Dry Rubbed Pork Chop with Compound Butter

It’s Nick here, and I’m frequently asked if I eat steak every night – I do own a butcher shop, right, so why not eat steak every night? Well, the answer is actually, no, we don’t eat steaks every night, we actually eat a lot of pork. Our household loves the flavor of pork, and we love how many different flavors you can easily add to pork without overshadowing the quality of the meat. Here’s my recipe to make insanely good, insanely flavorful dry rubbed pork chops on the grill with a compound butter to serve on top.

This recipe definitely takes a few extra steps and a little extra time compared to the method of “just throw the chops on the grill,” but I think you’ll like the difference. If you think to yourself that this recipe seems like a steak recipe, then you’re right. A good pork chop should be treated like a steak, and it’ll reward you with a great meal for a great price. We use a two zone cooking method (sometimes called a reverse sear) for this recipe. This method helps keep the chops from drying out and promotes even cooking. This method is especially important when you’re cooking thicker cut pork chops. We wrote this recipe for 1″ thick pork chops, but it also works for thicker cut pork chops, just add 10 minutes of indirect cook time for every extra inch of pork you add.

For this recipe, I am sharing a signature rub that I like to use at home. I call it my “fine grained steak rub.” It’s made up of seasonings that aren’t very chunky or flaky. This rub is meant to absorb evenly into a piece of meat and then create a uniform, seared surface when it’s cooked. I love a cracked black pepper coating on steaks, but when you want a beautiful exterior and even flavor, I really enjoy this seasoning. You can substitute your own favorite steak seasoning for this recipe if you don’t want to make a rub, or just use salt and pepper, and it won’t detract at all. I do recommend seasoning ahead of time and letting the meat sit at room temperature. The chops will start “dry brining” while they’re waiting to cook more evenly and stay nice and juicy while cooking.

What do you think of this recipe? Are you a fan of pork chops? They used to be not as “en vogue” as they are now. Have you come around to grilling them like a steak? Let us know your thoughts on this recipe and pork chops in general in the comments below. Thanks for reading!