A great pork chop marinade that will make your pork extra juicy with a terrific savoury flavour and a gorgeous caramelised crust without overpowering the natural flavour of pork. Even 1 hour of marinating makes a remarkable difference!
Just a great pork chop marinade
You know when something hits the pan and it smells so great than even if it’s the first time you’ve made that recipe, you know it’s going to be a winner? This is one of those. 🙂
Plus, the added bonus is that there is a very good chance that all the ingredients are already in your pantry. Checklist:
soy sauce
brown sugar
mustard
garlic
pepper
Worcestershire Sauce (I never spell that right first go! Thank you auto correct).
Soy sauce is the secret ingredient
“Soy sauce?”, I hear some of you think, dubiously.
YES. Soy sauce. NO it doesn’t make this the least bit Asiany (no matter how I spell it, auto correct does not like that word!). It’s a brine that injects the pork with juiciness and it’s better than the basic salt + water brine because it’s got more flavour to it.
If you’ve never tried a soy sauce based brine for a protein before, I think you’re going to be very pleasantly surprised. Watch the video below the recipe – the end when I press down on the pork chop to show how juicy it is. That’s courtesy of the soy sauce!
I’m sharing this Pork Chop Marinade because I got all excited that I finally got a new BBQ. Living by the ocean means that anything that resides outdoors has a limited life and my current BBQ looks like an abandoned burnt out car.
While it’s terrific seared on the grill, it is of course great pan fried as well which is how I usually make it.
If you’re BBQ-ing, try it this Lemon Potato Salad and a garden salad with French Dressing, and have a browse for more Grilling Ideas.
If it’s winter where you are, try this One Pan BAKED Vegetables and Rice – you’ll love the seasoned rice! – Nagi xx
More great pork chop marinades & rubs
Or use the marinades from these recipes for pork: Lime Chicken, Greek Chicken Gyros, Chicken Shawarma
Try these on the side
My favourite back-pocket marinades
These are the ones I use over and over again, made with pantry staples with lots of sub options!
Watch how to make it
Recipe video for this great Pork Chop Marinade! Don’t miss the end when I show how juicy the chops are…
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A Great Pork Chop Marinade
Ingredients
- 4 bone in pork chops, 2 cm / 4/5″ thick about 280g/9 oz each (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp oil
Marinade:
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) soy sauce (light or all purpose, not dark)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Place Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag. Massage to combine.
- Add chops. Massage to coat in the Marinade. Marinate for 1 – 24 hours. (Note 2)
- Take the chops out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
- Brush BBQ grill or drizzle oil in pan, heat on medium high. Add pork and cook for 4 minutes or until the underside is caramelised and the pork releases from the grill, then turn the chops and cook for 3 minutes (Note 2 for thin chops).
- Baste both sides with residual marinade in ziplock bag, then cook the basted side for 30 seconds before serving. The chops should have a great crust
- Transfer chops to a plate, cover loosely with foil. Rest for 3 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
* Thin chops: 1.25 cm/ 1/2″ thick – 1 hr+
* Thick chops 2 cm / 4/5″ thick – 3 hrs+ COOK TIME for just white (juicy, no pink, reduce by 1 min for hint of blush):
* Thin chops – 3 minutes first side, 2 minutes second side, then 30 seconds on each side for basting.
* Thick chops – 4 minutes first side, 3 minutes second side, then 45 seconds on each side. If your chops are thicker than the Thick Chops, then I’d recommend starting on the stove and finishing in the oven at 180C/350F until the internal temperature is 145F / 63C. 3. Troubleshooting / tips: Once you put the chops on the BBQ, DON’T TOUCH IT! Once it is cooked, it will release naturally from the grills. If it sticks, it’s not ready to turn. If your chops are cooking too quickly and start to burn because of the sugar in the marinade, turn the heat down. Remember, these chops are meant to have a gorgeous chargrilled crust! 4. CRISPY POTATO ROSTI recipe (pictured on the side of the chops) – by reader request, here’s an abbreviated form of the recipe: 2 large brushed (Sebago) potatoes (US: use russet), peeled and grated using a box grater. Grab handfuls and squeeze out excess liquid or do this using a dish towel (clean!). Place in bowl, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tbsp butter + 1 1/2 tbsp oil (I use olive) in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add dollops of potato, spread into pancake shape about 12 cm / 4.5″ wide, 0.75 cm / 1/4″ thick. Press down to compact into rosti, cook for 3 minutes or until deep golden brown. Flip and repeat. Drain on paper towels, repeat with remaining potato, should make 8. Originally posted August 2017, photos replaced in May 2018, some tidying up done in February 2019, no change to recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
This is what a doggie smile looks like!
I’m not much on soy sauce unless it’s in small moderation. I made this and tasted the marinade before adding my pork chops, and I decided to add a little more Worcestershire sauce, a little more brown sugar, and a little bit of honey. SOOOOOO good!!!
At last! My pork chops weren’t hard and tough!
Great flavor and very tender. Grilled about 4 mins per side, then basted with left over marinade and flipped to get both sides. Temp at 150. Perfect. Thank you!
Chops were juicy and tasty! My picky 18 year old really liked them. I used boneless chops just over 1/2 inch thick. Added 2 tablespoons of ketchup to the marinade, then followed the recipe as written.
It is truly great. I’m not into pork chop, but this one is really great. Sister in law give me some pork chop to cook because they bought plenty. Thank you so much, Nagi.
This is really delicious! I used boneless pork chops and I added some red pepper flakes to spice it up a bit!
Nagi: Used your pork chop/steak recipe after finding a really nice tenderloin on special and butchering it into steaks. Cannot thank you enough, this is REALLY SPECIAL! Think I’ll add a tablespoon or so of Gochujang for a little spice next time. Cheers!
Hi Nagi, thanks for this one. I have used a number of your recipes and they are always spot-on. I made a few changes for the BBQ, I added 1/4 cup of olive oil, half the sugar and I used 1.5 tsp mustard powder instead of Dijon. It all worked a treat, the wife and kids loved it, thanks!
I have never commented on a recipe before, but had to on this one. HOLY COW, best marinade for pork chops ever! This is so good, the pork was so moist and flavorful. My picky eater 8 yr old son, who I had to negotiate with to even take 1 bite, LOVED it and ended up eating a whole chop himself. Thank you!!!
Has anyone tried this recipe with baked porknchops?
Yes, did two tenderloin steaks in the oven and two on the hob this evening (first time with this recipe). Basted frequently in the oven, and they were just as delicious. Give it a go!
Used this for pork chops and loved it. Could you use this on a pork roast that you cook in the oven.
I don’t normally marinate stuff, but i wanted to try something different. Decided to add in a little bit of chili extract to give it a spicy kick, and i’ll be frying it in a pan with some mushrooms and onions. and melting a little bit of cheese over it. Might be a little weird to add cheese into the mix, but it covers a few taste combinations i like.
We make use of many of your recipes and really enjoyed this marinade. We actually cooked the chops in our air fryer and they came out amazing!
Many thanks
At which temperature and for how long in the air fryer?
200C for 10 minutes, then let it stand, in the air fryer for another 5 minutes before serving
That’s great to know Keith!! N x
Is it possible to replace the garlic cloves with garlic powder? If so how much should I put in there?
It’s not quite the same but you could sub with 1 tsp garlic powder if you like 🙂 N x
I forgot to give the recipe five strars.
Thank you Nagi. Another great recipe. Because this is a recipe for four serves, we had this over two nights. I served the pork chops with rice and some greens on the side. On the first night the pork chops had been marinating for three hours. Then the other two pork chops we cooked up on the second night and this had been marinating much longer. I recommend marinating the pork chops for longer since it is definitely makes a difference with the flavour.
I followed your recipe for the marinade exactly. The only difference was I used dark soy sauce. I cooked them on the BBQ and they came out amazing! The best pork chops I’ve ever eaten. Thanks so much for posting this online. Cheers!
I do not have soy sauce. What substitutes can I use for I place of soy sauce?
These turned out so well!! Thank you! I’ll be coming back for more.
This recipe was great, let the pork chops sit in the marinade for a little over 24 hours and it was great! Would definitely recommned!
Another delicious recipe Nagi.
I marinaded pork chops for 8 hrs in vacuumed sealed bag. Also made the Potato Rosti to go with chops. Could also make Rosti to go with bacon and eggs in the morning. Great website