One Pot Pork Chop with Carrots, Mash & Gravy
This one pot pork chop meal comes together with minimal hands on preparation and rewards you with a full plate of silky mash, tender carrots, rich gravy and melt-in-your-mouth spiced pork.
Thick cut pork chops work best here, ideally around 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Our local butcher sells these for a similar price per kg to the main supermarkets in our area. With thinner supermarket cuts, it’s important to check them carefully for any bone fragments before seasoning. While they won’t cook up quite as juicy and tender as a thicker cut, the meal will still be delicious.
Our butcher cuts have a noticeably better flavour and texture and can even be more economical if they are on special. It’s the perfect meal to have in your repetoire for nights where you want a meal that feels a bit fancy, without spending hours over the stove.
There’s a bit of prep at the beginning, then some hands off time before everything comes together very quickly at the end. You can add different vegetables for variety and it can easily be adapted for a low FODMAP diet using garlic infused olive oil only & replacing the onion with the green part of a leek.
For more great dinner ideas, please check out the archive of main meals here.
One Pot Pork Chop
Slice the onions then cut the ends off of the carrots (peel if desired but not neccessary).
Peel the potatos and cut into large pieces (quarters for medium sized potatos).
Lay the pork chops out on a plate, lightly sprinkle with Cayenne Pepper and generously sprinkle with dried thyme. Flip the chops and repeat on the other side
Preheat your pressure cooker for use on the saute or sear function, add half the olive oil and begin lightly searing the pork chops - about a minute each side, so that they have some browning.
Reserve the seared chops (you can use the same plate here as we are about to cook the chops fully.)
Add the remaining oil to the pot with the onions and allow them to soften while stirring before adding the garlic. Continue sauteíng until fragrant, ensuring any browned bits at the bottom of the pot are scraped up for extra flavour.
Add in the diced potato as the first layer and then pour over the chicken stock - it should almost cover the potato layer.
Next layer in the carrots, resting on the potatoes above the liquid. Then, layer the seared chops on top of the carrots - arranging so there is minimal overlap.
Stop the sautee function and seal the pressure cooker lid. Set the cooker to 10minutes at full/high pressure with natural release.
Allow the cooker to come to pressure and complete the 10minute cooking cycle. Allow a further 10mins for natural release before switching to quick release of the remaining pressure.
Gently lift out the pork chops and carrots - they will be fall apart tender. Reserve, covered while you complete the remaining steps.
Strain the potatoes from the liquid, ensuring you retain 2 cups of the cooking broth. Put the broth back in the main cooking pot to thicken. (Set the cooker to the saute or reduce function)
Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of the hot broth to form a paste. Add a bit more broth to this paste until it's runny enough to whisk back in and assist with thickening into gravy. Continue Whisking as you add the runny paste and keep whisking until you notice the colour changes from cloudy and light to darker and a more clear-gel consistency.
Mash the reserved potato and serve alongside the carrots and pork chops. Top with the Gravy to your liking.
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the onions then cut the ends off of the carrots (peel if desired but not neccessary).
Peel the potatos and cut into large pieces (quarters for medium sized potatos).
Lay the pork chops out on a plate, lightly sprinkle with Cayenne Pepper and generously sprinkle with dried thyme. Flip the chops and repeat on the other side
Preheat your pressure cooker for use on the saute or sear function, add half the olive oil and begin lightly searing the pork chops - about a minute each side, so that they have some browning.
Reserve the seared chops (you can use the same plate here as we are about to cook the chops fully.)
Add the remaining oil to the pot with the onions and allow them to soften while stirring before adding the garlic. Continue sauteíng until fragrant, ensuring any browned bits at the bottom of the pot are scraped up for extra flavour.
Add in the diced potato as the first layer and then pour over the chicken stock - it should almost cover the potato layer.
Next layer in the carrots, resting on the potatoes above the liquid. Then, layer the seared chops on top of the carrots - arranging so there is minimal overlap.
Stop the sautee function and seal the pressure cooker lid. Set the cooker to 10minutes at full/high pressure with natural release.
Allow the cooker to come to pressure and complete the 10minute cooking cycle. Allow a further 10mins for natural release before switching to quick release of the remaining pressure.
Gently lift out the pork chops and carrots - they will be fall apart tender. Reserve, covered while you complete the remaining steps.
Strain the potatoes from the liquid, ensuring you retain 2 cups of the cooking broth. Put the broth back in the main cooking pot to thicken. (Set the cooker to the saute or reduce function)
Mix the cornstarch with a small amount of the hot broth to form a paste. Add a bit more broth to this paste until it's runny enough to whisk back in and assist with thickening into gravy. Continue Whisking as you add the runny paste and keep whisking until you notice the colour changes from cloudy and light to darker and a more clear-gel consistency.
Mash the reserved potato and serve alongside the carrots and pork chops. Top with the Gravy to your liking.
Notes
Recipe Notes
I’ve subsituted half the carrots for 4 large chunks of skin-on kent pumpkin successfully – this type of softer vegetable does get very soft under pressure so the skin helps retain structure and is delicious.
You can also substitute the regular potato for sweet potato to mash if desired.
It does take a bit of time to thicken depending on the setting of your pressure cooker. You can increase the amount of cornstarch slurry to thicken slightly faster or further, but the finished sauce as written is intended to be a fairly thin gravy. Taste as you go to ensure any raw flour flavour is fully cooked out before serving.
Key Ingredients
[…] cooker really doesn’t come out a lot on weeknights in our house, with the exception of our Pressure Cooker Pork Chops – but even then I know it’s going to take a bit of time and hands on […]