My grandmother made this every Sunday during hard times, and it fed the whole family. She always said the simplest meals stick with you the longest.

There is something mighty comforting about a supper built from just a few pantry staples, and these oven baked 3-ingredient pork chops with canned butter beans are proof that plain cooking can still be deeply satisfying. This is the kind of thrifty Midwestern casserole that showed up on many Sunday tables when money was tight and families needed a hot, filling meal that could stretch without fuss. As the pork chops bake, their juices settle down into the beans and turn a humble can of butter beans into something rich, savory, and worth remembering.

Serve this dish with a pan of cornbread, boiled potatoes, or a simple spoonful of white rice to soak up those good pork juices. If you want a little color on the plate, cooked green beans, stewed tomatoes, or a crisp cabbage slaw make fine company. For Sunday dinner, I like to put out sliced onions, pickles, and a pot of hot coffee afterward, just the way many farm families once did.

Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Pork Chops with Canned Butter Beans

Servings: 4

Golden browned pork chops with butter beans in a vintage amber Pyrex dish

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick
2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) butter beans, drained
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Pork chops, canned butter beans, and onion soup mix on a kitchen table

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or vintage casserole dish.

2. Spread the drained butter beans evenly in the bottom of the dish, then sprinkle the dry onion soup mix all over the beans.

Butter beans topped with onion soup mix in a casserole dish

3. Lay the pork chops on top of the seasoned beans in a single layer, pressing them down just slightly so the juices can bake into the beans.

Raw pork chops arranged over seasoned butter beans in a baking dish

4. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

5. Remove the foil and continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the pork chops are tender and browned and the beans are hot and soaking in the pan juices.

Baked pork chops browning over butter beans after the foil is removed

6. Let the dish rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving so the juices can settle, then spoon the beans onto plates and top each serving with a pork chop.

Plated pork chop with butter beans and simple sides

Variations & Tips

Add a little pepper: If you keep a pepper shaker by the stove, a light dusting of black pepper over the pork chops before baking gives the dish a little more backbone without changing its simple nature.

Use boneless chops carefully: Boneless pork chops will work, but they tend to cook faster and can dry out if left too long. Start checking them about 10 minutes early.

Make it stretch farther: For a bigger family meal, add an extra can of drained butter beans and bake in a larger dish. You will have more of those savory beans to spoon around the table.

Keep the beans from drying: If your pork chops are especially lean and the dish looks dry during the uncovered baking time, add a small splash of water before returning it to the oven.

Try a country-style version: A few thin onion slices laid over the top before baking are not part of the original 3 ingredients, but they bake down sweet and soft and give the casserole an old-fashioned Sunday dinner feel.