The easiest paprikash sauce for restaurant-style pork chops

In traditional paprikash, flour is stirred into sour cream to keep it from splitting when added to the hot pepper sauce, but in the keto diet, that’s not allowed, so the sour cream and sauce are served separately here. Hungarian wax peppers are very common in most grocery stores and, along with hot paprika, lend the sauce its distinctive flavor; though not the exact same, you can substitute Cubanelles, sweet banana peppers or small yellow bell peppers in a pinch.

Keto Pork Chop Paprikash

35 minutes. Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons everyday olive oil
• 4 bone-in pork chops, cut 1 inch thick (about 10 ounces each)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 Hungarian wax, Cubanelle or sweet banana peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons hot Hungarian paprika (or 5 teaspoons sweet paprika and 1 teaspoon cayenne)
• Sour cream, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper, then add 2 chops to the skillet and cook, flipping once halfway through, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Transfer the chops to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining 2 chops; wipe the skillet clean and reserve.
3. Place the chops in the oven and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each reads 160 degrees, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. While the chops bake, return the skillet to medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the red pepper, season with salt and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes. Stir in the Hungarian wax peppers and continue cooking until all the peppers are soft and caramelized at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes more. Stir in the tomato paste and paprika, and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 ¼ cups water and stir until evenly combined. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer to blend flavors, about 1 minute more. Remove the paprikash sauce from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
5. Divide the pork chops among plates and top each with some paprikash sauce and serve with sour cream on the side.

Variations:
Mushroom: Swap 1 medium yellow onion and 4 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced, for the sweet peppers and swap 1 tablespoon dried mushroom powder for the paprika.

Creole cream: Swap 1 small yellow onion and 1 small green bell pepper for the sweet peppers, swap 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves and ½ teaspoon cayenne for the paprika, and swap 1 ½ cups heavy cream for the water; omit the sour cream.

Mustard leek: Swap 3 large (or 6 small) leeks, thinly sliced, for the sweet peppers and swap 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard for the tomato paste; reduce the paprika to 1 teaspoon.

Macros (per serving):
Fat: 44 g
Carbs: 8.4 g
Protein: 60.5 g