Pork Chops substitute

Best substitute

Boneless pork loin, cut into chops

Use the same amount by weight; slice 1 inch thick as the pork chops you are replacing

Best for pan-seared chops

Close match

A boneless pork loin roast sliced into chops yourself is the closest swap and often cheaper, at 1:1. Pork sirloin chops work too. If you want something more forgiving, pork shoulder or blade steaks have far more fat and are much harder to ruin. Bone-in chicken thighs are the best non-pork stand-in for a skillet dinner. The thing to understand is that thickness matters more than which cut you use: a chop is lean protein with very little insurance, and everything about cooking one is about getting the centre to 145 F before the outside dries out. Match the thickness you have to the timing below, not the name on the label.

Other pork chops substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Pork sirloin chops
Different texture
Use the same amount
Cut from further back toward the hip, so they contain several muscles and often bits of hip bone.
What changes
Cheaper and a little more variable, with more connective tissue running through them, which means they can be slightly chewier when cooked fast but reward a braise.
Best for
braising and smothered chops, slow cooker dishes, budget cooking, grilling with a marinade
Better braised than seared. If you are pan-cooking them, brine for 30 minutes first, and accept that one corner may be firmer than the rest because the muscles run in different directions.
3Pork shoulder steaks or blade steaks
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
The most forgiving swap by a wide margin.
What changes
Cut from the shoulder, so they are marbled with fat and threaded with collagen, which means they stay juicy even if you overshoot the temperature. They taste richer and more distinctly porky and they are chewier, in a good way, closer to a good steak than to a lean loin chop.
Best for
grilling, braising and smothered chops, when you are nervous about overcooking, barbecue and marinades, budget cooking
Give them longer than a loin chop, and either cook them to 145 F and eat them slightly firm or push them well past that, to 190 F in a braise, where the collagen melts and they turn tender. The middle ground, around 160 F, is the worst of both.
4Pork tenderloin, cut into medallions
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight; slice 1 to 1 ¼ inches thick
The leanest cut on the pig, which makes it the most delicate substitute.
What changes
Medallions taste milder and are noticeably more tender than a chop, almost soft. The catch is that with essentially no fat and no bone, they go from perfect to dry in under a minute, so this is the least forgiving option here.
Best for
quick pan-searing with a sauce, breaded medallions, stir-fries, elegant plating
Sear hard for 2 to 3 minutes a side and pull at 140 F. Do not walk away from the pan. A tenderloin is tapered, so trim the thin tail off and use it separately or the ends will be overdone.
5Bone-in chicken thighs
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, roughly 2 thighs per chop
The best non-pork substitute for a weeknight skillet or braise, because thighs carry enough fat and collagen to be very hard to overcook.
What changes
They taste less sweet and more savory than pork, the texture is softer and more pull-apart, and the skin crisps in a way a chop's surface never does.
Best for
smothered and braised dishes, sheet pan dinners, skillet suppers, when pork is not an option
Chicken must reach 165 F, well above pork's 145 F, so plan on 8 to 12 extra minutes. Start skin side down in a cold pan for the best crust.
6Veal or lamb loin chops
Different taste
Use the same amount
Structurally the same thing, a loin slice with a bone, so all the timing advice transfers directly.
What changes
Veal is milder and more delicate than pork and dries out even faster. Lamb is much more assertive and slightly gamey, and it changes the character of the dish entirely, so it wants rosemary and garlic rather than apples and mustard.
Best for
pan-searing and grilling, breaded chops, special occasion cooking
Both cost considerably more. Lamb is best cooked to medium, around 130 to 135 F, rather than pork's 145 F, so pull it earlier than you would a pork chop.

What is Pork Chops?

Pork Chops is A pork chop is a slice cut crosswise through the pig's loin or rib section, usually 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick and sold either bone-in or boneless.

Cooking tips

The chop's job on the plate is lean protein and structure, and the whole problem is timing, not flavor. Pork loin is about as lean as chicken breast, so unlike a braising cut it has no fat reserve to hide behind. That is why thickness, not the exact cut name, is the number that controls whether your dinner works.
Times to work from, for a hot pan or a 400 F oven finish: a 3/4 inch boneless chop needs about 3 to 4 minutes a side; a 1 inch chop needs 4 to 5 a side; a 1 1/2 inch bone-in chop should be seared 3 minutes a side and then finished in the oven for 8 to 12 minutes. Bone-in runs roughly 20 to 25 percent longer than boneless at the same thickness.
Pull the chop at 140 F and let it rest 5 minutes. Carryover heat carries it to the USDA's recommended 145 F while it rests, and that 5 degrees is the entire difference between juicy and chalky. An instant-read thermometer is worth more here than any technique.
A 30 minute brine, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt dissolved in 2 cups of cold water, is the highest-value thing you can do to any lean chop or its substitute. It adds about a degree or two of margin for error and seasons the meat all the way through. Pat it bone dry afterwards so it browns.
For anything thicker than an inch, sear first then finish in the oven. Trying to cook a thick chop entirely in the pan means the outside is overdone before the middle catches up. For anything thinner than 3/4 inch, do the opposite: get the pan very hot, cook it fast, and do not use the oven at all.
Cut through the fat rim on the edge of the chop in two or three places before cooking. Loin fat contracts as it heats and will bow the chop into a dome so only the centre touches the pan.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave it out?

Only if you are rebuilding the meal rather than the recipe, since the chop is the main protein. If you need a direct one-for-one plate substitute with no meat at all, a thick slab of pressed extra-firm tofu, a 3/4 inch slice of cauliflower steak or a large portobello all take the same seasonings, sear in the same pan and absorb the same sauce. Season them harder than you would the pork and add fat, because none of them bring any of their own.

Can I substitute boneless for bone-in pork chops?

Yes, freely, with one adjustment: cut the cooking time by roughly 20 percent. The bone insulates the meat next to it and slows heat transfer, so a bone-in chop takes longer and stays a little juicier. Boneless chops are also usually cut thinner, which compounds the effect, so buy them thicker or watch them closely.

Is a pork chop the same as pork loin?

A chop is a slice of pork loin, so the meat is the same. The practical differences are that a roast is cooked whole at lower heat over a much longer time, and chops are cooked fast. If a recipe calls for chops and you have a loin roast, slice it into 1 inch chops and follow the chop recipe exactly. Note that pork loin and pork tenderloin are two different cuts, the tenderloin being a small, narrow, much leaner muscle.

Is it safe for pork chops to be a little pink?

Yes. The USDA lowered the recommended safe temperature for whole cuts of pork to 145 F followed by a 3 minute rest, and at that temperature a chop is often faintly pink in the centre and completely safe. The old advice to cook pork to 160 F or higher is why a generation of chops came out dry. Ground pork is different and does still need 160 F.

What is the most forgiving cut if I always overcook pork chops?

Pork shoulder or blade steaks. They contain enough fat and collagen that they stay palatable well past the point where a loin chop would be ruined, and they are cheap. Buy them thick, at least an inch, and either sear them or braise them. The other high-impact fix is simply buying thicker chops: a 1 1/2 inch chop gives you minutes of margin where a 1/2 inch chop gives you seconds.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Pork Chops substitute

Other pork chops substitutes

2Pork sirloin chops

3Pork shoulder steaks or blade steaks

4Pork tenderloin, cut into medallions

5Bone-in chicken thighs

6Veal or lamb loin chops