Baked Garlic Pork Chops

The Best Baked Garlic Pork Chops Recipe Ever is the best oven baked pork chop recipe ever – solid rich, tender, juicy garlic baked pork chops that are incredibly easy and restaurant quality good!

With tons of tips for juicy baked pork chops, how to bake pork without drying it out, and how long to bake pork chops for perfectly tender pork!

Pork chops are one of our favorite easy, quick, and good no-fail weeknight dinners.

The best baked garlic pork chops recipe we've ever found is this simple, good, and crazy easy dinner that always gets RAVE reviews from friends and family – like our favorite brown sugar garlic baked pork chopsor our easy baked pork chops!

These easy baked pork chops are the best and easiest way for home cooks of any level to make solid, good, and never-dry pork chops.

They are quick seared to lock in the flavor and have a lovely browned crust – and these pork chops are finally then baked to perfection, so you have solid, juicy and good garlic pork that your whole family will flip over!

like our favorite crock pot pork steaks and our baked garlic pork tenderlointhese easy baked pork chops are perfectly tender and juicy – not dry and tough like pork gets a bad reputation for!

This easy pork chop recipe will be your new favorite oven baked pork recipe ever – bursting with lemon garlic butter pork flavor that is like you'd get at your favorite restaurant – we hope you love it as much as we do!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Serve it with

These deliciously decadent lemon garlic butter baked pork chops are fabulous for a weeknight dinner on the go, a good dinner party, or even a holiday feast!

Garlic pork chops in oven are a solid dinner – and go perfectly with simple, good, and easy sides!

We personally love it with our easy sauteed zucchini and squashrice pilafEasy Oven Roasted Asparagusor Brown Butter Bacon Baked Brussels Sprouts !

Other Easy One Pot Pork Recipes

If you love this good and easy baked garlic pork, please check out some of our other favorite pork recipes!

These are all bursting with good flavor, take only one pot, and are guaranteed to make you fall in love with the rich and buttery pork flavor – you'll want to make oven baked garlic pork chops every night.

• The Best Baked Garlic Pork Tenderloin
• Easy Slow Cooker Pork Steaks Recipe
• One Pot Lemon Garlic Pork Chops and Asparagus Skillet
• Alsace Choucroute Garnie (Braised Pork Meat Pot)
• Tuscan Pork Chops
• Garlic Herb Butter Baked Pork Loin and Potatoes

Kitchen notes

The number one tool you will need for any type of pork is a quick meat thermometer so you don't overcook pork.

Overcooked pork is the #1 reason people complain about the flavor or texture of pork since going over 145 degrees can dry pork out in an instant.

Sear Before Baking

We know you're thinking – wait – this is a recipe for BAKED, not fried pork chops – but giving your pork a quick sear is essential for flavor.

Browning pork chops on the stove before baking helps seal in the juices from the tenderloin and brings a rich, caramelized flavor that makes the pork chops irresistible!

Seared pork also looks better – it has a lovely golden brown, instead of they grey color baked pork can often take on.

Keep the pork in the same pan, and toss the whole thing in the oven to finish your pork chop dinner!

What Temperature To Cook Pork To

Pork chops should stay in the oven until they have reached 145 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature when measured with a meat thermometer.

Baked pork chops cook time can vary so much depending on the thickness of the pork chop, the moisture in the chop, the temperature of your house, the size of the pork chop, your oven, altitude, and so much more.

Please don't pop it in the oven, set your timer, and walk away thinking you'll have good and solid pork chops.

Check your pork chops every ten minutes or so until you're close to 145 degrees internal temperature when measuring the thickest part of the largest chop (insert the meat thermometer into the middle of the pork chop, making sure you don't touch or are close to the bottom of the pan), and pull the pork when it is.

Pick Thicker Pork Chops When Baking

Thicker pork chops are harder to dry out – thin cut pork chops cook so fast, they should not be baked in the oven if you sear them first – they will likely be cooked completely from searing.

If you want to make this recipe with thin cut pork chops, skip the oven and cook entirely on the stovetop, adding the garlic and lemon juice to the pan to soften and caramelize after you flip your pork the first time and ladle the butter, juice, and garlic over pork chops as they cook to prevent the garlic from burning.

Know Your Chop

For this recipe, we are using boneless chops – but you can also use a center-cut pork chop, a bone-in pork loin chop, or a bone-in rib chop.

Using a bone-in pork chop for this baked pork chop recipe will add cook time to the dish – about another 10-15 minutes for this oven baked pork chop (again, this varies wildly, so use your thermometer to check the baked pork chop temperature as it cooks!!)

Marinate

Pork chops have such a light flavor, and easy to mess up texture – they benefit from marinating more than almost any other meat.

Marinating is an easy way to increase flavor and keep your baked pork chops tender and juicy.

We like to marinate pork chops for even 30 minutes – you can make a simple marinade from olive oil and lemon juice – that can help a ton in keeping flavor and moisture in your pork chops.

Please read our ultimate guide to pork chops if you have any questions on types of pork chops, best cooking ideas, etc!

Recipe FAQ's

Can we bake a thick pork chop?

If you're making these pork chops with a loin chop, rib chop, or thick cut boneless chop, add 5-15 minutes cooktime, depending on the size of the chop.

What temperature do we bake pork chops to?

Pork is done at 145 degrees – which does leave a bit of pink.
Cook pork chops to 140 degrees, and let them carry over cook to 145 while the rest.

The Best Baked Garlic Pork Chops Recipe Ever

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 3 tbsp lemon juice, divided
• 4 pork chops, 1/2″ thick boneless chops – see instructions for extra thick or thin baking time differences
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
• 3 tbsp butter or olive oil
• ½ lemon, sliced into thin rounds
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp parsley, fresh cut, to garnish

Method

1. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic powder, pork chops, salt, and pepper to a ziploc bag and marinate for at least 3 hours, and up to overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Pat pork chops with paper towel to completely dry from any moisture from marinade.
4. Season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Heat a heavy cast iron pan (or oven-safe heavy pan) on medium high until hot.
6. Add butter or olive oil until melted and foamy or light and shimmery.
7. Add in pork chops, without crowding the pan.
8. Cook until browned on one side – about 3 minutes.
9. Add garlic, lemon slices, remaining 2 tbsp lemon juice to pan as you sear the other side.
10. As pork chops brown on the other side, stir garlic slightly and ladle the butter/oil, lemon juice, and garlic from pan over the pork.
11. When chops are browned on both sides, transfer to oven and cook until internal temperature reaches 145-150 degrees, about 15 minutes for a thick pork chop. For thin pork chops, only 5-10 minutes in oven might be needed. Use thermometer to gauge how close your pork is to being fully cooked since chops can vary so much!
12. If you go by the older guidelines, it used to be 160 degrees, but the USDA now says 145 is good. Note that pork can still sometimes look a touch pink even when fully cooked, so go by the temperature.
13. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.