These grilled glazed pork chops are the perfect combination of savory and sweet with their sticky honey and smokey whiskey crust.
I honestly can’t take any of the credit for coming up with the recipe for these Honey Whiskey Glazed Pork Chops. That all goes to my brother Ben, who did a ton of grilling this past Sunday – and I have a few more recipes coming this week that I am going to have to give him credit for as well. Originally we were going to have a mostly quiet Sunday, maybe grill up a couple of steaks. But after finding out that two of Ben’s closest friends, Nico and Sufiyan, were coming over for a barbecue, I urged him to quickly run to the store to get a lot more food because those boys can eat. Along with sausage and steak, he picked up a pair of beautiful pork chops from our local butcher. Nico, who is a bit of a wine and liquor expert, brought over a really nice bottle of whiskey. And after we all had a few shots, the idea dawned on Ben that he would make glazed pork chops using a glaze of butter, honey, and a dash of the same whiskey we had been enjoying all afternoon. Once I heard what he was going to do, I knew that I was going to have to steal his recipe for the blog because it simply sounded too delicious not to share. And believe me, it was.
This dish kind of perfectly reminds me of my brother and the way that he cooks. First of all, he loves whiskey. His go-to drink at a bar is a Johnny Walker Black on the rocks, but he can also be found relaxing on our back porch with a glass of Jameson or Eagle Rare. At the end of every holiday or birthday, he always ends up with a shelfful of new whiskeys given to him as gifts by those who know of his vice. Anything related to whiskey immediately makes me think of him. Secondly, Ben loves meat. When we were kids he was an incredibly picky eater who wouldn’t touch anything green unless is was drenched in caesar dressing, not to say that he doesn’t eat his vegetables now that he is an adult. But regardless of how much he may try to dispute me by saying that he does actually love vegetables, I firmly believe that he would choose a good steak or burger over any vegetable, prepared in any style, any day. And while steak and burgers are his go-to, a thick cut glazed pork chop cooked on the grill makes its way onto his menu every once and a while – and when it does, it is bound to impress, as this one did.
There’s something about pork that goes really well with sweet flavors. Just think about it: honey-glazed ham, pork chops and apple sauce, ham and pineapple on Hawaiian pizza. In almost every famous pork recipe, there is that little bite of sweetness that evens out the dish. And the honey in these glazed pork chops does just that: it offsets the salty, savory flavor of the pork, perfectly rounding out the flavor of the meat. The whiskey, even if it had been inspired on a slightly tipsy whim, actually brings a great depth of flavor and earthiness to the pork. The grilling of course brings a wonderful smokiness to this dish, but the whiskey brings out a different note of smokey flavor that is slightly more woody, and a little sweet. The other great thing about a little bit of whiskey in the glaze is that it causes the grill to flare up briefly. Usually this would be a bad thing, but that momentary lick of flame on the outside of the chop crusts that glaze onto the outside of the pork. When you cut through that sweet and smokey crust to reveal that juicy and tender meat, you’ll realize exactly why I couldn’t let my brother keep this brilliant Honey Whiskey Glaze Pork Chops recipe to himself.
The Honey Whiskey Glazed Pork Chops flare up and form their crust on the grill.
- 2-4 center cut, thick cut pork chops, 1-2 inches thick
- ½ stick butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons of honey
- ¼ cup of whiskey
- Salt and pepper
- Make your glaze: whisk together melted butter, honey, whiskey, and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Liberally salt and pepper the pork chops. Place the chops on a preheated grill over an area of high heat, and sear for about two minutes per side. Move the pork chops to a lower-heat area of the grill and cover to allow pork chops to cook through - the USDA recommends cooking pork to 160°F, but I would take them off around 150°F so they won’t dry out since they will continue to cook while resting. If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan or a cast iron skillet to sear the pork, and then move the pan to a hot oven to cook the pork through.
- In the last two minute or so of cooking, brush the glaze on the pork chops and return them back to hottest part of grill to allow the chops to form a nice crust. After 30 seconds, flips the chops and brush the other side with the glaze. Repeat this process 2-3 times so that each side of the chop as a liberal coating the glaze. The grill will flare up a bit which is fine, but just keep your eye on them so the meat doesn’t burn. If cooking the pork chops in a pan in the oven, you can brush the glaze on the chops in the last two minutes of cooking and turn the oven up to 500°F to allow the glaze to form a crust.
- Remove the pork chops from the grill and place on a cutting board or platter and tent them with aluminum foil. Let them rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
This looks amazing! Just made some chops myself with some pecan whiskey and I tried to make a glaze. This is really helpful, will definitely try next time!
I made these on the grill last night and they were AMAZING. I didn’t use quite enough honey though, so I’ll have to try it again.
If you want ideas to go with this, I cut yellow squash and zucchini into chunks, seasoned them with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt and grilled them on a flat vegetable pan for the grill. Then served with wild rice and lima beans.