Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Pork Chops with Canned Carrots

Three ingredients, one pan, and an oven that does all the work — this is the kind of recipe that feels almost too simple until you taste it. Bone-in Pork chops Slow-baked with canned carrots and cream of mushroom soup come out tender, savory, and saucy in a way that feels genuinely comforting. Pure Depression-era practicality, and honestly? It still holds up.

Why You’ll Love It

• Only 3 ingredients — pork chops, canned carrots, and a can of soup. That’s it.
• The oven does all the work — no browning, no stirring, no babysitting. Just cover and bake.
• Genuinely tender pork — slow-braising in the soup and pork juices is what makes cheap bone-in chops fall-apart good.
• Built-in pan sauce — the soup thins as it bakes into a light, savory gravy that’s perfect over mashed potatoes or noodles.
• Budget-friendly and filling — stretches a small amount of meat to feed the whole table.

A Few Notes on the Ingredients

The soup — I use the standard red-and-white can, condensed, don’t add water. I know some people thin it out first but I never bother. It loosens up on its own as the pork releases its juices into the dish, and by the time you pull the foil off for that last twenty minutes, it’s turned into something between a gravy and a sauce. Just right.

The carrots — canned. Frozen won’t give you the same thing here; they hold too much water and they stay a little too firm. Fresh carrots actually need longer than the pork to get soft enough in the oven, which is annoying. The canned ones are already tender and they soak up the sauce and turn almost jammy around the pork. Don’t drain them over the sink carelessly — I have done this more than once, distracted by something, and lost half the can down the drain. Drain them over a bowl. Or don’t, and use the liquid in something else. Whatever.

The pork chops — bone-in, about half an inch thick. You can use thicker ones but you’ll want to add time. The bone adds flavor in a way that boneless just doesn’t, and I think it matters here especially since there are so few other things going on in the pot.

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in pork chops, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick (maybe a little thicker if that’s what the store had — it’s fine)
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) sliced carrots, drained
• 2 cans (10.5 ounces each) condensed cream of mushroom soup — not the reduced sodium kind if you can help it; the full-salt version is what gives this its depth
• Salt and black pepper if you like — optional but I always do it

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease your baking dish — I use an oval casserole, the kind that looks vaguely Vintage, but a 9×13 pan works fine.

Pat the pork chops dry. This sounds fussy but it takes three seconds and helps. Season both sides with salt and pepper if you’re using it.

Lay the chops in the bottom of the dish. They can touch but try not to stack them — you want the heat to get around each one so they cook evenly and that top layer of soup gets a chance to brown a little at the end.

Stir the soup in a bowl first, just to loosen it. Don’t add anything to it. Then scatter your drained carrots around and over the chops — tuck them in between, pile them on top a little, it doesn’t need to be perfectly arranged. Spoon the soup over everything. Use the back of your spoon to spread it so the chops are mostly coated, though some edges peeking out is fine. Those exposed spots get a little golden in the oven.

Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack.

After the 45 minutes, carefully remove the foil — the steam will be significant, so tilt it away from yourself — and put the dish back in the oven uncovered for another 20 to 30 minutes. The sauce will start bubbling around the edges, the top of the chops will go golden, and your kitchen is going to smell like something your grandmother made.

The pork is done when it hits 145°F inside, away from the bone. Let it rest for five to ten minutes before serving.

Serve the chops with the carrots spooned alongside and some of that pan sauce ladled right over the top.

Variations

If you don’t have cream of mushroom, cream of celery is a great swap — it gives a lighter, slightly herby flavor. Cream of chicken works too, though it goes in a different direction, a little more savory and less earthy.

If you need to stretch the dish — more people coming, teenagers who eat like longshoremen — add a third can of carrots or a drained can of sliced potatoes. The potatoes get soft and absorb the sauce and it makes the whole thing more substantial without changing the character much.

I’ve tried it with garlic powder and dried thyme shaken over the chops before the soup goes on. It’s good. It tastes more like something you’d see on a cooking show. But honestly? I usually skip it. The simplicity is the point.

One thing I did once that I’ll mention even though I’m a little embarrassed: I stirred a quarter cup of milk into the soup before spreading it. Just on a whim. It made a looser, soupier gravy — almost like a cream sauce — and it was really good over egg noodles. So if that sounds appealing, try it.

Leftovers

These reheat well. Better than you’d expect, actually — the pork gets even more tender overnight in the sauce. I keep it in the casserole dish covered with plastic wrap in the fridge, or transfer to a container with a lid if I’m thinking ahead. It’s good for two or three days.

Reheat low and slow if you can — covered, 325°F, or gently in a saucepan on the stove with a splash of water if the sauce has gotten thick. Microwave works too.

Serve this with mashed potatoes to soak up all that pan sauce. Buttered egg noodles or plain white Rice work just as well. Sliced bread — the kind that’s just for sopping — costs almost nothing and fits perfectly with the spirit of the thing.