Mango Barbecued Pork Chops

Sharing is caring!

Upgrade your BBQ game with these juicy and succulent Mango Barbecued Pork Chops. The perfect balance of sweet and tangy will have your taste buds dancing!

 

What do you think of when you see or hear the word tropical? For me, it’s beaches (duh), pina coladas, pineapple, coconut, mangoes, dragon fruit, kiwi (yeah, I don’t know why that one either); foods like that. So, when I saw this week’s theme, my mind flooded with a ton of recipes for pineapple, coconut, etc. Of course, it went to the sweets side of my brain; cupcakes, pie, cookies, bars, and other delicious sweet treats. And that’s when I stopped myself because we have a new grill and I wanted to grill something tropical.

 

That led my brain down a completely different path. I went to jerk seasonings, grilled shrimp salads, and fish wrapped in pineapple rind and grilled. Have you seen that one? I’m dying to try it, actually. We just don’t get really fresh fish for it to be worth it.

 

 

I had to pick a path down this road and allow my brain to focus. It will run rampant if I’m not careful and I’ll just never be organized enough to participate. And I really wanted to participate in this week’s event!! So, I went down the path of mango goodness. I love mangos. Their succulent sweet flesh has a flavor that I just can’t resist. I can easily pound a whole bag of dried mango without a second glance. So, the obvious choice for me was mango, but mango what?

 

Mango inspired recipes

 

Grilled mangos? Grilled shrimp with mango sauce? Mango sauce….mango barbecue sauce! Perfect! On chicken? Nah. We eat too much chicken lately. Ribs? Nah. Pork! Perfect! It’s tender and juicy enough and doesn’t have an overpowering flavor so you won’t taste the sauce. And I have been on a bit of a barbecue sauce kick lately so, mango barbecue pork chops it is!

 

 

If you haven’t made your own barbecue sauce, you really should. The flavors are amazing! You can put whatever herbs and spices you want in the sauce. You can make barbecue sauce with fruits, vegetables, ketchup, mustard, vinegar; the sky, and the flavors, are the limit! This sauce has mostly mango, some ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and my favorite spices: paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder.

 

 

Life gets in the way of plans

 

I had planned on making this whole dish this week. That so didn’t work out. We were supposed to finish putting the new grill together last weekend. It started to rain. I was going to finish putting it together last week. It was cold and icky all this week. I planned on finishing it today.  And I did with the help of the hubs.  The hubs and that trick about peeling a mango on a glass.  Yes.  That actually does work!  Which was nice after the day we had.

 

We dealt with no electricity, GCFI issues, relocating bushes, planting dianthus, installing stone borders, and finishing the grill.  As I started to make this dish it started to rain.  Yeah.  And now I sit here totally exhausted and needing a massage.

 

 

Exhausted but happy to have eaten a delicious meal of mango barbecued pork chops, grilled corn, and pineapple couscous.  Did you know you can throw corn, unshucked, on the grill and cook it?  And it’s totally amazing?  Well, you can.

 

This sauce is delicious! I made it, refrigerated it, pureed it and asked the hubs for thoughts on tweaking it. It needed a little more vinegar to brighten the flavor, some garlic powder and some heat with cayenne. Perfect! It’s sweet with a little tang and some heat. Just right for a cold, rainy day at AKHA.

Sides and Accompaniments

• Cucumber Salad with Blackberry Browned Butter Vinaigrette from Nik Snacks
• Jacques’ Cucumber Salad with Onions from Food Lust People Love

Main Dishes

• Bistecca from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Competition Baby Back Ribs with Apple-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce from Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Grilled Clams with Chorizo from Noshing With The Nolands
• Grilled Wings from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Steak Skewers with Chimichurri from Jelly Toast
• Sweet and Tangy Blueberry BBQ Chicken Pizza from Simply Gourmet

Desserts

• Banana Pudding Pie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Old Fashioned Sour Cherry Pie from Pies and Plots