This pork chop marinade is a blend of garlic, herbs, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and Dijon mustard. It produces perfect marinated pork chops every time, and you can use your pork marinade for baked, broiled, grilled or sauteed pork.
Pork chops are a welcome addition to any dinner menu, and this marinated version is a family favorite. Serve your pork chops with Instant Pot mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli for a complete meal that everyone will love.
Pork chops naturally have a mild flavor which makes them the perfect meat to soak up a marinade. This pork chop marinade produces the best pork chops I’ve ever had – tender, juicy and full of flavor. You can bake, broil or grill your marinated pork chops for restaurant quality results that will earn you rave reviews.
Pork chop marinade ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, garlic and pepper.
How do you make a pork chop marinade?
Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl or resealable freezer bag. If you’re using a bowl, whisk everything together. If you’re using a bag, seal the bag and shake well to combine. Place your pork chops in the bowl or in the bag, then marinate for at least one hour.
Tips for pork chop marinade
- This marinade can be made up to 3 days before you plan to use it. Simply store the marinade in the fridge until you’re ready to add your pork.
- You can really use any cut of pork for this marinade such as bone in pork chops, boneless pork chops, pork loin or pork tenderloin. You can even use the marinade for chicken or beef! Be sure to check out some of my other great marinade options for other types of meat such as London broil marinade and chicken thigh marinade.
- This marinade contains sugar which adds great flavor, but can easily burn on the grill. Make sure your grill is not too hot before you add your meat!
Recipe FAQs
My favorite way to cook marinated pork chops is on the grill. If the weather isn’t nice enough for outdoor grilling, I use an indoor grill pan on the stove. If you prefer, you can bake or saute your pork chops.
Pork chops should be marinated for at least one hour. I recommend marinating your pork chops for a longer period of time for the best flavor, I try to let my pork marinate for at least 6-8 hours.
Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. The easiest way to gauge if your pork is done is to insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the pork – be sure that the thermometer is not touching the bone! Once you’ve reached the correct temperature, remove the pork from the heat and let it rest for 3 minutes before you slice it.
Flavor variations
While this recipe is delicious as-is, you can add other ingredients to customize it to your tastes.
- Spicy: Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
- Herb Lover’s: Add 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs such as thyme, green onions, rosemary or parsley. Scrape off the large pieces of herbs before you cook your pork.
- Asian: Use a blend of olive oil, toasted sesame oil, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic.
- Mexican: Use a blend of olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chili powder and onion powder.
Once you try this pork chop marinade, you’ll find yourself using it on a regular basis! My family requests marinated pork chops all the time and I’m always happy to oblige.
More great pork chop recipes
Pork Chop Marinade
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large bowl or resealable gallon sized bag.
- If using a bowl, whisk to combine the ingredients. If using a bag, seal the bag and shake to combine the ingredients.
- Add 2-3 pounds of pork chops, then marinate for at least 1 hour, or up to 12 hours.
- Proceed with cooking method of your choice.
Notes
- This marinade can be made up to 3 days before you plan to use it. Simply store the marinade in the fridge until you’re ready to add your pork.
- You can really use any cut of pork for this marinade such as bone in pork chops, boneless pork chops, pork loin or pork tenderloin.
I think you should rename this “kitchen sink” marinade because it has so many things in it but we loved it. It almost had a bbq flavor to it after it was grilled. We used bone in chops on our Webber charcoal and they were perfect. It’s been added to my marinade go to list and may try it on chicken next time!!!
This is my go-to marinade for pork chops. We usually grill them on a gas grill, or on a stove top cast iron grill pan but tonight we are doing them over charcoal and I saved some of the marinade to baste with. Looking forward to another amazing pork chop dinner!
What is it you are serving the chops with? Some sort corn salad?
It’s a boxed Israeli couscous mix with corn and bell peppers mixed in!
I have made this recipe several times now and it is always delicious! I cook the marinade and boil for 5 minutes then simmer until the pork chops are ready to eat. It thickens nicely and makes an excellent sauce!!
Do you cook the pork chops in the sauce or use it as a sauce after the pork chops are cooked?
Thanks!
This was very good. I will make again!
I want to fry my chops. Do you coat it with anything? Like flour or can I fry it without a coating?
Here is my recipe for fried pork chops: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/fried-pork-chops/
Could I freeze the pork in the marinade?
I think it could work fine although I haven’t tested it myself!
Best pork chop I ever created at home.
What if I marinade it 24 hours? I doubled the marinade and was glad I did because eight pork chops barely fit to be completely covered.
That should be fine I just wouldn’t go too long or it can change the texture of the meat.
Can I use lime juice instead of lemon juice? Can I fry them in flour afterwards
Lime juice should be fine, I haven’t fried them in flour before but I believe it could work.
Do I need lemon juice? I have pickle onion juice or pickle carrots juice, beet
Gina
The lemon juice helps to tenderize the pork!
You can use any acid in place of the lemon juice. I either use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar and both work just fine!
Could you substitute Brown Sugar with Stevia for T2 diabetic?
I think that should work!
Didn’t have balsamic, so I used rice vinegar instead (all I had at the time). I pan-seared mine in cast iron and used what was left to make a quick gravy that actually went great over the pork chops and the mashed potatoes I had made.