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These succulent Grilled Pork Chops are an easy, tasty dinner, any night of the week. And you’ll love the super simple honey-jalapeño marinade. it tastes as delicious as it sounds!
This is a foolproof recipe for the most delicious, tender grilled pork chops around, even on busy nights. Honey, garlic, thyme, paprika, and fresh jalapeños give the chops incredible flavor and tenderize them too.
Look for boneless center-cut chops, one of the best cuts money can buy. They are full of flavor and easy to work with, and they taste so great in this marinade. All you have to do is fire up the grill.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Pork chops: Look for boneless center-cut pork chops (also known as loin chops or center loin chops).
Step-by-step instructions
- To make the marinade, in a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, garlic, jalapeño pepper, dried thyme, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add pork chops; turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat grill over high heat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil grate. Remove pork chops from marinade and wipe off excess. Allow to come to room temperature while grill preheats.
- Reduce heat to medium and grill pork chops over direct heat, turning occasionally, until well-browned, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
- Transfer to indirect heat, cover, and continue cooking until a thermometer reads 145 degrees at the thickest part, about 5 to 10 minutes longer. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 large Grilled Pork Chops, enough for 4 servings.
- Storage: Store leftover pork chops in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Marinate pork chops the day before. Allow to come to room temperature before grilling.
- Freezer: Wrap leftover chops in freezer-safe packaging and freeze up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Stove top: Spray a griddle pan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, add chops, working in batches if needed. Cook until pork releases and develops a golden brown crust, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip chops and continue to cook until pork reaches 145 degrees in the thickest part of the chop about 5 minutes more. Remove to cutting board and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.
- Oven-baked: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray an oven-safe pan with non-stick cooking spray. Over medium-high heat, sear pork chops until a light golden-brown crust develops, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer pan to oven and bake until pork reaches 145 degrees in the thickest part of the chop, about 6 to 10 minutes more. Or, try my Baked Pork Chops.
Recipe FAQs
If you can, talk to your butcher; they can help guide you if you’re having trouble. Look for pork that is a deeper pink or red; this pork will taste better. Avoid meat that is very pale and has liquid in the package. Pork that has marbling or is flecked with small bits of fat adds incredible flavor to your cut. Avoid any cut of pork that has a dark colored bone. Finally, inspect the fat around the cut; fat of any pork should be white without dark spots.
Grilling pork chops is easy! Trim any excess fat, then cook hot and fast. After pre-heating the grill for 10 minutes, clean and oil the grill grate. Place the pork chops on the grill, with the heat to medium, over the direct heat and sear, turning once, until nicely marked on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
It is safe to cook frozen or partially-frozen pork in the oven or on the grill without defrosting first; the cooking time may be about 50 percent longer. In this case, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Of course, you can’t marinate frozen pork chops, so that’s something to keep in mind!
The target temperature for cooking grilled pork chops is about 145 degrees. If you use a meat thermometer, try not to poke the needle into the chops too many times, so the juices stay in the meat. And give the chops a few minutes to rest, if possible, so the juices distribute evenly in the meat.
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Grilled Pork Chops
Ingredients
For the marinade:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup honey
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pork chops:
- 4 (8 ounce) boneless pork chops center-cut, about 1 ½ to 2 inches thick each (see note 1)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced, for garnish, optional
Instructions
To make the marinade:
- In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, garlic, jalapeño pepper, dried thyme, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Add pork chops; turn to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 3 hours or overnight.
To make the pork chops:
- Preheat grill over high heat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil grate. Remove pork chops from marinade and wipe off excess. Allow to come to room temperature while grill preheats.
- Reduce heat to medium and grill pork chops over direct heat, turning occasionally, until well-browned, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.
- Transfer to indirect heat, cover, and continue cooking until a thermometer reads 145 degrees at the thickest part, about 5 to 10 minutes longer. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Pork chops: Look for boneless center-cut pork chops (also known as loin chops or center loin chops).
- Yield: This recipe makes 4 large Grilled Pork Chops, enough for 4 servings.
- Storage: Store leftover pork chops in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Marinate pork chops the day before. Allow to come to room temperature before grilling.
- Freezer: Wrap leftover chops in freezer-safe packaging and freeze up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Hi Meggan, looking forward to making these porkchops! I have a question. I noticed in the reviews someone posted subbing apple cider and ref wine vinegar for balsamic and another review mentioned worcestershire. But I didn’t see that in the ingredients. Am I missing something?
Thanks!
I only want to grill the frozen pork chop (1 in) to get the smoked flavor and then refrigerate when i want to fry it. Is that possible?
Hi Janet, I haven’t tried this myself. If you were to do something like this, I would recommend grilling, then immediately cooking it to 145 degrees internally. If you partially cooked it, then refrigerated it, it could potentially become hazardous. I could see grilling it, then finishing the chops in the oven as an option. Thanks – Meggan
My pork is frozen . trying 1st x 2 make dinner . so I’m grilling my pork. I do not have that mustard . but have everything else . help 911.
Hi Jennifer, you can substitute some regular yellow mustard if you don’t have Dijon. If they are still frozen, it’s okay, the cooking time may be longer. Hope it turns out well! – Meggan
These are awesome. So tender!!
This recipe is a keeper! Every single one of my kids and even my husband who doesn’t usually like pork LOVED these! Marinated them over night and they were perfect.Â
Awesome! Thanks so much for the kind words Paige! 😀 -Meggan
Most likely the best porkchops I’ve eaten. Had to substitute balsamic with cidar and red wine vinegar, but they came out perfect. Officially on my list.
WOW! Thank you so much! This made my day! 😀 -Meggan
These were amazing! Definitely restaurant quality and flavor. More worcestershire sauce than I’ve ever used in a single recipe, but perhaps that was the secret! That and the balsamic vinegar. We only had time to marinate them for about an hour, but they still had plenty of flavor. I did increase the garlic, but I do that with all recipes. 🙂 This is a keeper!
Parsley is mentioned, but not listed in the ingredients. How much?
Hi William, sorry about that. The parsley can be added at the end as an optional garnish; it doesn’t belong in the marinade. So sorry about that typo. Thanks for letting me know! -Meggan
Thick Grilled Pork Chops article is so helpful.Especially every member of my family loves to eat Chops
Found this on a Pinterest Porkchop page, yours looked the best so I made them for my kids this weekend. Clean plates all around! Thanks for the recipe just signed up for the email too