Grilled Iowa Pork Chops Dijonnaise

Two mustards - Dijon and dry - ground together with butter into a paste that gets rubbed hard into the chops before they ever hit the grill. That’s the Dijonnaise part, and it builds a sharp, savory crust over the charcoal.

The real technique here is what happens after the initial sear. Each chop goes into foil with herb butter - softened butter worked with parsley, chives, and a squeeze of lemon - then sits back on the grill for 10 minutes. The butter melts into the meat while it finishes cooking, and what comes out is genuinely juicy in a way that straight-grilled pork chops rarely are.

You need a very hot charcoal fire for this. The directions are specific about that - low heat won’t give you the crust that makes the whole thing work.

Pro Tips

• Make the herb butter ahead of time. Roll it in plastic wrap and refrigerate; it keeps for days and works on grilled fish or steak too.
• Don’t skip the foil rest step. It’s tempting to serve straight off the grill but those 10 foil-wrapped minutes are doing real work.
• If using thick-cut Iowa-style chops, pull toward the longer end of the sear time (6 minutes per side) before wrapping.