The Airfryer has definitely left the cupboard!

Cooking demands attention, patience, and above all, a respect for the gifts of the earth. It is a form of worship, a way of giving thanks.

Judith B. Jones

As you may have noticed, every now and then I like to write a little cookery post, this post is almost a follow on from a post I made in November last year.

A few years ago, at a time I was looking at how I could eat more healthily I bought myself an Airfryer, never heard of them – well, imagine a deep fat fryer that uses very, very little fat! As with a lot of things I buy on a whim, I used it a few times and then found a place in a cupboard where it could grow old and dusty next to my Ice Cream maker! Fast forward to about this time last year and I’m chatting with some colleagues and the topic of Airfryers comes up, turns out, one of my friends can’t LIVE without hers, she uses it at least every other day. I tell her about my poor, forgotten Philips Viva Airfryer and she’s looking at me like I’ve got two heads.

If you remember the post, I went on to say, I followed a recipe she gave me and it was delicious! The recipe, Leftover Chicken Air Fryer Croquettes has become a firm household favourite! But here’s the thing, it gave me the Airfryer bug subsequently, I’ve tried several other recipes some fabulous, some, well…. Meh! This is a fabulous and importantly, easy recipe that I found on Bintu’s Blog, Recipes From a Pantry, (she a real legend!)

Crispy Airfryer Pork Chops

These healthier Airfryer Pork Chops are crispy on the outside, yet deliciously tender and juicy on the inside. And so much faster than cooking in the oven or in the frying pan! The other nice thing is, as I need to get rid of a couple of holiday kilos, they fit right in with the Pioppi, something else I’ve written about in the past.

This delicious, juicy Airfryer pork chops recipe is easy to throw together in just a few minutes. As in, season them, chuck them in the air fryer and 9 quick minutes later you end up with two perfectly golden pork chops ready to serve. If you’re not going out tonight, it’s is a great recipe to make for dinner.

The recipe is made from basic pantry ingredients but the result is something special, because unlike deep-frying and baking, when you air fry pork chops, it actually makes the outside crispier, yet the inside stays super moist. The crispy breading is a combination of almond flour (or plain flour), creole seasoning and Parmesan cheese. But you can use other seasonings to your taste. It is a great main course recipe that can be served with a salad or cauliflower to keep it low carb or rice and potatoes if you’re not trying to shed holiday kilos!

Ingredient Notes

Pork Chops – This recipe calls for boneless chops but you can use bone in pork chops. Whilst this recipe uses medium chops you can use thick cut chops but you would have to adjust cook time. Thinner chops would cook too quickly.
Flour – Use all purpose flour or almond flour (if low carb).
Seasoning – paprika, creole or cajun seasoning and also Italian seasoning give these a great flavour.
Parmesan – freshly grated parmesan or store bought grated will both work

Ingredients

(Serves two)

2 boneless pork chops that are 0.5 lbs (240g) each
1/3 cup (35 g) almond flour or regular flour if not low carb
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Creole Seasoning or Cajun seasoning (or ground coriander)
Cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat the air fryer to 180C / 350F.
Mix together almond flour, Parmesan cheese, paprika, Herbes de Provence, Creole or other seasoning.
Lightly spray both sides of the pork chops with a calorie-controlled cooking spray (or if not following a calorie-controlled diet, rub with olive oil).
Cover both sides of the pork chops with the coating mix and place chops in the air fryer basket. Make sure the pork chops are not touching.
Cooking can be anytime between 8-12 mins, depending on the thickness of pork chops. Mine took 9 mins. When cooking these the first time, I recommend starting with 8 mins and then checking for doneness.

Cooking Tip

To cook these boneless pork chops in the air fryer, as suggested above, you will set your air fryer to 180C / 350F. However, experience would suggest, the heat up time plus temperature variability can vary so, please do use a meat thermometer. Always check the internal temp of each pork chop to ensure the centre of the meat reaches 63C (145 F).

The chops go beautifully with a lovely green summer salad – easy peasy, if you have an Airfryer, give it a go!

What’s on this week?