Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about this french onion pork chops recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: you will be able to get everything you need to make this easy recipe from the local grocery store. Some are pantry staples so you might already have them in the cupboard already which is an added bonus!
• Set and forget: you can call it set and forget or dump and go. Each term describes the simple process of adding the ingredients to the slow cooker in the morning and letting it cook dinner whilst you go about the rest of the day. Come home to a delicious dinner that you don't need to be on your feet for!
• Family friendly: everyone from the young to young at heart will enjoy this pork chops recipe. There is no 'too strong or intense' flavors in there so it can be a meal that the family can share without you having to whip up mulitple meals in the one sitting.
• Taste and texture: from the succulent onions to the juicy pork and chewy mushrooms, there is a lot going on both flavor wise as well as in terms of the variety of textures in the dish. Did I menion there is also melted cheese in there too!! (😍🥰).
• Freezer friendly: this is the perfect meal to whip up on the weekends when you have more time and then freeze it for a busy weeknight when you know you won't have a lot of time to prepare dinner.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the crock pot french onion pork chops recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper to season the pork chops. We need to do both sides.
• Garlic powder: a little garlic powder is used for flavor in the recipe.
• Thyme: dried thyme is an excellent pantry staple and lends itself to a wide variety of flavor combinations. It is the perfect dried herb to use with the pork and mushrooms.
• Brown sugar: we want to give the onions somewhat of a caramelized onions flavor and the brown sugar and butter is the way we achieve this in the slow cooker.
• Butter: unsalted butter is recommended as we are already using salt to season the pork chops and we don't want to have too much salt in there!
• Chicken stock: we use a little chicken stock (chicken broth) which helps the onions soften and gives us a few juices to spread on the plate when we are serving the pork.
• Mushrooms: swiss brown mushrooms work well with the recipe and their colours compliment the rest of the colours in the recipes also!
• Cheese: I like to use gouda cheese as it has a great texture, doesn't slip right off the pork and compliments the other flavors in the dish.
• Onions: ok, so you might think 4 onions is a lot for one recipe! Ha, I can see why you might think that. However, the aim is to have a bed of melted onions with a sweet flavor to put each cooked pork chop on. This means that each person will end up with approximately 1 onion for their chop. As they are soft and tender they loose that harsh onion flavor and are the perfect accompaniment to the juicy cheese topped chops!
• Pork chops: we want to use boneless pork chops. They cook extremely well in the crock pot and will fall apart as you prod them with your fork!

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by preparing the vegetables and seasoning the pork.

• Slice the onions (Photo 1)
• Slice the mushrooms (Photo 2)
• Season the pork chops with salt and pepper (Photo 3)
• Add the sliced onions to the slow cooker insert (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops

To make the slow cooker French Onion Pork Chops we start by layering the ingredients into the bottom of the slow cooker. Use your fingers to seperate the onions into rings and then spread them across the base.

Next sprinkle the brown sugar over the onions, add the butter, garlic powder and dried thyme. You can see these steps in the photos below.

• Add the brown sugar (Photo 5)
• Then add the butter (Photo 6)
• Add the garlic powder (Photo 7)
• Sprinkle in the dried thyme (Photo 8)

🥩 Crock Pot French Onion Pork Chops

Next we pour in the chicken stock as you see in the photos below.

• Add the chicken stock (Photo 9)
• Then place the pork chops in and cook (Photo 10)
• Add the cheese to each chop (Photo 11)
• Add the mushrooms (Photo 12)

Once we have added the chicken stock, we then use the kitchen tongs to place the pork on top of the onions.

Now we want to cook the dish. You can use low heat for 8 hours or high heat for 4 hours. Both options work well for the recipe.

When there is about 30 minutes to go for this cook time we want to remove the lid (yes, haha!) and place one folded piece of cheese on top of each cooked pork chop. Then we want to transfer the mushrooms in and pop the lid back on.

During this final 30 minutes of cook time, the cheese melts onto the pork chops and the mushrooms cook, yet stay firm and don't go mushy or soggy.

Then when the total cook time is up you can start to portion and place or keep the slow cooker on warm until you are ready to do this.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

You would be hard pressed to find a better serving pairing with these chops than the trusty ole bed of mashed potatoes. The flavor combination works as well as the texture of the soft mash which collects and absorbs a lot of the juices.

For other types of potatos try the Potato And Sweet Potato Bake, Potato And Cauliflower Bake, Potato And Broccoli Bake or the Potato And Onion Bake.

Or for a different texture of potatoes try the Duck Fat Roast Potatoes, Skin on Roast Potatoes, Creamy Garlic Potatoes or the Garlic Butter Potatoes.

For wine pairings try a chilled rose, crispy cold glass of pinot gris or smooth red like a pinot noir.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Allow leftovers to fully cool (the lid off the slow cooker will ensure this happens faster). Once cooled, portion into a sealed air tight container (or multiple) and place in the fridge for 2-3 days. Leftovers need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

Allow the dish to fully cool then portion into containers as per the method above. These containers can then be stacked in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How to Reheat

For refrigerated leftovers, transfer them to a plate and cover with a layer of cling wrap. Then reheat using high temperature in the microwave for 2-3 minutes till warmed through (I find 3 minutes is usually the best to fully reheat the dish, but you can test the heat with your finger tip after 2 minutes to see if it needs another minute or is good to go).

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use dried rosemary in place of the dried thyme if you wish too.
• As we are using (a ton 😂) of onions in the recipe, we don't need to use onion powder ie if you are wondering why we only use 'garlic powder'.
• In place of the gouda cheese you can use swiss cheese, jarlsberg, cheddar or tasty cheese. The cheese types I don't recommend are parmesan cheese or pecorino romano (both of these are strong and bold or sweet in flavor and work better as a garnish).
• If you want to use white button mushrooms in place of the swiss brown mushrooms you can.
• Also if you want to double the amount of mushrooms used, you can.
• If you want an additional vegetable in the mix, frozen peas are a great choice. With these so that they keep their vibrant green and so that we don't add more liquid to the slow cooker than we have planned for, we want to add them to a microwave safe jug and use the microwave to defrost/cook them 1st. Once done, simply add in around the time of layering the chops with the cheese and adding the mushrooms.
• Alternatively fresh chopped green beans can be added with the mushrooms.
• You can use beef broth (beef stock), (equivalent amount) in place of the chicken broth if you wish too.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• You don't need to grease or spray the slow cooker insert with cooking oil prior to adding the ingredients.
• A pair of tongs will come in very handy to flip the chops when seasoning as well as transfering them in and out of the slow cooker.
• We keep the lid on throughout the cook time (no stirring necessary). However, towards the end, we do remove it to add the cheese and mushrooms. We don't remove the chops to add the cheese, we simply fold it in half (per slice) and lay it on top of each pork chop. Then we pop the lid back on and let the cheese melt onto the chops as well as the mushrooms softening and cooking. The mushrooms sit and soften on top of the pork chops (they are pure bliss! 😍).
• After the cook time is up, you can leave the slow cooker on the warm function (lid on) until you are ready to serve the dish if you find yourself with a cooked meal slightly before 'dinner time'.
• When serving the dish, aim for 1 pork chop per person with the total amount of onions and mushrooms divided across the 4 plates.
• If you love slow cooker recipes, you might also like the Curried Sausages, Bean And Bacon Soup, Chilli Con Carne, Chicken Drumsticks And Potatoes, Leek And Potato Soup, Pulled Lamb, Chicken Spaghetti, Chicken And Corn Soup, Dahl, Scalloped Potatoes And Ham or the Chicken Barley Soup 😄👌.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

Affectionally known as 'din dins', dinner can be the easiet thing you do all day or the most thought about. Here I like to offer you a number of different recipes offering variety through cook times, proteins and cooking methods to help you keep your dinners inspired and something that everyone will look forward to!

• Thai Minced Pork
• Baked Ziti With Meatballs
• Garlic Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Chorizo Fried Rice
• Tuna Fried Rice
• Prawn Fritters
• Fettuccine Alfredo With Scallops

It is time to get our Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops on my friend! You can also find all of my comfort food recipes or dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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