Keto Chinese BBQ Pork "Char Siu" (2024)

Hey there! Do you miss Chinese take-out? I know I do. Keto BBQ Pork “char siu” is just as good and it won’t kick you out of Ketosis.

Marinating the meat takes a little while but it’s easy and SOOOO WORTH IT!

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I LOVE CHINESE FOOD!

So, I made the marinade before work and cooked it in the evening. The longer you let it marinate the better it will be.

You can make this ahead and freeze it for later too. Just make sure your freezer bag is airtight.

Lets get started….

Keto BBQ Pork Ingredients:

• 2 Pounds Pork Tenderloin Or sirloin roast, sliced thin and sized for skewers.

You can also use this sauce on ribs or a small pork roast. But I prefer the skewer method because it distributes more sauce (and flavor). But it does take loner. The choice is yours.

• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup Sugar Free Ketchup.

You can buy this in almost any store now, but if you want to make your own (it tastes better), then check out this recipe on Cookinglsl.com. You can make it pretty quickly.

• 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar Allulose

Plain allulose can be used but flavor will be different. Still great…but it won’t have the brown sugar taste like the take-out version does.

• 1/8 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1-2 tsp Natural Peanut Butter (No sugar) *Optional
  

Making Authentic Char Siu includes Hoisin Sauce and Honey.

Sadly, hoisin sauce contains a boatload of carbs. You could develop your own Keto Friendly Hoisin sauce but I don’t think it’s necessary. Just add a teaspoon or two of natural peanut butter (the kind with no sugar) to get the authentic Char Siu BBQ taste.

I tried it both ways (with and without peanut butter). Honestly, I like it a little better without it.

Thom likes the sauce with the peanut butter and the tween says she can’t tell any difference since they were eaten several days apart. So I guess that means she liked them both.

• 15 Drops Red Food Coloring *Optional (This makes it “look” like take out and does not affect taste.)
  

If you are a visual type of person and want it to “look” like take out you can add some red food coloring to the sauce.

I don’t usually like to do this but if you like that red color than go for it. (Be careful with food coloring’s…some contain some nasty additives).

I have heard that you can use red bean curd to color your sauce but I have never used it or seen it any store so….IDK.

• 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder * Optional
• 2 tsp Sesame Oil I usually brush it on after cooking because high heat destroys the flavor.
  

Keto BBQ Pork “Char Sui” Instructions:

• Put all ingredients Except Pork in a small sauce pan.
• Continuously stir over med/high heat just until beginning to boil around the edges.
• Turn off heat.

The Pork

• Slice pork into .5 inch by 1.5-2 inch wide strips. (It is easier to slice the pork thin if it is slightly frozen). Don’t get crazy here, they don’t have to be perfect. You just want to be able to get reasonable pieces on a skewer.
• Put the pork in a gallon Ziploc bag and pour in 3/4 of the sauce.
• Massage bag until all of the pork is covered in sauce.
• Marinate in fridge for 2 to 24 hours.

Cooking the Keto BBQ Pork

• Pre-heat oven to 425F.
• Place the pork strips on skewers. Discard the marinade left in the bag.
• Place skewers across aluminum lined broiler pan so that the skewers are not directly touching the surface of the pan. (See Photo)
• Roast for 40 minutes basting the meat with the leftover sauce half way through the cooking time. (You can turn on the broiler during the last 2-3 minutes if you want the pork further “charred”)
• Remove from oven and skewers.
• Serve with Cauliflower Fried Rice, Asian Greens or stir fry veggies.

Keto BBQ Pork Tips:

• Put your roast in the freezer for a while before your start.

It’s easier to slice meat if it is slightly frozen. You can cut your meat into strips or chunks. It doesn’t matter. I prefer strips.

• Make your sauce and slice the meat while it’s cooling.

It’s okay to pour slightly warm sauce into the Ziploc bag with the meat. But you don’t want it to be really hot.

Plastic bags and heat never go together. And, you don’t want anything funky going on. You don’t want warm sauce on your raw meat for too long.

• The image below contains peanut butter.

I whisked it, but don’t expect natural peanut butter to completely blend in. See? It’s fine if it doesn’t completely blend in. I am only telling you this in case you are worried that something has gone awry.

• Let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours.

Longer marinating times result in more flavorful and tender meat. But if you just found this recipe and are dying for take-out Char Siu…I get it.

In any case, give it at least two hours to work it’s magic and longer if you can.

• Get your meat on the skewers.

I always wear latex gloves when I do messy work like this. They are a skin saver if you cook a lot.

I used long metal skewers like these in one test recipe and wooden skewers in the next.

I like the long metal skewers since we don’t eat this right off of the skewers anyway and they were easier to prop up cross-ways in my broiler pan.

I didn’t let the meat rest directly on the pan so that I didn’t have to turn them while roasting.

If your pan is too large to do this than just turn the skewers when you baste them half way through the cooking time.

Either way…use foil in your pan to catch drippings. Once this sauce is burned on to your pan it’s a b!#@h to clean off.

• These take about 40 minutes to cook @ 425F.

Char Siu usually includes a little bit of sesame oil in the sauce. But authentic Char Siu is also cooked on a BBQ grill.

I developed this recipe in my oven on high heat to get the meat slightly charred. And, sesame oil’s smoking point is different depending on what kind you use.

You can make these on the grill if you want to but I didn’t want the mess (or the long waiting time). Plus, it snows at my house 8-9 months out of the year…I don’t grill too much but if you love your grill than you can stop here and make the sauce. Cheers!

Just look at those flavorful strips…yum.

• You can use this sauce on ribs too!

This is a sure crowd pleaser whether or not they have joined in the low carb lifestyle.

• This meat freezes well if you want to make it ahead of time.

If you are going to freeze some of this pork for later, just make sure that you get all of the air out of the freezer bag.

• I like this meat added to Keto fried rice.

Look at this deliciousness…

• Last tip…if your meat is not charred to your liking, you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two before removing from the oven.

I like a little bit of “burn” on my protein but this step is really up to you.

This is so low carb that you are going to have room in your macros for a low carb dessert…

Or you can cool down with a Keto co*cktail. Check ’em out!

If you Love Barbecue…

Even though it snows 6-8 months out of the year here in the High Rocky Mountains, we LOVE to grill. And, recently my path crossed with an expert over at Carnivorestyle.com.

If you love to grill (who on keto doesn’t?), check out their 3-2-1 Barbecue Method for mouthwatering eats. It’s simple and it WORKS!

The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. We take great care to provide the most accurate information. But, if you ever feel like anything is off on this site or ANY site, you should feel free to do your own calculations.