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These Slow Cooker pork chops are the definition of set-it-and-forget-it comfort food. Five ingredients, five minutes of prep, and the Slow Cooker does all the work. The sauce comes out rich, saucy, and looks like you fussed over it all afternoon — you didn’t.
Why You’ll Love It
Only 5 ingredients — pantry staples you probably already have on hand
Minimal prep — whisk the sauce, pour it over, walk away
Hands-off cooking— the Slow Cooker does everything while you get on with your day
Looks and tastes like more work than it is — that colorful, Creamy sauce is a total crowd-pleaser
Easy to customize — swap the salsa heat level, change the soup, make it your own
Ingredient Notes
The pork chops — get the thick bone-in ones if you can. I used to buy the thin boneless kind because they were cheaper and honestly they just don’t hold up the same, they get a little stringy after six hours in there. The bone does something to the texture and the sauce, I don’t fully understand the science of it, but trust me on this one.
Cream of chicken soup — don’t overthink the brand. I’ve used the store brand plenty of times. Cream of mushroom works here too and gives it a slightly earthier flavor, I go back and forth.
The ranch packet — just the plain dry kind, nothing fancy. And the salsa is where you get to decide how much personality this dish has. I use a medium chunky salsa most of the time, though one Father’s Day I grabbed a jar of “roasted” salsa by mistake and it was smokier and honestly kind of wonderful, so — that might’ve been an accident worth repeating, I keep meaning to buy it again and keep forgetting.
Ingredients
– 4 thick-cut bone-in pork chops, about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds — sometimes I get 5 if they’re smaller, I don’t measure this part precisely
– 1 can (10.5 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
– 1 packet (1 oz) dry ranch dressing mix
– 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
– 1/2 cup chunky salsa, mild or medium — I eyeball this, could be closer to 2/3 cup some days
Instructions
Okay so first, the chops go in the bottom of the crockpot. Just lay them in there, don’t fuss too much, a little overlap is fine — I used to try to arrange them perfectly like I was plating something and it genuinely does not matter, they shift around anyway.
In a bowl, whisk the soup, the ranch packet, the broth, and the salsa together. It looks a little strange at first, kind of separated, but keep going and it smooths out into this pinkish-orange sauce with the salsa bits still visible. Pour it over the chops, try to get it over all of them, though — confession — I have absolutely forgotten to coat one chop before and just found out later that one side of dinner was blander than the rest. Nobody noticed, or if they did, nobody said anything.
Don’t add water. I know it looks like there’s not enough liquid at the start, but the pork lets go of its own juices as it cooks and it turns into plenty of sauce, trust the process on this one.
Lid on, low for 6 to 7 hours, or high for 3 to 4 if you’re in a hurry — though I’ll admit I almost never do high, I did it once when we had people coming over unexpectedly and the texture wasn’t quite as fall-apart tender, still good, just not the same. You want the chops to hit 145 degrees internally at minimum, thicker ones will drift toward the longer end.
When it’s done, lift the chops out carefully, they’ll basically want to fall apart on you, which is a good sign, not a bad one. Give the sauce a stir to smooth it back out, taste it, add salt if it needs it — sometimes it doesn’t, the ranch packet does a lot of the seasoning work already.
Spoon that sauce over top generously. If it looks thin — and some batches just run thinner than others, I genuinely don’t know why, maybe the salsa water content varies — pull the chops out and let the sauce simmer uncovered on high for ten, fifteen minutes to tighten up before you serve.
Variations
For a richer, creamier sauce, stir in a couple tablespoons of sour cream at the very end off the heat so it doesn’t break on you — it’s almost like a stroganoff situation. I’ve done that a couple times too, though half the time I forget until the chops are already plated and then it’s a scramble.
If you’ve got picky eaters at the table, blend the salsa smooth before mixing it into the sauce so there’s no chunks — works great. On the other end, if your crew loves heat, just dump hot sauce on at the end, that works too.
If you want to stretch it for a bigger crowd, sliced mushrooms or a sliced onion under the sauce works fine — I did that once for a work potluck thing, wait, I said I wouldn’t mention that kind of gathering, let’s just say a work lunch, and people asked for the recipe afterward, which never happens with anything I bring to those things.
Storage
Leftovers go in the fridge within a couple hours — shallow containers, not one big deep one, it cools faster that way. Reheat until it’s hot all the way through, like 165 degrees if you’re checking with a thermometer, which I almost never do for leftovers, I just eyeball steam coming off it, I know that’s not the “correct” answer but there it is.
It keeps maybe three, four days in there. Longer than that and I start getting nervous about it regardless of what any chart says.
Last Thoughts
I still make this over mashed potatoes most of the time, though rice is good too if I’m being honest and just haven’t felt like peeling potatoes that day, which happens more than I’d like to admit. Some crusty bread on the side for swiping up sauce is really not optional in my house, someone will ask for it if I forget.
Whoever you’re making this for, they’ll think you worked way harder than you did. Let them believe it.