Lemon Garlic Marinated Grilled Pork Chops

Nothing adds flavour to a pork chop like a good marinade! These Grilled Pork Chops are infused with bright lemon flavours and plenty of garlic.

Terrific to throw on the BBQ – of pan fry them if it’s not grilling season. They brown nicely on the outside and are extra juicy on the inside thanks to the marinade!

Grilled Pork Chops – Marinade

This lemon garlic marinade is SO GOOD with grilled pork chops – though also excellent with chicken and lamb so I’ve have notes for marinating times and cooking directions for those too.

This marinade is a little different to most that I share in that there’s a very high ratio of lemon juice in it. Which means if you leave it for too long, it starts to “cook” the pork – in the same way citrus juices (lemon and lime) is used to “cook” raw fish to make ceviche without going near the stove.

On the plus side, the super marinating strength of lemon juice means that unlike most marinades, you don’t need to leave it overnight for it to work its magic – even 1 hour is long enough!

How long to marinate pork chops?

• 1 hour minimum – you’ll be surprised how much flavour gets infused in such a short time!

• 3 hours is ideal;

• Up to 24 hours is the absolute max – beyond this, the surface texture of the pork turns white which is due to the acid in the lemon juice “cooking” the pork.

Pork Chop Marinade Ingredients

Here are the ingredients required for this simple but highly effective marinade for pork chops:

• Fresh garlic

• Dried oregano

• Lemon juice and zest (zest is where you get the most lemon flavour, the juice is mostly just sour)

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper

It’s ideal grilled because the high heat will sear the crust beautifully. But it can of course be cooked on the stove as well!

I cooked half of these Lemon Garlic Marinated Pork Chops on the stove (photo below) and half on the BBQ (see photo at the top). You can see the difference in the crust, simply because I get a higher heat on the BBQ.

I’ve also provided directions for how to bake these pork chops in the oven – the only way you’ll get a nice browning is to use the grill/broiler for a good 5 – 7 minutes to brown the top side only. So the baking time is considerably reduced to cater for this.

What these grilled pork chops taste like

While there’s a lot of lemon in the marinade, you don’t get sharp sour flavours once the pork chops are grilled because the sharpness of the lemon is tempered once cooked, leaving you with tasty earthy lemon flavours.

And of course, you can’t miss all that garlic!!! – Nagi xx

Try these on the side

• Mrs Brodie’s Famous Potato Salad (for mayo free, try this healthier delicious Yogurt Potato Salad Dressing)

• Lemon Potato Salad – fresh and bright!

• Coleslaw (also see mayo free, healthier Yogurt Coleslaw Dressing)

• Big, fat juicy Greek Salad

• Mexican Red Rice – a fabulous seasoned rice that goes with everything!

And more pork chops recipes

• Another great pork chop marinade – my go to for all occasions!

• Sticky Baked Pork Chops – you probably already have everything required for the sauce!

• French Onion Smothered Pork Chops

• Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops

Marinated Grilled Pork Chops
Watch how to make it

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Lemon Garlic Marinated Grilled Pork Chops

Author: Nagi

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Total: 15 mins

Main

5 from 26 votes

Servings4

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe VIDEO above. Nothing infuses pork chops with flavour like a good marinade! This one is ideal for grilling so the high heat sears the crust beautifully. But the pork chops can of course be cooked on the stove, or even bake them! Also use this marinade for the proteins - see notes.

Ingredients

Marinade:

• ▢ 3 garlic cloves , minced
• ▢ 1 tbsp dried oregano (or other herbs, Note 1)
• ▢ Zest of 1 lemon
• ▢ 1/3 cup (85 ml) lemon juice (1 large or 2 medium lemons)
• ▢ 1/4 cup (65 ml) olive oil
• ▢ 3/4 tsp salt
• ▢ 1/4 tsp black pepper

Pork:

• ▢ 4 pork chops bone in , 2cm / 4/5" thick about 280g/9 oz each (Note 2)
• ▢ Oil , for cooking

Instructions

• Whisk Marinade ingredients in a bowl (or ziplock bag). Add pork. Marinade for 1 hr minimum, 3 hours ideal, 12 hours max (Note 3).
• Take the pork out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
• Shake excess marinade off (but don't wipe dry) and cook using preferred method. Pictured in post served with Minted Yoghurt - see notes!

BBQ:

• Brush grills / plate with oil and heat on high until smoking.
• Place pork on grills and cook the first side for 4 minutes until it is nicely charred. Turn and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Turn the porks on their side to briefly sear the fat side (see video). Transfer to plate, rest for 3 - 5 minutes then serve.

Stove:

• Heat skillet with about 1 tbsp oil over high heat. Add pork and cook for 1 minute, then turn DOWN slightly to medium high. Cook for another 3 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for 3 minutes. Turn the porks on their side to briefly sear the fat side (see video).
• Transfer to plate, rest for 3 - 5 minutes then serve.

Oven:

• Preheat oven to 200C / 390F (fan forced / convection) or 220C / 430F (standard oven).
• Place oven shelf in top 1/3 of oven.
• Place pork on tray. Bake for 15 minutes, then flick to grill/broiler and grill on high for 5 minutes until the surface is nicely browned.
• Transfer to plate, rest for 3 - 5 minutes then serve.

Recipe Notes:

1. Herbs: I love the combination of oregano and lemon and loads of garlic, very Greek. Feel free to swap this with other herbs - I'd reduce to 2 tsp for thyme, 1 tsp for rosemary, tarragon, sage, but keep the same amount for mild dried herbs like parsley, basil, chives.

2. Chops - For thinner chops, cook on high heat for less time and wait until the pan is smoking hot. You want to get a nice crust on the chops!

CHICKEN - this is such a great marinade for chicken too! Use either boneless thigh or cut breast in half horizontally to create 2 thin steaks, then marinade for just 30 minutes, no longer than 1 hour otherwise the lemon will start cooking the chicken. Maximum 2 - 3 hours!!

3. The marinading time for this recipe is less than the usual because it has lemon juice in it which can "cook" proteins and cause them to go beyond tenderised to either a weird too-soft texture / toughen up. 3 hours is ideal. 24 hours is the absolute max. 

See Note 2 above for chicken marinade times. I don't recommend using this marinade for fish (it will cook it, turning it into ceviche!). Prawns / shrimp would be 5 - 10 minutes max. Lamb - probably same as pork. Beef can probably handle a bit longer but I'd still do the same time as pork.

4. Minted Yoghurt - optional (because the chops are juicy juicy as they are!!). Yoghurt + finely chopped mint + minced garlic + squeeze of lemon juice + salt and pepper + drizzle of olive oil. Mix, set aside for 20 minutes!

5. Nutrition: Hard to do because all oil and salt in the marinade doesn't get absorbed. So I've done the nutrition using 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, using boneless chops (ie the bone is excluded from the Servings weight shown below), assuming this is cooked on the BBQ.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 204gCalories: 449cal (22%)

Keywords: Grilled pork chops, Marinade for grilled pork chops

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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