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You’ll love this simple, quick and easy pork chop marinade! It takes just a few minutes and imparts a delicious and savory flavor to the pork chops. But what makes this the best pork chop marinade? Let’s see, it takes only a few minutes, it imparts a delicious and savory flavor, and the ingredients are 100% natural (no sugar required!). It’s great to mix up ahead, marinate, and then cook right before serving. I recommend using this with my oven baked pork chops recipe!
I’m such a big fan of marinating meat – it’s the best way to tenderize and flavor meat at the same time. My balsamic steak marinade, carne asada marinade, marinated lamb chops, and tandoori chicken are all delicious and flavorful recipes you should try!
Simple Pork Chop Marinade Ingredients
This homemade marinade for pork chops comes together with just 5 simple ingredients, plus salt and pepper:
- Olive oil – The oil itself imparts flavor, but also helps the garlic aroma penetrate better.
- Coconut aminos – This adds a salty, savory flavor. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s very similar to soy sauce, but better for you. See why I don’t recommend soy here. That being said, you can substitute soy sauce for the aminos if you prefer; it’s less sweet than coconut aminos, so you might want to add a tablespoon of sweetener of your choice if you sub soy sauce.
- Lemon juice – The citrus helps to break down the meat, making it more tender.
- Dijon mustard – Mustard helps to tenderize meat, and also gives it great flavor.
- Garlic – The garlic gives great savory flavor to the meat.
- Sea salt & black pepper
The amounts of each ingredient in pork chop marinade are on the recipe card below.
How To Make Pork Chop Marinade
Simply whisk together the olive oil, coconut aminos, lemon juice, dijon mustard, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper. Super easy!
How To Use Pork Chop Marinade
- Pour the pork chop marinade into a freezer bag and add the pork chops. Seal the bag and massage the marinade into the meat.
FYI: You can also marinate the pork chops in a bowl instead. I prefer a bag because it helps the marinade coat each piece of meat more evenly.
- Marinate pork chops for at least an hour for maximum flavor, but no longer than 12 hours.
- Cook the pork chops using your favorite method — I recommend baking pork chops in the oven! You can also use the same marinade for pan seared pork chops.
Storage Instructions
You can mix up the marinade a day or two in advance. Store it in the freezer bag in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
How long can you marinate pork chops?
You can marinate the pork chops up to 12 hours, but no longer. The meat will start to get mushy after that.
Can you freeze pork chops in marinade?
Freezing the pork chops in the marinade is not recommended, as the acid found in the lemon juice will continue to break down the meat, even while frozen. It should only be left in the marinade for 12 hours.
What To Serve With Pork Chops
This quick pork chop marinade creates juicy, flavorful pork chops that just need a side, and I think the best ones are roasted vegetables! Try these:
- Roasted Broccoli – Pictured in the photos above! One of my fave roasted veggie sides.
- Roasted Asparagus – This classic side is ready in just 20 minutes.
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts – Just 10 minutes to prep + my secret for CRISPY brussels sprouts.
- Roasted Zucchini – You only need a handful of common ingredients to make this.
The Best Pork Chop Marinade Recipe
Quick & Easy Pork Chop Marinade Recipe
This quick and easy pork chop marinade takes just a few minutes to make, with 5 simple ingredients. It's the BEST pork chop marinade for juicy chops every time!
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Pork chop marinade:
Pork chops to use with pork chop marinade:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Whisk together all marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
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Pour the marinade into a gallon zip lock freezer bag. Add the pork chops, seal the bag, and massage to coat well.
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Marinate for at least 1 hour and no more than 12 hours. (More may result in mushy meat.)
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Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 pork chop
Only 1/4 of the marinade is included in the nutrition calculation, as a lot is discarded after marinating the pork chops.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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32 Comments
Shari C
0This truly is quick and easy marinade. I used this on some thick and lean pork chops and it provided a very nice flavor to pork that doesn’t naturally have a lot of flavor. The only change I’ll make next time is to marinate longer than 4 hours.
Mike
0I think it’s a good recipe, but I couldn’t find the amounts of the five marinade ingredients.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Mike, To find the full recipe, you can use the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the page, and it will take you right to the ingredients.
Thomas Hardesty
0what temperature and how long?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Thomas, You can find the full directions on the recipe card right above where you left this comment.
Kathy
0It would be very useful to have sodium grams listed for those of use who have to watch sodium.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Kathy, The nutrition facts provided are generally what is tracked on a low carb or keto diet. If you need further information, feel free to enter the recipe into an online food calculator to get the specific information you need.
Faith
0Can’t find temp for cooking chops or length of time to cook
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Faith, The full cooking instructions can be found in the recipe card. That is right above where you left this comment.
Sheri
0I’m allergic to coconut and soy sauce – nickel allergy. Is there something else I could use as a substitute?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sheri, You could use Worcestershire sauce, but the marinade will be more sweet and will have more sugar.
Janeen
0I loved the recipe, only marinated one hour, next time I’ll do it all day.
Sorry too many ads and pop-ups, so won’t come back to this site again.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Janeen, Thanks for your feedback. Ads keep the Wholesome Yum website running and allow me to develop recipes that readers like you can access absolutely free. However, you may be interested in Wholesome Yum Plus, which includes an ad-free version of the website, along with other perks.
Suzie
0Can the marinade be made into gravy?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Suzie, I have never made this specific marinade into gravy but I do have a Keto Gravy recipe you can follow.
Chris Tee
0I only had an hour to marinade but it still came out so flavorful! Definitely keeping this recipe!
MARIA WIGGINS
0This is the best Marinade! It keeps the meat juicy. I also used it on turkey chops. I plan to use it on boneless chicken next. I subsistute the coconut amino because I couldn’t find it so I used low sodium soy sauce instead…..DELICIOUS
Sue
0This marinade is delicious! I used it on bone in pork chops, but I think it would work really well on either lamb or even chicken. I marinated all my chops, then froze two of them to cook later & they were even better! I had to alter the recipe a little as I’m not able to access coconut aminos, so I used regular soy sauce & added a little monkfruit sweetener.
Bloody lovely!
Rachael Hall
0Is there something I can use other then the Coconut spice ? I am allergic to coconut.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Rachael, While I prefer coconut aminos, soy sauce or tamari could replace it 1:1.
Rachael Hall
0Thank you, I will post after i try it. It is hard to try new stuff with having allergies to food.
Suzie
0How about soy aminos? As long as it is a natural fermented process it should be ok, yes? I ASSUME Braggs soy aminos are naturally aged and fermented like their ac vinegar.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Suzie, That should work if you prefer not to use coconut aminos.
Kristyn
0Pork chops are my favorite meat & this marinade makes them even better!
Natalie
0This marinade adds so much taste!! I am so glad I found it, because I will be using it from now on!
Amy L Huntley
0This marinade was so simple to throw together and the flavor was so tasty! All of my family loved it..Win, Win!
Katie
0This is the best marinade for pork chops! Everyone loves this at mealtime.
Dannii
0My husband loves pork chops, but I never make them. I am definitely going to have to try this.
Beth
0Oh wow! This marinade is absolutely delicious and our pork chops turned out so tasty! Such a great dinner recipe! I will definitely make this again!
Michelle
0Such a delicious and easy recipe! Kept the pork chops juicy. Thank you for sharing!
Pam
0Looks great. I always like to marinade pork chops because they tend to be tough otherwise. This is a wonderful option.
Healing Tomato
0This would be so perfect Mother’s Day dinner! It looks very easy to make and looks like a gourmet chef prepared it. Amazing!