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A plate with barbecue pork chop, the golden rice, and coleslaw
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Slow Baked Barbecue Pork Chops with Golden Vegetable Rice

An easy to prepare, satisfying meal of tender, juicy thick pork chops baked low and slow with barbecue sauce and served with a simple homemade version of turmeric-golden rice with mixed vegetables.
Prep Time15 minutes
Baking Time3 hours
Total Time3 hours 15 minutes
Course: Main Course, Meats
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Comfort Food, Fall, Pork, Rice
Yield: 4 servings

Materials

For The Meat

  • 750 g thick-cut pork chops (1½ lbs.) shoulder, butt, or country style ribs
  • 2 medium to large onions fairly thickly sliced
  • 6-8 cloves garlic
  • seasoning of choice for the meat
  • 100 ml water (around ⅓ cup)
  • 1 bottle barbecue sauce of your choice I used about half here

For The Rice

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • ⅓ tsp turmeric
  • 300 ml rice (1¼ cup) any long or medium grain should be good; I used Basmati
  • 500 ml vegetable broth (2 cups)
  • 250-250 ml frozen mixed vegetables (1-1½ cups) or to taste
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • salt to taste I used around ¼ tsp, mainly to take care of the extra veggies

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 160℃/325℉.
  • Lightly oil a baking dish. Lay your sliced onion and peeled garlic cloves in the bottom, under where your meat will be.
    Sliced onions and whole garlic cloves in the bottom of a foil-lined baking dish.
  • Add your meat on top, and season it well on both sides. Here I used a common Swedish "grill seasoning" variant which includes some extra chili flakes.
    Here I used thick bone-in chops from a cut (fläskkarré) which I think corresponds to Boston butt. Any thick cut with a decent bit of fat marbled in should work fine, preferably with some bone for the extra flavor. This would also be a good use for country style ribs, if you can get them.
    The baking dish, now with seasoned meat on top of the onions and garlic.
  • Pour the little bit of water in under the meat, and cover the dish tightly with foil or a lid. (I skipped this, and wished I hadn't.)
  • Bake for 2½ hours, or until the meat is fork tender. Then it will be ready for saucing.

Cooking The Rice

  • When the meat gets tender, start the rice.
    Sauté the rice in the olive oil or butter for a few minutes, just until it starts smelling and looking a little toasty. This is optional, but it will give a little extra flavor and a more separate, fluffy texture.
  • Add the turmeric, and stir well to coat.
    A pan of lightly sautéed rice with a measure of turmeric powder added on top
  • Once that's well distributed, add in the frozen vegetables, broth, and seasonings.
    A bowl of mixed vegetables sits next to the rice pan.
  • Bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
  • Let sit off the heat, still covered, for 10 minutes. Then, uncover and fluff with a fork.
    After another 10 minutes or so to steam off, this can be covered up again to hold hot until the meat is ready to serve if necessary.

Finishing The Meat

  • Uncover the meat, and spread with barbecue sauce to your satisfaction. I went relatively light here, and used about half that bottle.
    Meat spread with sauce on top
  • Put back in the oven for 20-30 minutes
  • Let rest outside of the oven for 10-15 minutes before serving.
  • Enjoy!
    We ate this with some coleslaw that I put together last night, with a garlic-herb sour cream dressing. A green salad would also be delicious on the side.
    A plate with barbecue pork chop, the golden rice, and coleslaw