When it comes to cooking, I'm always pretty adventurous as to what I plan on making for meals. I have a small planner that I write out my meals for the week and then end up walking to the store each morning after working out to get my needed ingredients. While it's not as convenient for most as it is for me, I like getting just what I need to help save money and not have food spoil. I've also been cutting down our portions because well, cooking for 2 is hard. This recipe on the other hand is more of the "I only had 5 pork chops and 3 of them were small so I might as well have this for dinner tomorrow too" type of meal. But you can modify this to however many mouths you are feeding. And best of all, it's done in the slow cooker so after doing a little bit of prep work, you can toss it in and forget about it. That makes the rest of your afternoon free to spend writing reviews, doing homework, working on a quilt, and laundry... or whatever it is that you do in your free time.
Smothered Slow Cooker Pork Chops
Dredge1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Sauce
1 stick butter - divided
2 tbl olive oil
1 medium onion
2tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked spicy paprika
2 tsp salt
14oz chicken broth
1 beef bouillon cube
5 medium thickness cut pork chops
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup heavy cream
fresh parsley - optional
Instructions
1) Rinse pork chops with water and pat dry.
2) In a bowl, combine flour and spices for the pork chop dredge.
3) In a skillet, heat olive oil and 2 tbl olive oil over medium heat.
4) Dredge pork chops in flour mixture and sear for 1-2 minutes on each side once butter/oil is heated.
5) Place pork chops evenly in the slow cooker.
6) Lower the heat and add remaining butter to the skillet.
7) Place onion slices in the skillet and cook just enough to sauté them.
8) Add your remaining dredge flour and whisk into the onions.
9) Pour chicken broth into the skillet with onions and bring to a low boil, whisking continuously.
10) Add in the remaining spices and bouillon cube and whisk together.
11) Pour the sauce into the slow cooker over pork chops, making sure they are fully covered.
12) Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. 13) When pork chops are cooked, remove from the sauce.
14) Pour sauce into the skillet and heat to medium.
15) Save one cup of sauce and add in the corn starch, whisking to make a slurry.
16) Pour slurry into the skillet sauce, add cream, and whisk together.
17) Bring to a low boil and taste for seasonings. Add extra pepper if needed.
18) Ladle the sauce over pork chops. Garnish with fresh parsley if liked.
After rinsing the pork chops in water, pat them dry and place in the flour dredge. I gave specific amounts for the seasonings but you can arrange these to your liking as well. I also am bad at not measuring out amounts so if your like me, shake the pepper in until you think it looks good. Toss those bad boys in dredge and coat them thoroughly. They need a nice coating of flour!
Add the olive oil and butter to the pan and toss in the pork chops. Mine are on the thin side so I seared them for about a minute or 2 on each side. You'll want to do 3-4 minutes if you have thicker pork chops. This isn't to cook them all the way, it's just to give them a nice golden brown searing. I did 2 pork chops per pan but depending on the size of yours, you may do more or less.
Place the pork chops in the slow cooker when they are done searing. I put them in alternating so that they cook evenly and all get coated in the sauce when the time comes. Don't those look pretty??
Add the rest of the butter to your pan and get ready for the yummy part! The onions!
Once the butter starts melting, toss those beauties into the pan and brown them! There is nothing better than sautéed onions. Unless you don't like onions. If that's the case, we can't be friends...
Now don't toss out that extra flour just yet. Throw it in the pan with the onions and whisk it all together. This is the start of the delicious sauce you'll be making. Whisk whisk whisk!
And start whisking! It will thicken up in no time and you'll have this gorgeous onion gravy. Is it ok to say gravy is gorgeous? Whatever, mine is gorgeous. Keep whisking until it thickens up further. Turn down the heat as you don't want it to boil a lot.
Grab one of those neatly wrapped bouillon cubes and toss that sucker in. It won't melt instantly so don't worry if you still have a cube when you place it in the pan. It'll melt while it is cooking.
Time for some more seasonings. Add the Spanish paprika (or regular is fine too) and all your seasonings. I don't like using a lot of salt so if you need to add more, feel free to. Whisk away!
Pour that gravy into the crock pot making sure to cover all of the pork chops. Cover and place on high or low depending on how much time you have to kill. I cook in a rice cooker so my time is actually only on the slow cook mode for 1 hour and then I let sit on warm until I'm just about ready to make the gravy. I would check every so often to see how your pork chops are cooking if they are big.
When you are ready to make the gravy, pour all but one cup into the skillet and bring to a boil. With the cup that you set aside, mix the cornstarch in thoroughly. Add the slurry to the skillet and whisk together with cream. I used a 1/2 cup but than added another half cup after tasting it and wanting it richer. A little more salt and pepper to taste and it was ready to be served.
Served with a side of mashed potatoes and steamed carrots, the pork chops were a hit! So tender and falling apart on your fork without being dry. Let me know if you make the recipe! Next time, I plan on adding mushrooms to the initial pot in the slow cooker because mushrooms and onions are YUM!
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