Pork Chop Brine – Spend With Pennies

Pork chops are marinated in a simple brine made with salt, brown sugar, bay leaf, rosemary, salt, and pepper for tasty, tenderized, flavor-infused chops.

Ingredient Tips for Pork Chop Brine

• Brine: Water, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, a bay leaf, and some fresh rosemary tenderize and season the chops.
• Pork: Pork chops vary in thickness from ½-inch to 1 ½-inches. Look for chops of the same size so they cook evenly. Use bone-in or boneless chops that aren’t previously soaked in brine.

Make It Your Own!

• Apple juice, apple cider, vegetable stock, or white wine are great additions to the water.
• Use your favorite brown sugar substitute if desired.
• Experiment with seasoning blends like Italian or a simple seasoned salt to match the menu.

How to Brine Pork Chops

1. Simmer the brine ingredients until the sugar and salt are dissolved (full recipe below).
2. Refrigerate brine until fully chilled.
3. Add chops and brine to a zippered bag and marinate up to 2 hours.
4. Rinse and pat the pork chops dry before cooking on the stove or the grill.

Storing Leftovers

Store leftover cooked pork chops in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Enjoy them cold, sliced on a simple green salad, or reheat them in the microwave. Leftovers can be added to a pork stir-fry or some quick and easy pork fajitas.

Freeze chops in a zippered bag for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

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Pork Chop Brine

Make this pork chop brine for chops that are always juicy, tender, and full of flavor.

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Cooling Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

• In a medium-sized saucepan, add water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, bay leaf, and rosemary.

• Bring to a simmer over high heat. You do not need the water to rapidly boil but you need to make sure the salt and sugar have dissolved in the water.

• Remove the pot from the heat and cool completely.

• Once the brine is cool add the pork chops to a large ziptop bag and pour in the brine.

• Let the pork brine in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.

• Rinse and pat dry before cooking.

• Purchase pork that has not been pre-brined. A lot of pork in grocery stores has a saline solution, so using brine on that will make it too salty.
• Ensure sugar and salt are completely dissolved in the brine.
• Brine must be completely cool before adding the pork.
• Don’t brine them too long (up to 2 hours is enough).
• To season pork before cooking, use herbs and spices without salt.
• Do not store ‘used’ brine. Once your pork has been brined, discard the remaining brine.

Serving: 1pork chop | Calories: 233 | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 7151mg | Potassium: 524mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 14IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course

Cuisine American

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