My 4-Ingredient Mushroom Gravy Smothered Pork Chops is a great balance of being a budget-friendly and filling meal without having to think about lots of ingredients.
What makes this recipe great
This is one of my husband’s favorite cheap comfort dishes. It uses a cheaper bone-in pork chop, condensed cream of mushroom soup, and lots of onions and mushrooms. While tasty enough to make on a regular basis, I save it for those times when pork chops are on sale, and when I am not in the mood to cook because this recipe leans heavily on canned cream of mushroom soup.
Anything with lots of gravy is his ultimate favorite. While deeply earthy and rich tasting, I prefer not to spend lots of money on 2 pounds of mushrooms to make a large batch of demi glace (though here’s a recipe for a small batch if you prefer less gravy.)
Making healthier gravy smothered pork chops
Gravy is inherently fatty and salty. Making a “healthy” gravy probably doesn’t sound appetizing. However, you can lighten up the salt level with lots of mushrooms and using the Campbell’s Soup Heart Healthy Cream of Mushroom Soup. This lightened version has half the fat and half the salt as the original version.
You can also add additional herbs or aromatics to beef up the flavor without adding lots of calories, fat, or salt. I’ve added 5 to 10 cloves of minced garlic at the end of cooking the mushrooms. Dried herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil or spices like cumin, paprika, or coriander can add some variety and flavor.
The key to flavor in this dish is the fond
It can be worrisome to have so many browned bits at the bottom of the pan after cooking the pork chop for fear that it’s going to add a burnt flavor to your food. However, that brown stuff, the fond, is full of deliciousness that you want to add in your gravy. If it’s not burnt and black and is only brown, you will have a tasty gravy without having to deal with measuring butter, flour, and broth and whisking it together for a long time.
You can also get great flavor into your gravy if you use a cast-iron pan. However, in Hawaii, it’s difficult to keep a cast-iron pan from rusting after a few uses because of the humidity. The next best pan to use is a stainless-steel pan, making sure that it’s heated well before adding the oil and pork chops. It will still make a great fond that will season the mushroom gravy.
If you like this, check out these other main dish recipes that make great leftovers for next-day lunches!
4-Ingredient Mushroom Gravy-Smothered Pork Chops
Equipment
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 cast iron pan or stainless-steel sauté pan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds bone-in pork chops
- 1 tsp seasoned salt or salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper divided
- 1 tbsp canola oil or neutral tasting oil
- 2 large onions sliced
- 1 pound mushrooms sliced
- 2 10.5-ounce cans Heart Healthy Cream of Mushroom Soup
Instructions
- Heat the pan on medium high heat. Cut slits about 1” apart into the edge of the porkchops so they don’t curl up while they cook. Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper.
- Add canola oil to the pan. Put the pork chops in the pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes on each side. You may need to cook this in two batches depending on the size of your pan and pork chops.
- While the pork chops are cooking, peel and slice onions into strips. Clean and slice the mushrooms.
- Take the pork chops out of the pan and let them rest on a plate. There should be fond (brown bits stuck to bottom of the pan). Add the onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it starts to look translucent and the fond loosens off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the mushrooms to pan and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the mushrooms and onions are softened.
- Cut the pork chops into bite-size pieces, about 1” x ½”, after it has rested for a few minutes. Keep the bones; it’s fine to leave some meat on the bones.
- Add the cream of mushroom soup to the pan and stir until well combined. Cook for about 1 minute until the soup is fully incorporated with the ingredients in the pan.
- Add the pork chop pieces and bones back into the pan and stir well. If the pork on the bone is still a little pink, continue to cook in the gravy for another 1 to 2 minutes.
- Serve with steamed rice, mashed potatoes, or cooked egg noodles.
