Maple-Balsamic Pork Chops
with warm brussels sprouts salad
Ingredients
- Pork chops, boneless or bone-in - 4
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Maple syrup - 2 Tbsp
- Vinegar, balsamic - 2 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 2 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 3 Tbsp
- Cheese, parmesan - 1 oz, grated
- Dates, pitted - 6, sliced (sub dried cranberries)
- Chives - 1 Tbsp, chopped
- Brussels sprouts - 1 lb, shredded
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Sunflower seeds - 1/4 cup (sub chopped pecans or walnuts)
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make maple-balsamic vinaigrette and marinade - Whisk together maple syrup, vinegar, Dijon mustard, soy sauce and cooking oil. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pork chops - Pour 2 Tbsp / 30 mL (for 4 servings; adjust accordingly if customizing) of vinaigrette / marinade over pork (reserve remaining vinaigrette / marinade for salad) and turn to coat on all sides. Tenderize with a fork. Marinate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Cheese / Dates / Chives - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Brussels sprouts - Put the slicing disk in a food processor and shred sprouts (video is for carrots, but the method is the same; you can also thinly slice them by hand or with a mandolin). (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
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Make
- Remove pork chops from marinade (discard marinade) and season with some salt and pepper.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then place pork chops on heated oil. Sear on each side for ~3 minutes. For thin pork chops, this should be enough heat to cook them through. If you’re using thicker pork chops, lower heat and cover with a piece of foil until pork reaches 145F / 63C degrees.
- When pork is finished, let rest for ~5 minutes. Return skillet to heat.
- To heated skillet add olive oil and then brussels sprouts with some salt. Saute until brussels sprouts soften slightly (you want them to hold their shape and still have some crunch), 1 to 2 minutes.
- Transfer brussels sprouts to a mixing bowl and toss with remaining vinaigrette / marinade, dates, chives, cheese and sunflower seeds.
- Serve pork with brussels sprouts salad on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
44 reviews
Used thin boneless pork chops. Dried Cranberries for dates, green onions for chives. Marinade and dressing is so good!
Brussel sprout salad was a winner! We used dried cranberries and pecans because that’s what we had on hand. Pork chops had nice flavor. Also served mashed potatoes which worked well to encourage the kiddos to try the sprouts.
Next time, I’ll leave the cheese out - it was a bit too sharp in contrast with the other salad ingredients.
The salad is good, though I think blue cheese might be a better fit than parmesan. Quick tip for marinated meats: be sure to pat the meat dry after removing from marinade and season before cooking, otherwise your meat will steam in the pan and taste bland.