Best Paleo Pan-Seared Jerk Pork Chops with Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Juicy, fatty, thick pork chops are slathered with a homemade jerk seasoning blend that is spicy and full of herbaceous notes from parsley and thyme. The pork chops are pan-seared on both sides until nicely golden brown and caramelized. The perfectly pan-seared protein is paired with mashed sweet potatoes, seasoned lightly with cinnamon and served with perfectly cooked but still crunchy green beans. This recipe is best for weeknight or weekend meals as it is quick and easy to make. Despite the addition of sweet potatoes, this dish is still easy on glucose levels as there is plenty of fat and protein in each portion.
How to Make It
Step 1
Preheat an oven to 400 F (210 C). Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Drizzle them with olive oil and rub the oil over the skins. Bake them for about one hour until softened. You can bake them while you prep the pork chops to save time.
Step 2
Dry off the pork chops with a paper towel. Discard the paper towels. Then, mix all the dry spices and herbs to make the jerk seasoning. These seasonings include garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, fresh thyme leaves (you can also use dried), dried parsley, sea salt, paprika, ground allspice, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon.
Step 3
Season the pork chops on both sides evenly. Rub the spices into the meat. Set the meat aside.
Step 4
Preheat a 12” nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add in one tablespoon of lard. Then, sear the meat on the first side for 1-2 minutes, turning the heat down slightly. Make sure the first side is seared nicely before flipping.
Step 5
Flip and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes. The sweet potatoes should be cooked at this point. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 F (180 C). Finish the pork chops in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 145 F (about 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops).
Step 6
Prepare the green beans by washing them in a medium-sized heatproof bowl. Drain the water off. It is ok if there is some residual water as this will help steam the beans during the cooking process. Microwave them for 2 minutes with plastic wrap overthe bowl to help steam them. Once cooked, drizzle them with one teaspoon of olive oil and ⅛ tsp sea salt or to taste.
Step 7
Serve the warm pork chops with the mashed potatoes (to make these remove the skins and mash them with ¼ tsp ground cinnamon). Serve the green beans on the side.
Ingredients
- Sweet potato, baked
1.25 lb
- Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp
- Cinnamon
0.25 tsp
- Garlic powder
0.5 tbsp
- Cayenne
1 tsp
- Onion powder
1 tsp
- Thyme, fresh
1 tsp, chopped
- Parsley, dried
1 tsp
- Salt, sea salt
1 tsp
- Paprika
0.5 tsp
- Allspice, ground
0.5 tsp
- Black pepper
0.25 tsp
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
0.25 tsp
- Nutmeg Ground
0.25 tsp
- Cinnamon
0.25 tsp
- Lard
1 tbsp
- Pork chops, rib (rib eye), cured, no visible fat eaten
1.5 lb
- Green beans (string beans), raw
6 oz
- Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp
- Salt, sea salt
1 tsp