Braised Pork Chops – A Lovelace Cafe Copycat Recipe

Thanks for sharing!

These tender and flavorful pork chops are simmered in a simple savory sauce for out of this world results.  Braised pork chops are a perfect entrée for a filling home style dinner.

If you are looking for a tasty stick to your ribs meal, you are in the right place! Thick cut pork chops are braised in a fabulous sauce that gives them both flavor and that pretty glossy finish. The recipe is adapted from the Lovelace Cafe’s menu, so you know it has to be good!

I was raised in a meat and potato family and I live with two meat and potato loving dudes now. So I am always interested in different ways to serve the staples, like chicken breasts and pork chops.

Luckily this recipe is super simple to put together. It just takes a minute to put the sauce together.

Once the chops are browned, you poor it over the top and let the braise away. That low moist heat results in really tender meat.

 Plus the flavor has plenty of time to concentrate and cook in. At the end, just release the steam and thicken the sauce.

 That is where these pork chops pick up their shine. Plus it coats them in goodness!

 On this particular night we enjoyed them with homemade Hawaiian rolls and Parmesan skillet corn. The would also be fabulous with cheesy potatoes if you really want to stick to the meat and potatoes (and bacon!) theme.

 MiMi originally made this recipe for us back in 2015. I thought it was time to share them with you again.

 So I made some for supper and snapped some new pictures. I also added a printable recipe card for your convenience.

 I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! Now here is what we had to say about them 5 years ago:

 This is one of the recipes MiMi picked to make for her Loveless Cafe inspired menu for family dinner.  We all love pork chops, so she knew this would be a hit.

The braising liquid was full of wonderful flavors that really complimented the pork, and of course the low and slow method of braising the chops left them super tender.

We each enjoyed our large pork chop and my husband enjoyed two!  I don’t normally think of braising my chops (unless it is in mushroom soup gravy), but I may have to try some more variations on this!

These pork chops definitely made for a hearty, stick to your ribs main dish for our southern comfort food feast!

Ideas for variations

While the recipe was designed for pork chops, there is no reason you couldn’t use boneless skinless chicken breasts. Just use an instant read thermometer to make sure the center of the thickest part reached 165 F before reducing the braising liquid and serving.

If you are reducing the amount of refined sugar you eat, feel free to sub in maple syrup instead of the brown sugar. Or use honey, but start with a couple of teaspoons rather than a full Tablespoon.

We like our garlic, so sometimes we add a little extra garlic powder or chopped garlic to the mix.

We love using bone-in pork chops that are at least a half inch thick for this recipe. Feel free to experiment with whatever you like best!

Our electric skillet

We have a giant electric skillet that my husband loves. We got it as a wedding present 10 years ago and it’s still going strong.

I’ll be honest and tell you I don’t think to use it very often. I tend to gravitate towards the stove.

My husband, however, loves it. He pulls it down for everything from omelets to French toast.

It is the perfect way to braise these pork chops though, because it’s easy to control the heat. Plus you can see exactly what’s going on in there through the glass lid.

If you have a smaller electric skillet and your pork chops don’t all fit at once, just brown them in batches. Overlap them a bit to braise, then rearrange them once or twice while they’re cooking.

That way they all have a chance to cook in the sauce for a while. Plus it gives them a better chance to cook evenly.

If you don’t have an electric skillet, just use your stove! Cook them in a cast iron braiser or deep saute pan with a lid.

I have another fun pork chop recipe coming towards the end of the month. So keep an eye out for that.

More great pork chop recipes

The combination of tender pork chops and cheesy potatoes is hard to pass up.  When they are baked together the flavor combination is magnified, so this casserole is out of this world good.

Honey mustard pork chops are perfect for a busy night. This recipe is easy and oh so good!

Make your pork chops and scalloped potatoes in the same pan for even bigger flavor and fewer dishes! Maw-Maw definitely had the right idea when she started making this delicious dinner!

What are your favorite ways to make pork chops? Tell me all about them in the comments below!

Thanks for sharing!