Southern Fried Pork Chops Recipe
Published February 23, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
These fried pork chops come together in minutes and are served up with a simple delicious pan-gravy for the perfect weeknight meal. You will already have most of the ingredients for this recipe already in your food pantry.
Be sure to try serving these southern fried pork chops with my Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Butter Glazed Green Beans.
Fried Pork Chops
Fried pork chops are a Southern classic consisting of thin-cut bone-in pork chops that are coated in egg wash, dredged in seasoned flour, and then fried until golden brown. They are very easy to make and are delicious when cooked correctly. Don’t worry I show you in my video the perfect cook times to ensure they are tender and juicy.
While fried pork chops are great served up by themselves, I prefer to add a simple pan-gravy to the mix to help keep them moist and flavorful. I highly recommend making my sauce which only takes an additional 3-4 minutes to make
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pork Chops – Make sure to get single bone-in thin cut pork chops so that they cook quickly and evenly.
- Flour – You will need all-purpose flour, but you can alternatively use self-rising flour.
- Eggs – Large cold eggs will be perfect.
- Buttermilk – I like to use buttermilk, but you can simply use whole milk. To make buttermilk at home whisk together 1 cup of whole milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
- Cornstarch – This will ensure our flour batter is light and fluffy when frying.
- Spices – I like to use ground cayenne, garlic, and onion granules to help season the flour.
- Shallots – These will be used for our pan sauce.
- Garlic – Finely minced garlic cloves will help add flavor to our pan gravy.
- Lard – Rendered bacon fat will help add incredibly flavors to our frying oil.
- Oil – Any of your favorite oil will work for this, but I prefer to use expeller pressed canola, vegetable, safflower, peanut, avocado, or olive oil.
- Beef Stock – A good beef stock will help ensure our pan sauce is delicious.
How to Make Fried Pork Chops
Follow these easy-to-make instructions and images to help make these delicious fried pork chops:
Start by making the egg wash mixture by whisking together the eggs, buttermilk, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan.
Next, in a separate shallow bowl or pan whisk together the flour and cornstarch with the spices until combined. Be sure to taste it to make sure it is seasoned well because this is what will be used to season our pork in addition to the egg wash.
Heat some oil along with some optional rendered bacon fat over medium heat in a large frying pan, cast-iron skillet, or rondeau.
Bread one pork chop at a time by completely coating in the egg wash.
Next, dredge the egg wash coated pork chop in the flour until coated. Press down on the pork chops to ensure the breading will stick when frying. Place on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper until all the pork chops are breaded.
Place the pork chops in the pan taking care to space them apart and cook them for 3 to 3 ½ minutes per side. Be sure to not overcook so that your pork chops will not be tough.
Set aside on a cookie sheet tray with a rack to drain off any excess frying oil. If your pan is not big enough you will need to cook in batches.
Drain most of the oil from the pan leaving only 2 tablespoons and add it back to the burner over medium heat and quickly cook the shallots and garlic for 1 minute.
Stir in the flour until combined to make a roux and then pour in the beef stock to make a gravy. Turn the heat up to high so that it will quickly become thick. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the pork chops with the gravy and optionally garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: These are meant to be served as soon as they are done cooking. You can alternatively keep them warm on a sheet tray with a rack in the oven at 200° for up to 30 minutes before serving. They will tend to dry out if you choose to keep them warm in the oven.
How to Store: Cover and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They will freeze covered for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Place on a rack in the oven at 350° for 4-6 minutes or until warm. You can also heat it in the microwave.
chef notes + tips
- You can add a few dashes of hot sauce to the egg wash mixture to add more spicy flavors.
- Alternatively, you can skip adding in the cornstarch and simply use self-rising flour.
- If you do not have access to garlic or onion granules, feel free to substitute with powder.
- The oil will be perfect for frying if you sprinkle some flour in it and it fries but does not burn.
More Pork Recipes
- Ham and Potato Soup
- Monte Cristo Sandwich
- Breaded Pork Chops
- Red Beans and Rice
- Smothered Pork Chops
Video
Southern Fried Pork Chops Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pork Chops:
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 tablespoon garlic granules
- 1 tablespoon onion granules
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup oil for frying
- ¼ cup lard
- 6 5–6-ounce bone-in pork chops
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Pan Gravy:
- 1 peeled and small diced shallot
- 2 finely minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups beef stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by whisking together the eggs, buttermilk, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or pan. Set aside.
- Next, in a separate shallow bowl or pan whisk together the flour, cornstarch, garlic granules, onion granules, cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of salt and ¼ teaspoon of ground pepper until combined. Be sure to taste it to make sure it is seasoned well because this is what will be used to season our pork in addition to the egg wash.
- Heat the oil along with some optional rendered bacon fat (lard) over medium heat in a large frying pan, cast-iron skillet, or rondeau. The oil should be at 350°.
- Bread one pork chop at a time by completely coating in the egg wash.
- Next, dredge the egg wash coated pork chop in the flour until coated. Press down on the pork chops to ensure the breading will stick when frying. Place on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper until all the pork chops are breaded.
- Place the pork chops in the pan taking care to space them apart and cook them for 3 to 3 ½ minutes per side. Be sure to not overcook so that your pork chops will not be tough.
- Set aside on a cookie sheet tray with a rack to drain off any excess frying oil. If your pan is not big enough you will need to cook in batches.
- Drain most of the oil from the pan leaving only 2 tablespoons and add it back to the burner over medium heat and quickly cook the shallots and garlic for 1 minute.
- Stir in the flour until combined to make a roux and then pour in the beef stock to make a gravy. Turn the heat up to high so that it will quickly boil and become thick. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the pork chops with the gravy and optionally garnish with chopped fresh parsley.
How would I adjust the cooking time if I only have bone-in thick cut chops? Internal temperature 140 degrees? I love all your recipes. Thank you.
Without testing it, I’m not 100% sure.
I made this Southern Fried Pork Chop recipe tonight! It was so delicious! My family devoured the pork chops! The gravy was perfect! Truly one of the “comfort food” meal favorites!
Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe!
my pleasure!
Tasty thank you ChefBilly love all your recipes delicious 😋 😁👏
I made these pork chops for my Christmas dinner for eight friends. It was a hit for everyone!!!
Thankyou so for your oh my Gosh tasty recipe ChefBilly 😋😋🤩👋
Than on you ChefBilly oh my tasy so it is 😁😋👋🤩
Delicious and easy recipe!!! Easy to put together at the end of a long day and so worth it! I live the crunch of the breading! And the chops were tender and cooked perfectly! Thank you Chef!
many thanks!
OH MY! Best recipe ever! I’ve been cooking since 10 and you taught me two knew things, darn 😳 Absolutely love your recipe and the gravy, oh myyy! Thank you.
Many thanks!
Reminds me of my southern Mother’s pork chops!
amazing!g
DELICIOUS! Hated making pork chops because they always seem to turn out dry, this recipe was fantastic and it will definitely be made again and again! Thank you for this!
This was so delicious! Thanks for the ability to downsize the size of each ingredient if you are just a 2-person menu! Everything about this menu is perfect…the juiciness of the meat to the perfect sauce that goes with it. I served it with farfalle noodles and buttered green beans…it was fabulous. Bonus: hardly takes any prep time.
Made this tonight for the family and everyone absolutely loved it! They want me to make biscuits to put this sauce on! The pork chops have so much flavor and were crisp! My only edit is that for convenience sake, I will use boneless chops in the future. Also, the braver ones in the family want me to add extra cayenne, so dredge some pork chops for the weaker ones in the family then add another teaspoon of cayenne and make the rest. But they all agree, THEY ARE BEING MADE AGAIN! Thank you Chef!!
Thank you for adding the nutrition to your recipes as I am diabetic and can know the carbs especially. Went to our local farmers market this morning and ended up giving a vendor your name. She said she didn’t have a recipe for Baba Ganosh. I said I’m not sure if he has this one but I always look for his site first to see, then look elsewhere if needed. Thanks for all you do to help new and old cooks!!
”Best pork chops ever!!!” My family can’t wait till I make them again. Thank you Chef Parisi!!
many thanks!
So GOOD!!!
yes indeed!
love these pork chops
excellent!
Chops were a home run. My Atlanta, GA family would be proud. Thank you Chef Parisi
SP
excellent
Im a ole southern boy and have been making these since I was a boy. However, Chef’s recipe kicks it up a notch. I definitely recommend you try these. Very tasty!!!!
thanks for giving it a shot!!
I made this tonight for my family. They loved it! Ya know it’s good when they are gnawing on the bone! 🤣 The gravy was phenominal! I will be making this again! Thank you chef!
My pleasure!
Just made this for my dinner. Sooo good.. you’re gotta try this along with the pan gravy
I made it and loved it. Will make again
thanks for giving it a shot!!
Can this recipe be made with chicken breasts? It looks delicious, but we don’t eat pork. Thank you!
I’m sure it could
Another great recipe! Perfect weeknight meal. Came together very easily. That gravy is super yum.
Not usually a fan of pork chops but this was amazing!
Chef Billy, I love your page and have made many of your dishes, but my all time favorite are those southern fried pork chops. Man that pan gravy is to die for. I just recently retired from a law enforcement career and am trying to learn how to cook inside the house lol, you have been a great help. Thanks again,
Dwight
Just like my mama’s! So good. I didn’t have scallions or garlic. so I used green onions and a little vidalia onion in the gravy. Perfect!
These pork chops were amazing! They were crisp on the outside and so tender and juicy on the inside. Not to mention this was the best brown gravy ever! We will definitely be adding it to our dinner rotation.
The breading on these pork chops was super yummy. I thought they were delicious and the family agreed. Thanks for the recipe.
Recipe was great! Cut it in half and my pork chops were a little thicker than I think they should have been, but I just watched them real close. Turned out perfectly!