Thick-cut pork chops stuffed with a cornbread, apple, and bacon mixture with a little cheddar cheese, make a stick to your bones dinner. Stuffed pork chops are an easy meal option and have so much flavor. They do take a little more effort than just cooking plain pork chops, but if you really stuff them good, they are super filling. Serve with a side of green beans or a side salad for a full meal.
Pork and apples are one of the best meat/fruit combinations, especially during the fall months when fresh, crisp apples are so plentiful.
Apple-Bacon Pork Chops are a delicious combination of sweet and salty. It’s ok to overstuff the pork chops. If the stuffing falls out, it will just get nicely browned and crisp cooking in all the pork juices. The pork chops are first seared in a hot skillet and then finished in the oven. I’ve added a little sage to the stuffing. The smell of sage is a must in my kitchen every fall.
I used Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing mix, but you could use cornbread. It should be at least a little stale.
Apple-Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon,, diced
- 1 cup finely chopped cooking apple
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/3 cup diced celery
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt,, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,, divided
- 1 cup cornbread stuffing mix
- 1/3 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 thick,, bone-in pork rib chops
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and place on paper towels to drain. Leave bacon fat in skillet.
- Add apple, onion, and celery to bacon fat and sauté over medium heat until apple mixture softens, about 5 minutes. Add parsley, rubbed sage, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Add stuffing mix, chicken broth, and cheddar cheese to apple mixture and stir until everything is well mixed and chicken broth is absorbed.
- Cut a horizontal pocket in the side of each pork chop. Season outside of chops and inside pocket with remaining salt and pepper. Stuff apple mixture into pockets. (Secure with wooden picks if desired. I did not do this.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat olive oil in a large, oven proof skillet over medium-high heat.(If skillet is not big enough to hold all 4 chops, work in 2 batches.)
- Add pork chops to pan, handling them carefully so stuffing does not spill out. Saute until lightly browned on each side, about 2 minutes.
- Place pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until thickest part of pork chop registers 145 degrees. Remove from oven, cover with foil, and let rest 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Source: adapted from SouthernPlate.com
This was great. Didn’t use the cheese but added 1/3 cup dried cranberries. Keeper in my book!
I’m making these tonight and no where in the recipe does it say when to add the bacon, so i just assumed it goes into the apple mixer at any point. Well, we’ll see how it turns out. Making it with my homemade potatoes and French style greenbeans.
Has anyone tried adding walnuts to this? How was it?