Baked apple pork chops have a lot to recommend them. They are delicious, easy to prepare, and quick enough for a weeknight dinner. This sheet pan recipe includes roasted carrots and potatoes to round out your meal. The whole family will love this tasty recipe.
Introduction
It is still fall and football season, and I bought too many apples—time to use up a few apples. I only used two apples plus the one I ate while cooking. So three apples, which didn't dent the supply much.
I love sheet pan meals. I think it is because I'm too lazy to think of side dishes. They are usually quick and easy. Add in delicious, and they have me hooked.
My Rating
A solid 4. I miss the gravy I usually have with indoor cooked pork chops. And it can be a bit dry without a brine.
🐖Ingredients
Pork Chops
A center cut ¾ to 1-inch with bone or boneless chops should be fine for this recipe.
Apples
A lot seems to be made of what apple to use for this or that. I believe it is more a matter of individual taste. If you buy apples to make this recipe, I suggest Gala, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Ida Red, or Honey Crisp.
But generally, the apples you have are fine other than Red Delicious or Macintosh.
Potatoes
You want to use a thin skin potato in this recipe, not russet potatoes. Usually, red potatoes or Yukon gold would be good choices.
The potatoes need to be cut small, no more than 1 inch at any point, to help speed cooking time.
Vegetables
The cooking time for vegetables will vary by the type of vegetable. Root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots, are a good choice for this recipe since cooking time matches closely with the pork.
The carrots need to be cut relatively small to cook thoroughly. "Baby carrots" are about the right size and work nicely. I prefer using whole carrots cut into smaller pieces.
Onions can have about the same cooking time but may dominate the taste and not the best with the apple taste profile we are looking to achieve.
Softer vegetables like green beans, asparagus, summer squash, or bell peppers can be added about halfway through cooking if you want.
Other firmer vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, or Brussels sprouts will take longer than the softer vegetables and can be added about 10 minutes into cooking.
👨🍳How to Bake Apple Pork Chops
- Preheat the oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional. Have the oven rack about in the middle of the oven or a bit higher—not low in the oven.
- Start with center cut ¾ to 1-inch with bone or boneless chops. Trim the fat rim to ¼ inch and score though every inch. Brine if you want. Coat with melted butter and season to taste.
- Prepare a baking dish or sheet pan with a good coat of PAM or oil to prevent sticking. This "for two" size version fits nicely in a cake pan or on a quarter-size sheet pan 9X13. A half-size sheet pan is 18X13 and great if you increase the recipe size.
- Peel and chop apples into ½ to 1 inch chunks and coat with brown sugar and butter.
- Prepare vegetables by cutting into chunks of ½ to 1-inch size. Give them a coat of oil and garlic with salt and pepper.
- Spread the vegetables around the edges and the apples in the middle. Top the apples with the pork chops.
- Bake about 25 to 30 minutes. You need to get the pork chops to 145° for safety, and you want the potatoes and carrots tender. Bone-in chops take a few minutes longer.
- Brown under a broiler for better color.
❓FAQs
Today's pork is much leaner than in previous years and tends to dry out during cooking and brine if you have time. It will improve the moisture and texture.
A standard pork brine is 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of table salt. If using a different salt, you should adjust accordingly. You may add other things like sugar (usually equal to salt) or other herbs—brine for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Top the pork with the cooked apple and serve the vegetables on the side.
Store leftovers sealed tightly in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or this makes an easy freezer meal sealed airtight for 3 to 4 months.
📖Pork Chop Recipes
Easy Crock Pot Pork Chops with Gravy
📖Sheet Pan Recipes
One Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Potatoes and Carrots
Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Sheet Pan Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Potatoes
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional.
Trim the chips leaving only ¼ inch of fat. Cut the fat rim at 1-inch intervals to prevent cupping during cooking.
Prep a smaller sheet pan with a heavy coat of PAM.
Clean ¾ pound small potatoes and cut them into pieces no more than 1-inch size. Rinse 1 cup of baby carrots (about ½ pound). In a large bowl, mix the potatoes and carrots with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, 2-3 cloves crushed garlic, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl in the microwave (about 20 sec). Coat both sides of pork with melted butter and then a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper.
Peel and cut up 2 medium apples of your choice. Cut each apple into ⅛ wedges, then cut those in half to make cube-like shapes.
Add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and the remainder of the butter. Stir until evenly coated.
Add the carrots and potatoes around the edge of the sheet pan. Spread the apples over the middle of the sheet pan.
Top the apples with the chops. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Bake to an internal temperature of 145°-155° on the pork chops and soft potatoes, and carrots.
Use the broiler for a few minutes to add more browning if you wish.
📖Recipe
Baked Apple Pork Chops with Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 pork chops
- ¾ pound red potatoes
- ½ pound baby carrots
- 2 medium apples
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 cloves garlic - crushed or minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional.
- Prep a smaller sheet pan with a heavy coat of PAM.
- Trim the chips leaving only ¼ inch of fat. Cut the fat rim at 1-inch intervals to prevent cupping during cooking.
- Clean ¾ pound small potatoes and cut them into pieces no more than 1-inch size. Rinse 1 cup of baby carrots (about ½ pound). In a large bowl, mix the potatoes and carrots with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon Kosher salt, 2-3 cloves crushed garlic, and ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl in the microwave (about 20 sec). Coat both sides of pork chops with melted butter and then a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper.
- Peel and cut up 2 medium apples of your choice. Cut each apple into ⅛ wedges, then cut those in half to make cube-like shapes.
- Place the apples into a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and the remainder of the butter. Stir until evenly coated.
- Add the carrots and potatoes around the edge of the sheet pan. Spread the apples over the middle of the sheet pan.
- Top the apples with the pork. Bake for 25-30 minutes to an internal temperature of 145°-155° on the pork chops and soft potatoes and carrots.
- You may want to use the broiler for a few minutes to add more browning if you wish.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use a 9X13 inch quarter sheet pan or a similar size baking pan. For a double or triple size recipe, use a half size sheet pan that is 13X18.
- The chops should be ¾ to 1 inch thick. Either bone-in or boneless is fine.
- The apples can be of your choice— I suggest Gala, Honey Crisp, or Granny Smith.
- The potatoes should be a thin skin type so red potatoes or Yukon Gold would be good choices. Not russet.
- The dish is done when the pork chops are about 150°, and the potatoes are fork-tender (195°+).
- You can add a few minutes under the broiler if needed to add browning.
- Pork tends to dry so a brine of 1 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of table salt for an hour would be good if you have time. Add a tablespoon of sugar to it also. Rinse well when done and do not add more salt.
- Leftovers can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or frozen for 3-4 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Originally Published November 4, 2018. Updated with refreshed images and expansion of options and discussion.
Beth Matteri
Beth
Made the recipe as printed & it was perfect. The pork chops were so moist &
flavorful. The vegetables came out just great & the apples were a nice touch. I
used Cosmic Crisp apples.
Thanks for the great recipe.
Susan Hamilton
Sounds lovely, but 700+ calories seems high.
Kris
I made this tonight per your recipe. It was very good and the apples were a nice touch but the temperature and/or timing were off. I think it'd be better to start the potatoes, carrots and apples for 15-20 minutes before putting the pork chops on. Raising the oven temperature to 425° would hasten the cooking too. I must have spent an hour trying to get the vegetables soft at 400°. I took the pork chops out for 20 minutes for fear they would be too well done for that length of time. I think next time I'll start the vegetables at 425° for 10-15 minutes first then add the chops for 15-20 minutes. I did use the broiler to try to brown the chops but I think something else needs to be added to them to brown them. Thanks so much for the recipe, we did enjoy it.
Judy
This looks great. If I were to make 4 pork chops would the cooking time stay the same? How long would I brine? Not too familiar with brining. Thanks
DrDan
Hi Judy,
Cooking time is the same. If you brine then 1 hour. You can look at the how to grill a pork chop post that covers brine more. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/grilled-pork-chops/
Also, I put to pork on top to brown some but you could top with the apples instead but no browning then.
Dan