Pork chops, canned sliced carrots, and canned cream of mushroom soup. Three ingredients, and two of them come out of a tin.
This is not a recipe that will impress anyone at a dinner party. It is the recipe for a Tuesday when the day got away from you, the oven does the work, and there is one dish to wash afterward. Ten minutes of effort and then an hour and a quarter of leaving it alone.
Pat the chops dry first
Straight out of the package they are wet, and wet meat steams rather than browns. Paper towel, both sides, thirty seconds.
It matters more here than in most braised dishes because everything is about to be covered in soup and go under foil. That first uncovered stretch at the end is your only chance at colour, and damp chops will not take it.
Season with salt and pepper while you are at it. The recipe lists it as optional and I would not skip it. Cream of mushroom soup is salty but it is a flat, one-note salt, and seasoning the meat itself gives you something underneath that.
Bone-in chops, and not too thin
Half to three quarters of an inch thick, bone in. Both details are doing something.
Bone-in chops hold moisture better through a long bake and the bone adds flavour to the sauce around it. Thin chops overcook long before the hour is up and turn dry and stringy no matter how much soup is sitting on them.
Anything under half an inch, cut the covered baking time down to thirty minutes and check early.
Loosen the soup before it goes in
Condensed soup comes out of the can as a solid gelatinous block. Stir it in a bowl first to break it down into something pourable.
Spooned in as lumps it never fully distributes, and you end up with thick pockets in some spots and bare chops in others. It does not need thinning with liquid. The carrots and the pork release enough moisture during the bake.
Drain the carrots properly
Both cans, drained well. Canned carrots are packed in a lot of water and any of it left behind thins the sauce into something watery.
Scatter them around the chops rather than on top, so the meat stays exposed for the uncovered stretch.
Two cans of soup, not one
Four chops and two cans of carrots need two cans of soup to cover them properly. One can spread across a nine by thirteen dish leaves the tops of the chops bare, and bare meat under foil for forty five minutes goes dry and grey.
If you are halving the recipe for two people, use a smaller dish rather than half the soup. The depth of the sauce matters more than the total quantity.
Covered, then uncovered
350F. Foil on, forty five minutes. Then foil off, another twenty to thirty minutes until it is cooked through and starting to colour on top.
The two stages are doing different jobs. Covered, the dish steams and the pork cooks gently in the moisture. Uncovered, the surface dries out and browns, and the sauce reduces and thickens.
Pork is done at an internal temperature of 145F. The original recipe does not give a number and works on appearance alone, which is worth checking with a thermometer instead if you have one.
Rest, then serve
Five to ten minutes out of the oven before serving. Rice, mashed potatoes or a green salad on the side, and the salad is the one I would pick, because the dish is rich and soft and wants something sharp next to it.
Crushed red pepper flakes or a little paprika stirred into the soup adds interest if you want it.
Using fresh carrots instead
Sliced fresh carrots work, though they need longer. Add them at the start and expect the covered stage to run closer to an hour, since canned carrots are already fully cooked and fresh ones are not.
Why this browns better with the foil off
Steam trapped under foil keeps the surface temperature at boiling point, and nothing browns at that temperature. Removing the foil lets the surface climb higher and that is where the colour comes from.
Oven Baked Pork Chops with Carrots
Description
A three ingredient baked pork chop dinner with canned carrots and cream of mushroom soup, covered then browned uncovered.
Ingredients:
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease a casserole dish.
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Pat the pork chops dry with paper towel and season with salt and black pepper.
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Arrange the pork chops in a single layer in the dish.
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Stir the cream of mushroom soup in a bowl to loosen it. Scatter the drained carrots around the pork chops.
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Spoon the soup over the top, cover with foil and bake 45 minutes.
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Remove the foil and bake uncovered another 20 to 30 minutes, until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145F / 63C and the top is golden.
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Rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving..
Note
The source gives no internal temperature. Pork is safely cooked at 145F / 63C followed by a rest; use a thermometer rather than relying on appearance. Pat the chops dry before seasoning for better browning. Chops thinner than half an inch need the covered stage reduced to about 30 minutes. Source lists 350 calories per serving.
