Pork and apples pair beautifully together. This Instant Pot Pork Chops and Apples recipe is a great way to enjoy this wonderful flavor combination. (I’m addicted to the sweetness of the apples!)
This just might be my favorite pork chop recipe. If you want tender pork soups, this easy pork meal is the best. The quick cook time makes these apple pork chops ready in a breeze, perfect for those slow and lazy weekends.
This is also a great recipe that the whole family will enjoy because of the flavor! Who knew that cooked pork and cinnamon apples could taste so good?!
About This Apples and Pork Recipe
The fun part about making this delicious apple and pork recipe is that it takes on the flavor so well. Using the instant pot to sauté really cuts down on the clean up process, too!
I’m all about cooking chops in the Instant Pot if it means I can spend more time sitting at the table with the family eating dinner and less time scrubbing on pots and pans.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Perfect for picking eaters
- Ready in less than 30 minutes
- Hearty and delicious
If you’re a fan of Instant Pot Apple and Pork, be sure to try my Baked Pork Chops and Apples, too.
🥘 Ingredients
Butter: I like to use unsalted butter for this since there is sodium in the pork chops.
Apples: You can choose your favorite type of apples to pair with the juicy pork chops.
Pork chops: You can use bone-in chops, boneless pork chops, fresh pork chops, and even frozen pork chops for this recipe.
See recipe card for complete list of ingredients and quantities.
🔀 Substitutions
If you don’t want your Instant Pot pork chops with apples to have a cinnamon flavor, you can easily leave out the nutmeg and cinnamon. Instead just let the sweetness of the apples flavor the thin pork chops.
🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins
Spicy: If you want more of a heat with your pork, rather than an apple cinnamon flavor, add a little bit of cayenne pepper to the pot and brown and cook. This is a simple way to get a sweet heat.
Add onions: Apples and onions go really well together! Pile the combination high on top of the pork chops when you serve them for a truly delightful flavor. You’ll just add the onions to the Instant Pot to saute just like you would the meat.
How to Make Instant Pot Pork Chops and Apples
Normally, my favorite feature of Instant Pot recipes is that I only dirty one pot. This recipe is one of the exceptions, but other than the additional bowls called for in the instructions, it’s just as easy as my other recipes, like my Instant Pot Pork and Beans.
Step 1 – Cut the Apples
First, set the pot to saute. While the pot heats up, slice the apples.
Then, place the apples in a large bowl and set them aside.
Step 2 – Prepare the Seasoning
Next, you’ll combine brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a small bowl.
This is going to become an amazing sauce on your pork chops and apples. It will also make your house smell amazing when you open the lid of your Instant Pot later!
Pour the brown sugar mixture over the apples and stir well. Make sure you coat all of the apple slices with the sugar and seasonings.
Step 3 – Sauté the Apples
Now, add butter to the Instant Pot. After it has melted, add the apples and sauté them for four minutes. Stir the apples occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Pour water over the apples.
Step 4 – Add the Pork Chops
Once you’ve sautéed the apples, you’ll season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Make sure to season both sides.
Then, add the seasoned pork chops to your Instant Pot and turn the pot off.
Step 5 – Pressure Cook
Now it’s time to let your Instant Pot pressure cook this meal. Secure the lid, select meat setting and set the time to 10 minutes.
When the Instant Pot beeps, quick release the pressure. Your Instant Pot Pork Chops and Apples are ready to serve!
Spoon some apples and a pork chop onto each plate and drizzle with some of the sauce from the bottom of the pot.
👩🍳 Pro Tips
- Pork chops smothered in apples is a fun and unique meal. Keep in mind that if there is liquid in the pot, you can deglaze the pot and make a delicious apple gravy to put right on top of cooked pork loin chops. Once you brown the pork chops, you can then add the onion and apple into the Instant Pot in a single layer to cook and later add to the top the pork.
- Turn the Instant Pot to “warm” and put the pork chops back in the Instant Pot to keep them warm while waiting. Put a little bit of apple on top to let those flavors continue to mesh together.
- While you can cook thick chops in the Pot, thinner chops will result in more tender pork chops. I’d recommend making this Instant Pot pork chops recipe a few times and see if you prefer thick pork chops or thinner pork chops.
- I’ve tried this recipe with different types of apples, and it really does change the flavor!
❓ Recipe FAQs
Once you cook the boneless pork loin chops, store the leftovers so that you can enjoy them again. Place the meat and apples in an airtight container, and keep them stored in the fridge. For the best results, eat within 2 days.
Boneless chops are easy to reheat by simply adding them back to the pot and heating all the way through. You can also reheat them low and slow in the microwave as well.
Be careful when reheating pressure cooker pork chops because you don’t want to overcook them when you’re reheating. Just heat and remove the pork chops and serve with your favorite sides, like mashed potatoes.
Even though it takes a lot longer to make slow cooker pork chops versus cooking the pork chops in the Instant Pot, you can make it either way. Once you place pork chops in the slow cooker, you’ll want to cook the meat and apples for 5-6 hours on high.
Add the pork chops and place the lid on, and walk away. I recommended testing the pork with a meat thermometer and making sure that it’s done and cooked all the way. If you need to cook the pork longer, you can place the pork chops back into the slow cooker and continue to cook.
🙏 Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Instant Pot Pork Chop Recipe:
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Instant Pot Sweet Potato Casserole
- Instant Pot Stuffing
- Air Fryer Roasted Vegetables
- Green Beans
- Coleslaw
- Sautéed Spinach
- Baked Acorn Squash
📋 Recipe
Ready to make this Instant Pot Pork Chop and Apples? Here’s the recipe card with the exact measurements.
📋 Recipe
Instant Pot Pork Chops and Apples
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 2 apples
- 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon to taste
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg to taste
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 pork chops
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Select the saute setting as you chop or slice your apples.
- Place the chopped apples in a large bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the apples and stir well to coat.
- Add the butter to the pot and let it melt. Then, add the apple mixture to the melted butter and saute for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour water over the apples. (This step was added after several readers experienced a burn error)
- Season your pork chops, front and back, with salt and pepper.
- Place the pork chops over the apples and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Secure the lid and select “meat setting” for 10 minutes (8 minutes if your pork chops are thin).
- Quick release and serve the pork chops overtop of the apples.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this recipe, check out this Roasted Garlic and Herb Pork Loin with Vegetables and my other Instant Pot Pork Recipes.
No Instant Pot? No problem! See my original version here.
More Instant Pot Resources
Love your Instant Pot? Find more Instant Pot Recipes here. And check out my favorite Instant Pot Hacks.
This is a definite must-try recipe! I love applesauce with my pork chops, but don’t like cinnamon in my applesauce, so I may leave the seasoning out altogether! I’ll put carrots in too, and perhaps sweet potatoes to round out the meal. Can’t wait to try it! Pinning for later!
Can I do this with frozen pork chops or do they have to be thawed? Beginner here 😉
I don’t usually post reviews but I had to let you know that my dad and husband LOVED this meal! My dad always eats applesauce with pork so I knew this might be a hit. I used 5 apples and cut back on the brown sugar, added knob of ginger and the 8 minute cook time for thin pork chops was perfect! I’ll be making this again for sure.
Tried this last night. I used 4 apples only because I bought 4 by mistake . Loved how the apples came out tasted great. The pork chops were awesome too the change I made though was I did use Thin chops and i poked them with a fork I think this helped them get more tender as I seen alot say the pork chops were dry. I added about 3/4 cup of water and cooked 10 mins then natural release for 10 minutes and it was great however the rest of the family didnt like the taste as when it comes to pork chops we always make them with cream of celery soup in the crock pot
A little different spin, but equally delicious- delete the cinnamon and nutmeg, substitute chicken broth for water, add a sliced onion to sliced apple and a dash of balsamic vinegar and minced garlic. The apples come out tasting like a chutney and are delicious on top of the pork chops.
I love your suggestions! Thanks for sharing.
too much cinnamon
I browned the chops before watering the apples and used white wine instead of water and they were delish. Going to try the same recipe tonight but with country style ribs. Will pop them in the broiler once done.
“before sautéing the apples”
Made this tonight in my Instant Pot. The flavors were a hit but the meat was really dry and the apples super mushy. We are willing to try again but maybe less time, Just not sure how much less time.
Thanks for the feedback Margret. Definitely sounds like too much time. I’ll try this again this week with a shorter cook time and see if I can adjust the recipe.
I made this exactly as written and ours turned out with very dry pork chops! I used boneless chops, should this only be made using bone-in chops? If I shortened the cooking time would that help? Maybe 7 minutes? Apples were very tasty, even though super mushy! 2 stars given due to dryness of the chops.
I think it might actually have more to do with the thickness of the pork. Some people get perfectly moist pork with this recipe but you aren’t the first reviewer to have them come out dry. I’m going to add a note to the recipe suggesting a shorter cook time for thinner pork chops. Thanks for your feedback!
perhaps brining the pork chops before?
Tried the dish with everything as is in the recipe except I adjusted the spices down a little and it came out tender and sweet. There was plenty of juice from the apples and pork chops
I’m going to try to make these tonight, but I am also skeptical about having no liquid. I think I will use a cup of apple juice
Hi Debbie, let me know how they turn out. If you are happy with the result, I’ll add a note recommending the juice in the instructions.
I’ve never used the Meat setting. Would it be the same as high pressure?
The smart settings control the heating element to make sure it doesn’t heat too quickly or too slowly. You can just use manual high pressure and adjust the time, but the outcome might be slightly different since the pot will heat at a different rate.
can i put 7 pork chops in i have the 8 qt
Yes, I’ve doubled the recipe before without issue.
I too was skeptical about lack of liquid and got burn message first time thru. Added 1/2 cup water and it cooked fine. I thought 10 minutes was a little overdone for the size pork chops we had.
I also added the extra pot of sweet potatoes on top with a little butter and cinnamon on them. Quite good.
Thanks for the idea!
I made the recipe exactly as written. It does make plenty of its own liquid. I thought that a Tablespoon was a lot of cinnamon plus a 1 tsp of nutmeg. They tasted okay but I thought my food was a lot darker than your picture. Then I looked at your oven version and it called for a lot less spice. My apples were very mushy too. Is 10 minutes too long? We liked it so I will probably make it again with some adjustments.
This sounds great, but I thought you had to have at least a cup of liquid to cook in the instant pot. Does it work without the liquid?
Pork chops release a LOT of liquid when they cook so that is where the liquid will come from to help the pot come to pressure.
Mine said “burn” a couple minutes into building pressure so I added broth. Hoping they turn out. I was skeptical about the no liquid too.
Amanda, did these work out after you added the broth?