times. Bone-in pork chops will take longer to cook than boneless.
The best recipe
I grilled mine
I used this for pork chops and put them on the grill. They were so good! Tender and juicy! Will use again
These pork chops are very tender and tasty! I’m not a pork chop grilling fan but I will definitely make these again. I’m thinking of trying this in a cast iron skillet this fall.
We used a cast iron tonight! Phenomenal!!! I threw in some leftover fresh thyme, rosemary and butter, chef’s kiss!
Marinade was on point though!
Hi, sounds delicious 🤤 would really like to try this, but how long would you cook them in the Air fryer for please 🙏
Hi Gillian,
You can use this marinade and follow the cooking directions in my Air Fryer Pork Chops recipe (minus the seasoning rub).
It was delicious.
This marinade is delicious. Best grilled pork chop I’ve had. Thank you. So yummy
Am I able to marinade with this recipe overnight?
Yes, that should work fine. Enjoy!
Nice!
It really good my 95 year old grandmom loves it an shes a picky eater .
Best marinade for grilling pork chops on the web! I followed the instructions but kept them in the fridge for 24 hours, flipping the bag about every 6 hours. To be honest about it they tasted better than any steak on the grill.
Looks delicious – can thaw be baked on oven or crock pot? Thanks sandy
Hi Sandy, Thank you! Please refer to my Baked Pork Chops and Crock Pot Pork Chops recipes for cooking guidelines for the oven and crock pot. Enjoy!
By far the best marinade!!!
Wow, it was delicious and my Grandsons 1st grilling experience! He is 14 and a grill master, he proclaims now.
I made this tonight and it was outstanding! We took the leftover marinade and boiled it down to use as a dipping sauce. all around spectacular!
Excellent marinade.
This is the best pork marinade I’ve found. I crave it. I prefer and use the honey option.
This is a great marinade. Try it, you will love it. I did in under the broiler of my oven.
Excellent marinade! I plucked this off Pinterest for dinner prep yesterday. I cut the recipe in half as I had two thick pork chops. I still had a lot of marinade so bought four more thin cuts of pork. The pan-cooked pork was tender and had a wonderful flavor. I froze the remaining porks with the marinade for future meals.
Love this marinade on bone in pork chops. Made it several times and it’s my go to for pork chops.
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it!
Awesome
Only marinade I use now for pork chops! It works well with all cuts and grill or airfryer!
I made this last night and it was delicious! My husband loved it and claimed the leftovers for his lunch. I will definently make it again. I used brown sugar. I was out of minced garlic so i used powder and it was fine.
Ingredients that you keep on hand most of the time. Taste delicious
Made this tonight for dinner. Was the best pork chops I ever made. they were tender and juicy with lots of flavor. I only had a few hours to marinate and used it to make 6 good-sized chops. My boyfriend said they were really good and he never says that about my pork chops.
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
My family LOVES this marinade. I also use it on chicken. The grandkids beg me to make it. ❤️
Tried this twice. First time I fried the pork, second time I grilled it. Frying it was much less hassle and tasted better.
The very best with little effort!!!
Cooking the chops tonight. They are marinating right now.
I love this recipe! I use it on pork and chicken. Throw it in a cast iron pan or on the grill. Either way, the marinade is amazing!