3-Ingredient Balsamic Jam Pork Chops

jammy balsamic pork chops on a white plate, next to a blue napkin and silverware, all on a wooden table

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4.82 from 16 votes

3-Ingredient Balsamic Jam Pork Chops

A sweet and sour glaze turns juicy pork chops into something special, and it can be done in under 30 minutes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Servings: people

Calories: 345kcal

Author: Don Baiocchi

Ingredients

½ cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons jam of your choice (fruit-sweetened for Whole30)
½ teaspoon + 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, plus more if necessary
freshly ground black pepper
4 bone-in pork chops, 1" thick see notes below
2 tablespons ghee (for Whole30) or grass-fed butter

Instructions

Add the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until reduced to about 3 tablespoons, about 10-12 minutes. If you reduce it too long, add enough regular balsamic vinegar to equal 3 tablespoons total.
Once the vinegar has reduced, take it off the heat and add the jam, the 1/2 tsp. salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir until blended. There might be lumps of fruit depending on how chunky your jam is, and that's okay.
While the vinegar is reducing, pat your chops dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Aim for about 1/8 tsp. salt per chop per side.
Heat your cooking fat over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Once it's shimmering and quickly runs around the pan when you swirl it, add the chops. Cook for 5 minutes.
Flip the chops and cook for 5 more minutes. They'll only have a little color on them - the sauce will definitely add a lot more.
Use a spoon or silicone brush to evenly smear roughly half the vinegar mixture over the chops, approximately 2 teaspoons per chop (no need to measure, just get to glazin'). Flip the chops and cook for one minute to set the glaze while you brush the vinegar mixture on the second side of the chops.
Flip the chops again and cook for one minute to set the glaze on the second side.
Remove the chops to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes (the vinegar mixture will be very, very hot from the sugars in the jam).
If there's any remaining vinegar mixture left, you can brush that over the chops. If there's enough buttery, jammy juices left in the skillet, brush or pour over the chops.

Notes

If you use chops slightly less than 1" thick, reduce cooking time on each side by 1 minute, so you initially cook each side 4 minutes before you start the glazing process. If you use 1.5" thick chops, increase the cooking time on each side by 1 minute, cooking each side for 6 minutes before you start the glazing process.

These are best eaten when made. You could make them ahead of time or even freeze them once they've cooled down (wrap tightly and freeze for up to 3 months). Reheat them quickly in the microwave or a very low oven, but you risk making the pork tough. Keep in mind the sugars in the jam will be hot if you warm the chops up too much.

Warm or cold, you could slice the meet off the bone and use it on a salad.

I will say, however, if by some chance you have leftovers, these are addictive eaten cold. And maybe picked up by the bone and eaten like a caveman. Or so I've heard.

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