Easy French Food and Recipes

Fried Pork Chops Recipe

This quick and easy fried pork chops recipe starts by preparing a lovely French pickle sauce called sauce charcutière.

fried pork chop recipe

Please do not be put off by preparing a French sauce recipe. It truly is easy and well within the range of the average home cook. And when you pour this delicious mixture on top of your pork chops, your dinner will be elevated to memorable.

Recipe Notes

The fact that charcutière sauce features pickles is not incidental. A very popular combination in French cooking is to pair pickles with a plate of dry sausage or ham. This is why you are likely also to spot a jar of pickles in the pork butcher's store.

Here in France, I use cornichons to make this fried pork chops recipe. They are small, crisp pickles and I imagine gherkins will make a good substitute.

Serving suggestions: This fried pork chops recipe goes great with celery root puree. Regular mashed potatoes too will give you a perfectly good excuse for having extra sauce. Finally, you could also serve this with steamed vegetables and a good crusty French bread baguette for an even simpler dinner.

Côtes de porc charcutières

Prep time: 60 min

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

  • 1 onion
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 cup bouillon (prepared from a cube is fine)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste
  • 2/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 8 (2 ounces) gherkin pickles, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 4 pork chops
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions

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  1. Peel and finely chop the onion and shallots. Heat the bouillon in a small saucepan.
  2. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium sized saucepan and add the onions and shallots. Cook on low to medium heat until the onions and shallots are soft - about 10 minutes. Stir frequently so they do not brown.
  3. Sprinkle on the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula, for 3 more minutes.
  4. Slowly stir n the heated bouillon. Add the concentrated tomato paste, wine, and vinegar and stir vigorously to completely blend.
  5. Simmer the sauce on very low heat for 20 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the chopped pickles and parsley.
  6. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops. Warm the last tablespoon of butter and the oil in a skillet on medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the pork chops and cook for 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
  7. Remove the chops and place them on a serving plate. Pour the sauce on top and serve very hot.

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Le charcutière

France has a tradition, anchored firmly in historical events, of classifying the treatment of pig meat and the creation of all the many pork products, as the work of a charcutière. You can still find these specialized butchers in France, but sadly, many have been replaced by grocery store delicatessen counters and an abundance of packaged products. If in your travels, you are so lucky as to find a charcutière, here are some of the many delights that you are likely to see on display:

  • Patés - Meat pastes
  • Terrines - Forcemeat loaf
  • Jambon cru - Dry cured ham
  • Jambon blanc - Cooked ham
  • Saucissons - Dry cured sausages
  • Saucisses - Raw sausages
  • Rillettes - Chopped meat mixes

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