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Freezer Meals 101

Less time cooking, more time living

pork chops

Pork Chops Topped with Spiced Pears

By Sharla

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!

Make Ahead Spiced Pear Pork Chops #glutenfree #freezermeals101 #makeaheadmeals #familyfriendlyrecipes #easyfamilymeals #freezercookingThis 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.

collage of spiced pear pork chopsThis 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 close up of simple marinated pork chops with green beans on the sideApple Pork Chops close up of apple pork chops with asparagus on the side

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipes Tagged With: gluten free, pork chops, spiced pear

Make-Ahead Apple Pork Chops

By Sharla

This freezer meal is a little bit more involved in terms of the prep ahead, but it’s worth it. The apples make these Apple Pork Chops the perfect Fall recipe.  Apple Pork Chops freezer meal #fallrecipes #freezermeals101 #freezercooking #porkchopsIf you have an apple tree, you can even harvest your own apples to use. These fall flavors are nice to bring indoors.

Apple Pork Chops Recipe:

  • 4 pork chops
  • 4 fresh apples (more if you are using smaller ones from your backyard)
  • 1/2  jar of apple butter
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 4 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp. seasoning salt*

*You can make your own seasoning salt by mixing equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder or you can purchase it from the store.

Season both sides of each pork chop with the seasoning salt blend. Place the pork chops in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal.

Slice and core each apple.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the apple slices and allow them to cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add in 1/2 of the jar of apple butter, brown sugar, and chili powder. Stir well to combine. Pour in the cream and continue to stir. Bring it all to a light boil. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. collage of apple sauce cooking and served on pork chopsPour the cooled apple mixture into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag and then seal it. Staple the bag to the pork chop bag above the seals and freeze.

On the day of cooking, thaw.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the pork chops to the preheated skillet and cook each side for about 3-4 minutes.

Pour a spoonful of the apple topping on top while it cooks. Pour the rest of the apple mixture into the skillet on top of the pork. Serve hot. close up of finished apple pork chopsEven though this meal requires cooking the apples and sauce ahead of freezing which is more involved in the prep than most of my freezer meals, it is still quite fast to prepare. I like to do a mix of more time-consuming make-ahead meals with simpler ones. It provides more variety in my freezer.

Check out these easy freezer meals that are also great for Fall:

Apple Maple Chicken Dump Recipe close up of apple maple chicken with vegetables on the side

Beef Curry Freezer Meal close up of beef curry with peppers in a bowl

Print
Apple Pork Chops Recipe
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pork chops
Servings: 4
Calories: 568 kcal
Ingredients
  • 4 pork chops
  • 4 fresh apples more if you are using smaller ones from your backyard
  • 1/2  jar of apple butter
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 4 Tbsp. brown sugar packed
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp. seasoning salt*
Instructions
  1. Season both sides of each pork chop with the seasoning salt blend. Place the pork chops in a large resealable freezer bag. Remove the excess air and seal.
  2. Slice and core each apple.
  3. In a large skillet, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter. Add the apple slices and allow them to cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add in 1/2 of the jar of apple butter, brown sugar, and chili powder. Stir well to combine. Pour in the cream and continue to stir. Bring it all to a light boil. Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.
  5. Pour the cooled apple mixture into a medium-sized resealable freezer bag. Seal. Staple the bag to the pork chop bag above the seals and freeze.

  6. On the day of cooking, thaw.
  7. Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the pork chops to the preheated skillet and cook each side for about 3-4 minutes.
  8. Pour a spoonful of the apple topping on top while it cooks. Pour the rest of the apple mixture into the skillet on top of the pork. Serve hot.
Recipe Notes

*You can make your own seasoning salt by mixing equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder or you can purchase it from the store.

Filed Under: Freezer Meal Recipes, Freezer Skillet Meals Tagged With: pork chops

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