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Jalapeño Grilled Pork Chops
![Jalapeño Grilled Pork Chops](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/06/17/dining/ek-jalapeno-grilled-pork-chops/merlin_189307476_76974cf0-fc4e-4401-b0aa-bf212d18c5ac-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 5large jalapeños, stemmed
- 5large garlic cloves, peeled
- 1bunch cilantro stems, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 packed cup)
- 2tablespoons rice vinegar
- ½cup olive oil, plus more for cooking
- 1tablespoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 2teaspoons granulated sugar
- 8thin-cut, bone-in pork loin chops (½-inch thick)
- 1large jalapeño, thinly sliced into rings
- 1small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
- ⅓cup rice vinegar
- 1teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- Cilantro leaves and tender stems, for garnish
- Cilantro rice or cooked white rice, for serving (optional)
For the Pork Chops
For the Relish
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the pork chops: In a food processor, blitz the jalapeños, garlic, cilantro stems, rice vinegar, olive oil, salt and sugar until smooth. Place the pork chops in a large bowl or resealable container and pour the marinade over them; turn the chops to evenly coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Step 2
While the chops marinate, prepare a charcoal grill for direct high-heat cooking, or heat a gas grill to medium-high.
- Step 3
Make the relish: In a small bowl, toss the jalapeño, red onion, rice vinegar, salt, sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Set aside to quick-pickle until ready to serve, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Step 4
Carefully grease the grill grate: Use tongs to grip a wadded paper towel dipped in oil and then rub the grates with the oiled towel. With the marinade clinging to them, place the pork chops on the hot greased grate. Grill until the chops are charred at the edges and no longer pink in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. The meat is ready to flip when it releases easily from the grates. (If using a gas grill, close the lid between flips.) Alternatively, cook the chops on the stovetop in batches. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan, and heat until shimmering. Add the chops, with the marinade clinging to them, to the pan. Sear until browned and caramelized at the edges and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Discard any remaining marinade.
- Step 5
Serve the chops with the relish and cilantro on top. If you’d like, serve rice alongside.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Yum. Marinade, relish, chops. Subbed shallots for red onions. Will be trying marinade for chicken thighs and lamb chops. Relish is the relish of summer.
Best pork chop recipe on NYT recipes! Did scrap seeds from a few jalapenos but after cooking this, there is no need. Marinated for 7 hours. Relish is absolutely essential to this and just crazy good. Suggest fixing relish several hours ahead and refrigerating. Grilling thin chops is notorious for typically tuff meat. Not here. Used 1/2" as suggested but next time will probably up the chops to 3/4, but that's not a given. Fixed cilantro rice recipe also. Fabulous meal! Thanks Mr. Kim
I loved this recipe! The cilantro rice was addictive, with the juice of 5 limes, rather than what the recipe called for. With all the jalapenos, one would think the chops would be wildly spicy, but it was flavorful with practically no heat. (Not that I don't love heat!) The relish was refreshing and superb! Despite the thinness of the chops, they were tender and far from dry. Another bonus--speedy cooking time!
Absolutely delicious! I only marinated for one hour and that was enough to give it a wonderful taste. The only thing I would change is less sugar in the relish... although my boyfriend thought it was perfect. I agree with Anne... the relish is THE relish of the summer. But that marinade was pretty awesome too. Give it a dip with you pinky finger before you put the chops in... you'll see!
Cooked this meal for 4 pork chops instead of 8 and on an electric stove. Marinated meat and relish for about 2 hours. It was very nice and a light spice and the relish was amazing. Very easy dish with common ingredients.
I live near a huge Mexican market that has huge bins of fresh neon red jalapeños, they have an intense flavor but aren't necessarily hotter than green jalapeños. I prefer lime juice rather than rice vinegar. For those who might be cilantro adverse there is an herb called Mexican marigold that is similar to tarragon and you can substitute for cilantro. For the truly adventurous, try papalo instead of cilantro.
I love this marinade. I used it on chicken wings. It was amazing! It tastes fresh and flavorful. Thank you for sharing.
This was off the charts delicious!!! My only advice is make it on the weekend, not after a long day at work. It’s fairly labor intensive and so worth the time it takes. I used medium thin bone-in pork chops. I love meat with the bone in. Meat marinate yum. The relish was amazing!!! Cilantro rice awesome. I did use a little less of the jalapeño pepper because I was scared. Next time I’ll use more. Again, OMG….so good!!! I bet the marinade would be great on chicken too!!!
The recipe is great. I used thicker Kurobuta chops and finished them in the oven as I like a meatier and moister chop. I also added some mango to the salsa because I had it in the house. I'm not a person who likes very spicy food so I was nervous about the amount of jalapeños and seeded them before slicing even though the recipe didn't so specify. The result was just enough heat to be really tasty, but it didn't overwhelm the dish. This is an excellent, simple recipe that I will make again.
This recipe is amazing. In my opinion, the rice is a must in order to soak up the amazing flavor of the dressing. I used basmati. The pork had the right balance of heat, sweet and sour. I loved this dish and will make again.
Let me add my voice to the choir — this recipe is just fantastic. Make this and you will not regret it. I’ll definitely make this again and again, and might also try with another protein to switch it up - bone-in chicken thighs or a skirt steak. Thin-cut bone-in pork chops were surprisingly difficult to find, if you’re looking for humanely raised meat. But — 10/10, thanks Eric Kim!
Ok people- when cooking with peppers, SAMPLE TO KNOW HOW HOT THEY ARE!! All you need to do is cut it in half, slice off the teeniest piece and lick it. If hot, you have your answer. If not, slice a piece with the rib ( white spongy part) small nibble. Proceed from there. Peppers vary greatly from one farm/ variety to another.
This was delicious. I let it marinade for 24 hours. I grilled it starting on high and quickly turned to low. I bought rice in a pouch (Seeds of change- brown rice with quinoa- super easy) now my family thinks l should open a restaurant. So yummy!
These were so good. And the marinade does not result in a super spicy chop, just provides a mellow back heat that even those who don’t like spicy foods would find acceptable. Used thick cut chops, replaced vinegar with lime juice, and marinated for 12 hours. Next time would do the night before like I do with lemon/cilantro/Dijon/garlic marinade. Perfect chop every time
The marinade is fantastic and could work on other proteins like chicken or tofu. Served with grilled potatoes and zucchini.
This is delicious & my husband & I enjoyed this a lot! Made as the recipe stated & I wouldn't change a thing about it. The relish too was a perfect addition to the pork. Also made the cilantro rice that's linked here, to accompany the chops which is excellent! And if you're afraid of the idea of 5 Jalapeno peppers, don't be (I admit I was at first except I read some comments which re-assured me). It really is mild heat. Will definitely keep this in the rotation
Fantastic recipe. Note to self, remove most of the jalapeno seeds before adding to the relish.
KEEPER! This is a great recipe. I used a whole loin, which I cleaned up and sliced early this morning (7am). Made up marinade and set them to rest. Was unsure about the rice - but honestly, this was 100% a great recipe through and through. We will add to our regular rotation. Thank you NYTC!
Excellent. Also did same preparation over swordfish steak but with only about an hour or marinating.
This was a real winner. Everyone in my family really liked it, even the heataphobes. I used boneless pork chops pounded flat and they were great, so you could use those too. The pickled onions are a must.
Awesome! Make sure you have a big grill since the thinner slice chops will take up a lot of room and make extra dressing. This is a great fast grill for a group.
The flavors of this dish were delicious…. Eating it was a struggle. The chops are so thin, finding and cutting around the bone was a challenge. Has anyone used thicker chops? Or boneless? Thank you for any suggestions - we’d like to serve this for casual dinner parties. It makes an attractive plate and is so tasty.
Good. Golly. What a meal. I don't want to take anything away from the pork chops—they were sensational—but I can't stop thinking about what else I can do with that relish. I had a few servings of leftover rice in the freezer and winged it with a crispy cilantro fried rice with butter, garlic, onion powder and lime. The taste and light crunch of the rice went great with the pork. Will try this again with chicken. Highly recommend.
I make this very often. This time I was running late and decided to chuck the (frozen) chops in the sous vide with 3/4 of the marinade at 140. Left 4 hours. Seared and served with some of the reserved marinade. Added about a tbsp reserved marinade to the slaw as well (I was short one jalapeno) and will probably keep reserving a little marinade moving forward. Definitely better on the grill, but sous vide is possible if you forget to thaw the pork in advance
I made this last night with local farm raised pork chops and it was amazing. The chops I used were thicker, about 3/4-1", and needed more time on the grill. We needed to cut it open to see the color by the bone. Usually I tweek these recipes but in this case my advice is don't change a thing. I highly recommend marinading the meat and making the relish 24 hours before or as long as possible.
I made this for our family on our trip to Portugal and it received rave reviews! Had to make a few subs based on what we had available (piri piri chiles instead of jalapeños, plain old vinegar, etc) but it worked brilliantly. I think marinating for 24 hours really tenderized the meat. Can’t wait to make again!
Wow, super delicious. Don't be scared of using all the jalapenos in the marinade unless they're home grown. I had thick pork chops, so I seared both sides in a cast iron pan on the stove and finished it in the oven. We used some reserved marinade as a sauce. The slaw is excellent. I grow hot peppers, so this is going into my normal rotation!
Very tasty and not overly hot. Salt and pepper the pork chops before marinating for a little bit of extra flavor. Salsa is a must. We did much thicker 1 1/4” chops and increased cooking time to @ 5 min per side at 350 on the grill to get a nice med rare or @ 135 degrees internal temp.
Great flavor, not too much work. Had some extra Anaheim peppers kicking around so I used them instead of jalapenos in the marinade. Instead of grilling, I broiled on a foil-lined pan, about 5" from the flame, on high. It took about 8 minutes a side for 1" thick boneless chops.
One of my family's favorite recipes. Based on the number of times my husband and kids have requested this, it doesn't get old.
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