For Tender And Flavorful Slow Cooker Pork Chops, Reach For One Ingredient

Everyone knows how quickly pork chops can go from perfectly cooked to dry and rubbery when grilling, roasting, or pan-frying, which may be why pork chops are well known as the best cut to cook with sauerkraut in the slow cooker. The moisture and acid in the sauerkraut plus the long, slow cooking method tenderizes the pork and infuses it with flavor while keeping it juicy and succulent. The best part about this New Year's Day staple is that it teaches us how to use a similar cooking method to make aromatic, smothered pork chops even without sauerkraut in the slow cooker using other sources of moisture and flavor, such as chicken stock and onion soup mix.

Onion soup mix, in particular, is an excellent all-purpose seasoning for pork. Ingredients like dried minced onion, beef bullion granules, and celery seed enhance the chops' unique richness, bringing out their earthy, savory notes and making them taste meatier than versions seasoned just with salt and pepper. Most onion soup mixes also contain a little bit of sugar and dried herbs, which help caramelize the pork while cutting through the richness a bit with aromatic astringence.

Using pre-packaged onion soup mix also takes the guesswork out of seasoning your pork chops, reducing the time it takes to prepare your meal. Flavoring packets like this are also an excellent choice to use with slow cookers, as the long cooking times softens the packet's intense saltiness, redistributing it evenly throughout the dish along with the pork's earthy deliciousness.

Onion soup mix is a very versatile seasoning, which means it'll pair well not only with slow cooker pork chops, but also most other accompaniments you decide to toss in there, as well. Potatoes, celery root, parsnips, and carrots are great choices for the bottom layer of your slow cooker, as they need lots of direct heat to develop a tender, silky texture. Down there, they'll also soak up plenty of flavor from the seasoned pork, with the onion soup mix gently pushing these veggies' starchiness to the background, leaving room for their nuanced flavors to push forward.

When you're planning how to layer foods in your slow cooker, it's best to sandwich the pork between layers of starchy root veg such as those mentioned with softer, aromatic ingredients on top. Sliced onions, celery (including the leaves — they're delicious), and mushrooms cook to perfect tenderness as the top layer, both because of the indirect heat but also because of the less intense seasoning. You want aromatics like these to stand on their own with a hint of seasoning, rather than sucking it up like a sponge as the bottom layer will.

Additionally, using onion soup mix means you can get away with using water instead of stock because the mix adds so much flavor on its own. While stock will bring richness, the recipe will still be delicious without it if you don't have any on hand.