A favorite dish in our house, especially during cooler weather, are pork chops and applesauce. One of my kids recently decided that applesauce is too mushy so I came up with this variation that has been a big hit with everyone in the family. These baked pork chops and apples are a favorite meal in our home.
Super Simple Steps
Here’s a quick video to show you how simple this is to prepare. You’ll find detailed step-by-step instructions directly below the video. Click here to go directly to the recipe card.
In lieu of applesauce, I slice apples and lay them in the bottom of a casserole dish.
I sprinkle cinnamon on top of the apples and then layer the pork shop on top of them.
Next, I make the sauce and pour it over the pork and apples. In case you don’t make it all the way down to the comments, one reader mentioned that she replaced half of the sugar with honey and was pleased with the result.
Then it goes in the oven for 35-40 minutes and dinner is served! We will usually have sweet potato fries and green beans. The sweet glaze keeps the kids from complaining about vegetables since they feel like they’re getting away with an early dessert. It’s surprising how a little sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar can transform a meal into kid-friendly.
๐ Recipe
Baked Pork Chops and Apples with Brown Sugar Glaze
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Ingredients
- 2 apples peeled and sliced
- 4 boneless pork chops
- salt and pepper
- 4 T butter
- 4 T brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐ, Layer apples in bottom of casserole dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Trim fat from pork chops. Lay on top of apple slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- In small saucepan, melt butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring constantly. Pour sauce over the pork chops and apples.
- Bake at 350ยฐ for 35-40 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Serve with sweet potatoes, stuffing or rice
- For a vegetable, go with green beans or a side salad
- Feel free to swap out half the sugar and replace it with honey
- Use whatever apples you like best. If you don’t like it overly sweet, use granny smith apples. Otherwise Fuji and gala apples work well.
- I bake this dish uncovered
- The recipe feeds 4 but if you’re feeding hungry teenagers, you should calculate 2 chops/heavy eater
- You can leave the fat on, but it will make the sauce thinner
- If you have a cinnamon allergy (or simply don’t like it) you can substitute allspice or nutmeg
- The glaze works well for baked apples as a dessert too
- If you want to eliminate the butter, you can use applesauce instead
- Another reader recommends adding onions and bell pepper to the dish
Recipe’s great; that said…
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I made this on 11/11/22. It was delicious! My husband loved it and even ate the leftovers the next day! The pork chops were tender and moist and sauce flavorable! I did add chopped onions and green peppers too! I think next time I will add another sliced apple and add pecans.
I’m so glad you and your husband liked it. Onions and green peppers sound delicious with it. Thanks for commenting.
We enjoyed it. I added sliced onion and served with green beans and stewed potatoes.
This is such an easy recipe! I love the concept of layering the chops on the apples!
I love the combination of apples and pork. This is the perfect fall dinner!
Retiring Navy single dad, so excited to try this recipe. I’ve been trying to find new things to cook up for the kids and I, really excited to try this out. Looks and sounds delicious.
This was a great recipe. I say was because it didn’t last . I used splenda blend brown sugar and ano salt spice blend. They couldn’t have come out better. Thanks for this great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know. ๐
I made this tonight. I used boneless pork loin chop and gala apples. Pork come out tough and apples were not soft. I live at an altitude of 6500 ft. Does this need an adjustment for altitude or should I have covered it with foil? The pork was about 3/4 inch thick. Not happy with how it turned out.
Hi Judy. I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work for you. Honestly, I’ve never lived at altitude having grown up in the flatlands and then living on the coast all my married life. I have no idea how to adapt the recipe to take altitude into account! I’m going to reach out to some of the food bloggers I know for their advice. Sorry I don’t have an answer for you right now, but I’ll post an answer as soon as I find one.
Ok, the advice I got back is that the high altitude tends to dry things out faster (hence the tough pork and apples). They recommend adding more liquid to the recipe. Amounts recommended varied from 1 to 2 tablespoons. You could just add water, or you could try apple juice which would be consistent with the flavors in the dish and wouldn’t dilute the taste. I hope this helps!
Hi I’m wanting to make this but I’m wondering if I can make it in a 9 by 13 inch pan to double it. And if I could put extra apples on top.
Hi Kara, the recipe doubles easily. Literally just double the ingredients. You may need to bake an additional 5 minutes. I have never baked it with the apples on top so I can’t vouch for whether or not that affects the dish. If you try it that way, please let me know how it turns out so I can add a note about it in the recipe. I’ll try it next time I make it too and see what happens. ๐
Ohh I better not risk it then with the apples on top. I’ll just double it. Thanks! It’s on the menu for this week!
Do you recommend pan frying before putting in oven? I have had cases where I put porkchops in overn without pan frying and they don’t turn out as good.
Hi Rebecca, I’m sure that would improve the color of the dish, but I don’t make it that way mostly to keep the number of dirty dishes to a minimum and the recipe as simple as possible. I’ll have to give it a try and see if it makes a big enough difference to add the extra step. Thanks for the suggestion.
What oven temp. do you bake the pork chops?
Kay, if you click the “Next” button at the bottom of the post, it brings you to the complete recipe and instructions. To answer your question though, you bake at 350ยฐF.
I’m so glad somebody asked this. I didn’t think to click next, thinking it would pull up the next blog and assumed the entire recipe was already here. I just figured everybody here knew the proper temp for pork and I didn’t since I’m still fairly new to using things other than a microwave and making macaroni.
I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious. It was very easy and I recommend it highly. Thank you for sharing
Hi Carol, I’m so glad you like the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and let me know!
We made this for dinner tonight…it was so good. I’ll be making this again.
I’m glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know. ๐
My family also loves this dish.I add onions and bell pepper to mine.. kind of reminds me of the Golden Mushroom soup recipe with porkchop,onions & potatoes..it’s all good…
I am just wondering how tender the porkchops come out because I have a 20 month old who does better with softer meats, thanks!
Hi Kristen, the pork chops do come out pretty juicy and tender, but you might have better luck with bone-in chops which will increase the fat and thus, moisture.
Oh okay thank you! Sorry I posted twice!
This was fantastic… husband said it was a keeper. Will not change anything. I will also use your glaze recipe just to make the apples as a dessert.. they were wonderful. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed it! Making just the glaze and apples is a great idea!!
I see you use 4 tbs of butter. My girls are very health and diet conscience. Do you need all that butter or can we substitute it with something more healthier like chicken broth or olive oil?
Hi Mary Ann,
Great question! The best substitute in this recipe for the butter would be applesauce since it will work easily with the other flavors and provide a creaminess to the sauce. You could also try pumpkin puree which would make it even creamier, but would change the overall taste of the dish.
Making this tonight — as I’m looking at the recipe I’m thinking “this blogger sure looks familiar”…. and then I realize I met you at Focused! Looking forward to using your recipe.
Hi I really want to make this for my family tonight, but my wife is allergic to cinnamon. Is there an alternative or would it be okay to just leave it out.
Hi Kris, if you don’t want to sacrifice flavor, you can substitute allspice or nutmeg. Omitting spices entirely though, won’t affect how the dish bakes so if you don’t want to try one of those, feel free to go without. I hope this helps!
I am wanting to make this next week for my family. Do you have to trim that little fat off? Would it mess it up if i left it on?
Hi Sarah, you can leave the fat on, but it will create more liquid in the pan and make your sauce greasy. It doesn’t ruin the dish, it just comes out a little different.
I’m making this tonight! So excited to see how it turns out, no doubt amazingly I’m sure ๐ I love how quick and simple this is to make especially for weeknights when we have school and soccer and who knows what else. Nothing is more satisfying than a homemade dinner. Thank you so much!
Hi Kelly! I hope you enjoyed it! It’s one of my favorites for the same reason – perfect for busy weeknights (plus, the kids actually like it so I don’t have to listen to any complaints). ๐
What sides would you recommend with this dish?
Hi Lauren, my kids love stuffing (usually I buy Stove Top whole wheat stuffing) and because I always like something green on the plate, we usually have green beans too.
I have to say I did not care for this recipe. It was lacking flavor, I didn’t have a glaze, it was more of watery sauce. Everything was bland.
I’m sorry to hear this Jocelyn. I’ve made it many times and never had that problem and it’s one of my family’s favorite meals. Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your opinion. I wish I could pinpoint what might have gone wrong, but perhaps it’s simply a difference in taste.
Has anyone froze this casserole and then baked later? I am trying to make some meals ahead for those busy nights when I just want to pull something from the freezer and this sounds really yummy. Thanks!
I haven’t tried preparing this as a freezer meal before. I’m going to play around with the recipe and post a freezer version if I can make it work. Thanks for the idea Tracey!
I’m making these for the first time as we speak. I really didn’t want to dirty a saucepan so I opted for a paper bowl to melt butter, add cinnamon and nutmeg then heat again to dissolve sugar. The sugar came out clumpy so I sucked it up and got the saucepan out to do butter/sugar/spice combo only to have it do the same exact thing. The butter is melted but the sugar is sitting in clump type piles on top of the porkchops. Did anybody else encounter this problem? Did I not heat the butter/sugar/spice combo long enough on the stove? Also, I’m cooking this in the oven uncovered since it doesn’t specify whether to cover the dish whjle cooking or not.
I’m sorry you had trouble with the glaze. I haven’t tried it in the microwave but I’ve never had trouble on the stove. My guess is that it needed to cook longer to melt the brown sugar. Don’t worry though, it should break down in the oven. Yes, the dish bakes uncovered. I’ll add that to the recipe now to avoid confusion for others in the future. Thanks for pointing out the omission!
Made them last night May 19 2016. My wife of over40 years said this is a keeper. Two chops & two apples and the rest of the spices I cut back about 1/2. large chops just melted in our mouth. I will be making it again soon. Paul
Hi Paul, I’m so glad you and your wife liked them (and thanks for sharing your variation so others can tweak to their preferences too). Do you happen to be a retired Marine? If so, ooh-rah and thanks for your service. ๐
I can’t wait to try this recipe…we love pork chops with applesauce, so I’m sure that this will become a family favorite. How many servings does this make?
This is by far the most popular recipe on my blog so I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and many others do! This recipe makes 4 servings. For my family of 6, I actually double the recipe so my husband and I can have the leftovers for lunch the next day. ๐
AAH! I’m halfway through making the recipe, for the bajillionth time(even my kids devour it–they call it “Apple Pie for dinner”) and suddenly the recipe isn’t on your blog! What happened??
Rebekah, there seems to be a glitch in the program I use for my recipes. Working on it now. Thanks for commenting and letting me know!
What do you do with the salt ans pepper? It is in the ingredients but not the recipe.
Thanks for pointing that out Sheila! Looks like I somehow deleted a line from the recipe during one of my edits. I’ve corrected the recipe, but to answer your question – sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper after you’ve placed it on top of the apple slices (and before you top with the glaze).
I tripled the recipe (big eaters) , and I used pork chops on the bone , my question is do you cover them while baking? I know they will need to cook longer but not sure if need to be covered. Recipe didn’t say. Thanks!
Hi Debbie, sorry I didn’t specify. No, I don’t cover mine when I make them. Let me know how yours turn out.
How do you make the sauce? Am I missing it?
Hi Nicole, you have to click the blue “Next” button at the bottom to get to the recipe card. There you’ll see the directions for the sauce.
Did you have to cover or cook them longer if they were boned?
You shouldn’t need to cover them. The bone-in chops are usually thinner so you shouldn’t need to cook them longer and the extra fat should keep them from being overcooked.
What kind of apples do you use? If I half the recipe (2 pork chops) would you recommend halving everything? Thanks so much!
Hi Jen! I use granny smith apples because the tartness adds dimension and keeps the dish from being overly sweet. I have also used Gala, Fuji, and Pink Lady apples though and they all work well. Yes, you should just halve all of the ingredients if you are cooking for two. I actually double the recipe since there are 6 people in my family and two of them are teenage boys. I have to cook mine a little longer though when I double it so you might want to knock 5 minutes off the cooking time to prevent over-cooking the pork.
We enjoyed this recipe. I have cut back on the sugar (about half) and replaced it with honey. Turns out great every time.
Thanks for coming back and letting me know how the recipe worked for you. The tip to replace some of the sugar with honey is really smart! I’m going to add a note within the post to recommend it per your suggestion.
These turned out really good. Will be making them again.
I’m glad you liked them! Thanks for letting me know. ๐
What could you use for a side with these ?
I dont have any sweet potatoes. Would a rice work
Thank you
Yes, rice would work. We’ve also served it with stuffing. For a vegetable, we have used a side salad and also green beans.
Question Cause I don’t know where I can actually leave my own comment. Do you think if I pre- put everything together and covered in foil and keep in fridge to closer to dinner it would still turn out good? I thought out pre-doing everything so my husband only needs to throw in oven 45 mins before I get home so we can eat right then
Yes, that should work!
Cut apples might brown a bit from being exposed to air but it will work
Hi there I can tell find the glaze recipe anywhere and the steps to make it would you mind sending it I’d like to make it tonight for the family thank you so much ?
Hi Kristen, if you click the “Next” button above (at the bottom of the post), it will take you to the next page where the full recipe is. Let me know if you have trouble with it.
This sounds so yummy! I love apples and this sounds like a delicious combo.
Hi Corinne – I’m with Cynthia… LOVE the combo of apples and pork chops. This is a great cold weather option when it’s not warm enough outside to make on the grill. Hugs, Holly
This recipe looks great! I love the combination of the apples and pork chops. I love eating pork chops, but never really know what to do with them. Now I do!
Try applesauce also. A killer!
Chef Carl
Glazes*
Consider with a can of crushed pineapple sprinkled with pecan crumbs.
…or even a quality applesauce with the same pecan therapy. ) Enjoy!!
Chef C