Monday Meals: Crispy Ranch Pork Chops

We have a real love/hate relationship with ranch dressing here in the Wisconsin Test Kitchen. Rebecca loves it, and insists on trying to put it on/in everything; and Kevin hates it. We tried a recipe a few weeks ago for a ranch pesto pasta bake; and it was NOT blog worthy (tasteless and just blah). BUT, we still had a bottle of ranch dressing we needed to use on something. We found a recipe on Pinterest for pork chops covered in ranch dressing and bread crumbs. They were advertised as, "The Most Delicious Pork Chops EVER!" Game. On.

Crispy Ranch Pork Chops

1 bottle Ranch dressing (we used low-fat- it doesn't matter)
3 cups fine dry Italian bread crumbs.
1 small package dry Italian dressing mix.
3 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
1 tablespoon garlic powder
6 large loin pork chops.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine ingredients 2-5 in a large bowl, and make sure they're mixed well. Pour a layer of ranch dressing onto a plate. Take one pork chop at a time and coat it in ranch dressing (shake off any extra dressing- you just want a thin layer of dressing for the bread crumbs to adhere to)- and then coat well in bread crumbs. 

Have a roasting pan ready to put the pork chops on. This is the important part: don't just put the pork chops on a cookie sheet- they'll turn into a soggy mess. Place them on an elevated rack inside a roasting pan- so they can cook from all angles.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until the thick part of your pork chops reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. As soon as your pork chops are done remove from the pan and serve as soon as possible.

Final verdict? They were delicious, and the whole family really enjoyed them. The Ranch dressing flavor wasn't too prevalent, and it helped to keep the pork chops tender and juicy. We served these pork chops with some roasted potatoes and carrots- and it was a quick, easy weekday meal to throw together. And bonus? It used up the bottle of Ranch dressing we had in the fridge.

Now that life has calmed down a little bit in both test kitchens, we look forward to sharing some new, exciting meals and ideas with you!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew