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The next time you want Grilled Pork Chops, take them to the next level by making this super easy, yet elegant, Wine Brown Butter Sauce. Pair it with a bottle of delicious Prosecco Superiore, and you’ve got yourself an incredible meal for date night or entertaining guests.

I’m passionate about our bubbly around here. And ever since traveling to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region of Northeast Italy, home of the best Prosecco, I’ve been preaching my love non-stop for the sparkling wines from this region.

And one of the things I love most about sparkling wine, especially Prosecco, is how well it pairs with a diverse variety of foods. And this brown butter sauce recipe was inspired by my trip there.

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Sourcing Pork Chops

Since we’re grilling these pork chops, and you want them to cook evenly, you want thick chops. I mean like 1 ½ – 2 inches thick. Having thicker chops helps prevent overcooking your pork. You can go bone-in or boneless.

This is a good recipe for any type of pork chops. They come available just like beef steaks, meaning they can be ribeye, T-Bone, loin, tenderloin steaks, or even Tomahawks. Just look for thick chops for this. And adjust the timing of the grill to the desired internal temperature you want to achieve.

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Pork Chop Seasoning

Next we’re going to season it with our herbed dry rub.  This is going to add great flavor as the grilled pork chop sears.

• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• dried oregano
• garlic powder
• dried sage

We avoid sugar when grilling to avoid the rub from burning over high heat. See recipe card for portions.

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How to Grill Pork Chops

We often love to do a reverse sear method of grilling on our pork chops. But for a quicker cook we’re sticking to grilling hot and fast for this recipe.

1. Prepare your grill for two-zone grilling targeting 400 – 450 degrees Fahrenheit in the cooking chamber.
2. Place the seasoned pork chops over direct heat for 5 minutes per side or until you see a nice flavor crust on the outside.
3. Move the pork chops to indirect heat and finish until the reach your desired internal temperature. We like our pork medium rare and pull them when the internal temperature is 135 degrees F.
4. Let rest for 10 minutes and then serve. After you pull the pork it will continue cooking another 5 degrees with carry over cooking.

If you don’t have a grill, you can mimic these same instructions over a searing hot cast iron pan on your stovetop.

Note: The USDA recommends cooking pork to 145 degrees F, however we like to cook it to medium rare because we know and trust the pork we source. Cook to your desired temperature versus time. Use a good quality instant read thermometer like the Thermoworks Thermapen One.

Once they are resting, make your wine brown butter sauce.

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How to Make Wine Brown Butter Sauce

You can do this on a cast iron pan directly on your grill, or on the stovetop. Your choice.

1. Start by melting butter in a pan (use a cast iron skillet if doing this directly on your grill). Let the butter slowly simmer for about 5-6 minutes, until you start to see the butter start to turn a darker shade of brown.
2. Next add your chopped shallots, garlic, sage, and salt. Let it mix until the vegetables soften and the sage starts to fry (about two minutes). If the skillet is too hot, move it to indirect heat or reduce flame. You don’t want to burn the shallots.
3. Then pour in the wine and let it simmer one more minute. That’s it! So simple and it adds incredible flavor to your pork chops. Total time is about 9 minutes.

The last thing you need to do is to be sure to pour yourself a glass of wine to pair with this simple, yet elegant dish to find out for yourself how great sparkling wines from this region can pair with grilled meat!

A good substitution for the Prosecco Superiore for the brown butter sauce is a Brut (dry) sparkling wine.

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Wine Pairing with Pork Chops

There are a million pairing options for Prosecco Superiore, but one of my favorite things to debunk is the idea of pairing sparkling wine with meat. If you are wondering if red wine or white wine is better with pork chops, the answer is both. Most folks will default to red wine or a rich white wine for a meat pairing (especially grilled meat).

But sparkling, and Prosecco Superiore in particular, have both the richness and acidity to handle so many cuts of meat. Pork chops have a great natural sweetness to them, and when grilled take on a fantastic smoky char. The brown butter sauce we use is finished off with some of the Prosecco Superiore giving it a depth of flavor and acidity to brighten up the grilled meat and bring everything together.

Alternatively you can use any dry sparkling wine, oaked Chardonnay, or lighter style red wine like Pinot Noir.

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Related Recipes

For more grilled pork chop and roast recipe inspirations, check out our collection.

• Reverse Seared Pork Chops (Smoked and Seared)
• Maple and Soy Marinated Pork Chops on the Grill
• Tomahawk Pork Chops
• Grilled Pork Chops with Red Wine Pan Sauce
• Grilled and Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

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Best Sides for Grilled Pork Chops

We love a good parsnip puree to soak up the sauce. Alternatively you can make the following side dishes:

• Roasted Potatoes
• Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes
• Grilled Broccolini
• Grilled Asparagus
• Hasselback style potato au gratin

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This recipe was originally published in December 2018, and updated in May 2022 with more details. The recipe remains the same.

f you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes. 

About Vindulge

Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.

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