We received a Vacuvita® One Touch Food Storage System in exchange for creating this recipe. The opinions and ideas are 100% mine.
You are going to love our easy recipe for this Grilled Pork Chop Marinade. This marinade flavors every single bite of juicy, grilled pork. A little smoky, a little sweet, and a lot delicious, this is an all-around great marinade you will want to use again and again.
How to Make this easy (and tasty) Grilled Pork Chop Marinade
All great marinades start with three basic components. Oil, something salty, and something tart or acidic. This combination is changed in endless ways to create unique flavors for your favorite cuts of pork, beef and chicken. When you start adding in sugar, spices and herbs, you can really create a special meal with your personal flair.
You have to be careful, though. Using too much vinegar or "tart" ingredient can make meat tough. And we all know what too much salt can do. Our recipe is a perfectly balanced pork chop marinade that brings out the natural flavor of pork.
You probably have everthing you need to make this marinade for juicy and tender pork chops.
For our easy Pork Chop Marinade we used the following:
- Extra virgin olive oil - this helps keep the pork chops moist
- Soy sauce - pork loves salty flavors
- Worcestershire sauce - adds the right amount of acidity for flavor and tenderizer
- Minced garlic - because I'm a garlic-geek and love the taste
- Brown sugar - adds just the right amount of sweetness and gives the pork color when grilling
- Liquid smoke seasoning - adds...smokiness..
- Onion powder - helps round out the flavor profile
- Coriander - for a roasted, kind of nutty - citrusy flavor*
Get the exact amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Whisk everything together in a medium-sized bowl and get ready for wonderful flavor.
*If you don't have coriander or don't like it, substitute with cumin or a cracked black pepper.
We used our home food storage system from Vacuvita® to do the rest of the work. Instead of marinating our pork chops overnight, we used our vacuum sealing storage bags. You can also use the large container to marinate large amounts of food, or even the smaller containers. Vacuum sealing speeds up the marinating process. (I'm Mrs. Impatient, so this is important to me.)
The Vacuvita also saves you money by reducing food waste. The automated vacuum system keeps food sealed air tight for longer storage. Store bread, coffee, fruits, vegetables and so much more. From the counter top to the fridge and freezer, this is a genius product.
Link it to your app to keep track of your store food (freezer burn no more). You can also use the sous vide cooking technique with the Vacuvita storage bags. Visit Vacuvita.com to watch the video on how it works here.
Get your Vacuvita One touch Storage System from Amazon.
Pour the marinade over the boneless pork chops and connect the bag to the vacuum. Press the button to get all of the air out of the bag and lock in the marinade. Using this system lets us get overnight flavor in less than an hour.
Mine is white to match my kitchen, but the Vacuvita system is available in several designer colors to complement your home.
If you do not have a Vacuvita, you can seal and store the marinated pork chops overnight in the fridge. I like our method, because I can come home and create a delicious meal without having to wait for the marinade to infuse the pork chops.
Try more of our delicious recipes:
Sweet + Smoky Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs
Grilled Apricot Chicken
Cajun Butter Baked Chicken Thighs
Basil Butter Sweet Corn on the Grill
St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs
Saucy Skillet Pork Chops
You will notice I picked boneless thick cut pork chops with a little fat left on them. You can uses any cut pork chop with this marinade. Your cooking time will vary based on the cut and thickness, but the concept is still the same.
I like boneless pork chops because of their size and lean protein. The fat, I leave it on to help keep them moist when cooking. Be careful not to overcook your boneless pork chops; they dry out quickly.
Here are my tips on getting perfectly tender pork chops using our marinade:
- Marinate for one to two hours using a vacuum system like Vacuvita or overnight using a standard method
- Start with a clean grill (no one wants a chop that tastes like last week's cheeseburger)
- Heat grill to high temperature, about 450 degrees F
- Shake the excess marinade from each pork chop and place on the grill, close the lid
- Reduce your grill heat slightly and cook for 4 minutes, rotate and cook another 4 minutes
- Keep an eye on your grill temperature and reduce as needed to keep the grill around 400 degrees
- Flip and repeat, cooking about 4 minutes, rotate and another 4*
- Baste the pork chops lightly with the reserved marinade while cooking
- Remove the pork chops to a clean platter and cover with foil
- Let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving
*Cooking times will vary based on the cut of pork, thickness of pork chop, bone in or boneless, type of grill and method of heating (gas, charcoal, etc.).
Always refer to the FDA's guide on internal cooking temperature for doneness.
The soy sauce and brown sugar in the pork chop marinade combine for beautiful caramelization. Just look at these beautiful chops.
Are you hungry yet? I am! Do not skip the cover + rest step. This lets the chops suck all that yummy marinade and juice back into the meat. (Plus, if you pulled those pork chops off of the grill a little early, the resting time lets them finish cooking without drying out.)
You will have to beat your man (or woman) off with a stick when you pull these pork chops off of the grill. They smell (and taste) amazing.
Use this easy marinade recipe to bake or pan fry the pork chops. They will turn out tasty just about any way you cook them.
More tips + ideas on making the most of this yummy pork chop marinade:
- Double the recipe. Use half for these pork chops and use the other half to marinate tomorrow night's meal. Pork kabobs, venison or steak are also excellent with this marinade.
- Love spicy food? Add a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a tablespoon (or more) of your favorite hot sauce to the marinade recipe.
- Make a batch or two and keep it in the fridge. Just store it in a tightly sealed glass jar. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
Tip: Don't toss that marinade! You can SAFELY and quickly create a tasty serving sauce. First, keep the marinade chilled the entire time. Pour the excess marinade into a small sauce pan. Heat to high and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens.
Serve on top of your pork chops while warm. The tangy and smoky sauce is the perfect addition to these juicy grilled pork chops.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Grilled Pork Chop Marinade
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke seasoning
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 6 boneless pork chops 1 inch thick
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all ingredients except the pork chops.
- Place the pork chops in a sealable plastic container or vacuum bag if possible. Pour the marinade over the top. Remove excess air and seal.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour, but longer if possible.
- Preheat grill to 450 degrees. Shake excess marinade from the pork chops and place them on the grill. Reduce heat slightly.
- Close the lid and cook the chops for 4 minutes. Rotate the chops to a 90 degree angle. Cook another 4 minutes.
- Baste the chops with the reserved CHILLED marinade while cooking.
- Flip the pork chops and repeat the 4 minutes, rotate, 4 minutes cooking.
- Transfer the pork chops to a clean platter and cover with foil. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Keep the marinade chilled the entire time
- Bring it to a rolling boil on the stove top to kill all harmful bacteria
Juli
After looking through the marinade ingredients it looks like it is bursting with flavor and is right up my alley. Do you think this marinade would be a good marinade when grilling veggies (mushrooms, onions, bell peppers)?
Teri
Thank you, Juli. I was trying to get just the right balance of sweet vs savory vs smoky. They turned out great.
Ricka Conway
I am going to try this recipe right away...I love anything marinated....and yes this marinade would be perfect for Veggies!
I don't have a Vacuvita but i do have a Foodsaver with a marinating container, would that work?? Thank you for this recipe....it sounds wonderful and I can't wait to try it!
Teri
Let me know how it turns out, sounds yummy! And yes, this is a good all around marinade. And yes a Foodsaver would also work.
Roxana
That's an interesting marinade. I like that you used coriander to blend with the other flavors. Will have to try this with beef.
Teri
I am a big fan of coriander, just a little seems to do the trick. A nice earthy flavor. Hope you have a chance to try it out. I'm going to try this with some steak beef tips next.
Emily
Wow I would love one of these, dream foodie gift and that pork chop looks absolutely delicious!
Teri
Listen, I've been using it for a lot of things. You can store food inside the big home base, too. (Bread, chips, etc.) And the storage bags are super handy. Love the system, a big step up from my old style system. Be sure to enter for a chance to win the drawing. 🙂
Traci
This is one sexy recipe! That marinade is gorgeous...And I happen to have all of those ingredients on hand. So, winning all around! Just pinned and bookmarking for later. Thanks for the recipe inspiration!
Teri
Finally, I've found my food soulmate. Someone who thinks pork chops are sexy. 🙂
Vicky
I love how the Vacuvita can make pork chops tasty and juicy. I don't cook pork chops often because I find them to be dry, but this would solve that problem!
Teri
I think the secret to a juicy pork chop is a great marinade, and not overcooking them. Which is tricky. I try to remove mine from the grill just a little early and let the finish cooking under the foil.
Sue
This was a great marinate for pork chops. My husband isn't a fan of sweet so this was perfect. Great flavor and kept the pork chops very moist. Will definitely use this recipe again and again.
Teri
Sue, that makes me so happy to hear! It is definitely a marinade recipe worth keeping. Have a great day and thank you for checking out our website.
Tami Pulkrabek
Trying to avoid brown sugar - can you substitute with honey?
Teri
Absolutely!