Smothered Pork Chops with Tomato Gravy

Closeup photo of Mom's Pork Chops and Tomato Gravy inside a large dish on the table.

Smothered Pork Chops with Tomato Gravy

My mom is the inspiration behind this smothered pork chops with tomato gravy recipe! It's everything a cozy, comfort food meal needs to be! Even better, it goes together quickly and easily for a meal that everyone will be raving about!

Prep Time10

Cook Time, divided45

Total Time55

Servings:

Calories: 560kcal

Author: Karin and Ken

Ingredients

4 pork chops loin or center cut, bone or boneless, 1 inch thick
1 5.5-6 ounce can tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
8 slices bacon, diced
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
½ pound mushrooms sliced
2 ribs celery diced
1 medium onion diced
2 tablespoons garlic minced, more or less to taste
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves more or less to taste
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar brown or white
salt to taste
pepper to taste
¼ cup flour
¼ cup oil or less to taste

Instructions

Prep and pan fry

In a small bowl combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, paprika and sugar.
Dry pork with paper towels and rub spice mixture all over them. Set aside.
In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook bacon pieces until crisp. Remove bacon to drain on paper towel, without removing the fat from your skillet.
Depending on the amount of fat in your pan, remove some until you have enough fat to cook the pork chops, about 2-4 tablespoons approximately.
Increase your heat a little, add the pork to the skillet and cook until brown on one side only, about 5 minutes.
Remove pork chops from skillet and place on plate, browned side up. Wipe out your skillet before making the gravy.

Make the gravy

Reduce heat back down to medium and add oil. Heat until oil is shimmering or a drop of water flicked in it dances.
Add sliced mushrooms, diced onion, diced celery, and garlic and cook until tender, about 7 minutes.
Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes. Then add tomato paste and cook, continuing to stir for another 2 minutes.
Stir in chicken broth, tomato sauce, thyme, bay leaves, and cooked bacon and bring to boil.

Finish cooking pork

Place chops, browned side up, in your skillet. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
The timing will change depending on the size of your chops. Check to make sure they are cooked with a meat thermometer, about 145 degrees.
Remove chops from skillet and add salt and pepper to the gravy to taste. Add more thyme, garlic, and paprika if you desire.
Remove your bay leaves. Serve gravy on top of your pork chops and some rice or mashed potatoes if you desire! Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Choose pork chops similar in size. That way they will cook in about the same amount of time.
Don't skip the tomato paste. While you can play around with the tomato sauce, the tomato paste has a richness of flavor that can't be duplicated by other products.
Cook the pork chops in the bacon fat. It adds so much flavor!
Use my special technique for cutting slits in the sides of the pork chops to keep the chops from curling up.

Nutrition