Jamie Oliver's Simple Trick for the Best Pork Chops Ever

I don’t make pork chops often because they can be tough to get right—easy to overcook and end up with dry meat. I recently came across some smart tricks from Jamie Oliver for cooking them to perfection. They're so simple and totally work—dare I say, home-cooked pork chops are now a part of my life again.

The Best Way To Make the Juiciest Pork Chops 

There are two parts to this easy trick—and one bonus tip that only requires you to have a little patience. 

The first and most important thing Jamie says to do is dry brine the meat. Dry brining means salting the pork chops and letting them sit for four to 12 hours in the fridge. Jamie recommends placing them on a wire rack set inside a tray—this allows air to circulate, keeping the surface as dry as possible so that the meat browns well when cooked.

The salt draws the meat’s natural juices to the surface, dissolves the salt, and forms a briny solution that gets reabsorbed into the meat, resulting in juicy, flavorful, tender meat. You should dry brine for at least four hours, so on busy days, start this process in the morning before work and it’ll be ready to cook for dinner.

The second tip to ensure the best flavor is to pat dry the chops with a paper towel right before placing them in the heated pan. By removing the moisture from the surface of the pork chops, you prevent steaming so that you can get a nice brown, crispy crust.

The final, bonus tip is to let the pork chops rest for at least 10 minutes after taking them out of the pan before you slice them. This gives the meat time to really lock in its juices—you want those in every savory bite, not spilling all over your cutting board.

The Best Sides To Serve With Pork Chops

With Jamie’s tips, you’ll always have juicy, flavorful pork chops. You could serve them with cooked stone fruit and crispy sage as Jamie suggests in the recipe where I found his tips, but the possibilities are endless.

This Broccoli And Bow Ties pasta from Ina Garten would be great with the pork chops, as would these four-ingredient scallion noodles. If you want vegetables, try Baked Acorn Squash, Roasted Broccoli With Parmesan, or Lyonnaise Potatoes.

I hope these tips from Jamie have unlocked an array of new, easy dinner recipes like they did for me!