Grilled Pork Chops Recipe with Lemon, Garlic, and Sage

(Updated and added to Recipe Favorites August 2009) This recipe is a perfect way to use those thick lean boneless pork chops which tend to be dry if you cook them without marinating. (All you Costco shoppers know the ones I mean.) It’s also a recipe for people who really like sage, so if you’re not really a sage fan, I recommend using less, or check the Grilling category for a different recipe for grilled pork chops. My original photo for this recipe had pretty lame grill marks, but I was much happier with the marks above that I got from my new natural gas grill! (The grill in that picture really is exactly like mine.)

I first made this in 2007, and the recipe was inspired by one I saw in Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook. This is a book I pull out every summer and discover more recipes to try. The book is so old you can buy used copies of Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook at Amazon.com for less than $5.00. (Full disclosure: Kalyn’s Kitchen does earn a few cents on the dollar if you follow that link and buy the book.) Their recipe had fried sage which some people would think is more trouble than it’s worth, and I used rubbed sage from Penzeys. If you have sage in your garden though, fried sage would be perfect with this.

If you’re using those thick loin chops, they’ll turn out better if they’re pounded before you marinate them. I trimmed all the fat and then pounded the chops until they were about 1/2 inch thick.

The original recipe said to marinate pork chops about four hours, but now that I’ve made them again I think marinating all day will bump up the flavor even more. Trim the pork chops the night before, then make the marinade and pour it over in the morning before work and let pork chops marinate in the fridge all day.

If you want grill marks, preheat the grill to high, then turn the heat to medium high when you rotate the pork chops after the first grill marks appear. This usually takes about 4 minutes, but lift one pork to check before you rotate.

If you don’t have an outdoor grill, this recipe can be cooked on a stove-top grill pan with ridges or a George Foreman Grill with good results.

Grilled Pork Chops with Lemon, Garlic, and Sage
(Makes 4 servings, recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook.)

Ingredients:
4 thick boneless pork chops

Marinade Ingredients:
2-3 T fresh lemon juice (I would use 3 T, but I really like lemon)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. rubbed sage (or use 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage, use less sage if you’re not crazy about sage)
2 tsp. garlic puree (pureed garlic, also called ground garlic)
2 tsp. dried shallots (I love the dried shallots from Penzeys for marinades, but you could use 1 T minced fresh shallots or 1 tsp. onion powder)
fresh ground pepper to taste, about 1/4 tsp.

Instructions:

South Beach Suggestions:
Lean pork chops like this are perfect for any phase of the South Beach Diet. For phase one, eat it with something like Grilled Asparagus with Double Lemon and Parmesan and Mary’s Perfect Salad. For phase two or three, you could add Brown and Wild Rice with Pine Nuts and Thyme.

More Pork Chops for the Grill:
Cuban Pork Chops Mojo
Grilled Lime and Chipotle Pork Chops
Grilled Ginger Soy Pork Chops