Grill, bake, or panfry these incredibly tender, juicy, and amazingly flavorful tenderized pork loin sandwiches, and be prepared to want no other. Ever. again! Simply topped with jalapeños, thinly sliced red onion, and crumbled feta cheese placed upon a bed of lettuce, and all tucked into a buttery brioche bun, you’ll wonder why you’ve never thought to choose “the other white meat” for a most incredible sandwich experience!
A simple sandwich PACKED with wonderful flavors that you can cook indoors or out! Minimal ingredients and condiments make this the perfect weekend or midweek meal!
So, let’s get started!!
It all began when I was staring down a boring package of thick-cut pork loin chops thinking, GAWD I don’t want these!
But there they were. Torturing me. Laughing at me. Challenging me. So, I decided to show them who’s boss and just turn them into something easy and unexpected, and so delicious that they’d have to apologize!
So, I thought to try to actually make sandwiches out of them, instead of the usual ho-hum pork loin chop recipes. But they were going to need to be prepped first. Or they’d just be too hard to eat and not nearly tender enough to easily bite through. That does not a fun sandwich make.
I started by butterflying them….
…then pounding them with the flat side of a meat mallet to get started, then pounded them a LOT, with the spike-y tenderizing side. I pounded these quite a bit, on both sides, until thin and quite tenderized, but still holding together well.
Next, I made up a killer marinade and popped them into the fridge for 4 hours, turning the bag every now and then to make sure that the marinade got into every single little crevice.
Once the butterflied pork loin chops have had lots of time to soak in all that yumminess, cook them any way that you’d like. I grilled ours, but you could certainly panfry them as well if you’d prefer.
But they only take minutes on each side with the lid closed, so grilling is actually ideal! And even though it makes a bit of a mess on the grill, it’s a lot less mess than on the kitchen stove! And one less pan to wash, too!
And always, always, always, spread the insides of your buns with GOOD butter and grill them!
Then add a little lettuce on the bottom….
…place that GORGEOUS pork chop on top….
….and sprinkle with crumbled feta or queso blanco, pickled jalapeño slices, and thinly sliced red onion!
And that’s just basically it! Pop on the top, and DIG IN!!!
So tender that you can easily sink your teeth right on in!
These were one of the BEST pork sandwiches I’ve ever tasted! And so tender, that you can just bite right through! SO tender and juicy that there was no battle with having to chew and chew! The key was to really pound them over and over with the spiked side of the mallet to tenderize them!
And of course the incredible marinade that I came up with, too! SO much flavor! So much deliciousness!!
I do hope that if you still have decent weather that you’ll toss these onto the grill this weekend! That little bit of char was HEAVENLY! If the weather isn’t cooperating though, you could certainly just toss them into a frying pan, no probs!
But I do hope that no matter how you plan on cooking them, that you make these wonderful , “OH So Tender Chipotle Orange Pork Sandwiches” soon! Hope you all enjoy as much as we did!
Oh So Tender Chipotle Orange Pork Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 4 thick-cut boneless pork loin chops, butterflied, pounded and well tenderized
For Marinade:
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 2 Tbl. brown sugar
- 2 Tbl. orange juice
- 2 Tbl. balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbl. pureed chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1 Tbl. pickled jalapeño brine from the jar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced, 3 if they're small
- 1/2 tsp. spicy brown or whole grain mustard
Rest of Ingredients:
- lettuce
- thinly sliced red onion
- pickled jalapeño rings
- crumbled cheese such as feta, queso fresco, or goat cheese
- brioche buns
- melted Minerva Dairy Butter (for buns)
Instructions
Trim fat from chops, butterfly, pound to make even, then use the tenderizing side of mallet and pound thin, turning and pounding each side quite a lot. Place into a ziplock baggie.
In small bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients, pour into bag. Turn bag over and over making sure that the marinade coats each chop well. Place into fridge and marinate for 4 hours, turning each hour.
Heat grill to medium heat, place chops onto grill, close lid and cook for 4 - 6 minutes. Turn and grill until done. Remove to a plate to rest. (*You can also panfry these if desired.)
Butter insides of buns and grill until toasted. Top bottom buns with lettuce leaves, a grilled pork chop, jalapeño slices, thinly sliced onion, and sprinkle with crumbled cheese. Place on top buns and enjoy!!
