Crispy Breaded Pork Chops

posted by Megan on Jun 16, 2020 (last updated 7/7/22) 0 comments »

These pork chops were the first thing I made when Babe and I got back from our honeymoon. As in, we weren’t unpacked yet. Now you have to understand, we didn’t live together before we got married, and I didn’t really cook for him all that often. But here I was, with my shiny, brand new husband, and I wanted to really impress him. And this recipe was the first thing I thought of, because it was one of my favorites growing up.

Table of Contents show

Don’t get meat that’s too thick

Yes, I’m talking about the pork. I immediately thought that the thickest, bone in pork chops were going to be the key to my success. Wrong, baby. Thick chops have their place, and it ain’t here. But Megan 10 years ago didn’t know that. Bless her.

What you’re looking for are thin cut, boneless chops that are about 6 inches long and no more than an inch thick. Preferably about a half inch. A lot of stores will sell these chops in packs of 8 or 10 as bargain buys. Even better!

Use saltines or oyster crackers

They already have salt on them, so you don’t need to season the breading. I suppose you could also use breadcrumbs, but I don’t like to. There’s just something about those crackers that makes me crackers. LOL.

Just toss them in a gallon ziploc and smash them to smithereens with a rolling pin. Flip the bag a few times as you do this, so everything gets evenly crushed. You want some fine crumbs in with the bigger ones.

Use a milk bath

No eggs here. Just add some milk to a shallow bowl, and dunk the pork chops in before coating in the cracker crumbs. This really makes for a fantastic tasting breading.

Don’t make the oil too hot

I always always always keep the burner i’m using on medium heat. This is really important so that we can keep the chops in the pan long enough to cook all the way through without burning the breading. Each chop should take about 4 minutes on each side, if you’re using 1 inch thick chops.

Drain the oil away from the finished chops

After each chop is done, remove them from the pan and onto a baking rack set over some paper towel or foil. Easy cleanup and the residual oil is not pressed against the breading that we want to keep crispy.

Serve with applesauce and potatoes!!

To get the FULL experience, you need to have these crispy breaded pork cutlets with some Mott’s cinnamon applesauce and Hungry Jack instant potatoes. Don’t come for me, and don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

To finish the honeymoon story, I burned the cracker coating and the insides of the pork chops were totally raw. I had a meltdown because I thought that divorce was impeding, for sure. But here we are! No worse for the wear 😉