Pork Chops with Cherry Pan Sauce

Here, pork chops are simply seasoned and pan-seared to play the supporting role to a wonderful herb-cherry pan sauce—the true star of this recipe. The sauce is made up of sweet cherries, fresh thyme, and tawny Port wine—it’s mounted with butter at the end for a luscious texture and beautiful sheen.

What Are the Best Pork Chops?

My favorite pork chops to cook with are bone-in, center-cut chops. Center-cut chops are how I usually see them labeled in the grocery store, but sometimes they are labeled ribs or loin chops.

I prefer bone-in chops, because the bone makes it less likely for the pork to dry out while cooking, but boneless pork chops will work in this recipe too.

Best Port for This Recipe

Port wine is a sweet wine often enjoyed with dessert that comes from Portugal. It's most commonly made from red grapes and is also fortified, meaning that additional alcohol has been added to it.

I prefer tawny Port because it is aged and tends to have more complexity than ruby Port, but feel free to use whatever variety you might already have on hand.

Best Cherries for This Pan Sauce

I used bing cherries for this recipe, but any variety of sweet cherry will do. I find that a little bit of sweetness goes particularly well with pork dishes.

If you're only able to find sour cherries, then I'd recommend adding one teaspoon of sugar to the sauce as it reduces. This dish tastes great with either fresh or frozen cherries, so use fresh if they are in season and go for frozen if they aren't.

If pitting fresh cherries, my favorite pitter is this one made by Obecome that does six at a time.

Tips and Tricks for Making a Good Pan Sauce

It all starts with taking advantage of the fond, aka the brown bits stuck on the bottom of the pan after searing a food.

The way to do this is by deglazing the pan, which means to add liquid to help scrape up the brown bits to incorporate into your pan sauce. Then you reduce the liquid so that when it reduces the sauce has a rich consistency. Lastly, swirling in a bit of cold butter into the sauce gives it a luscious texture and nice sheen. (And don't forget to season it, of course!)

Swaps, Suggestions, and Substitutions

Feel free to use this recipe as a blueprint to come up with dishes of your own using a similar technique.

• I've already talked about the different types of cherries that you can use, but you could also try different types of fruit, like plums or figs.
• If thyme isn’t your favorite herb, mix it up. I think rosemary or tarragon would work beautifully in this sauce.
• Replace the pork with chicken thighs or boneless chicken breasts.
• If Port is hard to come by, substitute any red wine, plus one to two tablespoons sugar.

The possibilities are endless!

More Great Pork Chop Recipes

• Easy Smothered Pork Chops
• How to Cook Pork Chops Sous Vide
• Mom’s Perfect Pork Chops
• Citrus-Brined Pork Chops
• Pork Chops with Dijon Sauce