I am going to start out by saying I have never been a huge fan of pork chops…. that is until I made this recipe. My Lemon Parmesan Pork Chops are so good that even my pickiest child eats it.
Growing up I had pork chops a lot, and I never looked forward to it. The meat was always so tough and I remember thinking it didn’t have a lot of flavor. When my husband came home with some pork chops after work one day asking me to cook it up for dinner, I was skeptical to say the least. Boy was I surprised what a little Parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs could achieve.
We were all amazed at how good they were and why in 10 years of marriage we had never made them until now. The meat was very tender, the Parmesan/ panko breading was crunchy and flavorful. My original recipe was good, but the more I made them, the more I experimented with them. Adding lemon zest to the Parmesan mixture and serving with freshly squeezed lemon was the ticket. It really took this pork chop recipe to a whole new level.This recipe is not only simple but frugal too! I will do the cost breakdown to feed a family of 6 below.
Lemon Parmesan Pork Chops
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon
4-6 boneless thin cut pork loin chops
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbs olive oil
lemon wedges for serving (optional)
Method:
Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese and lemon zest in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with cheese and lemon mixture, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the panko bread crumbs, patting to adhere.
Heat up 3-6 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops and cook about 6 minutes on each side, or until nice and golden brown and the temperature reaches 150 degrees in the center of the meat.
*Optional-Serve with lemon wedges. Squeeze lemon juice over top of chops and enjoy!
Price Breakdown
I love how simple this meal is, but even more I love how inexpensive and frugal it is. This lemon Parmesan pork chops recipe feeds a family of 6. Here is the breakdown.
Eggs- $0.23
Panko bread crumbs-$0.74
Lemons-$0.35 cents
Olive oil- $0.70
Grated Parmesan cheese- $1.75
Pork chops-$5.30
Salt and pepper- $0.03Total price is $9.10. Pretty awesome! It’s not everyday that you can feed that many people a nice dinner for under 10 bucks.
Below is the printable recipe for your convenience
Lemon Parmesan Pork Chops {frugal and easy)
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
- zest of 1 lemon
- 4-6 boneless thin cut pork loin chops
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 tbs olive oil
- lemon wedges for serving optional
Instructions
- Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese and lemon zest in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with cheese and lemon mixture, patting to adhere. Dip the chops int the eggs, then coat completely with the panko bread crumbs, patting to adhere. Heat up 3-6 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops and cook about 6 minutes on each side, or until nice and golden brown and the temperature reaches 150 degrees in the center of the meat.
- *Optional-Serve with lemon wedges. Squeeze lemon juice over top of chops and enjoy!
Nutrition
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These were delicious! I loved the lemon zest! I started to run out of panko so I added the lemon zest/parmesan mixture to the rest of the panko. They were so crispy and delicious, a definite make again!
I made these today for dinner and they were a big hit with my teenagers!!!!!
I think I will try this tonight! My only question is, your nutrition information seems to be a bit off. Generally speaking, a porkchop will have somewhere around 32g of protein and you only listed 4.6, and there were a few other nutrients that seemed low. Is the serving size only a partial porkchop?
I made these for dinner tonight. They were seriously the best pork chops I have ever made. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I followed the directions exactly as written. I used bone-in chops that were rather thick, so after they were browned perfectly, I turned the heat off and put a cover on for about 5 minutes. I served it with roasted sweet potato fries and roasted asparagus. I followed the tip and squeezed fresh lemon over everything. Absolutely delicious!!
Could these be sprayed with olive oil and cooked in a air fryer? Trying to find recipes for my new air fryer.
I made this for dinner. it was great. i did not have lemon zest so I squeezed lemon over the chops while cooking. YUMMMM
This is a great, simple recipe!
I made this with chicken tenders, as that was what I had on hand. My son and I loved this. When you get a “Mom, this is so good!” 3 times during dinner, you know you have a winning recipe. Thank you Karrie.
So happy you liked it!
Can’t wait to try. Any side dish suggestions?
Tried this last night! I added lemon juice to the egg to add extra lemony flavor 🙂
Hello! I love the sound of this recipe. I am soon going to start the freezing extravaganza haha and getting all my lists organized! I was wondering if this recipe is freezer friendly?
You could probably freeze it after its been cooked, but it might not be as crispy with re-heating. You may be able to dip the ingredients and flash freeze, then thaw and grill though. The only worry I have is if all the crumbs will fall off in the freezer. Let me know if you try it and how it goes please!
I can’t wait to try this out for dinner one day! But I have a quick question, can this meal be frozen? My family and I usually have leftovers, and I wouldn’t want this delicious looking meal to go bad!
I don’t know why it couldn’t be!
Can’t wait to try this one! I started making boneless chicken breasts this way and was stunned at how wonderful lemon juice is on them…and I’m not a huge lemon fan..lol! Thanks for all your hard work…its much appreciated!
Thanks! You are sweet! Glad you like them. I will have to try it on chicken next!
I’m going to try this in my air fryer! 🙂