I love using the Instant Pot in the summer months when I don’t feel like heating up with kitchen with the stove or oven. These Smothered Pork Chops are a one pot dish that’s perfect for busy nights when we’re short on time but still want a homemade dinner that’s quick and easy.
Boneless pork chops can be a challenge. They are a great source of protein but often come out dry or bland. This Instant Pot recipe creates moist, tender chops in a short amount of time. And smothering them with creamy mushroom gravy is comfort food at its finest. These chops are wonderful served over mashed cauliflower with a green veggie for the ultimate comfort meal.
One important thing to note is this recipe does not require any additional liquid to be added to the Instant Pot base. The onions, mushrooms and pork release enough liquid to bring the pot up to pressure and seal the vent. The amount of liquid released during cooking is also plenty to make the gravy.
Yields 4 servings of Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops
The Preparation
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 24 ounces boneless pork chops
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 medium onion, sliced
- 6 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
The Execution
1. Mix paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper together in a small bowl. Rinse the pork chops and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with 1 tablespoon of the spice mixture, rubbing the seasoning into the meat. Reserve the remaining spices.
2. Heat the coconut oil in the bowl of the Instant Pot on the Saute setting. Brown the pork chops in the hot coconut oil, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the pork chops to a plate and turn off the Instant Pot.
3. Add the sliced onions to pot base and then the mushrooms. Top with the browned pork chops. Add the lid to Instant Pot, making sure the vent is sealed. Cook on the Manual High setting for 25 minutes. Once cooked the pressure can be released naturally or manually. Remove the pot lid and place just the pork chops on a serving plate.
4. Press the Saute setting again and whisk the remaining spice mixture, butter, and heavy cream into the hot liquid. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum into the liquid and whisk in immediately. Let the gravy simmer for 3-5 minutes until the butter is melted and the sauce starts to thicken. Turn off the Pot. Start with ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum and add additional until the gravy thickens to your desired consistency. More may be needed depending on how much juice the meat and vegetables release during cooking. Also note the gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.
5. Top the pork chops with the onion and mushroom gravy. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops. Each serving comes out to be 606 calories, 43.8g fats, 4.7g net carbs, and 48g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 tablespoon paprika | 19 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1 |
| 1 teaspoon garlic powder | 10 | 0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 2 | 0.5 |
| 1 teaspoon onion powder | 8 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon black pepper | 5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper | 1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| 24 ounce boneless pork chops | 1558 | 92.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 181.5 |
| 2 tablespoon coconut oil | 243 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 medium onion | 19 | 0.1 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 0.6 |
| 6 ounce cremini mushrooms | 48 | 0.2 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 4.3 |
| 1 tablespoon butter | 102 | 11.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream | 405 | 42.9 | 3.3 | 0 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tablespoon fresh parsley | 1 | 0 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 2424 | 175.3 | 25.2 | 6.5 | 18.7 | 192 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 606 | 43.8 | 6.3 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 48 |
Instant Pot Smothered Pork Chops
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 24 ounce boneless pork chops
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ medium onion sliced
- 6 ounce cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Rinse the pork chops and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with this spice mixture, rubbing the seasoning into the meat. Reserve the remaining spice mixture for later.
- Heat the coconut oil in the bowl of the Instant Pot on the Sauté setting. Brown the pork chops in the hot coconut oil, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the pork chops to a plate and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Add the sliced onions and mushrooms to the pot base. Top with the browned pork chops. Cover the Instant Pot, making sure the vent is sealed. Cook on the Manual High setting for 25 minutes. Once cooked, the pressure can be released naturally or manually. Remove the pot lid and place just the pork chops on a serving plate.
- Press the Sauté setting again and whisk the remaining spice mixture, butter, and heavy cream into the hot liquid. Sprinkle the xanthan gum into the liquid, whisking immediately (more may be needed depending on how much liquid is released by the meat and vegetables). Let simmer for 3–5 minutes, until the butter melts and the gravy has thickened. Turn off the Instant Pot — the gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Top the pork chops with the onion and mushroom gravy. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Can i use this is in a slow cooker? If so how can i change the times etc?
I think so. I would cook on low for 8 hours in a slow cooker.
Did you try the slow cooker? How did it turn out? Did u cook all of it at once or what? I want to make it but don’t have instant pot either….
I’m going to try this tonight. I don’t have an instant pot but I do have another brand of electric pressure cooker (Cuisinart).
Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
How is this done without using any liquid during cooking???
There’s liquid inside of the meat that comes out during the cook time, same thing happens when you use a slow cooker (typically.) Then the recipe has you add butter and cream.
I loved this recipe. It fed my family of 6, though the kids didn’t care for the mushroom sauce. This left me with a lot of extra sauce. I poured it over zoodles and got four days of lunch out of it! It was delicious and easy. 👍 https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yum! More mushrooms for you at least 🙂
This was my “First” in so many ways.
My first Instant Pot experience. (I bought a new one because of this recipe)
My first attempt to cook a real home cooked meal. (I can microwave stuff though)
My first time ever to serve something I made in a kitchen to other people.
Can’t really explain why THIS recipe had the honors, but I was determined to eat a COOKED Keto friendly meal and I guess the picture hooked me.
It was amazing! Startling, was the look on their faces. Even the presentation was almost exactly how portrayed.
Has to be the most tender and moist pork chop I’ve ever had. I’ll likely revisit it many times. Kind of like framing the first dollar bill you ever made. 😉
THANKS!!!!!
That’s so great to hear Bruce! I’m glad you had such a wonderful home cooking experience 😀
Not to be a pest, but how can I find similar (keto-instant pot) recipes? I’m such a rookie. lol Would love to succeed a couple of more times, for confidence building. Again, thanks!
Hi Bruce! Instant pots seems to be really popular lately, I think we will have to work on posting some more instant pot recipes. 🙂 (We have a lot of a slow cooker/crock pot recipes which can be used in an instant pot as well I think.)
Excellent idea. I shoulda thought of that. I’m on it!
I just made these tonight. They are, hands down, the best pork chops my husband and I have ever had. Made the recipe exactly with no substitutions. These are so good, I plan to use them the next time we have someone over for dinner. I was hesitant about using no liquid, but I think between the pork chops, onions and mushrooms, they released enough to cook without any additional liquid, because I had no problem. I’d like to try these with cauliflower rice or something else to sop up the gravy.
Thank you so much Terri!
We’ve had these twice in a week! I made them exactly as directed. The first time, my husband was very skeptical that it would be good because he felt that the pork loin chops would turn out dry and tough. I hadn’t made pork chops in my instant pot before but now I think it’s the only way to do them. But this recipe is so delicious! For sides, I made garlic mashed cauliflower and roasted asparagus. What a delicious meal!!! Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you Amber! I’m happy you both enjoyed it. 🙂
Would it be a bad idea to use bone-in chops for this? That’s all I’ve got in the freezer and I want to make this tonight!
I think it should be about the same!
WOW!!! These are pretty much the best pork chops I’ve ever made! Ridiculously tender! I thought for sure they’d be tough. I’m mad I didn’t try them sooner! LOL Only change I made was to use a can of mushrooms (I forgot to buy fresh) and konjac instead of xanthan bc that’s what I had on hand. DEEEELISH! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Hahah! I’m making these tomorrow and I’m so pumped.
Easily the best pork chops I’ve ever had. I’m not on keto and was just Googling Instant Pot pork chop recipes when I found this. I actually used flour instead of the xanthan gum and milk instead of the heavy cream (I was out) and it came out delicious. Oh how tender!
Thank you Cindy! Welcome to our corner of the internet 😀
I will try this recipe tomorrow! I bought a package of 8 pork loins from Costco and cooked half using another recipe that required 5 minutes in the instant pot and it was so tough! I’m going to cook the other half following your recipe but to be honest I can’t wrap mind around how 25 minutes will result in tender chops. I hope I’m wrong!
I’ve had chicken breasts cooked in the IP for 6 minutes that were amazing, but pork definitely needs more love. These are fall apart tender when they come out. Let me know how they turned out!
Thanks for the reply. The flavor was good but mine came out tough/dry. I think I’m going to give up on making pork chops in the Instant Pot
I’m so sorry to hear that Karen 🙁
My Hubby bought me an Instant Pot Duo Plus 60 and I am making this recipe as my very first try with this fancy new gadget. I have to say I’m rather intimidated by this Instant Pot machine. The other people’s comments on this recipe give me hope this meal will turn out well. Instead of using fresh mushrooms, I’m using canned. And instead of using Xanthan gum, I’m using flour. Oh my gosh Wow! These Pork chops turned out great, very tender and flavourful! Thank you!
Do you think I could put sweet potatoes on top of the pork chops and they would cook through?
You probably could, but they wont be very low carb. 🙂
Would this recipe work in a regular pressure cooker?
Sure! I don’t own one so I’m not sure if the instructions are different though. 🙂
I’m going to make this tonight but have 2 teenagers and 4 pork chops will never be enough! If I double the meat, should I change the cook time?
Strangely enough no! You use the same cooking time when doubling recipes in an Instant Pot.
i am new to the IP. Everything I have read indicates 1 cup of liquid should be in the pot at the beginning. Is this not a problem with the recipe? Thanks in advance for your response.
For this recipe it’s not. Most of the time you would need to add liquid.
Am I missing something? No liquid to help it get up to pressure?
*EDIT*
I saw the comment about liquid from the meat. A little skeptical that it would be enough to bring the pot up to pressure. I’ll try with some water. Thank you for the recipe!
The recipe doesn’t require liquid to get it up to pressure, though there’s a lot of different models out there. With extra liquid you may need to adjust cooking times/xanthan gum amounts for the sauce later.
This was really great but only the 2nd time it was made. Because the recipe states to release pressure naturally or manually, I did a 5 min QR. Huge mistake (should have gone with my instincts with regard to meat always needing NPR). The meat was really tough. The sauce was great but the tough pork just put a damper in the meal (not enough water to moisten that Christmas Vacation dry turkey). We made it again but this time did a full NPR. Wow…what a difference. The meat was very tender.
Please change the recipe to reflect this. I don’t know that we would have tried this again had I not bought such a big pack of loin chops.
Can the pork chops be bone in? Also, what is xanthan gum?
I’ve done this with bone in too and it turned out great. Xanthan gum is a thickener that will give the finished sauce a gravy like texture.
Oh, OK 🙂
I made this tonight for dinner and it was good but could have been so much better. I followed the recipe exactly and the chops turned out a little dryer than I would like. I think it needs more liquid. I will make again and add some stock to the pot. Also I think some cooking Sherry would be a good addition and it needs a more interesting flavor profile. Next time I will bloom the spices that don’t get rubbed on the meat to see if that adds an extra punch. Overall this was good but not amazing. It has potential but the number one factor is it needs more liquid for sure.
Let us know how it turns out with additional liquid! 🙂
I made a 3/4 recipe, but did it in my 3 qt Instant Pot. There was plenty of liquid and the pork chops with falling apart tender and moist.
The seasoning and gravy were on point, but the pork was so dry and stringy that it really needed the gravy to be palatable. I’ll make it again but I’ll cut the cooking time way, way down.
Bad form to reply to yourself, but wanted to note that I’ve made this recipe several times now and FIVE minutes under pressure with natural release is plenty for 1″ thick boneless loin chops. (I’ve had bad luck with quick release drying out meat.) I also double the mushrooms because I adore them and can never get enough, and thankfully they’re low in carbs.
I’m just glad to hear you like the recipe and have made it a few times. Thank you so much for your comments!
Fabulous!!! This is by far my favorite Keto recipe! My sister and I are always on the search for new keto recipes. Particulary new Instant Pot Keto recipes. We struck gold with this one. My husband actually ate three servings last night;) Your website is now my “go to” for Keto recipes. I love how you break down all of the recipes by ingredients and macros. THANK YOU!
This recipe has no liquid and it cooks for 25 minutes. Why doesn’t it burn?
I’ve seen a lot of comments saying they add water or think it’s an error, but it really does cook! 🙂 I’m not 100% sure why, but I think it’s because you pan sear the pork then add the raw vegetables. Mushrooms have a ton of water and tend to steam.
Made this tonight. Our pork chops from costco were between 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch thick. Only the pork chops submerged in water were tender, so we moved things around and put them under pressure a few more minutes, which helped a lot. I also added beef bone broth because of the mushroom allergy in our home. This was flavorful, everyone loved the sauce, but I had to thicken it with a little gf flour because I didn’t have any xanthum gum.
How could I do this using chicken breasts? The same?
You could use chicken breasts, but I’d say they’d need a lot less time in the pressure cooker. Check out other recipes that use chicken breast in the pressure cooker for timing differences.
I made this last night and it turned out great! The only thing I changed was that I added about 1/2 cup chicken stock after I browned the chops, to deglaze the pan, before adding everything back. When I took the chops out, I had to increase the saute time a little to thicken the gravy back down, but the chops were so tender and moist! I think I will decrease the salt next time, but this was delicious and I look forward to trying some of your other recipes!
I’m really happy to hear – I hope you love our other recipes just as much! 🙂
I made this last night. Followed the recipe exactly (not adding extra liquid). My instant pot displayed the burn warning when i went to put it in pressure cook mode. I turned it off and added some water (less than half a cup). Then everything seemed to work out fine. Sauce was excellent. Anything I can do do avoid the burn warning? Will definitely try again.
If it came out great I would just add the water again! I haven’t heard of this happening yet, I wonder if some of them operate a little differently.
you have to add a little water to deglaze the pot after browning the chops. The brown pieces on the bottom is why you’re getting the burn error. Try it next time & they will turn out perfect!
Just wondering if you use smoked or sweet paprika for this recipe? Thanks!
We used sweet paprika for this recipe 🙂
Made these today, and I don’t even own an InstantPot and didn’t feel like hauling out the slow cooker. I swapped in chicken and just seared it in my big saucier pan. Dumped the onions and mushrooms in, layered the chicken on top and popped a lid on it. Chicken got to temperature in 15, maybe 20 minutes. It all came out great!
We made this last night and it was so delicious I was hooked. Some things we changed I used a little water just because I was convinced I needed some but after reading the comments I’m glad i did. we left out mushrooms so I wouldn’t have much juice to pressure it. The receipe was a little harder to follow due to my pressure cooker being a different model and didn’t have quite the same setting, but again it was delicious defiantly thinking about making it round two already.
Guessing this thread is too old for follow-up comments, but I’ll try anyway.
Haven’t cooked with my instant pot much yet. Will I need to adjust the recipe/cook time if I’m using frozen chops?
Frozen times don’t seem to differ much for Instant Pot. I would just add an extra 3-5 minutes to the cook time.
Does this recipe have coconut flavor to it with using 2 Tbls of coconut oil? I’m not really fond of that flavor. TIA
Refined or expeller pressed coconut oil won’t have a flavor to it. You could use ghee in place of the coconut oil, though.
I recently tried this recipe and WOW! I was impressed with the flavor and textures, to say the least. My husband loved it too and he is picky! You also do not need an instant pot to accomplish this recipe. I cooked it in a wide, deep saute pan and it comes out great!
This recipe is yet another home run! This worked extremely well with pork tenderloin. It was almost 2 1/2 lbs, so everything in the recipe was doubled. Followed all the directions as written, including the 25 mins cook time with natural release.
The only thing different was the sauce. Cream cheese (3 oz.) and some of the pot broth was added to a separate bowl to temper. It still broke, so I put all the sauce ingredients in my Ninja Bullet and processed until smooth. The sauce ingredients were then whisked into the pot with the remaining broth, mushrooms, onions and the rest of the seasonings.
Only 1/8 teaspoon xanthan was used because the cream cheese added its own thickening quality.
It.was.amazing!
Served it with a side of broccoli and garlic roasted in bacon renderings. Perfect side for the creamy sauce on the tenderloin.
Please keep the great recipes coming! You guys are The Bomb!
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I made this tonight in my IP and it was a huge hit! It’s the first time I’ve used xanthan gum and it thickened the sauce beautifully! Thank you!
I’m new to the IP and was wondering, how long does a natural release take? I did some chicken breast yesterday and waited 10 minutes and then did a manual release and they were a bit tough. I sure don’t want to do this to pork. Thanks.
On mine it usually takes about 10 minutes or so, but sometimes longer.
This recipe was just “eh.” It turned out fine, but even though I didn’t use as much paprika as the recipe called for, it really just tasted like paprika pork chops with paprika gravy. 🤷♀️
I cooked my pork chops for 7 minutes and they were perfect. I used a slurry with corn starch instead of the XG. My husband loved it. I will make it again.
Hi, this looks like an amazing recipe…. there are only two of us… seniors.. and one very thick boneless pork chop is enough for us. Can I make this recipe with one chop and few onions? Or should I add liquid? Also… I did the same kind of chop covered in liquid from another recipe and was only cooked for 8 minutes and it was great. Does cooking it for 25 make it more tender? Thanks. 😉
I cut this recipe down by half (pork chops and all spices in half) and made it in my 3 qt Instant Pot. There’s only me and I eat less than a whole pork chop. I actually will get 3 meals out of it. Freeze individual portions and make you’re own frozen dinners 🙂 I cooked them for 25 minutes and they were falling apart tender.
I have never been able to cook any cut of pork without major disappointment. The recipe changed all that and my husband and I LOVE this recipe and I’ve made it multiple times. Thank you so much for your wonderful instruction and expertise!
I admit the hesitance I had with this recipe was the cook time. I was afraid that the meat would be dry as a bone, but it wasn’t. I kept the time as stated and they turned out amazing! I naturally released, and I think that is a must! I would add only a pinch of cayenne next time and add another spice (not sure what yet) to add more depth to the flavor. This recipe had a lot of kick to it. Thank you for the recipe, this will be going into the rotation.
How does it build up pressure without adding any liquid? Just curious before I try this and ruin perfectly good pork chops!
We just got our instant pot and I was very intimated ti use it. After watching some Youtube videos,I got brave and this was the first recipe my husband and I made. HOLY PORK CHOPS- Batman! This was amazing! We have never had pork chops this moist before…EVER! EVER! We always over cooked them. We actually stopped cooking pork chops because of it! But the instant pot AND this yummy recipe has changed the game for us! We doubled the recipe and we barely had any leftovers! Everyone loved it! Make this today! 🙂
Exactly! this is one of my favorite pork chop dishes as well! So happy that everyone enjoyed it 🙂
I shy away from the thicker boneless pork chops because they end up dry and overcooked no matter what I try. This recipe is AWESOME. I followed the recipe exactly and the pork chops were falling apart as I took them out of the pot. This recipe will be made again and again and again … but I may cut back on the salt 🙂
Super glad to hear, Barbara – thanks so much for the feedback!
This was my first instant pot recipe to try also…and it was fabulous. Thank you so much for the recipe!! I like my food in a bowl (I normally have my dogs stalker-staring at me as I eat)…and ate this with a SPOON. Win win–taste and ease. Thanks again!!
Had this tonight. I got 5oz chops because it’s the closest I could find. I cooked for 20m under pressure and maybe 5m natural release. They are overcooked, but the sauce and mushrooms are DELICIOUS. Next time I’ll do much less time.
Sorry to hear they were overcooked – I hope you’re able to enjoy them more next time. I’m glad you enjoyed the sauce though, I hope that made up for the overcooked chops.
How do I convert to oven.
How thick should the pork chops be?
1/2 to 3/4 inch thick should work 🙂
I started using this recipe when it was first posted, and it is still a go to for us. I love it I have it in the instant pot right now (with chicken instead of pork chops today). So yum. So easy. The blend of spice just really perks up the gravy. Thanks for posting this!
I’m really happy to hear you’ve been using this recipe for years – that’s an amazing compliment! I’ll have to give it a try with chicken myself – thanks for sharing 🙂