pork chops

Serve these pork chops topped with spiced pears to your kids and you’ll get no complaints. With ingredients like cinnamon and vanilla, it’s practically dessert for supper!

This meal can be made ahead and frozen. That makes for an easy supper midweek when you have a crazy busy schedule. No one will suspect how easy it was to cook.

This recipe requires slightly more prep than most of our freezer meal recipes do to make the sauce, but it’s worth it. I do recommend that because of this, you make several of this recipe at once. It takes just a minute or two more to cut more pears and the rest of the steps take the same amount of time whether you make one meal or four.

If you take that extra minute or two, you’ll be able to pull one of these out for supper every few weeks. It’s such a nice feeling knowing that there are meals ready to go in your freezer!

Pork Chops Topped with Spiced Pears Recipe:

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 ripe pears, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless center-cut pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

For cooking:

• 1 tsp. olive oil

Assembly instructions:

1. Peel, de-seed, and chop the pears.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the prepared pears, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the nutmeg.
4. Cook, stir and mash the pears continuously until the “sauce” is thick and the pears are tender. This will take about 7-9 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow it to cool while you prepare the pork chops.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon, salt, paprika, and pepper.
7. Rub the spice mixture over the pork.
8. Place the pork in a large resealable freezer-safe bag or a silicone reusable freezer bag. Seal.
9. Place the spiced pear topping in a medium-sized freezer bag and seal.
10. Staple the medium bag to the one containing the pork chops. Be sure to staple above the seal to avoid leaks.

Cooking instructions:

1. Take the bag duo out of the freezer to thaw.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook them until well browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes on each side. Top with the sauce and cover for a minute to allow the sauce to warm.
3. Serve. Sprinkle with a bit of parsley if desired.

This easy family recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free, making it versatile for many diets.

Suggested side dishes for pork chops:

• easiest coleslaw
• beer roasted asparagus
• Italian tortellini salad
• Colcannon (Irish mashed potatoes with greens)
• red potato salad with avocado and eggs
• corn on the cob
• rice
• green beans
• simple lettuce salad
• crispy smashed potatoes with garlic and herbs

Looking for other easy family freezer meals? Our Family Favourites Meal Plan includes recipes, shopping lists, and printable labels to take the guesswork out of dinners. 

Print

Pork Chops Topped with Spiced Pears Recipe

Prep Time

11 mins

Cook Time

13 mins

Total Time

24 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Keyword: pork chops, spiced pear

Servings: 4

Calories: 393 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 ripe pears peeled and chopped
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 2 lbs. boneless center cut pork chops 1/2 inch thick

For cooking:

• 1 tsp. olive oil

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Peel, de-seed, and chop the pears.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add the prepared pears, 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and the nutmeg.

4. Cook, stir, and mash the pears continuously, until the "sauce" is thick and the pears are tender. This will take about 7-9 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to cool while you prepare the pork chops.

6. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining cinnamon, salt, paprika and pepper.
7. Rub the spice mixture over the pork.
8. Place the pork in a large resealable freezer safe bag or a silicone reusable freezer bag. Seal.
9. Place the spiced pear topping in a medium sized freezer bag and seal.
10. Staple the medium bag to the one containing the pork chops. Be sure to staple above the seal to avoid leaks.

Cooking instructions:

1. Take the bag duo out of the freezer to thaw.

2. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook them until well browned and cooked through, about 6 minutes on each side. Top with the sauce and cover for a minute to allow the sauce to warm.

3. Serve.

Our other make-ahead pork chop recipes:

Simple Marinated Pork Chops Apple Pork Chops