Looking for an easy, unique recipe you can make for dinner in less than 30 minutes? You’ll love these pan seared Mojo Pork Chops! They feature a delicious, fast and easy twist on traditional mojo sauce, made with just a few ingredients, including oranges, oregano and cumin.
Why You Will Love These Mojo Pork Chops
- The sauce is divine! Have you ever made a sauce that you could drink buckets of? I have – this one! That’s how much I love this easy homemade mojo sauce. It’s way better than any sauce you can find in a bottle!
- Fast and easy! You can whip these up in less than 30 minutes.
- One skillet! Another great thing about this pan seared pork chops with mojo sauce recipe is that it uses just one-skillet. I love to make these in my large cast iron skillet.
- Gourmet taste and beauty! Without being fussy or difficult to make.
Ingredients for Pan Seared Pork Chops with Mojo Sauce
- Pork Chops. I use a thick bone-in pork chop (a little over 3/4 inches) for this recipe. If you use a thinner or boneless chop, adjust your cooking time. You can’t go wrong if you use a meat thermometer and cook them to 140-145 degrees F.
- Fresh Orange Juice. The mojo sauce is made with fresh-squeezed orange juice (about 4 oranges). You can use bottled orange juice in a pinch, but nothing tastes as delicious as the fresh juice.
- Olive Oil. Two Tbsp For pan searing the meat, plus 1 Tbsp for the sauce.
- NOTE: If your pork chops produce more than 1 Tbsp of oil remaining in the pan after being cooked, you can skip the olive oil and simply use the pork drippings.
- Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos. You can use regular soy sauce if you don’t have any special dietary needs. If you need to make these gluten-free, simply use a gluten-free soy sauce. If you want to make these Whole30-compliant or paleo, use coconut aminos.
- Spices. Salt, pepper, ground oregano and cumin.
How to Make Mojo Pork
For more detailed instructions, please see the printable recipe card below.
STEP 1: Pan cook the pork chops on both sides in a large skillet.
STEP 2: When fully cooked, place on a large plate or baking sheet to rest and cover with aluminum foil.
STEP 3: Juice your oranges until you have 1 2/ cups of fresh juice.
STEP 4: In the same pan you used for the pork chops, combine the ingredients for the sauce.
STEP 5: Reduce the sauce by about half by cooking for 3-4 minutes.
STEP 6: Pour the juice over your pork chops. Save some juice for dipping. Garnish as desired … and enjoy!
FAQs
Can I make these with boneless pork chops?
Yes. Reduce the time you cook the meat to 3-4 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your pork.
Can I make mojo sauce with bottled orange juice instead of fresh juice?
Yes. It won’t taste quite as good, but the sauce will still be delicious.
What is mojo sauce made of?
In this recipe, the mojo sauce uses fresh orange juice (the main ingredient), cumin, oregano and olive oil. It also uses soy sauce to balance the citrus. Traditional mojo sauce will often add lime juice and garlic.
What do you serve with mojo pork?
You can pair a wide variety of side dishes with mojo pork chops, including rice, dairy-free mashed potatoes, easy coleslaw, plantains and more.
If you tried these Mojo Pork Chops or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thank you!
Mojo Pork Chops
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
- 1 Citrus Juicer
- 1 meat thermometer
Ingredients
Pork Chops
- 4 thick bone-in pork chops (3/4 inch)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- chopped parsley for garnish (optional)
Mojo sauce
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground oregano
- 1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice (juice of 3-4 oranges, depending on size)
- 1 Tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce (gluten-free soy sauce to make this g-f or coconut aminos if want to make this whole30-compliant or paelo)
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet – get it hot.
- Meanwhile, pat pork chops dry and generously salt and pepper both sides
- When oil is hot and glossy (but not smoking), place salt and peppered pork chops into the skillet
- Cook on both sides for 6 minutes (adjust if your chops are thinner or thicker); cook until 140-145 degrees F
- When done, pull out of pan and rest on a large plate or cookie sheet and cover with aluminum foil
- In the same pan, make the sauce. Let the pan cool a bit, then cook the oil, cumin and oregano together for 30-60 seconds (no more).
- Add the fresh juice and soy sauce; cook until reduced by half (about 3-4 minutes)
- Plate the chops and pour the mojo sauce on top plus leave some for dipping. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley (optional)
Hi Emily – great question! I’m so glad you loved it and would make it again. And I apologize for not being more specific in the recipe — I let the pan cool a bit first before adding the oregano to avoid burning it. I will update the recipe to make that note! Thank you – Kelly
Beginner cook here. I need help. I made this, and I swear I followed the recipe to a tee (to the best of my knowledge) but I burned the oregano. So the pan was still hot from cooking the pork chops, and I even set a timer so I don’t get distracted, then I poured in the orange juice and soy sauce and again set a timer. And I stirred for both. But the oregano burned and didn’t add any flavor to the sauce. It still turned out delicious and thankfully I cooked the pork right, but I would really like to know how to fix the sauce. Should I lower the temp? Should I just add all the sauce ingredients in together at the same time? Oh and I made this in my good cast iron skillet. I definitely will make this again but I would like some help please!
Awww … thank you! 🙂 And I love getting ideas on next books to read from YOU!
Oh, yeah. I’m definitely pinning this one. I love letting you plan my meals : )