Yesterday was a solid 79 degrees and I thought it was time to do something bright, light and full of flavor. It may still be April but it is feeling like Summer here. Although I am not quite ready to leave the house in shorts yet, for fear of causing an accident by blinding drivers with my pasty white legs, I was ready for a bright Summer dish.
Check it out, grilled marinated pork chops, mango, pineapple and lime…how can you go wrong?!
Squeeze the juice from 2 limes and add 1/4 tsp zest.
Add 1 Tbs of honey.
Dice and seed one jalapeno. Don’t touch your face or worse your eye, it will burn….not that I have any experience with that.
Mince 3 cloves of garlic.
Dice 1/4 of a red onion, which comes out to about 1/4 cup. Give or take, it’s not an exact science.
Combine everything into a small bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup of olive oil.
Pour marinade over pork chops in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 3 hours.
When it is almost time to grill your chops, combine all the salsa ingredients together in a bowl and set aside, letting all the flavors meld together.
Remove the chops from the marinade and let sit out for a few minutes to get the chill off.
Since Obed was still at work I decided to use my grill skillet for fear of singeing arm or eyebrow hairs, because it would happen.
Grill for 5 minutes per side for a medium rare and 8 minutes for medium. Remove chops from grill and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.
Spoon salsa over the pork chops and enjoy!
I served the pork chops with a side of jasmine rice scented with lime and cilantro. Just cook the rice according to the package directions and toss in some lime zest and cilantro when it is done. I got a lot of Mmmm’ing and grunting from Obed.
I was very please with this dish. I did have a fear that it maybe too limey but that was not the case. This is a super easy dish for a weeknight meal or an effortless weekend grill. The pork chops where full of flavor and tender. The salsa was light, sweet, tangy and crisp with just a little crunch from the onions and peppers.
The salsa would also be perfect over grilled chicken or fish.
Marinated Pork Chops with Pineapple Mango Salsa (adapted from Food Network: The Neelys)
Marinade:
- 1/4 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, chopped and seeds removed
- 3 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt
Pineapple Salsa:
- 1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained
- 1 mango, cubed
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 1 small jalapeno, diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 lime, juiced
- Salt and pepper
- 4 bone-in, center-cut pork chops
For the marinade:
Whisk all the ingredients in a large bowl. Place in a resealable plastic bag and add the pork chops. Marinate in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours.
For the salsa:
Mix all the salsa ingredients in a medium bowl. Taste for seasoning. Set aside for 10 minutes for flavors to meld.
Preheat grill to medium heat.
Remove chops from marinade. Grill for 5 minutes per side for a medium rare and 8 minutes for medium. Remove chops from grill and let rest 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon the salsa on top.
THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I MADE THIS. I MADE THE RICE WITH HALF PINEAPPLE JUICE AND HALF WATER. STIRRED IN CRUSHED PINEAPPLES AND CILANTRO!! DELICIOUS!!! ALSO MAD HONEY GLAZED CARROT WITH IT, THE HUBS LOVED IT
Made this tonight for dinner. Fantastic. Definitely going to put it into regular rotation – especially when mangoes are on sale! Thanks.
I made these last night and they turned out great! The pork chops had such great flavor. My kids enjoyed them as well. Thanks 🙂
pineapple mango
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I followed everything exactly, except omitted the peppers. Flavors are well balanced and the dish is very beautiful in terms of colorful presentation & texture. Perfect for spring/summer! What type of fish would you recommend with this? Thanks for sharing this!
I have just completed making these, they are awesome so happy I came across this recipe…
I made this last night for dinner and it was really yummy! I even made the jasmine rice with cilantro and lime zest and my husband commented on how good the rice was. Thanks!! I think I’ll use the leftover pork and salsa for quesadillas tonight to make it a little different. My kids weren’t crazy about the pork but I think they will eat it better with cheese on it. 🙂
Excellent! I made this for lunch today. Our family absolutely loved it! I’m not much of a pork chop lover but this is one is really good and makes the chop taste really great! I just may start enjoying pork chops now. Thanks for sharing!
I made these tonight using thick cut debonned pork chops, the cooking time needed to be a bit adjusted to 9mins per side and it was very delicious. I omitted the honey by mistake in the marinade and I don’t think it was a big issue, less sugar for me. Yay!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
i will definitely be making these, they look delicious!
thank you for sharing.
Those pork chops look excellent and the marinade is enticing! I have a very similar grilled lime marinaded pork recipe that I need to dust off, it’s been over a year since I made it.
Re: the jalapenos, last year, Alexis and I prepped 100 of them for 200 smoked ABT’s (Jalapeno poppers). Our hands burned for 24 hours. Liquids and washing only seemed to make it worse. Lesson learned, we always have nitrile gloves here now.
OK, I am definitely going to make this, what a great recipe for pork chops, Im always afraid I will dry them out but it seems like you cant go wrong, especially using a marinade! 😉
oh, i do enjoy a chop of pork, particularly grilled, PARTICULARLY with such a vibrant and tasty topping! great springtime dish. 🙂
It looks delicious but leave it to a puertorican on calling pork chops a lite food!
I’m actually going to leave a comment about the food this go around (although, I can’t pass up an opportunity to comment on the commentary: good call on using your grill pan lest you blow up the neighborhood by using Obed’s grill!). This dish looks awesome and it is something I can eat. I’m going to give it a go!