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Home » Recipes » Marinade Recipes

Brown Sugar Marinade for Pork Chops

Updated: Jun 13, 2024 · Published: May 12, 2023 by Nicole B. · Leave a Comment

Total Time: 10 hours hours 5 minutes minutes
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This easy brown sugar marinade makes juicy and delicious pork chops full of sweet, tangy and savory flavors. Orange juice and rice vinegar balance the sweetness of the brown sugar and soy sauce, thyme, and black pepper add umami. Add the chops (boneless or bone-in) to the marinade in the morning and cook in the oven at dinnertime in under 30 minutes.

Pork chops with marinade in a resealable plastic bag.

Marinade ingredients and notes:

  • Brown sugar is the star ingredient in this pork chop recipe. It gives the meat a savory-sweet flavor and also helps it to develop a delicious brown crust. You can use light or dark brown sugar for this marinade.
  • You can use this marinade for boneless or bone-in pork chops. Boneless pork chops are often thought of as being less flavorful than bone-in chops. But, since this marinade keeps the meat juicy and flavorful, that's not something to worry about with this recipe.
Brown sugar, black pepper, thyme, soy sauce, olive oil, orange juice and rice vinegar.

Full Recipe

Pork chops with marinade in a resealable plastic bag.
Author: Nicole B.

Brown Sugar Marinade for Pork Chops

Makes enough marinade for 2 small pork chops (boneless or bone-in).
Print Version (does not include images) Pin Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Marinating Time: 10 hours hrs
Total Time: 10 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Servings: 2
Course: Main
Cuisine: World
Calories: 286
Ingredients Equipment Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients:
  

  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed*
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ tablespoon mild olive oil, more for cooking
  • ½ teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 small pork chops (boneless or bone-in)

Equipment:

  • measuring cups and spoons
  • mixing bowl
  • whisk
  • resealable plastic bag
  • kitchen tongs
  • cast iron skillet
  • digital meat thermometer
Prevent your screen from going dark

Method:
 

How to marinate the pork chops:
  1. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, orange juice, thyme, olive oil, rice vinegar and pepper to a bowl and whisk until well combined.
  2. Add the pork chops to a resealable plastic bag, then pour the marinade into the bag.
  3. Move the chops around to make sure both are well coated. Transfer the bag to the fridge and marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 10 hours.
How to cook the pork chops:
  1. Add a little bit of oil to a cast iron skillet and set it into the cold oven.
  2. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. with the skillet in it.
  3. Once the oven is preheated, use kitchen tongs to transfer the chops directly from the marinade to the hot skillet.
  4. Cook on both sides until the internal temperature of the pork has reached 145 degrees F. (4 to 7 minutes per side for 1 inch-thick chops).** Remove the pork chops from the oven and let rest for 3 minutes before serving.

Recipe notes:

*You can use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe.
**It's really important to not overcook pork chops or they will turn out dry. I recommend to use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature frequently. Remove the chops from the oven as soon as they have reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.
Storage and reheating:
I don't recommend storing and reheating the cooked pork chops because they will lose much of their juiciness when being reheated.
Did you make this recipe?Please consider leaving a review- THANK YOU!

Nutrition (estimate only):

Calories: 286kcalCarbohydrates: 9.5gProtein: 25.6gFat: 16.6gSaturated Fat: 5.5gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 741mgPotassium: 88mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 7.1gCalcium: 12mgIron: 1mg

More delicious pork marinades:

For more great sweet and savory flavors try this apricot pork chop marinade and this apple cider pork tenderloin marinade.

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Hi there!

I'm Nicole and this is my website. Here you'll find flavorful recipes that center around spices.

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