Since the beginning of the year, work has been full of long days. I usually start around 6am and get home around 5pm. By that point, I want nothing to do in the kitchen but dinner has to get on the table somehow. I’ve planned some prepared meals for the week, but even if I didn’t, my kitchen is fully stocked with enough ingredients to have a week night “Iron Chef” challenge with myself. It was one of those nights and I ended up throwing whatever I had in the IP… and before I knew it, dinner was ready. These Smothered Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy came together in the same amount of time it took me to change into more comfortable clothes, help my son with homework and have a cup of tea! The dish itself was perfectly comforting with tender pork chops drenched in a rich mushroom gravy with a hint of bacon goodness.
Putting together this dish is easy in 3 steps. Saute, Pressure and Stir. Saute is exactly that; sauteing bacon, onion, garlic and mushrooms until softened, Pressure is adding seasoned pork chops into your Instant Pot and allowing it to come to pressure so it can do it’s magic.
And lastly, Stir is finishing up the dish with cream of mushroom soup (I used fat free but any kind will do). The soup gives the dish a richness combined with beef broth and natural juices from the pork to create a gravy.
Smothered Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy
original Joelen recipe
Yield: 4-6
Smothered Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, diced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 4-6 pork chops
- salt & pepper to tastes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup beef or bone broth
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 can (10.5 oz) low sodium or fat free cream of mushroom soup
- fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
Smothered Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy Recipe Instructions
- Plug in the IP and hit SAUTE.
- Add the bacon (if using), mushrooms, extra virgin olive oil, onion and garlic. Cook until bacon starts to brown and the mushrooms and onions are translucent.
- Season your pork chops on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Once bacon starts to brown and onion is translucent, add the pork chops, broth and thyme.
- Secure the lid of the IP and ensure the valve is set to SEALING.
- Press CANCEL to stop the saute setting. Press MANUAL and adjust the time to the number of minutes below on HIGH pressure.
- – Fresh thin, bone in – 3 minutes
– Fresh thin, boneless – 2 minutes
– Fresh average cut, bone in – 10 minutes
– Fresh average cut, boneless – 7 minutes
– Fresh thick, bone in – 12 minutes
– Fresh thick, boneless – 10 minutes
– Frozen thin, bone in – 7 minutes
– Frozen thin, boneless – 5 minutes
– Frozen average cut, bone in – 15 minutes
– Frozen average cut, boneless – 12 minutes
– Frozen thick, bone in – 20 minutes
– Frozen thick, boneless – 15 minutes - The display will reflect ON while the IP comes to pressure. Allow a few minutes for your IP to come to pressure.
- Once at pressure, the display will reflect the number of minutes you initially set and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
- When the IP beeps after pressure cooking for the number of minutes you initially set, allow your IP to naturally release pressure. While naturally releasing pressure (also known as NRP or NR), the display will reflect numbers counting up from 1. The numbers indicate how many minutes the IP has stopped cooking since it beeped (or how many minutes it has been naturally releasing pressure). No need to touch your IP while it naturally releases pressure completely.
- The pin at the top of your IP will drop when all pressure has been released and it’s safe to open.
- Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen).
- Add the condensed cream of mushroom soup and stir in to thicken; about 3-5 minutes. The already hot pot will warm the soup to incorporate it thoroughly without adjusting any settings. No need to press any buttons on the IP. Alternately, you can combine a mixture of 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and stir in. Then add 1/4 cup of heavy cream.
- Serve with your choice of sides and garnish with fresh parsley.
This is the first meal I cooked in my new Instant pot. I did brown the chops first then added the rest of the ingredients incorporating the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Delicious
What's the difference between an Instant Pot and a regular pressure cooker? I have an 8-quart pressure cooker. Am I missing something?
An Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker that is a plug in appliance while a regular pressure cooker is used on the stovetop. A google search for "Instant Pot" will provide a lot more details
Yes… an ipot.
It's a specific brand of modern electric pressure cooker. As far as I can tell, it's also the most popular brand. If you look up recipes on Pinterest, many will have directions specifically for the Instant Pot brand. Makes a lot easier to follow the recipes when the author can tell you the specific button to hit.
If you buy one, just get the 8 quart model. You don't have to fill it all the way for it to work correctly.
Do you have a print button?? I may not be seeing it, you know, the proverbial, got any closer the snake would bite me in the face??? ha ha ha… Joni K
Hi Joni! Thanks for your message. I don't have a print button for this recipe (yet) but in the meantime you can print by clicking [CTRL] + [P] to print the page. I should have the recipe updated with a print feature by the end of the weekend.
I still dont see a print button, I must be blind
Print button hasn't been installed yet – should be in by this weekend – 9/15. In the meantime you can print by clicking [CTRL] + [P] to print the page.
Hi, I'm JL in Portland, OR. In the instructions at #7 you have a list of 12 different cook times. Is this for different numbers of chops in the pot?
Please see below. In Step 6, it states you can adjust the pressure cook time to the number of minutes in the list reflected in Step 7… which is depending on whether the pork is fresh vs frozen, bone in vs boneless, thins vs average vs thick cut… NOT the number of pork chops. Per the recipe, this is for 4-6 pork chops:
6. Press CANCEL to stop the saute setting. Press MANUAL and adjust the time to the number of minutes below on HIGH pressure.
7:
– Fresh thin, bone in – 3 minutes
– Fresh thin, boneless – 2 minutes
– Fresh average cut, bone in – 10 minutes
– Fresh average cut, boneless – 7 minutes
– Fresh thick, bone in – 12 minutes
– Fresh thick, boneless – 10 minutes
– Frozen thin, bone in – 7 minutes
– Frozen thin, boneless – 5 minutes
– Frozen average cut, bone in – 15 minutes
– Frozen average cut, boneless – 12 minutes
– Frozen thick, bone in – 20 minutes
– Frozen thick, boneless – 15 minutes
Mushrooms were overdone,would add them at the end when soup is added next time….
The mushrooms are not meant to stay firm and hold their shape/texture… the mushrooms are to add to the 'gravy' of the recipe and impart its flavor so it enhances the pork when served. If you prefer to have mushrooms retain their shape/texture, you can add them later in the process.
I'm going to try this with chicken breast and dirty rice on the side. It looks amazing.
This recipe was just ok. If I make it again, I think I'll give the pork a quick saute first and maybe add the juice of a lemon in with the soup at the end.
I did make it from frozen which was a huge plus.
Hi Joelen . This was a banging good recipe. My chops were thin, so I did 2mins PC, and browned them quick first. and put in 5 chops. They were not as soft as I expected though . Can you actually overcook in a PC? Also, can i add more chops? I have the C4me PC. Big one , so plenty of room for more, and is it same amount of time? I think it is. Thanks.😊
I don’t want to over cook the chops, so how thick are the thick chops, one inch? Then the average chops are they 3/4 inch or one half inch thick? And last but not least the thin chops? I always seem to over cook the pork. Thanks in advance. These look really good.
Can you use dried thyme if so how much would you recommend? How long should I natural release?
-S
Thank you so much for the pork chops cook times. Just got my Ninja foodi Xl and love how thorough you are with info and videos. I'll be making a lot of your recipes. Thanks again.