Slow Cooked Apple Bourbon Smothered Pork Chops ~ that’s a delicious mouthful! The pork cooks low and slow in the oven, or crock pot, and becomes fork tender in a rich gravy made with cider and bourbon.
When it comes to pork chops, I think slow cooking in a braising liquid is the only way to go ~ otherwise I find them too tough. The long, low, and slow cooking breaks down the fat and collagen in the meat and it becomes super tender. The cider vinegar in this recipe provides a further tenderizing effect, and when you smother the finished chops in the rich gravy that they’ve been cooked in, you get a spectacular result.
TIP: For successful slow cooking make sure the meat is completely covered in liquid, and be sure you have a tight fitting lid. You want the liquid to remain for the duration of the cooking.
For smothered pork chops I used meaty pork loin chops, either with or without the bone. Mine were about 1/2 pound each, the thicker the better. You can really use any type of pork chop in this recipe, as long as they aren’t thin.
You’ll want an apple, and some large shallots. Mince the shallots and peel and dice the apple. Then brown the chops on both sides and arrange them in a wide cast iron braising pan or Dutch oven.
The sauteed shallots go in, then the apples, and the liquid.
Tuck in some fresh sage sprigs and it’s ready for the oven. I cook it at 275F for 3 hours. I like to check after an hour to make the sure liquid is just barely simmering, not boiling, and I’ll adjust the temperature according to what I find.
TIP: You can do this in your slow cooker if you like, turn it to low and cook the chops for 6 hours.
When it’s done, remove the chops to a platter and puree the liquid into a thick gravy. Serve ‘smothered’ in the gravy, with more on the side.
The inside of the lid (below) tells the whole flavor story…
An enameled cast iron braising pan is perfect for this dish. It has a round, shallow shape that allows the meat to spread out and cook evenly. The heavy cast iron walls moderate and retain the heat. A 4 quart size works perfectly for this slow cooked pork chop recipe, and it’s a very convenient size to have around, I’ve used this same pan to bake my
It works well for a family of four, but you can find them in smaller or larger sizes to suit your needs, and at lots of different price points, too. It’s one of my favorite types of pans.
Slow Cooked Apple Bourbon Smothered Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 center cut pork loin chops
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced or chopped
- 1 large apple, any variety, peeled and chopped
- 3 fresh sage sprigs, or about 1/4 cup leaves
- olive oil
sauce
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275F (check with an oven thermometer)
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
- Coat the bottom of a large cast iron braising pan with olive oil and heat on medium high until hot but not smoking.
- Season the chops with salt and pepper on both sides, and then brown them for 2 minutes per side in the hot pan. Set aside on a plate.
- Reduce the heat and add the shallots to the pan, along with a splash of water if it's very dry. Saute the shallots for a couple of minutes, until softened.
- Put the chops back in the pan with the shallots, and add the chopped apples and sage. Pour the sauce over all. Cover tightly and cook for 3 hours at 275F. Check after one hour to make sure the pot is just barely simmering, not boiling. If your oven is too hot, turn it down.
- Remove the pork chops to a plate. Remove the sage sprigs, and puree the gravy. Spoon it over the pork chops.
Notes
- Nothing says you have to puree the gravy, if you like it thin, leave it as i
Nutrition
Sue, Have you convert this recipe to the instant pot. I just wonder how long it would take to cook. Thanks. Love, love, love sage with pork. Genevieve
I haven’t done these in the IP, but I would use thick bone in chops for best results, and don’t cook very long, even 5 minutes is enough. Let the pressure release for another 5 minutes before unsealing the vent.
Hi Sue, Well you’ve smashed my tastebuds again, another real cracker of a recipe! Smooth saucy tastes and wonderful flavours with the apple & pork in a brilliant sauce! Although I’ll have to fess-up now and say that I used this dish as the spectacle on a ‘veggie-pasta base’ of your ‘Wild Mushroom Pasta with Hazelnuts’ recipe. I had the benefit of prep-time on my side, so I marinated the Pork and one apple in the sauce for 24hrs beforehand – the pork/diced apple was so tender – it stunned my dinner guests. I also made up a second batch of the sauce (reduced) with a second fresh apple to add to this dish on the night, plus I saved a little for the gravy. Anyway the wholesome mix of the Apple/Pork dish with the earthy Wild Mushroom Pasta smells, flavours and textures was stupendous. By combining the slow cooked Apple-Pork recipe to a quick 30min Mushroom Pasta recipe didn’t overload the cooking appliances, nor compromise on prep-time! It was just a stroke of luck of enjoying two of your recipes and resulted in beautifully balanced food. My dinner guests and I thank you for spoiling us with great food ideas and the inspiration to improvise! Cheers…
I can just imagine the aromas in your kitchen!!
If short on time, do you think cooking on high in crock pot will dry chops?
I can’t say Jess, I’ve always cooked them on low. I would think the liquid would keep them moist enough, though.
This was a delightful recipe – very flavorful. Since I’m not a fan of bourbon I combined the apple cider and bourbon amount (3/4 cup). I simmered 1 cup of apple cider until it reduced to 3/4 cup and then used that instead. Yum!
I love the idea of reducing the cider, delicious!
This looks great I have sage in the garden and always looking for recipes to use it.What would you say to pork shoulder steaks 1″ thick?
I think that should work fine 🙂
These look perfect for a casual fall/winter night in. What would you serve them with?
I’d suggest a green vegetable like broccoli, green beans, spinach, etc. Maybe a salad, and maybe biscuits of some sort.
This is a delicious recipe. I had a pork loin, so I used that in place of chops. I also sliced 2 apples because we reallu like them. Fresh sage from my garden was just the thing. Thank you for always sending us delicious recipes.
Thanks Leslie, it’s good to know this works well with pork loin.
Hello! If making this in the slow cooker, how long would you cook the chops on low?
This was excellent! Just the comfort food we needed for quarantine. But I will make it again and again.
Hi. I made this recipe a few weeks ago and we loved it. Making it again today and have two questions. First, the sauce made as per the recipe does not fully cover the chops in my pan. What would you do? They won’t fit in a smaller pan. Second, will you please explain more about how to purée the sauce? I have not done this before. Thank you.