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These creamy garlic pork chops are smothered in a garlic cream sauce with whole garlic cloves! This recipe is quick and easy to make in about 30 minutes.
Love creamy recipes? You may also like my Creamy Pork Tenderloin Medallions.
Why you’ll love it
If you’re fan of my popular Creamy Garlic Chicken recipe and also like pork, you may want to try this recipe. I tweaked the sauce a bit to make it work with pork chops. Garlicky goodness. These pork chops are just so good and really simple to make.
Yes, there’s a whole head of garlic in here as well as garlic powder. The garlic cloves mellow out. You can eat them and they’re not overly garlicky… they taste kinda like roasted garlic. I like building layers of garlic flavor! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.
What you’ll need
- Pork chops – I use 0.75-1″ boneless pork chops seasoned generously with salt & pepper to bring out the flavor
- Olive oil and butter – for pan frying and the base of the sauce
- Garlic and garlic powder – there’s absolutely a whole head of garlic in here and garlic powder
- Flour – to thicken the sauce
- Chicken broth – more savory depth of flavor
- Lemon juice – a pop of acidity to balance everything
- Heavy cream – to make the sauce luxurious
Helpful tips
- Pork chops can easily dry out (especially boneless ones), so I highly recommend getting an instant read meat thermometer so you can check the temperature and not overcook them. Pork is safe to eat at 145F (and don’t forget the temperature continues to climb for a few minutes after you finish cooking it). It’s ok if pork is a bit pink in the middle.
- You can use either boneless or bone-in pork chops. For larger bone-in chops, you may need to sear them in two batches. If your skillet goes dry, I’d add up to 1 tablespoon extra olive oil for the second batch.
- I recommend taking the pork chops out of the fridge at least 15-30 minutes prior to starting the recipe. They will cook better this way!
How to make creamy garlic pork chops
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Season the pork with salt & pepper. Heat up the oil and some of the butter in a skillet, then sear the chops on both sides until golden. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining butter and the garlic cloves, and cook until the garlic is lightly browned.
Push the garlic to one side of the skillet, then stir in the flour to make a roux. Pour in the broth and lemon juice, and cook until thickened. Add the cream and garlic powder, and stir until it’s dissolved in.
Return the pork to the skillet, and cook through until the sauce reduces more and the pork is cooked to 145F. Season with extra salt & pepper if needed, and top with fresh parsley if using.
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend subbing the cream for a lower fat alternative as it may curdle and the sauce won’t be as thick.
- You could throw in a handful of spinach at the end before adding the pork back to the pan if you want some greens.
- Looking to make this with chicken? Try my Creamy Garlic Chicken instead.
What to serve with creamy pork chops
- They’re delicious with Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Potatoes, rice, or even pasta like my Quick Garlic Butter Noodles.
- For veggie options, try my Easy Roasted Cauliflower or Easy Roasted Green Beans.
- Craving a salad? Make my 10 Minute Easy Caesar Salad Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store any leftover pork chops in the fridge in a covered container for 3-4 days.
- Reheat over a low heat slowly until warmed through so the chops don’t dry out.
- I don’t recommend freezing this one.
More delicious pork chop recipes
Questions about this creamy garlic pork chop recipe? Made it? Talk to me in the comments below! Tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram if you make this.
Creamy Garlic Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops see notes
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 whole head garlic cloves peeled
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Fresh parsley chopped (optional, to taste)
Instructions
- Take the pork chops out of the fridge 15-30 minutes prior to starting the recipe if possible. Season the pork generously with salt & pepper on both sides.
- In a deep skillet, add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Let the pan heat up for a few minutes, and once it's hot, cook the pork chops for 3-5 minutes/side or until golden (3 minutes for thinner chops and 5 minutes for pork chops up to 1" thick). Once the pork chops are done searing, transfer them to a plate.
- Add the remaining butter and the garlic cloves to the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium (or medium-low if using cast iron). Cook it, stirring fairly often, for about 3 minutes or until the garlic has somewhat browned on the outside.
- Push the garlic to one side of the pan and sprinkle the flour in (avoiding the garlic). Let it cook for around 30 seconds, and give it a stir so it's incorporated with the butter (we're making a quick roux).
- Add in the chicken broth and lemon juice. Stir and let it cook for about a minute or until the sauce is noticeably thickened.
- Add in the garlic powder and cream. Stir or whisk it until the garlic powder has dissolved.
- Add the pork back in and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened up a bit (let the sauce bubble a bit but not furiously boil) and the pork chops are fully cooked through (145F minimum). Keep in mind the pork's temperature will continue to rise once you stop cooking it, so if it's close, I'd take it off the heat and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. Season the sauce with extra salt & pepper as needed and parsley if you wish.
Notes
- It’s very easy to overcook pork and turn it into shoe leather. I highly recommend using an instant read thermometer to take the guesswork out. Pork that’s 145F and pink inside is safe to eat.
- You can use boneless pork chops like I did or bone-in. I recommend pork chops that are 0.75-1″ thick. Anything much thicker or thinner is likely to end up under or overcooked with this particular recipe since it’s finished in the cream sauce.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Umm. This came together flawlessly. Thanks.
I mean that. I don’t leave comments. I was even going to sign up to leave one. Which I also don’t do as i don’t need another incoming email. So. Splendid. This will be a new go-to.
I appreciate you taking the time to comment! 🙂
Wonderful!
Can you use turkey stock instead?
Absolutely!
These look amazing! Do you think there would be any issues with swapping out the heavy cream for half and half? Also, do you think this recipe could be adapted to make in an Instant Pot? Thanks!
Hi! Half and half will yield a thinner sauce and it could curdle because they’re cooked over quite a high heat. You could always add more flour to thicken the sauce if needed, though. Honestly, I wouldn’t even want to speculate on how to do these in the IP. It’ll be a completely different recipe and would require lots of testing.
I made this on a whim with pappardelle pasta and holy smokes it was out of this world! Just want I needed…a good white sauce, protein, and pasta! Such a fan of your 30 min sauce recipes.
Awesome!! So happy you enjoyed it, Sarah! XO
I had a next-day-expiring lamb so I cooked that instead of the pork. And the sauce came out way thicker from the beginning (not the recipe’s fault – I have a problem called “eyeballed measurement”) so instead of cooking the meat in it, I just added pasta directly. (Serving the lamb not sauced)
Overall, the sauce itself can fit into any meat you are cooking as long as you spice it appropriately – for my lamb, I added dried rosemary.
Me and my husband devoured it and now we can’t move!haha
I’m so glad that it worked out with the lamb! 🙂
I made this tonight, but I used pork tenderloin. It was so good! I will definitely make it again and may try to adapt it for chicken! I wish I remembered to take a picture!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! You could definitely try my creamy garlic chicken (it’s linked within the blog post)… it’s what this recipe is based on. 🙂
I tried to make this the other night and the roux did not turn out! I am wondering if maybe I had the pan too hot and possibly added too much flour and not enough butter? It became thick and clumpy instead of a sauce. I have more pork chops left over and was going to try again tonight and possibly make the roux in a separate pan as not to over heat it and just do the butter, flour, chick broth and lemon then add it back to the pan that I cooked the pork in after I get the desired consistency. It still tasted awesome and we just ate the chops but I looooove a good creamy sauce so want to get this right!
Hi Emily! Hmmm… I would try adding a little more butter, maybe. Did you add only a tablespoon of flour and kinda sprinkle it in? It does sound like perhaps all the liquid vanished too quickly once you added it, so maybe the pan was a bit too hot. You could definitely try doing it in a separate pan… at least for the second try maybe, then troubleshoot from there. I’m glad you enjoyed it at least! Let me know how your second try goes!
This recipe is simply fantastic and easy to make! I have a picky teenager that gobbled it up and asked me to put this on the weekly schedule. Due to texture issues with kids, I chopped the garlic instead of leaving big. I paired it with Brussel sprouts and angel hair pasta! Yummo!
I’m so glad it was a hit!! Thanks for commenting! ♥️
This looks delicious..I can’t pin your recipes..always says something went wrong on their end..any idea what I could do?Thank you!
Hi Monique, unfortunately I’ve been dealing with this ongoing pinning issue. 🙁 I don’t have a fix for it yet, but I’ve been trying to figure it out with various tech support!
Hi my name is Erica Smith…. this recipe looks Delicious! I want to try to make this for my husband who wants some pork chops with a white sauce. I made your chicken recipe with the white wine sauce and my husband, our son’s and I love it. Have made it multiple times and it gets better and better each time I make it. Wanted to know with this pork chop recipe do you coat it in flour before you sear it? Or you just season it and sear it without the flour? We will be using the pork chops with bone-in. Also I see the hamburger recipe with the penne noodles I can’t wait to try. Thanks and have a Blessed day!
Hi Erica! I’m so glad you like that other recipe! 🙂 I don’t coat the pork in flour for this recipe. Let me know if you try it!