30 Minute Chuletas Fritas (Puerto Rican Pork Chops)

Chuletas Fritas (aka Puerto Rican Fried Pork Chops) are seasoned with a blend of classic Puerto Rican spices and come together in under 30 minutes. They develop that deliciously flavorful crust on the outside, while staying juicy and moist on the inside. Served with your favorite veggies and a simple salad, they make an easy weeknight meal.

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Pork is an important staple in Latin cuisine and in many Puerto Rican recipes.

These fried pork chops are marinated with a blend of vinegar, adobo seasoning and sazon seasoning, then fried in hot oil until they develop a golden brown crust all over. From there, they're baked in the oven until they come to temperature, resulting in that perfectly moist and juicy interior.

This recipe is an easy one to throw together and is perfect for serving with arroz con gandules, ensalada verde, or your favorite roasted veggies. I also love serving this with a simple cilantro lime sauce.

Grocery List

Here's everything you will need to make chuletas fritas:

• pork chops (about 1lb bone in chuletas)
• olive oil
• white vinegar
• adobo seasoning (can be homemade or store bought)
• sazon seasoning (can be homemade or store bought)

See recipe card for quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Serve the chuletas with ensalada verde, arroz con gandules, and/or your favorite roasted veggies.

Variations

Like many traditional recipes, every family has their own way of making it special. Here are a few common variations you can try to mix up your pork chops:

• Sofrito - Many traditional chuletas fritas recipes call for sofrito in the marinade. If you choose to do so, add a tablespoon of sofrito and marinate the pork overnight to infuse with that flavor.
• Fresh garlic - While our spice blends incorporate a healthy dose of ground garlic, many recipes also include fresh garlic in the marinade. I recommend mashing the garlic using a pilon (mortar & pestle) and marinating over night to prevent the bits of garlic from burning during the frying process.
• Pique - Pique is a Puerto Rican hot sauce made with vinegar, hot peppers, garlic, and herbs. This sauce makes an excellent substitute for white vinegar if you're looking to add a bit of spice to your chops.

What to Eat it With

Chuletas fritas are a great blank canvas to build a meal off of.

You can't really go wrong when it comes to sides, but here are a few of my favorite Puerto Rican sides that really help to transform this entree into a complete meal:

• Ensalada Verde: Any protein is best accompanied by some veggies, and this classic green salad with cucumbers, onion, and tomato adds that necessary bright, acidic crunch.
• Arroz con Gandules: This classic Puerto Rican rice & beans dish adds that hearty element and pairs deliciously with the flavors of this pork.
• Habichuelas Negras: These stewed black beans are equally delicious and require less effort to throw together.
• Cilantro Lime Sauce: This zingy herbaceous sauce is the perfect thing to serve alongside your chuletas as it complements the flavors in a unique way.

If you don't have time to throw together these sides, a plate of your favorite roasted veggies will work just fine. And if you like things on the spicy side, don't forget to top everything off with some Pique!

Special Equipment

This recipe is pretty straight forward and doesn't require any special equipment. What you will need is an oven safe skillet and some kind of container to let the pork marinate.

I like using my All-Clad pans because they're easy to clean and nearly impossible to damage. They're stovetop and oven safe to extremely high temperatures.

Feel free to use a plate and some plastic wrap to marinate the pork, or you can use whatever Tupperware with a lid you have at home.

Storage

Chuletas make wonderful leftovers that can be reheated whole or diced up and added to rice dishes and more.

Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

This recipe doesn't stand up well to freezing.

Buen provecho,

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