I love pork! It is cheap even for lean cuts, versatile, and very flavorful. I always have some sort of cut of pork chops in my freezer for those nights that for whatever reason its 3:00 p.m. only 3 more hours till dinner time in my house and I have nothing started. Pork chops are my go to they thaw rather quickly and if your in a hurry and need them right away you can always quickly defrost them in the microwave. This 30 minutes or less meal never lets me down and cost about $1.62 per serving. The recipe below will be enough for 4 adult sized portions.
Pan Seared Pork Chops with Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli:
Pork Chops (you want one pork chop per person)
Seasonings
Olive Oil
10 small or 5 large potatoes
1/4 cup Half and half or milk
4 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup Sour Cream
2 cups frozen broccoli or 1 small package
First you want to add about a tablespoon of Olive oil to your skillet and turn it on medium high let it warm up while your starting the potatoes. Then scrub the potatoes and cube them for boiling. I leave the skin on mine it speeds up the whole process plus it looks more rustic which I like. Add the potatoes and a dash of salt to a pot (I use my dutch oven). Turn them on med.-high and cover them with a lid it makes them boil faster.
Season you pork chops with whatever seasonings your family enjoys. We like seasoning salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Place the pork chops seasoned side down in the pan. The pork chops should cook for about 10 minutes per side. Season the side of the pork chops facing up.
Fill a pot with water add salt and the frozen broccoli cover with a lid and turn it on medium heat.
After roughly 10 minutes have passed check to see if the side facing down in the pan has a nice sear. If it does flip the pork chop over. If not give it a few more minutes until they are seared. After you flip the pork chops they need to cook for another 10 minutes until the that side has a nice sear as well.
Check you potatoes and see if they are soft enough to mash. If the potatoes are soft enough to mash drain them. After they are drained return them to the pot that you boiled them in.
Cut the butter into 4 pieces and add it to different areas of the pot so that all the potatoes have a chance to soak up some of that goodness. I use a masher to mash my potatoes but you can use a fork to roughly mash them. Add the milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste. Then stir it in to mix it if you need more milk add it until you reach the consistency you like.
By this time the broccoli should be done turn it off.
After your pork chops have finished cooking allow them to rest on a plate for a few minutes so that the juices can settle and not run out leaving you with dry meat.
Brandy is a mother of 4 and a self proclaimed foodie. She believes that food nourishes the soul and prides herself on cooking budget friendly meals from scratch that are flavorful and healthy.