I’m pretty sure that there is not a single food without a national day dedicated to it. Really. If it’s a food people love (and maybe even if it’s NOT), there’s a day where we all celebrate its awesomeness.
Honestly, I’m entirely on board with this trend. Instead of getting a whole heap of judgment when you buy a birthday cake for yourself on any day other than your birthday, you can just pick a food, find its special day, and TREAT YOURSELF. Even better, some foods get a whole MONTH. Like PEACHES. The WHOLE, ENTIRE month of August is all about the delicious, sweet peach. Fitting, no?
Which makes this a great time to introduce our partnership with the delightful California Cling Peach. Did you know that cling peaches are the variety used for canning and that you don’t even have to wait for Peach Month since they’re available year-round? YOU HEARD ME. ALL PEACH, ALL THE TIME.
This yummy recipe is a lot of things: spicy-sweet cling peach salsa over caramelized, grilled pork chops, adding up to one heck of a dinner. Perfect for grilling on the back patio now- and since you’ll still be able to find these tasty peaches in December, ALSO perfect for topping glazed pork chops then. Yeessssssss.
Cling peaches come in a few varieties: halves, slices, chunks. For this recipe, I chose to use halves packed in juice, but feel free to mix it up with slices in syrup. Or chunks in syrup! Or a Lite version! Any option available will work.
Another note: shop for California Cling Peaches that are a product of the USA- this means your peaches will have been canned domestically instead of imported! (There is a designation right on the can, but if you want to make sure you get it right, there’s a handy dandy guide right here on the California Cling Peach website.)
My market was fresh out of jalapenos (inconceivable!), so I chose some serrano peppers instead. This makes for a spicier salsa, but substitute jalapeno or even half a green bellpepper for a mild version.
- one 15 oz can Cling Peach halves in juice (drain halves, but remember to reserve the juice!), chopped into small chunks
- 1/4 red onion, chopped fine
- one serrano pepper, cleaned of seeds and chopped into small pieces
- two tablespoons chopped cilantro
- juice of one lime
- one tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup reserved juice (from the can of Cling Peaches)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- Four pork chops
- salt and pepper
- Combine cling peaches, onion, pepper, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper into a bowl. Stir well and set aside.
- Whisk together cling peach juice and sugar until blended.
- Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towl, then liberally apply salt and pepper to their outsides.
- Set each chop on a grill over medium heat and cook 3-4 minutes per side to sear. Baste as often as desired with the peach glaze.
- Your chops are finished cooking when they reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.
- Top each chop with salsa.
- The salsa tastes great when made ahead and is delicious on all sorts of meats. Try it on chicken or fish!
You might be able to tell, but this is one of those crowd-pleaser recipes where folks take a bite and pile on some more salsa and tell you how yummy it all is.
Want to know more about the salsa specifically? It’s DELICIOUS. Great texture, tons of flavor, and hits all the spicy/sweet spots you could possibly want.
This post was created in collaboration with the California Cling Peach Board. Thank you for supporting the brands we love that love us! ?
Your photos looked so amazing! I always love peaches, peach ice tea, canned peaches, etc…they are so versatile and taste good with anything….thank you for your recipe….printing it! 🙂
This recipe sounds delicious, and the photos are GORGEOUS! I want this for dinner. Scratch that. I want this for breakfast right now! Peaches are one of my favorite fruits, so National Peach Month sounds like my new favorite food holiday 🙂
I love peaches with pork and this salsa recipe looks amazing! Beautiful photos, too — those grill marks are perfect!
Goodness sakes these photos are downright stunning (made even more stunning by those grill marks – someone is the king of grilling;). Can I invite myself over for dinner for this? BE RIGHT THERE!
This is a fantastic combo! And, I have all the ingredients and needed a dinner idea for today. Great timing!