Stuffed Pork Chops with Apple
These Stuffed Pork Chops are filled with a flavorful breadcrumb stuffing made with apple, onion, celery and fresh herbs. This easy dinner idea is simple to make and so delicious!
Judging by the popularity of our Baked Pork Chops recipe, many of you love cooking pork chops for dinner as much as we do. These stuffed pork chops are a delicious twist on your basic pork chop dinner. They’re so flavorful and fairly quick to make. If your family loves pork chops, you’ll want to add this recipe to your regular dinner rotation.
To make this stuffed pork chops recipe, you’ll cut a pocket inside each pork chop and fill it with a flavorful stuffing mixture. Instead of relying on boxed stuffing mix (like Stove Top stuffing), this recipe uses a simple homemade stuffing made with sautéed onion, celery and apple, fresh herbs and crispy Panko breadcrumbs. The flavors of apple, sage and rosemary are incredible with the pork chops, which are seared in a skillet until golden brown before they finish cooking in the oven.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are the simple ingredients you’ll need to make these stuffed pork chops.
- Butter: For sautéing the onion, celery and apple. The butter adds rich buttery flavor to the pork chop stuffing.
- Onion and Celery: Just like when making a classic stuffing recipe, onion and celery bring savory flavor to the breadcrumb mixture that will be stuffed into the pork chops.
- Apple: Apple and pork are a perfect pair! Adding chopped apple to the stuffing makes these stuffed pork chops the best combination of sweet and savory.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic adds more flavor.
- Fresh Sage & Rosemary: These herbs are often used to make homemade stuffing, and their earthy flavor is perfect in this recipe. Fresh herbs will give you the best flavor, but if you have to use dried, cut the amount down to 1/3 of the amount as you would fresh.
- Panko Breadcrumbs: The larger crumbs of panko breadcrumbs are a perfect stand in for the bread cubes traditionally used in stuffing. Panko works well for making stuffed pork chops since we’re making just a small quantity of stuffing.
- Seasonings: The outsides of the pork chops are seasoned with a flavorful mixture of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.
- Pork Chops: I used boneless pork chops, but bone-in will also work well. If using bone-in, they will take longer to cook through in the oven. Try to buy pork chops that are about 1-inch thick for this recipe.
- Olive Oil: For searing the pork chops in the skillet.
How to Cook Stuffed Pork Chops
If you have a cast iron skillet or other skillet that can go from stove top to oven, you can use it to prepare this recipe in one pan. If not, you can do the stove top steps in a skillet and then transfer the pork chops to a baking dish to finish cooking in the oven.
First, you’ll prepare the simple stuffing mixture. Melt the butter in a skillet and then add the onion, celery and apple and cook until softened. Then add the minced garlic and sage to the pan and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
Transfer the contents of the skillet to a bowl and add the bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper and stir the mixture together.
Next, prepare the pork chops. Stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Use a knife to cut a pocket into the side of each pork chop. You want to make the pocket as big as you can but be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side, and leave the ends of the chops intact. Rub the seasoning mixture over the outside of the pork chops.
Spoon the stuffing mixture into the pocket of each pork chop. Be careful to not fill them too full, so that you can secure the pocket closed with toothpicks.
Then, sear the pork chops in the skillet until both sides are golden brown. Sprinkle on the fresh rosemary.
Finally, transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the pork chops are cooked through. An instant read thermometer should register 145° F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
Stuffed Pork Chops Recipe Tips
- Chop the onion, celery and apple very finely to allow more to fit inside the pocket of each pork chop.
- To keep the pork chops from drying out, be careful to not overcook them.
- As an alternative to the breadcrumb mixture, you can stuff the pork chops with leftover Thanksgiving stuffing.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy these stuffed pork chops with a side of sautéed green beans or sautéed spinach. They’re also delicious with corn casserole (as seen in the photos in this post), garlic mashed potatoes or glazed carrots.
More Pork Chop Recipes
For more tasty ways to prepare pork chops, try these pork chop recipes next:
Stuffed Pork Chops with Apple
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ cup finely chopped celery
- 1 medium apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 boneless pork chops, or bone-in pork chops, about 1-inch thick*
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a large oven-safe skillet, such as a cast iron skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. (If you do not have an oven-safe skillet, you can transfer the pork chops to a baking dish when you're ready to bake them.)
- Add the onion, celery and apple to the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 7-8 minutes, until softened.
- Add the garlic and sage to the pan and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a medium bowl. Stir in the panko breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- In a small bowl, stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Pat the pork chops dry. Use a knife to cut a pocket into the side of each pork chop, as big as you can but being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side, and leaving the ends of the pork chops intact.
- Rub the seasoning mixture over both sides of the pork chops. Then spoon the apple breadcrumb filling into the pocket of each pork chop. You may not use all of the filling; don't overstuff the chops or they won't close. Secure the pork chops closed with toothpicks.
- Wipe out the skillet that you used to sauté. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pork chops to the hot pan and brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Sprinkle the pork chops with the chopped rosemary.
- Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake for 8-15 minutes, until the center of the thickest part of the pork chops registers 145° F. (If using bone-in pork chops, they will take a few minutes longer to cook through.) Let pork chops rest for 3-5 minutes and then serve.
Made this last night with crockpot applesauce and it was incredible. We made it exactly as directed.