Pork

Smothered Pork Chops

Fork-tender chops in a rich onion gravy. Sunday dinner on a weekday.

Prep 5 min LOW 6 hours HIGH 3–4 hours Serves 6

Smothered Pork Chops, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

Smothered pork chops is Southern cooking at its most direct: chops, onions, gravy, time. Traditionally it means browning the chops, building a roux, and standing over a pan.

This does it in a crock pot without any of that. The onions go on the bottom and cook down into the gravy, the chops sit on top of them, and the packet turns your broth into something thick enough to coat a spoon.

The one thing that matters here is the cut. Thin chops dry out over six hours no matter what you do. Buy them inch-thick.

Why you'll love it

Real gravy, no roux.

No whisking, no lumps, no standing over a pan.

Fork-tender chops.

Six hours turns even a stubborn chop soft.

Onions do half the work.

They cook down and sweeten the whole gravy.

Made for mashed potatoes.

This gravy exists to be poured over something starchy.

What's already in the packet

Whole milk powderCream cheese powderOnionPork bouillonGarlicBeef bouillonButter powderMushroom powderBlack pepperPaprikaThickener

Two bouillons plus a full cream system and thickener — that's what makes gravy instead of broth.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 6 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 3–4 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 145°F

Chops are safe and juicy at 145°F. They will keep tenderising past that.

You'll Need

4–6 Pork chops, about 2½ lbs total
2 cups Water or chicken broth
1 packet Cook SLO Smothered Pork Chops
1 large Onion, sliced

Pick your pork

4–6

Bone-in pork chops, 1 inch thick

4–6

Boneless pork chops, 1 inch thick

2 lbs

Boneless country ribs

Roasts and chops 145°F, ground pork and ham 160°F

Add vegetables

Sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen)Quartered baby potatoesSliced onion (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic clovesSliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Green beans (fresh or frozen)

Quartered baby potatoes, sliced onion (fresh or frozen), whole garlic cloves and sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) at the start, on the bottom; mushrooms at the start to melt into the sauce, or the last two hours to keep their shape; green beans (fresh or frozen) in the last hour.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Quartered baby potatoesSliced onion (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic clovesSliced carrots (fresh or frozen)	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, or the last two hours	Sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen)	Mushrooms are a choice. At the start they melt into the sauce and deepen it. In the last two hours they hold their shape and keep some bite.
Last hour	Green beans (fresh or frozen)	Any longer and green beans go grey, squash turns to water, and pineapple falls apart.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: quartered baby potatoes, sliced onion (fresh or frozen), whole garlic cloves, sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) and sliced mushrooms (fresh or frozen). These need the full cook anyway.

Add green beans (fresh or frozen) when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Pasta and noodles

**Cooked separately.** This gravy exists to be poured over something. Buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. **Do not add dry pasta to the pot for this recipe.** The sauce is cream and cheese based. Pasta cooked in it releases starch that turns the sauce gluey and grainy. Boil it separately and combine at the end.

Before anything goes in the pot

1
Brown the meat first
Pat it dry, get a heavy pan properly hot, and work in two batches so nothing steams. Two to three minutes a side. You want colour, not doneness — the crock pot finishes it.
2
Deglaze the pan and pour it in
This is the step almost everyone skips, and it wastes half the benefit of browning. Most of the flavour you just made is stuck to the pan. Pour a cup of the recipe's water into the hot empty pan, scrape everything loose with a wooden spoon while it bubbles, and pour that into the crock pot. Count it toward the total liquid.
3
Whisk the packet into the water before it goes in
Do not sprinkle dry powder onto liquid in the pot. Put the 2 cups in a jug, add the packet, whisk until there are no lumps, then pour it over. Cheese and cream powders dissolve properly this way and the sauce comes out smooth instead of grainy.

These happen outside the crock pot, before it's switched on.

Tonight's Plan

1
Lay the sliced onion across the bottom of the crock pot.
This is the foundation of the gravy and it keeps the chops off the hot base.
2
Put the pork chops on top, in one layer if you can.
Overlapping is fine if you have to, but a single layer cooks more evenly.
3
Pour in the 2 cups of whisked liquid and stir once.
You dissolved the packet in the water already, so there is no powder to work in and no risk of lumps. One stir to settle everything.
4
Put the lid on.
Don't stir again for at least four hours.

When about 30 minutes are left

Creamy upgrade

Take the lid off and let it sit 15 minutes.

This is what turns thin sauce into real gravy.

Spoon the gravy over the chops and serve.

Get the onions on there too.

Stirring

Stir once at the halfway point

Cheese and cream powders settle against the hot crock wall and scorch into a brown ring. That ring then breaks up into the sauce and makes it grainy. One stir at the halfway point prevents it, and one is all you need — every lift of the lid costs about twenty minutes.

Swaps and add-ins

Add mushrooms.

A pound, sliced, at the start. Makes it a smothered mushroom chop.

Add potatoes.

Quartered baby potatoes at the start. One-pot dinner.

Use country ribs instead.

Two pounds of boneless country ribs. More forgiving than chops and they shred.

Make it a smothered steak.

Same packet, same method, with cube steak instead.

Tips for success

Buy thick chops. Inch-thick, minimum. Thin-cut chops are the number one reason this dish fails.
Don't stir for the first four hours. Let the chops set. Early stirring breaks them apart.
Lid off at the end is the gravy step. Fifteen minutes uncovered is what thickens it properly.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Cracked black pepper, generously.

Smothered chops should be peppery. Fresh pepper at the table, not just what cooked in.

Fresh chopped parsley.

This is a brown dish. Something green makes it look like food rather than gravy.

A dash of hot sauce.

Southern tradition, and the vinegar in it cuts the richness.

Serve it over

Mashed potatoesButtered egg noodlesRiceBiscuitsGreen beans

Tomorrow night

Pork and gravy sandwiches.

Chopped, on white bread, gravy poured over. Open-faced.

Smothered pork hash.

Fried with potatoes until crisp, egg on top.

Pork gravy poutine.

Over fries with cheese curds.

Shepherd's-style bake.

Chopped, topped with mashed potato, baked until browned.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days

Freezer

3 months. The gravy freezes better than the chops do.

Reheating

Low with a splash of broth. The gravy sets very firm when cold.

Questions people ask

Recipe card