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These Slow Cooker pork chops and scalloped potatoes are the kind of cozy, no-fuss dinner you’re going to love. Tender pork chops cook over Creamy, oniony potatoes with just four simple ingredients. It’s not fancy food, and thank goodness for that.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just four ingredients — pork chops, potatoes, canned soup, and onion soup mix.
- Hands-off cooking — layer everything in the slow cooker and let it do the work.
- Cozy, creamy flavor — the potatoes soak up the rich mushroom-onion sauce.
- A full dinner in one pot — tender pork chops and creamy potatoes cook together.
Ingredient Notes
For the pork chops, use four chops that are about an inch thick, either boneless or bone-in. I have made it both ways. Bone-in chops have a little more flavor, I think, but boneless are easier if you’re serving kids or somebody who acts like encountering a bone at dinner is a personal betrayal. Avoid the very thin fast-fry chops here—they can get dry before the potatoes are ready.
Russet potatoes are what I usually have around, and they work beautifully. Yukon Golds are lovely too, a little creamier and less prone to falling apart. The key is slicing them thin—around one-eighth inch. Not paper-thin, because we are making dinner and not auditioning for a cooking show, but thin enough that they soften properly.
The condensed cream of mushroom soup and onion soup mix are the whole backbone of this old-fashioned little operation. Don’t dilute the soup with water. I know it feels wrong if you grew up reading can labels religiously, but leave it thick. That concentrated sauce is what makes the potatoes creamy.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless or bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick, roughly 2 to 2 1/2 pounds total
- 6 medium russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, about 1/8 inch thick—six is usually right, though one time I had five and a half because somebody had used one for baked potatoes
- 2 (10.5-ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 (1-ounce) packet onion soup mix
Instructions
Lightly grease the inside of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray or a little butter. I use butter if it’s already sitting out, spray if I’m trying to avoid washing another butter knife. Either works, and it helps prevent that stubborn potato cement around the edges.
Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin rounds, about 1/8 inch thick. A mandoline makes this quick, but please pay attention—I once took a little swipe off my knuckle making potatoes au gratin, and I have held a grudge against that gadget ever since. A sharp knife is perfectly fine.
In a medium bowl, stir together both cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and the packet of onion soup mix. It will be thick, salty, and not especially glamorous-looking. That is exactly right. Do not add water.
Spread about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the soup mixture over the bottom of the greased slow cooker. This little layer keeps the potatoes from catching too badly, especially if your slow cooker runs hot around the sides like mine does.
Arrange about half of the sliced potatoes in the slow cooker, overlapping them slightly. Spoon about half of the remaining soup mixture over the potatoes and spread it around as best you can. It won’t be perfectly even, and that’s fine; the heat and juices work things out while you’re off doing something more interesting.
Lay the pork chops in a mostly single layer over the potatoes. A little overlap is okay, but don’t stack them into a pork-chop tower. They need room to cook evenly and settle into that sauce.
Spoon the rest of the soup mixture over the pork chops, spreading it over the tops and letting some slip down the sides between the potatoes. It looks like too much sauce at this point. Then it cooks down and suddenly there isn’t enough, because everyone wants extra spooned over their potatoes.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the pork chops are tender and the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork. Try not to keep lifting the lid—I know, I know, it is tempting. Every peek lets heat escape and adds cooking time. Pork should reach at least 145°F in the thickest part.
If you want that browned, slightly crisped look around the top, carefully transfer the pork chops and top layer of potatoes, with some sauce, to an oven-safe baking dish. Broil on the top rack for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely. Closely means standing there. Broilers can go from golden to blackened nonsense in about forty-five seconds.
Let everything rest for about 5 minutes before serving so the sauce thickens a bit. Serve each pork chop with a generous scoop of potatoes and plenty of the creamy sauce. A simple green salad, steamed green beans, buttered peas, or bread for mopping up the plate all work nicely.
Variations
If you don’t have cream of mushroom soup, cream of Chicken or cream of celery will work in the same amount. Cream of celery is a good option if you like a slightly different flavor.
For a looser, richer sauce, you can stir about 1/4 cup milk or half-and-half into the soup mixture before layering. I don’t always do it. Actually, I rarely do it—but when I have half-and-half left from coffee creamer season, I’ll toss it in and it’s awfully good.
A little dried parsley or paprika scattered over the top before cooking gives it some color. If you want to dress it up after cooking, transfer it to a baking dish, add a small handful of shredded cheese or crushed butter crackers, and broil it briefly. I tried crushed potato chips once because I had half a bag sitting around. It was not terrible, but it tasted faintly like a late-night snack got confused and wandered into dinner. We ate it anyway.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, preferably in a shallow container so they cool down safely, and use them within 3 to 4 days. The potatoes thicken up quite a bit in the refrigerator, which isn’t a problem—it just means you may want to add a small splash of water when reheating.
Warm leftovers in the microwave, covered loosely, until steaming hot, or reheat them in a covered baking dish in a moderate oven. I usually use the microwave because I am not turning on the oven for one pork chop at noon, no ma’am. Stir the potatoes around a bit midway through if you can, so the center gets hot too.
The leftovers make a good lunch, although the smell of reheated onion soup mix can make the kitchen feel nostalgic for a few minutes. Not necessarily a bad thing. Depends on the day.
Final Notes
There is something deeply comforting about a dinner that does not require you to improve yourself before making it. You don’t need a special pan, a fancy cut of meat, or the patience of a saint. Just potatoes, pork chops, a couple cans, and enough time for the whole kitchen to start smelling warm and familiar.
I think that is why these old recipes hang around. They aren’t precious. They don’t ask to be photographed from twelve angles. They just feed people.
And maybe that’s enough sometimes. More than enough, really—especially when somebody at the table takes one bite, gets quiet for a second, and says it tastes like they remember something they hadn’t thought about in years…
Slow Cooker 4-Ingredient Pork Chops and Scalloped Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 boneless or bone-in pork chops About 1 inch thick; roughly 2 to 2 1/2 pounds total
- 6 medium russet or Yukon Gold potatoes Peeled and thinly sliced, about 1/8 inch thick
- 2 10.5-ounce cans condensed cream of mushroom soup Do not dilute
- 1 1-ounce packet onion soup mix
Instructions
- Lightly grease the inside of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray or a little butter.
- Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin rounds, about 1/8 inch thick.
- In a medium bowl, stir together both cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup and the packet of onion soup mix; do not add water.
- Spread about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the soup mixture over the bottom of the greased slow cooker.
- Arrange about half of the sliced potatoes in the slow cooker, overlapping them slightly, then spoon about half of the remaining soup mixture over the potatoes.
- Lay the pork chops in a mostly single layer over the potatoes, allowing a little overlap if needed.
- Spoon the rest of the soup mixture over the pork chops, spreading it over the tops and letting some slip down the sides between the potatoes.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the pork chops are tender and the potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork; pork should reach at least 145°F in the thickest part.
- For a browned, slightly crisped top, carefully transfer the pork chops and top layer of potatoes with some sauce to an oven-safe baking dish and broil on the top rack for 3 to 5 minutes, watching closely.
- Let everything rest for about 5 minutes before serving, then serve each pork chop with a generous scoop of potatoes and plenty of creamy sauce.