Go-To Pork Chop Marinade

When in doubt, make this 5-ingredient pork chop marinade to infuse your pork with sweet, salty, and garlicky goodness!

Seriously Yummy Pork Chop Marinade

Whether you’re looking to make grilled pork chops, Instant Pot pork chops, or baked pork chops, it’s always a good idea to marinate your pork!

This pork chop marinade is sweet from brown sugar, salty from soy sauce, and savory from Worcestershire sauce. It’s all pulled together with a little citrus and garlic to make this one delicious pork chop marinade!

What is a marinade?

A marinade is essentially a flavor bath for your meat/food. When marinating pork, the longer it sits in the marinade, the more the flavor is infused into the meat.

Why marinate your pork chops over dry rub?

While this really comes down to preference, we love marinating pork chops because the end result is just so flavorful and juicy. Plus, the entire piece of meat gets infused, not just the outer layer like with dry rubs.

PS: if you’d rather use a dry rub, check out our all-purpose pork dry rub. It’s fantastic on pork chops!

Ingredients for Pork Chop Marinade

This really is the best pork chop marinade. It’s actually also our favorite grilled pork chop marinade because the ends results are just mouthwatering!

• Soy sauce: you’ll notice that salt is not included in the ingredient list and that’s because the majority comes from soy sauce!
• Brown sugar: brown sugar gives this sweet and salty marinade the sweetness. Any kind works.
• Worcestershire sauce: I love Worcestershire sauce in marinades because it’s tangy and savory.
• Garlic: the garlic in this really pulls the marinade together.
• Lemon: a little bit of citrus is truly the cherry on top!

What kind of pork chops should I buy?

There are so many different kinds of pork chops on the market –> thick, thin, bone-in, boneless.

This pork chop marinade works for any and all pork chops.

In the photos in this post, we used thick-cut bone-in pork chops that we got straight from the butcher at a local grocery store.

What to Marinate Pork Chops In

When marinating any kind of meat, we typically use 2 different vessels:

1. Casserole dish: if you use a casserole dish, we recommend flipping your pork chops a few times to make sure everything is nice and coated.
2. Gallon-size plastic bag: I prefer to use a plastic bag because I find that more of the meat gets coated.

Ways to Cook Marinated Pork Chops

I mentioned that this is a fantastic grilled pork chop marinade, but it’s also great for a variety of other cooking methods too.

Grill: Grill pork chops at 400ºF over direct heat for around 6-8 minutes per side or until fully cooked.

Oven: Roast at 375ºF for around 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick your pork chops are.

Instant Pot: Pressure cook pork chops on high pressure for around 10 minutes.

Can you freeze marinated pork chops?

This pork chop marinade is seriously so perfect for freezing! Instead of marinating your pork for the recommended 12-24 hours, place the plastic bag right into the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months.

Before cooking, let the pork chops thaw completely and then follow your favorite cooking method.