How Long To Cook Pork Chops In Air Fryer?

Pork chops is a classic dish to add to the dinner menu. Whether it’s bone-in or boneless pork chops or even stuffed pork chops, you can never go wrong with this dish on the dinner table. Many people like to cook pork chops in the oven. But maybe you don’t have an oven and you only have an air fryer. So can you air fry pork chops? The answer is yes! Cooking tasty pork chops in the air fryer is a breeze and the quickest way to go. Making tasty air fried pork chops is all about the right air fryer temp and cook time. I often hear people ask these questions. How long to cook pork chops in air fryer? What temperature to air fry pork chops? Let’s cover these questions in this guide and hear some tips on the recipe for cooking pork chops in air fryer.

What temp to air fry pork chops?

The key to cooking flavorful and juicy pork chops is heating them to the correct internal temperature without overcooking. The internal temp of cooked pork should reach 145 degrees using a meat thermometer and with immediate resting time of three minutes to get the temp up to 160-165 degrees. To achieve this, cook pork chops in an air fryer at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. My mom always told me low and slow is the way to go when cooking pork chops. This keeps them tender and juicy without burning or overcooking them. And using an air fryer is an especially effective way to cook pork as the air circulation in the air fryer ensures uniform cooking.

How Long To Cook Pork Chops In Air Fryer?

I typically cook pork chops for 12 minutes in the air fryer at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. This cook time is for pork chops with no breading and works regardless the pork chops is boneless or bone-in.  However, I will adjust the time depending on the thickness of the chops and if I’ve decided to cover them in breading. For thin pork chops, I will air fry them for just 10 minutes at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. For thick pork chops, I will air fry them for 14 minutes in the air fryer at 380 degrees. For breaded pork chops, I will check them when there is 3 minutes to go to ensure the breading is not burning. In all cases, remember to flip them halfway through to ensure both sides are cook evenly.

What are other temperatures for air frying pork chops?

You can cook pork chops at different temperatures in the air fryer, but you’ll need to adjust how long to air fry the pork chops. For instance, if you cook them at 400 degrees, it will take 10 minutes to cook the pork chops. If you like crispier pork chop, go for 400 degrees and above. Cooking pork chops at 350 degrees is fine, too, but you’ll need to cook them for 15 minutes. The advantage of using a lower air fryer temperature is a more moist pork chops. Either way, check the internal temperature of the pork before you decide they are ready.

There are so many air fryers available and each of them come with their own presets. When I first used an air fryer, I followed those presets religiously, but over time as I got more comfortable with it, I learned what temperatures work the best. Get to know what works for you and your particular air fryer.

How to air fry pork chops?

You could easily find tonnes of air fryer pork chops recipes on the internet. For me, simple is best when it comes to cooking pork to let the natural flavors shine. And I particularly love this easy recipe for air fried pork chops.  And here’s the steps to how to cook pork chops in air fryer.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless or bone-in pork chops
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I like to keep it bare minimum as I find pork is pretty salty on its own)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper (or more if you like)
• Vegetable cooking spray

1 Preheat air fryer

Preheat the air fryer using the preheat setting

2 Season pork chops

Season pork chops on both sides.

3 Air fry

Spray the air fryer basket with vegetable or olive oil cooking spray. Once the air fryer is preheated, place the marinated pork chops in air fryer. Set the temperature to 380 degrees and set the time for 12 minutes. Flip the pork chops at the 6-minute mark. At the end of cooking time, check the pork chops with a meat thermometer. If it reads 145 degrees, go ahead and let them sit in the air fryer for an additional 3 minutes. After that, remove the pork chops and set them on a paper towel on a plate to absorb any excess grease.

Can you cook frozen pork chops in an air fryer?

What happens if you’re ready to cook dinner and realize you forgot to take the pork chops out of the freezer! What do you do? I’ve done that myself. Fortunately, you can easily cook the frozen pork chops in an air fryer. And you are likely to ask this question. So how long to cook frozen pork chops in air fryer? Thankfully, it doesn’t take much longer to air fry pork chops in the frozen state. It takes just another additional 4 to 8 minutes. In total, it takes 16 to 20 minutes to cook frozen pork chops in the air fryer.

How to cook frozen pork chops in air fryer?

In this situation, you won’t need to preheat the air fryer. You only need to follow these steps on how to air fry frozen pork chops in air fryer.

1. set the temperature to 330 degrees
2. put the frozen pork chops in the air fryer basket
3. cook the frozen pork chops for 4-8 minutes, checking halfway through to see how they are coming along. Once they are defrosted, pour away the water and just increase the temperature to 380 degrees Fahrenheit and cook 12 minutes.

How to reheat pork chops in air fryer?

If you have leftovers and you don’t have a microwave, or you just don’t like using one to reheat meat, you can certainly use an air fryer. And it’s really fast. It takes just 2 to 4 minutes to reheat the pork chops in the air fryer.

And here’s the steps for reheating pork chops in air fryer

1. preheat the air fryer using the preheat settings
2. place a few drops of water on the pork chops. Adding the drops of water will help moisten the previously cooked chops.
3. place the leftover meat in the basket
4. reheat the pork chops for 2-4 minutes.

Dipping sauce for pork chops

Air fried pork chops are already very flavorful on their own. But if you like to take them up a notch, you can have some dipping sauces for the pork chops to add more flavors. When it comes to dipping sauces, here are some of my favorite to dip pork chops with.

BBQ sauce

I like adding barbecue sauce to my pork chops. Pork chops with bbq sauces will elevate the sweetness of the pork chops. There are two ways that you can do this. You can add bbq sauce to the pork chops in the air fryer when there’s about 3 minutes of cooking time left. This will prevent the bbq sauce from burning. Or you can just use the bbq sauce as dipping sauce to dip your fried pork chops in. Either way, air fried bbq pork chops just taste great.

Mushroom sauce

Pork chops in mushroom sauce is one of my favorites. The creaminess of the mushroom really add a layer of texture as you bite into the juicy pork chops. And I love making my own mushroom sauce for pork chops using this recipe.

Cranberry sauce

Sometimes I just like a bit of tart and sweet taste combined. And I will add my pork chops in cranberry sauce.

Soy sauce

At times when I like some umami and salty flavors, I go for pork chops in soy sauce.

Tomato sauce

Tomato sauce with pork chops is one of my favorite as I love the sweet and sour taste. If you are like me, add tomato sauce to the pork chops.

Cherry sauce

I recently also started a liking to add pork chops in cherry sauce. The sweet juicy taste with acidity really brings out the flavors of the pork meat.

Mustard sauce

If you like sweet and spicy flavors, you have to go for pork chops with mustard sauce. I specially like to make my own mustard sauce for my pork chops.

Parmesan Cheese

Lastly,  pork chops with parmesan tastes really great too. The nuttiness of the cheese add to the crunch of the pork chops. For air fried pork chops with parmesan, you can add the cheese before you start air frying the pork chops.

 

What goes with fried pork chops?

Air fried pork chops may be fantastic on its own. But why not complete it with good side dishes. There are a number of side dishes that goes good with fried pork chops. I particularly like roasted carrots, brussel sprouts, french fries, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and fried onion rings. If you like more carbohydrates, consider air fried pork chops and potatoes. These wonderful sides will really make air fried pork chop shine even better!

Conclusion

If you are ever short on time or  looking for something easy and delicious for dinner, consider making air fried pork chops. They are fast to make and also healthy without the use of oil as in the case of pan fried pork chops.