How to Reheat Pork Chops: Enjoy Leftover Meat Anytime of the Day

Have you ever had one of those days when you cooked a dish that is more than what your family or guests can eat over lunch or dinner? I definitely have! I prefer to cook more food for the reason that you can always reheat leftovers the next day. One dish that I hate having too much of are those tender and juicy pork chops because they don’t end up as juicy as they used to be and they even end up being tough, chewy and dry until I found ways to reheat them properly.

This article will discuss the best techniques to best reheat those leftover pork chops without overcooking them. These suggested tips are really easy to do, and I can guarantee they’ll be as juicy as when they were prepared so you can still savor and serve them the next day.

What You Need To Reheat Leftover Pork Chops

You don’t need fancy equipment, just reheat leftover food, but you do need the best electric oven, a microwave oven, or a skillet. The secret lies in the process of reheating and garnishing to serve a mouth-watering and appetizing meal.

Listed below are the stuff you may use when reheating pork chops:

• Baking sheet
• Aluminum foil
• Kitchen tongs
• Oven mitts
• Broth
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray, for greasing
• Food brush
• Serving plate
• Paper towels

There are other optional ingredients you can use such as apricot preserves and mint jelly to enhance the flavor. You can also add some garnishing like freshly sliced lemon or lime wedges to give the flavor a bit of a citrus twist.

There are certain instances when leftover pork chops have been overcooked, or they already appear dry, the best thing that you can do is pour a bit of melted butter, olive oil or broth to perk up the flavor a bit and add some stir-fried veggies or rice as a side-dish.

Reheating Pork Chops In The Oven

The best way to reheat the leftover pork chops for me is adding broth or water to a glass pan before throwing it in the oven. Why do pork chops reheat best in an oven? All the sides of the pork chop are heated evenly in the oven compared to other methods. In addition, the risk of overcooking or getting the pork chops too dried out or is very minimal. The glass pan insulates the pork chops while the tight cover will hold in the moisture so that the meat will be well steamed and reheated.

Steps to reheat in an oven:

1. Get an oven-safe glass pan. The pan’s size will be based on how many pork chops you are going to reheat. However, the closer that the pork chops are together will give better results.
2. Put in the pan a couple of tablespoons of water or broth.
3. Get the leftover pork chops from the refrigerator and place them on the pan.
4. Cover the entire dish tightly with aluminum foil.
5. Reheat the pork chops in the oven set at 350°F for about 10 to 15 minutes until the meat is heated through.
6. Take out the pan from the oven with the use of oven mitts. Make sure to also protect your hands from steam burns once you remove the aluminum foil covering the dish. Be sure to use a meat thermometer to make sure the pork chops have reached the correct temperature.

Reheating Pork Chops In the Microwave

Make sure you reheat the leftover pork chops using only 50-60% power of the microwave. What will happen when full power is used? It will heat the pork chops really quick making the meat dry and leathery as a result.

Steps to reheat the leftover pork chops using a microwave:

1. Get a plate that is microwave-safe and place the leftover pork chops in a single layer. Cover the pork chops with the use of a clean and damp paper towel.
2. Place the pork chops in the microwave and heat it for about 30 seconds.
3. To prevent overheating, check the pork chops by quickly touching it with a finger.
4. Keep reheating the pork chop for 30 seconds until the meat is warm at the center and the edges.
5. Remove the pork chops from the microwave, place it on a plate and serve.

Another way to reheat pork chops in the microwave:

1. Get a microwave-safe dish and put in several teaspoons of water.
2. Place the leftover pork chops on the dish and cover it with a lid.
3. Heat the pork chops at 30-second increments until the meat is warm on all sides.
4. Remove the dish and serve the pork chops while hot.

Reheating Pork Chops Using a Skillet

When using this process makes sure you are able to regularly turn over the pork chops numerous times before it heats the meat thoroughly.

Steps to reheat the leftover pork chops using a skillet:

1. Bring to heat in the skillet one or two drops of vegetable oil or olive oil.
2. Carefully put the leftover pork chops in the heated vegetable oil or olive oil.  If it is needed, you can reheat them in batches.
3. Let the pork chops cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on both sides to make the meat warm on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
4. Transfer the pork chops on a plate and then serve.

Conclusion

I hope that these tried and tested methods of reheating pork chops would also help you when you end up in the same leftover crisis as I had gone through several times. I can assure you that you would not even believe that you are using leftover pork chop for your new sumptuous and juicy pork chop gourmet dish. What do you think of my proven reheating tips? Feel free to leave a comment or share this article if you liked it so that the others can also give these easy-to-do reheating tips a try.

I am Dona Williams – a contributor of donaskitchen.com. I’m now a mother of 2 boys. I’m a housewife and I spend most of my time on cooking. I often interact with different cooking websites to earn experience as well as share my knowledge about cooking with the others. Besides, I am the founder and editor of donaskitchen.com an avenue for sharing about juicing, plant-based diet and living a healthier lifestyle.