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Shake 'n Bake Pork Chops

Total
1 hr
Cost
Difficulty

Thin, crispy panko pork chops with a scallion cottage cheese pan sauce, over a tray of garlic-oil potatoes and crispy broccoli.

675cals per serving

4servings

34%Carbs58g
33%Fat25g
32%Protein55g
  • air fryer
  • comfort food
  • high protein
  • pork
  • sheet pan
Shake 'n Bake Pork Chops

Nutrition

CaloriesCarbsFatProteinRatio C/F/P
Per plate~67558g25g55g34 / 33 / 32
Whole batch (×4)~2,700232g100g220g-
Traditional per plate~1,01556g67g51g22 / 58 / 20

Ingredients

4servings

Pork chops

  • 4 boneless center-cut pork chops, ~6 oz each, fat cap trimmed

  • 1/3 cup flour + 3 tbsp cornstarch

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 1 cup panko

  • Avocado oil spray, or ~2 tsp oil total

Potatoes & broccoli

  • 1.5 lb baby potatoes, quartered into small pieces (~3/4 inch)

  • 4 cups broccoli, cut into small florets

  • 1.5 tbsp avocado oil, infused with 3 to 4 smashed garlic cloves

  • Salt, pepper, and 1 tsp garlic powder (optional, for extra punch)

  • 2 oz (1/2 cup) grated parmesan, off the block

Scallion pan sauce

  • 2 tsp olive oil

  • 4 scallions, whites chopped, greens sliced for garnish

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock

  • Squeeze of lemon juice, zest of 1/2 lemon

  • 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese blended smooth with 2 tbsp milk

  • 1 tbsp butter

  • Black pepper

Spice mix (split between the flour and the panko)

  • Sweet paprika 1 tbsp, garlic powder 2 tsp, onion powder 2 tsp, brown sugar 1 tsp, salt 1 tsp, black pepper 1/2 tsp, cayenne 1/4 tsp (optional)

Steps

Prep (~20 min)

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F with two sheet pans inside.

  2. Quarter the potatoes, cut the broccoli into small florets, and pat both dry. Smash 3 to 4 garlic cloves for the oil, mince 2 for the sauce, chop the scallion whites, and slice the greens.

  3. Toast the panko in a dry pan over medium heat, 2 to 3 min, until light golden. Cool.

  4. Blend the cottage cheese and milk until silky. Refrigerate.

  5. Trim the fat cap, then pound the chops between plastic wrap to an even 1/2 inch or a bit under, working from the center out.

  6. Set up three bowls: flour and cornstarch with half the spice mix, beaten egg, and panko with the other half. Dredge each chop in that order, pressing firmly at each layer. Rest on a rack 5 to 10 min.

Cook (~40 min)

  1. Garlic oil first. Warm the avocado oil and smashed cloves in a small pan over low heat, 5 to 8 min, until fragrant and pale gold with gentle bubbles. Don't let the garlic brown. Pull the cloves out and set them aside.

  2. Oil the vegetables. In separate bowls, toss the potatoes with about two thirds of the garlic oil and the broccoli with the rest, adding the oil a little at a time. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder if using. Toss about 30 seconds, until glossy with nothing pooled at the bottom. A quick mist of avocado oil spray covers any dry spots.

  3. Tray. Spread the potatoes on one preheated pan and the broccoli on the other, each in a single layer. Roast 25 to 30 min, tossing once halfway. Start checking the broccoli at 20 min.

  4. Chops about 15 min into the roast. Spray both sides with oil. Air fry all four in a single layer at 400°F, 8 to 10 min, flipping halfway, until 145°F, then rest on a rack. If the basket is too small for one layer: wire rack over a sheet pan in the same 425°F oven, 12 to 15 min, flipping halfway.

  5. Sauce while the chops cook. Sweat the scallion whites and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat, 1 to 2 min. Add the stock and lemon juice and simmer down to about 1/3 cup, 3 to 4 min.

  6. Finish the sauce off heat. Whisk in the cottage cheese and zest, then the butter. Season with pepper. If it's too thick, loosen with a splash of stock.

  7. Last 5 min of the tray. Chop or lightly mash the reserved soft garlic cloves and scatter them over the potatoes. Sprinkle the parmesan over both pans so it crisps onto the vegetables.

  8. Plate the chop with the sauce spooned over it and the tray alongside. Top with the scallion greens.

Notes

Make or break

  • Even, thin chops. They cook through before the breading burns. Trim the fat cap before breading to stay on the lean numbers

  • Don't skip the egg layer or the oil spray. The panko needs both to stick and brown

  • Cottage cheese goes in off heat. It turns grainy if it simmers

  • Infuse the garlic oil gently. Pale gold is the goal, since browned garlic turns bitter

  • Toss the vegetables in a bowl, not on the pan. Dry vegetables take the oil evenly, while surface water makes it bead up, and florets soak up more than potatoes

  • Cooked garlic and parmesan go on late. Over the full roast, the cheese melts into the pan instead of crisping

  • Don't crowd the broccoli. Its own preheated pan lets it crisp instead of steam

  • Pull the chops at 145°F. Lean thin chops dry out fast past that

  • Use the garlic oil the same day. Garlic sitting in oil at room temperature is a botulism risk, so refrigerate any extra and use it within a few days

Fixes

  • Breading falling off: press harder at each layer and rest longer before cooking

  • Sauce too thick: splash of stock or water

  • Sauce too thin: reduce the stock a minute longer before adding the cottage cheese

  • Not crispy enough: more oil spray, or toast the panko longer

  • Vegetables steaming instead of crisping: the pans were crowded or the pieces were wet. Spread them out and pat dry

Nutrition numbers are estimates tracked in MyFitnessPal. Your brands and portions will shift them a little.