Grilled Pork Chops with Wild Rice & Sesame

Set the grill hot. Really hot. Two thick pork chops — that’s the anchor. Everything else builds from there. Wild rice soaks up the sesame-tamari glaze, peppers stay crisp, spinach doesn’t wilt if you time it right. Takes just over an hour total, most of it rice doing its thing while you’re not looking.

Why You’ll Love This Grilled Pork Chop Salad

Grill marks on pork. Every time. The meat gets smoky while it stays juicy, especially when you let it rest.

Asian flavors without a million ingredients — tamari, mirin, rice vinegar. That’s it. Works because they balance each other, sweet against sharp.

Salad that’s actually filling. Wild rice holds you longer than regular. Sits in your stomach different.

Room temperature or cold. Doesn’t matter. Tastes good either way, maybe better cold the next day.

Sesame seeds and cilantro do something. Can’t explain it. Just works.

What You Need for Boneless Pork Chop Recipes

Wild rice — 140 ml. Not long grain white. The chew matters here.

Two boneless pork chops, about 2 cm thick. Thinner and they dry out. Thicker takes forever.

Peppers. Red and yellow. Just because. Red’s sweeter, yellow’s milder, together they’re less aggressive than orange.

Green onions sliced thin. Not thick chunks. Thin so they stay snappy.

A quarter cup of sesame seeds — toasted. Raw ones taste like nothing. Burned ones taste like burnt.

Fresh cilantro. Two tablespoons. Not cilantro hater amount. Not “I grow cilantro” amount. Somewhere in the middle.

Rice vinegar, tamari, mirin — 2 tablespoons each. That’s the dressing. No oil. Doesn’t need it.

Baby spinach. Just a cup and a half. Goes in last so it doesn’t get sad and limp.

Salt and pepper. Obviously.

How to Make Grilled Pork Chops That Actually Work

Rinse the wild rice first. Cold water. Then pot, salted water about an inch over the top. Boil it hard, then drop the heat way down. Let it bubble gently for 45 to 60 minutes — you’re looking for the grains to split open but still have some resistance. Not mushy. Not al dente either. Somewhere between. When it’s done, dump it on a tray so it cools fast instead of steaming into paste.

The pork chops get oil on them. Both sides. Salt and pepper. Grill pan screaming hot — like one more second and it’ll burn hot. Set the chops down and don’t move them. Four minutes. You want dark lines, almost charred-looking stripes. Flip. Four more minutes. Press the thickest part — if juice runs clear, it’s done. If it’s pink, you miscounted.

Rest them under foil for 5 to 10 minutes. This part matters. The meat relaxes, juice redistributes. You don’t skip this. Then slice thin, against the grain — the knife should go perpendicular to those long muscle fibers.

How to Get the Seasoning Right on Grilled Pork Chop Recipes

While the rice is still warm, dump the peppers, green onions, cilantro, and sesame seeds in a bowl with it. Then — separate bowl — whisk rice vinegar, tamari, and mirin together. Drizzle it over the rice. Stir gently. The rice absorbs the liquid. That’s the whole flavor situation.

Taste it. Actually taste it. Mirin is sweet, so it rounds things out, but the vinegar should still cut through. If it tastes flat, add salt. Just a little. Tamari’s already salty, so you’re mostly fixing the balance.

Add the sliced pork. Fold it in gently so you don’t shatter the rice grains. Let the whole thing sit for 10 minutes. Flavors marry. That’s not just something people say — it actually happens. The warm components season each other.

If you want it cold, put it in the fridge instead. Takes longer but the textures tighten up. Peppers get crunchier. Pork gets firmer.

Air Fryer Pork Chops and Storage Tips

You can make this with air fryer fried pork chops instead. Works. Different though — less char, more even cook. Hit them at 400 for about 12 minutes, flip halfway. Check for doneness the same way. The meat doesn’t sit in rendered fat so the texture’s different, less smoky, more just… pork.

Spinach goes in right before serving. On top or folded through — doesn’t matter. Just don’t add it early or it’ll wilt into the warm rice and taste sad. If you’re eating this cold, the spinach actually works better because it doesn’t have heat to collapse it.

Storage: keeps for three days in the fridge. The rice keeps. Pork keeps. Spinach gets darker but still works. Sesame seeds don’t get soggy, which is surprising. Everything reheats cold fine — honestly tastes better cold.

Grilled Pork Chops with Wild Rice & Sesame

By Emma

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

55 min

Total:

1h 20min

Servings:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 140 ml wild rice
• 2 boneless pork chops about 2 cm thick
• 1 red bell pepper finely sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper finely sliced
• 3 green onions sliced thin
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tamari sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. 1 Rinse wild rice under cold water. Place in pot, cover with salted water, about 1 inch above rice. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook gently uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes — look for grains bursting open, but still some bite inside. Drain; spread on tray to cool quickly to avoid mush.
2. 2 Brush pork chops with oil, sprinkle salt and pepper. Preheat grill pan or outdoor grill until hot, a moment away from smoking. Sear chops about 4 minutes per side until dark grill lines form and meat is firm with slight spring. The juices should run clear when pressed in thickest area. Rest 5 to 10 minutes under foil to redistribute juices. Slice thinly against grain.
3. 3 In large bowl toss warm rice with red and yellow peppers, green onions, cilantro, toasted sesame seeds. Whisk rice vinegar, tamari, and mirin; drizzle over rice mixture. Stir gently but thoroughly. Taste for seasoning; add salt if needed — mirin adds sweetness, so balance with sharp vinegar.
4. 4 Add sliced pork to bowl, fold gently to combine. Let salad rest 10 minutes to marry flavors, or chill for a colder salad with firmer textures.
5. 5 Just before serving, add baby spinach leaves on top or fold quickly, so they stay bright green and crisp, not wilted. Serve at room temp or straight from fridge. The interplay between tender rice, smoky pork, crunchy seeds, and crisp peppers is key.

Nutritional information

Calories

370

Protein

29g

Carbs

38g

Fat

12g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Pork Chops Recipes

Can you make this with slow cooker pork chops instead of grilling? Yeah. Different dish though. Slow cooker makes them fall apart soft. This recipe needs structure from the grill — the char, the firm bite. You could do slow cooker pork chop recipes and just chop the meat finer, but you lose something.

How thick should the pork chops actually be? Two centimeters. Not one. Not three. That thickness means four minutes per side gets you done without drying out the outside while the inside catches up.

What if you can’t find mirin? Honey works. Same amount. Tastes slightly different — less floral, more straightforward sweet. Not worth hunting it down, but if you have it, use it.

Do you have to rest the pork? Yes. Five to 10 minutes under foil. If you skip it, the juice runs out when you slice. You’ll feel it. Meat goes dry on the plate.

Can you use a regular pork chop marinade instead of this dressing? Could. But then it’s not this recipe. The point is the dressing mixes with warm rice. The rice absorbs it instead of just sitting there. Different technique entirely.

What if the rice comes out mushy? You cooked it too long or at too high heat. Wild rice needs a gentle simmer, not a rolling boil the whole time. Watch for the grains to split. Most of them should, some won’t. That’s right.