This French Pork Chops recipe simmers boneless pork chops in a rich sauce of shallots, granny smith apples, cider, and heavy cream.
I know it’s still early summer, and I hate to get ahead of myself, but I seriously cannot WAIT for fall apples!
I love to use the cider in recipes, especially hard cider like in this French Pork with Apple Cream Sauce recipe!
This is one of those fabulous recipes which looks and tastes a LOT more complicated than it really is.
The ingredients are easy to come by and they don’t require a lot of extra work to prepare them for the recipe. The whole French pork chops dish comes together in just 40 minutes!
I like to serve these French Pork Chops with a simple accompaniment of haricots verts (French-style green beans), but you can use regular green beans, too.
Just bring some salted water to a boil and cook the beans for 4 minutes. Drain the pot, then toss the beans with butter, chopped fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. If you want to get *really* fancy, you could toss some capers in there, too.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to place a loaf of crusty bread on the table so you can soak up every last drop of this luscious apple cream sauce!
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French Pork Chops with Apple Cream Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 4 boneless center-cut pork chops - about 1" thick
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 shallot - minced
- 2 granny smith apples - thinly sliced
- 1 cup hard cider*
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Take the pork chops out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, so they will get to room temperature.
- Place the walnuts in a sauté pan set over medium heat. Dry toast the walnuts until fragrant, being careful to avoid burning, about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Rub both sides of each chop with fresh thyme.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the seasoned pork to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes per side until browned. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside.
- Add the butter to the skillet along with the minced shallots and apples. Sauté over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until the apples have softened. Pour the cider into the pan and continue to cook for 3 minutes to reduce the liquid. Add the cream and cook another 3-5 minutes until thick.
- Return the browned pork to the pan, turn the heat down to medium, cover with a lid and simmer until the pork is cooked through, about 4-6 minutes. Make sure that the pork chops reach 145 ºF as measured with a food thermometer.
- Serve topped with the toasted walnuts.
NOTES
Nutrition
I gave this a try last night and was very happy with the outcome! I’m a sucker for a good cream sauce, and this unique one didn’t disappoint. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Hi Minta, so glad you loved it!
I am trying new recipes almost every day during these l-o-n-g days of lockdown and very few are mentally graded as 10 out of 10, and then retained for future use. Yours made the cut! I didn’t have shallots so used thin sliced onion but that was the only alteration. This is a delicious meal…and at least in my area of Canada pork is often a less expensive meat these days.
Hi Jill, thanks for the 10 out of 10 rating!
Yum, yum,yum.
I used pork medallions made from a tenderloin.
So good..
Sooo yummy! Eating the leftovers now!! My husband (who went to culinary school) absolutely loved it. Any ideas how to get the pork chops a little more tender? I did use a thicker cut. Wondering if slow cooking them might help. Nonetheless, I cooked exactly as the recipe called for and definitely adding to my recipe box!
Hi LMik,
Here are a couple of ideas that I will add to the recipe.
1. Take the pork chops out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before you cook them.
2. When simmering, place a cover on the pan to keep the chops moist and tender.
– Linda
I rarely comment on recipes but this was seriously one of the best ways to cook pork chops. We order our pork from a farmer in Maine so we have a lot on hand. Followed recipe almost exactly except for Vidalia onion in place of shallot and dried thyme instead of fresh. Also used our own Cortland apples. But the dish was excellent. We all loved it. Thank you !