It all started with some pork chops that were lurking in my freezer.  I wanted to cook them, but I knew that I wanted to do something different with them.

I set them out to thaw, and as I was considering what to do with them, I remembered my mother’s smothered steak.  Smothered pork chops seemed like a good idea.  I had mini bell peppers in my fridge that I needed to use.  I almost always have onions and garlic.  I decided to go to work.

The first thing I did was to season the thawed pork chops with ranch dressing mix.  The powdered stuff.  I make my own from a recipe I found years ago somewhere on the internet, but this recipe will work just as well with the stuff from the pouch.

I allowed the pork chops to rest after I applied the ranch dressing mix on both sides while I sliced and chopped all of the other ingredients.  I chopped the garlic cloves, and julienned 1/2  of a large onion.  Since I had only mini bell peppers, I used three of them, sliced into julienne strips.  The amount of peppers was equal to the amount from 1 1/2 regular sized bell peppers.  We prefer red, orange, or yellow peppers, so that’s what I used.   I also sliced a pint container of grape tomatoes in half, but kept them separate from the other vegetables.

I heated my skillet then added 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  The pork chops were then added to the pan and allowed to sear for 1-2 minutes per side. 

You want to get a little carmelization on the meat for flavor.   The meat is only searing in the hot skillet.  It will have more time to cook later. 

Remove the pork chops from the skillet and set them aside.  They don’t need to be cooked completely, they will return to the pan again to finish cooking with the vegetables. 

Place the garlic, onions, and peppers into the skillet where you seared the pork chops.   Stir them around in the pan for a while. 

Continue sautéing the vegetables until they are crisp tender.  This should take 2-3 minutes at most. 

Once the vegetables are ready, spread them out in the pan and arrange the pork chops on top of them. 

Pour the halved grape tomatoes on top of the pork chops in the pan. 

Add a can of cream of mushroom soup to the pan on top of the tomatoes, pork chops, and other vegetables.    Cover the pan and allow to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.   During this time, the tomatoes will cook and release their liquid and the peppers and onions will also sweat.  The soup mix will mix with all this liquid and produce a wonderful vegetable filled gravy that will cover your chop, and whatever starchy side you choose to serve.

This is delicious when served with a side of cauliflower mashed potatoes, but you can serve it over rice or pasta.    Whip up some smothered ranch pork chops for your family and let me know what you think.  As always, Thanks for visiting Patty Cake’s Pantry.