This easy recipe for juicy cast iron skillet pork chops will be your new favourite weeknight go-to recipe! After whipping up this easy spice rub marinade with ingredients you probably have in your cupboard, these boneless pork loin chops cook in less than 10 minutes! And that includes the flavour-locking sear in the cast iron pan first before they hit the oven. You can even make a simple but light and delicious gravy for serving them too!
Can we get a heck ya for a cast iron pork loin recipe that cooks up in no time, is delicious and gluten-free?
Heck YA, indeed!
When you're just starting out with gluten-free eating, it's super important to have recipes that the whole family can get into.
This cast iron skillet pork recipe is one of the BEST out there for this.
Inspired by my new love of cast iron cooking and actually YOURS dear reader, because the cast iron pan recipes on my site are some of the most popular!
Check out:
- 🐔Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Breast
- 🍔The BEST Cast Iron Skillet Burgers (EASY RECIPE)
- 🐟Cast Iron Skillet Salmon
Now let's get you cooking with this easy boneless pork loin recipe for the cast iron skillet!
📝Ingredients
Pork chops and a spice rub is a great weeknight meal because it's delicious, naturally gluten-free and no special ingredients are needed.
Here's what you'll need for these cast iron pork chops:
- Boneless pork chops - I've been absolutely lovin' the "boneless pork loin centre and rib chops" (mouthful title mind you) that my grocery store has on offer these days. Bone-in pork chops work for this recipe too
- Butter
- For the spice mix, you'll blend together:
- Paprika
- Brown sugar
- Onion powder
- Dried oregano
- Ground mustard
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- Cumin
See recipe card for quantities.
🔪Instructions
This is an easy recipe so if you don't have time to marinade, no problem.
Just rub in the spice rub and get the pork cooking.
If you do have time or you WANT to do some prep ahead of time, get the spice rub on the boneless pork up to 8 hours before you'll be cooking it.
Here's the high level steps:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all spices into a small bowl and rub onto the pork.
Heat the butter in the cast iron pan over medium heat. Sear the pork on each side for 2 minutes only.
Spoon the melted butter in the pan over top the pork pieces. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for another 4-5 minutes, depending on the thickness of your pork.
Take the skillet out of the oven and the pork out of the cast iron skillet. Let the pork rest on a plate for 3-5 minutes. Make the simple gravy if you want while it rests (see steps below.)
🥘How to make a simple pork gravy
When I first started to make this cast iron skillet pork for family suppers at home, my husband was all about the sauce.
He really wanted some sort of glaze, dip or gravy to pour overtop.
I resisted, TBH for a while, but then decided to try making a "gravy" (non-traditional) one night.
Using my mom's old technique for making turkey gravy, I subbed out flour for corn starch.
And all you need to make this pork sauce is:
- Chicken broth
- Cornstarch
- Kosher salt
- Fresh ground pepper
And it's so easy to make, you can make the sauce while the pork rests.
While the pork rests, heat the pan back to medium-high heat and deglaze the pan by adding ~½ cup of chicken broth.
Use a wooden spoon with a straight edge if you have, to scrape bits of pork off the skillet. Add 2 pinches of Kosher salt.
In a small bowl, whisk 2 teaspoon of cornstarch into ⅓ cup of warm water until dissolves. Pour into the pan.
Cook the gravy on medium-high heat for ~5 minutes total, stirring frequently. It will bubble in the pan.
Remove from heat when the sauce reaches the thickness you like.
Put the pork onto serving plates and spoon the gravy overtop.
And guys, the BEST part of making a sauce for the pork in the cast iron skillet?
It CLEANS the skillet! By scraping up all the yummy bits of pork that are stuck to the cast iron pan, you get the flavour in the pork sauce and you basically clean your pan.
Win-win🏅
🔄Substitutions
Right now, I'm liking the boneless pork loin centre and rib chops that my grocery store has on offer.
They're quick to cook and just so easy to make. And we can't forget about how gentle they are on the grocery bill (cheap🐤cheap🐤).
Bonus: the whole family will eat them!
Of course you can use pork chops with the bone in with this spice rub.
Just adjust the cooking time a tad longer. The bone-in pork chops are nice because the bone helps the pork from becoming dried out.
🥣Equipment
Since this is a cast iron skillet pork recipe, that's my recommended pan to use here.
You can of course use any type of pan that's good in the oven too.
You could also use this spice rub on a cut of pork and then cook it on the BBQ too.
🥡Storage
After cooking, leftover pork is good for up to 3 days in the fridge. And it's still delicious😋
Becareful re-heating the pork because, as you can imagine, you don't want to dry it out. If your microwave has it, use the "re-heat" setting and check often while it's warming up.
⏲️Make Ahead Tips
This dry spice rub for pork can be used to marinade the pork too. You can mix up the spice rub and massage it into the pork.
Really get in there!
Then, keep the spice-rubbed pork chops wrapped up and in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking or up to 8 hours.
🥘What to serve with cast iron pork chops?
When going for side dishes with pork, there's basically endless combinations of healthy, gluten-free carbohydrates and veggies to serve with it.
I love using a hot oven for more than one thing so since it's already on, why not make this Simple Roasted Broccoli and Potatoes (one pan), these Oven Roasted Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes (Cubed) or these Oven Roasted Yellow Potatoes with Lemon Greek Yogurt Sauce.
As for veggies, it doesn't have to be complicated! Go for easy veggies like steamed veggies, fresh cut tomatoes and cucumbers or a salad. This Simple Romaine Salad with Radish and Parmesan would fit the bill perfectly.
I hope you love this recipe for cast iron skillet pork like we do.
If you try this recipe, please rate and comment below. I would be so grateful❣️for your feedback.
~April
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Cast Iron Skillet Pork Chops with Easy Spice Rub
Equipment
- 1 cast iron pan or oven safe skillet
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops
- 1.5 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon Fresh ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, mix together paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, oregano, ground mustard, Kosher salt, cumin and olive oil.
- Rub the spice mixture into the pork and marinade for about 30 minutes (or up to 8 hours).
- When you're ready to cook the pork, heat 1.5 tablespoon of butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Once the pan is hot, cook the pork for 2 minutes on one side.
- Then flip and cook 2 minutes on the other side.
- Turn off the burner and spoon some of the melted butter overtop of the pork. Then carefully place the whole skillet into the oven for about 4 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F. Larger pieces of pork will take longer to cook.
- Remove the pork from the skillet and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- As the pork rests, it'll come up in temperature to 165 degrees F.
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