Slow Cooker Thick-Cut Pork Chops Recipe
Like barbecuing, the long cooking time of a slow cooker is especially good with thick cut, bone-in pork chops. Slowly rendering the fat makes the meat tender and juicy. Unlike barbecuing, cooking in a slow cooker is hands-off and super-easy.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 - 3 cloves Garlic crushed
- 2 1/2 - 3 pounds thick-cut bone-in Pork Chops
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
- 8 ounces Baby Portobello Mushrooms (or Button Mushrooms, if desired) cleaned and sliced
- 1/2 cup Chicken Broth store-bought or homemade
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese cut into small cubes
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Parsley
Instructions
- Season pork chops with salt and black pepper on both sides. Rub in with your hand. Set aside.
- Add olive to a large skillet.
- Place on stovetop and heat over medium heat.
- When oil is hot an shimmering, add crushed garlic cloves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cloves turn golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove and discard the browned garlic with a slotted spatula.
- Carefully add seasoned chops to the hot skillet with the garlic-infused oil. Sear chops on each side until nicely browned, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a platter and set aside.
- Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet. Season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and develop nice color, about 5 - 6 minutes for the Portobellos - a little less for buttons.
- When mushrooms are done, without removing the mushrooms, pour in the chicken broth and deglaze the skillet by and gently scraping the bottom with a spatula to loosen the flavorful brown bits. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Transfer browned pork chops to a 6-quart or larger slow cooker crock.
- Pour mushrooms and broth mixture over top. Season with a small amount of salt and black pepper, if desired.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours.
- When finished, remove the lid and transfer chops to a serving plate. Set aside. Leave the broth in to cooker.
- Pour heavy cream into a heat-proof measuring cup or bowl.
- Temper the cream by adding one or two spoonfuls of the hot cooking liquid from the crock to it. Stir well. When tempered, stir cream into the broth in the slow cooker crock.
- Add cream cheese. Stir vigorously until it is completely melted and incorporated into the sauce with no remaining lumps.
- Top chops with the creamy mushroom sauce.
- Add a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley.
- Serve immediately with mashed potatoes or your choice of sides.
Notes
When shopping for this recipe, be sure to choose extra-thick-cut bone-in pork chops with a nice amount of fat on them. With the long cooking time of this method, pork chops that are too thin or too lean will become tough and chewy.
The rich, creamy sauce is delicious as is. But if you prefer, it can be thickened by stirring a slurry of one-part cornstarch and two-parts cold water into it then it heating back up once the chops are done cooking.