Baked Almond-Crusted Italian Pork Chops
with roasted carrots / arugula salad
Smarts: The instructions call for two sheet pans, but you can cook the carrots and pork on one sheet pan if you prefer. Just keep an eye on them and remove them from the pan separately if they finish cooking at different times.
Ingredients
- Almonds, sliced or slivered - 1 cup, finely chopped (sub almond meal)
- Italian seasoning - 1 Tbsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Cheese, parmesan (opt) - 1/4 cup, grated
- Pork chops, boneless - 4
- Mayonnaise - 2 Tbsp
- Mustard, dijon - 2 tsp
- Baby carrots - 12 oz (sub regular carrots, sliced)
- Lemony Balsamic Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - 2 Tbsp
- Vinegar, balsamic - 1 Tbsp
- Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Honey - 1 tsp
- Oil, olive - 4 Tbsp
- Arugula - 6 oz (sub any salad greens)
- Lemony Balsamic Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - 2 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make vinaigrette - (If prepping right before cooking, get oven heating first.) Whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, mustard (portion for vinaigrette), and honey. Add olive oil while whisking. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Prep almond crust - If using almonds, finely chop them by hand or in the food processor. (Skip if using almond meal.) Combine almonds / almond meal, Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and cheese. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pork - Tenderize with a fork and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
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Make
- Heat oven to 425F / 218C. Set out two sheet pans.
- On the first sheet pan, toss baby carrots with vinaigrette (portion for carrots) and some salt and pepper. Roast carrots, shaking the pan halfway through cooking, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Once carrots are cooking, spray second sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush with some oil. Set pork chops on prepared pan.
- Combine mayonnaise and mustard (portion for pork). Spread over top and sides of pork chops. Press almond topping onto pork chops. (It’s messy, but it’s easiest to do this step with your hands.) For more golden brown color on the crust, drizzle or spray the top of the crust with some oil.
- Transfer pork chops to the oven and cook until it reaches 145F / 73C, 15 to 25 minutes (depending on thickness). (If you are using very thick pork chops that need to cook for a longer time, keep an eye on them towards the end of cooking. If the crust starts to get too brown, cover the chops lightly with some foil to prevent burning.)
- Transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Toss arugula with vinaigrette (portion for salad).
- Serve pork with arugula and carrots on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
I covered the pork with foil after 12 minutes. Cooked on one pan with carrots. Everything finished at about 25 minutes. Everything was so good!
1 Helpful36 reviews
Made with chicken and it turned out well. I used about half chopped sliced almonds and half almond flour, and it seemed a little dry/powdery, so I'd skip the flour next time. Not my favorite flavor of carrots, but they were still good. Made mashed potatoes instead of salad to get the kids to eat more.
0 HelpfulThe pork was excellent, easy, and delicious, even for a weeknight. My whole family loved it. I used thin sliced pork chops, sprayed some oil on top of the coating, and broiled at the end for a few minutes. Will make again.
0 HelpfulThis was delicious. I had just made homemade mayonnaise. Used almond meal. Forgot to salt and pepper the pork. Still amazing.
0 HelpfulDelicious. We added 12 oz broccoli to the carrots and used all the vinaigrette on the veggies. Great flavors that worked well with the pork. Grateful the pork wasn’t too dry.
0 Helpful