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These 4-ingredient Slow cooker pork chops and apples are tender, cozy, and perfect for busy nights. Apples, applesauce, and seasoned pork chops cook into a sweet-savory dinner with almost no prep. You’re going to love how easy it is to get a comforting meal on the table.
Why You’ll Love It
- Minimal prep — slice the apples, season the pork, and let the Slow Cooker handle the rest.
- Sweet-savory flavor — unsweetened applesauce keeps the apples tender without making the dish overly sweet.
- Flexible pork chops — bone-in or boneless chops both work well.
- Cozy all-in-one meal — soft apples and pork juices make a flavorful sauce for mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.
Ingredient Notes
Choose firm apples that can hold up for several hours in the Slow Cooker. Honeycrisp is lovely when it’s on sale—which is not often enough. Gala is mild and sweet. Granny Smith gives you a little tartness and keeps the finished dish from leaning too soft and sweet. Mixing varieties works well when there are a few different apples in the fruit drawer.
Leave the peels on if you like a little color and texture in the apple sauce. Peeling apples is one of those jobs that feels harmless until you’ve peeled four and your wrist starts filing complaints. If you want the apples very soft and uniform, peel them. Both ways are fine.
Use unsweetened applesauce here, not the cinnamon-sugar kind. The pork and apples already bring plenty of natural sweetness. Plain applesauce makes a nice savory-sweet cooking liquid without taking over. If you want a looser sauce, apple cider can stand in for the applesauce, but applesauce gives everything a little body.
As for pork chops, look for chops about three-quarters to one inch thick. Very thin chops can get dry if you forget about them. Bone-in may need closer to the longer cooking time. Freshly ground black pepper is optional, technically, but it helps balance the apples.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in or boneless pork chops, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds total, roughly 3/4- to 1-inch thick
- 4 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced—Honeycrisp, Gala, or Granny Smith are all good
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce, the plain kind, not the little cinnamon dessert cups
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch more at the end if it needs it
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, optional but I do use it most of the time
Instructions
Core the apples and slice them thinly, about 1/4 inch if you want to be particular. I am not always particular. Leave the peels on for a prettier, slightly more rustic apple mixture, or peel them if that’s what your family prefers.
Spread the sliced apples in an even layer across the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the unsweetened applesauce over them and give the apples a gentle toss so there is moisture all across the bottom. Don’t overthink it; this isn’t one of those recipes where the apples need to be arranged like tile.
Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels, then season both sides with the kosher salt and black pepper, if using. Drying them first helps the seasoning cling instead of sliding around in a sad little puddle. Skipping this step may seem fussy, but it makes a difference.
Set the seasoned pork chops on top of the apple mixture. Try to keep them mostly in a single layer so they cook evenly, though a little overlap is perfectly okay. Round slow cookers can make fitting four pork chops a little tricky. We make do.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until the pork chops are tender and reach at least 145°F in the center. Thin chops are usually ready closer to 4 hours; thicker chops or bone-in chops often need the full 6. Start checking earlier rather than assuming they need every last minute, because slow cookers have personalities.
When the pork is done, crack the lid and let the chops rest in the warm cooker for 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon plenty of the soft apples and juices over each chop, then taste the sauce and add another small pinch of salt if needed. Serve with mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, rice, or whatever starch is sitting in your pantry looking useful.
Variations
Add a small sliced onion underneath the apples for a more savory edge, especially with mashed potatoes. Whisking a tablespoon of Dijon mustard into the applesauce before pouring it in also works beautifully with pork.
If you like warmer fall flavors, you can sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon or a tiny pinch of nutmeg over the apples before adding the chops. A heavy hand with cinnamon can make the dish taste like pork chops had wandered into an apple pie. Not awful, just confusing.
You can use thick-cut pork loin chops or even country-style pork ribs instead of standard chops, but plan on the longer end of the cooking range and check for tenderness. For a thinner sauce, swap the applesauce for apple cider. For a thicker, more rustic apple sauce, mash some of the cooked apples right in the slow cooker with a spoon after you remove the pork.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep in a covered container in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Store the pork with the apples and juices, because that sauce helps keep the meat from drying out.
To reheat, warm a pork chop with some apples and juices in a covered skillet over low heat until heated through. You can also use the microwave in short bursts, covered loosely, though the apples may get softer—which honestly is not a problem around here. Add a spoonful of applesauce or a splash of water if the sauce has tightened up in the refrigerator.
The leftovers make a surprisingly good lunch over warm rice or tucked beside a pile of sautéed kale.
Final Notes
There’s something comforting about a dinner that doesn’t demand a performance from you. No browning, no special equipment besides the slow cooker you probably received as a wedding gift or bought during one of those January “I’m going to get organized” moods. A slow cooker with a tiny chip near the handle can still cook more meals than you can count. If it still works, there it stays.
These pork chops are not fancy. They won’t win a beauty contest, especially after several hours in the crock. But they’re tender, they smell wonderful, and they make a regular Tuesday feel a little less like a Tuesday.
And if there are apples left at the bottom—soft, salty-sweet, glossy with pork juices—do not throw them away. Spoon them over potatoes. Eat them standing at the counter.
4-Ingredient Slow Cooker Pork Chops and Apples
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in or boneless pork chops About 1 to 1 1/2 pounds total, roughly 3/4- to 1-inch thick
- 4 medium apples Cored and thinly sliced; Honeycrisp, Gala, or Granny Smith; peel optional
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce Plain, not cinnamon-sugar flavored
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt Plus a pinch more at the end if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Optional
Instructions
- Core the apples and slice them thinly, about 1/4 inch thick, leaving the peels on or peeling them if preferred.
- Spread the sliced apples in an even layer across the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, pour the unsweetened applesauce over them, and gently toss.
- Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels, then season both sides with the kosher salt and black pepper, if using.
- Set the seasoned pork chops on top of the apple mixture, keeping them mostly in a single layer so they cook evenly.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until the pork chops are tender and reach at least 145°F in the center.
- When the pork is done, crack the lid and let the chops rest in the warm cooker for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Spoon the soft apples and juices over each chop, taste the sauce, add another small pinch of salt if needed, and serve with mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or rice.