Instant Pot Paprika Pork Chops
(This recipe for Instant Pot Pork Chops has been removed from my site after several readers reported inconsistent results with the recipe and Kara and I were also frustrated with it when we tried to re-create the tasty pork chops we made when I first posted it. I am leaving the printer-friendly recipe here because some people did enjoy the recipe. If anyone does decide to try this recipe after seeing this note, I want to caution that you must have very thick, well marbled pork chops for this, otherwise so the pork won’t stay juicy in the Instant Pot.)
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large thick bone-in pork chops (see notes)
- 3 T olive oil
- 1 tsp. Spanish Sweet Paprika (or use any Paprika you have, even smoked Paprika)
- 1/2 tsp. Penzey’s Pork Chop Seasoning (or any all-purpose seasoning that’s good on meat)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. fresh-ground black pepper
- 2 T white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme (I would use ground thyme if you have it.)
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
INSTRUCTIONS
- Trim a little of the fat from pork chops, or leave it on, whichever you prefer.
- Mix Paprika, Pork Chop Seasoning, salt, and pepper and rub the pork chops with that mixture.
- Turn Instant Pot to SAUTE, HIGH HEAT and heat 1 T olive oil oil; then brown two pork chops, about 2-3 minutes per side.
- Add the other T olive oil and brown the other two pork chops. Remove pork chops to a plate.
- While the chops brown, mix together vinegar, granulated garlic, dried thyme, chicken stock and the other 1 T olive oil.
- When you’ve browned and removed all the pork chops, add that liquid mixture to the Instant Pot and scrape off any browned bits in the bottom of the pot.
- Add pork chops to the Instant Pot, pushing them down under the liquid as much as you can, lock the lid, and set Instant Pot to MANUAL, HIGH PRESSURE, 5 minutes. (If your pork chops are not one inch thick, I’d use a shorter time.)
- When the cooking time ends, use NATURAL RELEASE for five minutes; then QUICK RELEASE to release the rest of the pressure.
- Remove the pork chops to a serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm.
- If you want a smooth sauce without any lumps, use a Fat Skimmer (affiliate link) to strain out the herbs and bits of browned meat from the sauce.
- Then set pressure cooker to SAUTE, HIGH HEAT and simmer the sauce about 10-15 minutes to reduce it to the thickness you prefer.
- Serve pork chops hot, with sauce to spoon over the meat.
NOTES
I used a 6-Quart Instant Pot for this recipe. I used pork chops that were an inch thick; pork chops with some marbling in the pork will give best results. Time for the Instant Pot to come to pressure and release pressure is not included in cooking time.
19 Comments on “Instant Pot Paprika Pork Chops”
I made this last evening. I have a wanna be Instant Pot, so had to wing some of the instructions. I bought four thick bone-in chops, but I could only brown them one at a time. My pot just isn’t that big. I decided to just make three of the chops, but it was clear to me there wasn’t nearly enough sauce, so I made a half batch more. I goofed up. It’s been a stressful week due to something that happened to my dog. She went through one four hour surgery, and is having another shorter surgery today. My mind has been somewhere else. I realized after I brown the chops that the paprika was supposed to be sprinkled on them along with the chop seasoning. So, I added the paprika to the sauce. To me, 10 minutes seemed like a long time to cook the chops, so I cut the time down to 6 minutes. They still ended up on the verge of overdone. I’ll probably cut the time down to four next time I make this.
The sauce for the chops was TO DIE FOR!!!! I did add about a quarter cup of white wine to the mix. I had some mushrooms floating around in the fridge and meant to add those as well while the sauce was simmering, but forgot. I will definitely do that next time. Thanks for sharing this, Kalyn.
So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! I’ve been testing this again since then and I decided to lower the cooking time since people were still getting mixed results.
Made this with the ButcherBox boneless pork loin chops and added a sliced whole red onion. WOW! The pork chops were so tender and the gravy was so tasty. Definitely going to make this again and again!
So glad you enjoyed it. I’ve gotten mixed reviews on this recipe and I think good quality pork chops make a big difference!
I will have to try that, thanks. I will say that I consulted a well-known pressure cooker blogger to see if she had advice, and she didn’t recommend that. But I like the idea of trying it.
Can I use regular balsamic vinegar? Or Apple Cider vinegar? Or red wine vinegar? That’s all I have :/
Yes, definitely you can use another kind of vinegar. The regular balsamic vinegar will darken the pork chops but probably taste great. If you don’t like the idea of darker meat, I’d use apple cider vinegar.
Awesome, thanks. Turns out I don’t have the all purpose seasoning either 🙁 Closest is a rib rub or Mrs. Dash table blend.
I think anything that tastes good on pork will work!
Can you make this in a crock pot????
Yes, I’m sure you can. I would use only about half as much stock for the crock pot. You could look at this recipe for tips on the timing. Let me know how it works if you try it!
Loved the pork chops. Extremely delicious., not dry at all. Made them at my cabin in the instant pot! I had only 2 of of us to prepare for so I made only two chops. I decreased the amount of broth to 1 cup. Served it with Kabocha squash, asparagus and apple sauce. Thank you for the great dinner recipe!
So glad to hear that someone else had success with the recipe! Thanks for taking time to tell me!
I’m sorry you were disappointed. I was talking to a well-know pressure cooker blogger tonight at a party and asked her why some people weren’t having as good of results as I did with this recipe. She said “It has to be the marbling in the meat. If your pork chops are too lean they won’t turn out well in the pressure cooker.” So I added a note about that in the recipe too.
Beth, I made this again several times with my cooking assistant Kara. We realized that we must have written down 1/2 cup liquid but we really used 1 1/2 cups. I am so sorry for the mistake. We also made a few other changes that we thought made it a bit better. I am embarrassed and sad that it was a failure for you!
Linda, after another person said their pork chops were dry, I made the recipe again (several times!) with one of my cooking assistants. We realized that we must have written down 1/2 cup stock and it should have been 1 1/2 cup. I am so sorry for that mistake! Nothing upsets me more than making a mistake in a recipe. I’m updating the recipe with that change, and a other minor changes we thought might improve it. Please accept my apology; I am so embarrassed.
Now I am worried; I will try it again and report back. Thanks for taking time to tell me.
I wonder what went wrong? Because if you followed this recipe there is no way you would end up with less liquid than you started with unless steam was escaping. We had to cook the liquid down bit to thicken it, and there was still quite a bit. The natural release for us took about 15 minutes. Sorry it was not a success for you.
I haven’t cooked thin pork chops in the Instant Pot, so I can’t say for sure. But I am guessing 5-6 minutes would be long enough. Love to hear how that works if you try it.