Spiced Pork Chops & Tomato Quinoa Salad
with Lime Crema & Cilantro Sauce
- Milk
When it comes to pork chops, we’re always looking for two things: a deeply browned crust and juicy, tender meat. Enter these Mexican-spiced pan-seared beauties. Two more things to love about this meal? Sauces–two of them!: a bright, tangy cilantro number that complements the rich meat, and a cooling lime crema. Add a fresh quinoa-tomato salad with crunchy pepitas and scallions and what more could you want? Oh, one more thing: This fab dinner idea cooks in just 30 minutes. :)
Ingredients
1 unit
Veggie Stock Concentrate
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Quinoa
10 ounce
Pork Chops
1 unit
Tomato
1 unit
Lime
2 unit
Scallions
1 tablespoon
Mexican Spice Blend
¼ ounce
Cilantro
½ ounce
Pepitas
Not included in your delivery
4 tablespoon (tbsp)
Olive Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• In a small pot, bring ¾ cup salted water (1½ cups for 4 servings) to a boil. Stir in quinoa and stock concentrate; cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until quinoa is tender and liquid has absorbed, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for at least 5 minutes (you’ll finish the quinoa in Step 5).
• While quinoa cooks, wash and dry produce. • Zest and quarter lime. Finely chop cilantro. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens; mince whites. Dice tomato into ½-inch pieces.
• Pat pork* dry with paper towels and season all over with half the Mexican Spice Blend (all for 4 servings), a big pinch of salt, and pepper. • Heat a large drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.
• While pork cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, half the lime zest, and salt. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. • In a separate small bowl, combine cilantro, scallion whites, 1 tsp olive oil (2 tsp for 4 servings), juice from one lime wedge (two wedges for 4), and as much remaining lime zest as you like. Season generously with salt and pepper. Taste and add more lime juice if desired.
• Stir tomato, scallion greens, pepitas, 1 TBSP olive oil (2 TBSP for 4 servings), juice from two lime wedges (four lime wedges for 4), and a pinch of salt and pepper into bowl with quinoa.
• Slice pork crosswise. • Divide pork and tomato quinoa salad between plates. Drizzle pork with lime crema and cilantro sauce. Serve with any remaining lime wedges on the side.
Pork is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many enjoyed the pork's seasoning and sauces, though some found the dish bland or overly acidic.
- Ease of prep: Quinoa cooking instructions were problematic; many reported undercooked or crunchy quinoa despite following directions.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more vegetables, adjusting quinoa-to-water ratio, and offering alternative grains like rice or couscous.
- Portions: Some found the meal light and refreshing, while others felt portions were too small to be filling.
- Texture: The combination of crunchy pepitas and quinoa was divisive; consider toasting pepitas for enhanced flavor.
Reviews from our home cooks
Very good. Although we had only the two person kit I used all of the spice for the chops. The flavor was nice but not terribly hot spice-wise. If choosing this meal again I may add some hot sauce to the Crema and maybe some good salsa to the Quinoa salad or more chili powder to the spice mix.
Needed garlic included, and I would have really liked a little more cilantro. Loved the quinoa, lime, spices and the meat was good quality as usual. I think cherry or grape tomatoes might be a better choice with this, especially since this time of year romas, etc., are really bland and tasteless.
This meal was surprisingly tasty! The pork chops cooked up tender and the sauces on them were great. The Quinoa salad was a surprise and was very tasty.
Decently good - the tomato sent was only 1/2 ripe (this is 2nd time that's happened). Quinoa would have been better with ripe tomato and a little more seasoning. I should have put the remainder of Mexican spice seasoning in it.
We had mixed reviews on this one. 3 out of 4 of us loved it. My Dad's pork chop was so tough he couldn't eat it. He didn't care for the Quinoa either, but the rest of us did. Had his pork chop not been so tough I would have given it this 4 stars.
This was great! Next time, I'd serve the quinoa piping hot, not cooled to a room temperature salad.
The quinoa salad was unexpectedly yummy. That said, it's not family friendly because even my non-picky husband wouldn't try it. Although I liked it, I probably wouldn't order it again because it was a big no for my family.
This was the best recipe ever! I don't know how you got the pork chops to be so tender, but it was an amazing dish!
Most flavorful and our favorite meal of the week! Loved the lime cream sauce and cilantro onion mix to go on top!
You did it again HelloFresh, this meal was SO GOOD. We were so amazed by this dish. It was my first time trying quinoa and I was not disappointed in the slightest. This meal is amazing and simple to prepare.
