Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops
I’ve partnered with Smithfield® and Collective Bias to create these Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops.
These pork chops make for one easy weeknight meal, and they’re packed with delicious flavor! #AllNaturalPork #CollectiveBias
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I love this time of the year here in the northeast. Although the nights are still chilly, the days are warming up. The birds are out again, and I enjoy watching the tulips and daffodils start to sprout. Yup, spring is back! That means pulling the grill out again. That means nights on the back porch with friends. That means fun! But one of my favorite things about the spring in this part of the country is the maple syrup. Yes, maple syrup.
For me, I always associate maple flavors with fall baking, but maple syrup is actually produced in the spring. There’s a short window every year when the sap runs from the trees, so late March – early April is quite an active time of the year for maple farmers. My sister-in-law came up to visit a couple of weeks ago, and we took a ride out on Saturday morning to a maple farm in the hills of western Massachusetts. This farm does a great job of showing how the flavor of maple syrup changes throughout the season.
Regardless of the grade, all maple syrup is produced in the same way. Sap is collected from the trees and then boiled down to a syrup. Fun fact: It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. And a single maple tree produces 10-20 gallons of sap a year (depending on weather and other factors). Taken together, that means it takes sap from 2-4 trees to make a gallon of syrup. The flavor of the syrup changes over the course of the season, too. The grades of maple syrup are based on color and strength of taste rather than on quality.
Aside from tasting all of the different grades of syrup, we also had a delicious pancake breakfast at the farm’s cafe. My wife called me a ‘pancake destroyer’ that day. I’m not sure if that’s a nickname I want, but those pancakes were delicious! And of course they were served with a big bottle of fresh maple syrup. How can you not be a pancake destroyer in that situation?
We brought back a half-gallon of our favorite syrup (Grade A Dark), and I’ll ration that stuff out like liquid gold! I did use some of it to make these Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops the other day, and I was really pleased with how they turned out. I was looking for a quick 30-minute weeknight meal, so I grabbed some Smithfield® All Natural Bone-in Pork Chops on my weekly grocery run to Walmart. I like big, bold flavors, so I knew I wanted to turn those pork chops into something super delicious. That’s when it hit me to use the maple syrup.
After searing the pork chops in a hot cast iron skillet, I added the maple chipotle syrup and let it simmer down to a nice glaze. Oh yeah. These Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops were delicious! We added in some roasted asparagus as a side dish, and we were both quite pleased with our 30-minute dinner creation. We found the Smithfield® All Natural Bone-in Pork Chops to be tender and juicy, and they don’t include added steroids, hormones or artificial ingredients. Score!
I told you these Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops are a quick and easy meal. Take a look at this video Smithfield® created using this recipe!
Maple Chipotle Glazed Pork Chops
Ingredients
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1½ tsp garlic minced
- 1½ tsp chipotle powder
- 4 bone-in pork chops
- 1½ Tbsp olive oil
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Place large cast iron skillet on stove over medium heat.
- In a small saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients (maple syrup, cider vinegar, mustard, garlic and chipotle powder). Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, brush olive oil evenly over both sides of pork chops; sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper.
- Place pork chops in hot skillet and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Flip pork chops over. Pour maple syrup mixture over pork chops. Continue cooking for 8-10 more minutes, or until pork chops are fully cooked.
Looking for more easy weeknight meal recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Chicken Scallopini
Penne alla Vodka
Buffalo Chicken Pierogi Bake
With fresh maple syrup around, I totally understand your need to be a pancake destroyer! But, I tell you what – with this maple -chipotle/dijon mustard flavored glaze, I’d be a pork-chop destroyer! Those chops look so darn juicy – I’m wishing these were breakfast!
BTW – every time I read about these maple farms up north – I wanna go check Lil Shashi out of school and take a drive up north to one of them – cos fresh maple syrup is like crispy bacon – so so good!
You’ve got that one right, Shashi! I just need a t-shirt that says ‘pancake destroyer’ now. 🙂 Oh…and then on the back it can say “pork chop destoyer”! Oh my gosh, you totally need to visit one of these maple farms, Shashi. But you really should visit in late March/early April when they are working. Maybe you and lil Shashi can come up next year? 🙂
Cast iron is the way to go! Great results every time. Loved reading the little factoids about maple syrup. 40 gallon of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup? Wow! These maple chipotle glazed pork chops look amazing! Love the sweet flavour from the syrup and the smoky flavour from the chipotle. I could just taste it now. I’m gonna have to try this recipe soon. Sounds completely delicious! Pinning for later. Thanks for sharing, David, and have a lovely upcoming weekend 🙂
I love using my cast iron pan, Dawn! I don’t use it nearly as much as I should…but it still makes an appearance now and then. And talking about maple syrup, that’s so crazy to me that it takes several trees to make one gallon. It puts it all into perspective and explains why real maple syrup can be kinda pricey. But it’s totally worth it! I hope you have a great weekend, too, Dawn…it’s been a heck of a week, and I’m ready for the weekend!
I’ve always loved maple and bacon, and don’t mind these maple and pork chops. Sounds like a perfect pair!
I didn’t even think about that angle, Linda! Maple bacon is one of my favorite combos, too…especially when it comes to a cupcake. Haha! So it only stands to reason that maple + pork chops go well together, too. I hope you are having an awesome week so far!
Hi David! This looks like a perfect dinner to me! Maple and chipotle makes a great combination. We are getting about a pound of asparagus a day from our garden so I have plenty for a side to go with these chops!
Wait…a pound of asparagus a day!? I had no idea asparagus was so prolific. I think I told you, but we tried planting it up here. It came back a couple of years in a row, but it was never more than some wispy stalks that you would have thought were weeds if you didn’t know better. It might just be too cold up here for asparagus. (But it’s not too cold for dandelions…those things are all over my lawn right now!) These chops + some roasted asparagus sounds like a delicious dinner tonight!
Hi David! Asparagus is not really prolific, your just need a fair amount of space to get a decent yield. Our patch is about 30’X20′, roughly about a third of our total garden space. Making these chops tonight. 🙂
Oooo…I hope you enjoyed dinner last night, Dorothy! We only planted a little small row of asparagus. It survived for a bit, but it might just be too cold up here. Or the soil was too funky. Who knows? Either way, we’re ok with just grabbing our asparagus at the store and planting other stuff in the garden!
Hi David! These pork chops were killer! A little sweet, a little spicy and so D### good! The one leftover chop was not at all bad in the middle of night cold! 🙂 Got it before Gary! Snooze and you lose!
Awesome! I am so glad you enjoyed these, Dorothy. And I’m so glad you were quick to the punch and beat Gary to that remaining chop! Your comment really means a lot to me. 🙂
Maple and chiptole is one of the best flavour combinations I think. The perfect combo of sweet and spicy can’t be beat!
I totally agree, Dannii! I’m not usually a sweet + savory together kinda guy. But when maple is involved? Yeah, I’m all over that one!
I love good quality maple syrup on my homemade pancakes I can only imagine this deliciousness on a nice big bun with some sweet potato fries and a beer.. Cheers !!!
Sweet potato fries and a beer! I like the way you think, Rahul. 🙂 And yes, maple syrup is one of my favorites as well!
Didn’t know maple was produced in the spring! Love the maple and chipotle combo, btw. And the asparagus looks perfect! This looks like a delicious, easy weeknight (or weekend) meal for sure. Thanks for the inspiration!
So I always associate maple with fall…perhaps because of fall baking? But yeah, all maple syrup is produced over a short window (maybe 3-4 weeks) in early spring. This is one epic weeknight meal for sure, JD. In fact, we might be having it again tonight. 🙂
I know what you mean about springtime in New England…this is about the time of year that our orchard would be in bloom. I’ve got a pork tenderloin in the refrigerator and I think I’ll make this glaze when I grill tomorrow.
Oh it’s a great glaze, Karen! Give it a shot! I gotta say that I am jealous of you and your husband. I’ve always wanted to own an orchard. I’m sure it’s a lot more work and a lot less glorious than it sounds…but it does sound pretty darn awesome! 🙂
Interesting facts about making maple syrup. I never knew that it took 40 gallons of sap to a 1 gallon of syrup. Wow, no wonder it is expensive to buy. The pork chops sound delicious. I can just imagine how yummy they would taste.
Yeah, I was totally shocked by that, too, Dawn. And then throw in the fact that a tree only produces 10-20 gallons of sap per year. That means it takes 2-4 trees’ worth of sap to produce a gallon. Granted, a gallon is a lot of syrup. But yeah, that explains why it’s so pricey. But it’s so totally worth it! Grab some maple syrup and give these pork chops a try. They’re a new weeknight favorite around here. 🙂
Pancake destroyer, eh?? That’s a title to be proud of!
I love how you glazed the pork chops this way- It’s sweet, salty, spicy….I’ll be the pork chop destroyer.
Oh it’s totally a title to be proud of! Now I just need a t-shirt that proudly proclaims my title. 🙂 I’ll tell you what? You make these pork chops, and I’ll get you a pork chop destroyer t-shirt. You can wear it proudly!
Being a native Canadian (hahaha), I fully agree on what you are saying, David! Maple syrup is my kind of gold – everything (well, almost) is better with it. Unfortunately, I’ve heard this year there wasn’t much sap thanks to the cold spring days so be prepared to ship some syrup to Canada:) These pork chops look and sound fantastic. I glad you’ve incorporated some Dijon cause it works great with maple; you have a good sense of taste, my friend!
You are totally a Canadian, Ben! I’m proud to say that I am friends with a true Canadian, too. I haven’t heard anything about this year’s maple harvest. It has been a crazy spring with the weather though. I’ll gladly ship some maple deliciousness up to you though! As long as they dont confiscate it at the border…haha.
These chops look really good, David. I don’t think I’ve ever had pork paired with maple, but pork is such a blank canvas … it sounds like a nice combination. I doubt I’ll be setting foot in a Walmart any time soon, but I do think I’m in to mood to pick up some chops and try this out!
Hey, maple bacon is delicious, right? So it stands to reason that maple pork would be delicious, too. And it is! Plus, it’s a super quick meal, and that means it gets bonus points in our house since we never know what dinnertime will be like thanks to a certain 2 foot tall little man.
Yay for maple syrup! And the glaze you put on these bad boys is awesome. Mouth watering Dave. Really. Plus Chipotle! – #WolfpackPorkathon
Haha, I knew you’d be all about the maple syrup in this one, Kevin. These chops turned out amazing! Sweet + smoky all together in one. Definitely a new favorite. 🙂