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
My family loved it. Make sure you read the recipe before you start. Get all of your prep work complete before you start browning porkchops.
Pork chops and apples really are such a great combination and I love that you added some cheddar cheese in there too! My husband loves pork chops and is always begging me to make them for him and I think he would just love these ones! I love this savory fall dish 🙂
I’m always looking for new ways to make pork chops! So perfect for Fall. Can’t wait to try them!
Hope you enjoy them Christina! You are right. They are perfect for fall!
Where does the bacon fit into this recipe?
What??? This looks out of this world!
Wow these look awesome- love the Thanksgiving flavors 🙂 I wish my husband wasn’t such a picky eater- he has outlawed pork and beef in our house 🙁
No beef or pork 🙁 Well at least he didn’t outlaw chocolate!
Hehe, if so I think we would have never gotten married 😉
These look so tasty, Christin, and perfect for fall with apple, cornbread, and stuffing! The bacon sounds great, too — a nice salty bite!
Bacon makes everything better doesn’t it Marcie? 🙂
I normally don’t like pork chops but these look irresistible!!!
I’m not a huge pork chop fan either Ashley, but stuffing them makes them super yummy!
Oooh, wow at that cornbread stuffing… it makes these chops look awesome! And you’re right, apple + pork + sage are such a wonderful combo! x
Such a great fall dinner! I usually go crazy with apple baking, but I love that you combined them with pork- yum!
These pork chops sound awesome! I love that you used cornbread and apple to stuff them with! (I’m pretty apathetic about bacon but my husband would love that part! haha). What a great fall dinner : )