Pork Chops in Lemon-Caper Sauce
Updated March 16, 2026
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Total Time
- 35 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
4 bone-in pork chops (about 8 ounces each)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 very small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock, homemade or low-sodium, if store-bought
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons juice
Hot sauce (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
8 grams carbs; 190 milligrams cholesterol; 642 calories; 17 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams saturated fat; 40 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 988 milligrams sodium; 50 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Dry the chops with paper towels, and season aggressively with salt, pepper and the thyme. Swirl the olive oil into a large skillet, and heat over medium until the oil begins to shimmer. Add chops, and cook until well browned on each side and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a plate, and cover to keep warm.
- Step 2
Drain the fat from the skillet, then melt 2 tablespoons of butter in it over medium heat until sizzling. Add the shallot and garlic, and sauté until the aromatics soften, reducing the heat if necessary, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the wine and chicken stock, raise heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Stir in the capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and hot sauce to taste (if you’re using it), and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until it’s melted and the sauce looks smooth. Nestle the pork chops into the sauce, and allow them to warm up for a couple of minutes, then serve, pouring sauce over each pork chop to taste. Garnish with more fresh parsley.
Private Notes
Comments
Searing aggressively for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes per side, and finishing cooking in the sauce until an internal temperature of 143-145°F is reached is definitely the way to go. Don't go by time; use temperature to determine when cooked through. The interior should be pink and juicy, not grey. Use an accurate, instant-read thermometer for consistent results every time. Clocks are for telling time. Thermometers are for telling when food is cooked properly.
In response to Vanessa: 2 teaspoons create a sauce. 2 tablespoons (in conjunction with 1 1/2 cups of stock and 1 cup of white wine would create more of a gravy.
Sounds good, but the thing is: Pork chops sold today are almost fat free, You can cook them any way you want, and you'd still have tasteless meat (and if well done, then they're really hideous, tasteless cardboard). Switch to Pork shoulder (aka pork butt), cut it into 1 inch slices / steaks and cook / grill them with some oil, salt and pepper (or cook them according to this recipe but only 2 minutes per side). You'll never touch pork chops again. PS: Costco has them for about $2/lb
First time so followed the recipe, except erred when added 2T flour instead of recipe’s 2t. Didn’t seem to matter as the sauce came out great. Sautéed thick chops for 5 min each side, will do 4 minutes next time, and there will be a next time for this wonderful pork piccata-like dish. Thanks
Searing on both sides and then resting and then adding back to the sauce gave me well done pork chops. I tried this recipe again, hard seared on one side, rested while I prepared the sauce, then added the chops back in briefly and it was much better.
I had made this dish 5 years ago, according to my private note. This time I didn’t have any lemon zest or parsley, but decided to forge ahead anyway. We had boneless pork chops to use tonight. They were quite thick, so needed quite a bit more time than the suggested 5 minutes per side. I used our instant read thermometer. When they got close to 130, I put them on warm platter and covered with foil. Then I made the sauce. Even without lemon zest and parsley, the sauce was amazing! We have another pork chop to use leftover. I think I will just pull it out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature tomorrow night,rather than risking heating it up. We bought our pork-chops from Whole Foods. My private note says I served extra sauce over chicken breast the next night and that was good too!