- It features a short ingredient list, delivers great flavor and can be ready in 35 minutes.
- This dinner is packed with B vitamins from both the pork and spinach.
- Try it with chicken breasts instead of pork, but adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Our Garlic-Butter Pork Chops with Spinach are your answer to a quick, one-pot weeknight meal. Protein-packed pork chops are seasoned to perfection and pan-seared in heart-healthy extra-virgin olive oil. Rich butter, aromatic garlic and fresh lemon zest amplify the flavor of the meat and provide the base for the sautéed spinach—a double-duty sauce that is wonderfully balanced. Keep reading for our expert tips on ingredient substitutions, what to serve this with and more.
Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen
These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too!
- To ensure more evenly cooked pork chops, remove them from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before cooking.
- You can substitute chicken breasts or thighs for the pork chops, but adjust the cooking time accordingly, cooking until they reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Other tender greens, such as kale or Swiss chard, can be used in place of the spinach. If you opt for heartier greens, you may need to cook them longer until they are wilted.
- Freshly minced garlic delivers the best flavor and leaves a lingering scent on your hands. One of the quickest ways to remove the odor is to run your hands under cool water and rub them with a stainless-steel object.
Nutrition Notes
- Pork chops are considered red meat. Lean pork (not pork sausage) is considered a heart-healthy protein, as it is typically low in saturated fat. It is also rich in B vitamins, which are important for cellular, metabolic health and reproductive health.
- Spinach is a heart-healthy leafy green. It has nitrates that can convert to nitric oxide in the body, helping to open up blood vessels and allow blood to flow more freely, thus helping to lower blood pressure. It is also a rich source of folate, which helps convert homocysteine to methionine in the body, which can also benefit your heart health.
