This recipe for Keto Chinese BBQ Pork is also known as Char Siu. It's a zero carb food that makes a great low carb appetizer or main.
Oy.
My fire alarm has been going off all morning as I cooked up this Keto Chinese BBQ Pork recipe. I have an overly cautious fire alarm, I'm afraid.
It reminded me of something funny that I read the other day.
"I wish my fire alarm had a button for 'I'm just cooking." Ain't that the truth.
The fire alarm was going off because I steamed a Keto BBQ pork tenderloin in the oven, and I had to open the oven door to baste it a couple times.
It got pretty steamy up in here. But the end result was worth it. I had a zero carb Chinese BBQ pork tenderloin or "char siu". Regular BBQ pork has somewhere between 8-10g net carbs per serving, which is crazypants. 10 carbs? For meat? No thank you.
Luckily we can make the BBQ sauce sugar-free very easily.
I based this recipe on a "healthified" char siu from the the Skinny Fork. She used a pork tenderloin instead of the usual pork butt to cut down on fat, but if you are on a fat loving Ketogenic diet, you might want to switch back to pork butt.
How'd this Keto Chinese BBQ Pork get so red?
I used red food coloring to make the Chinese BBQ sauce look authentic, but if you are just making it for yourself, you should probably skip the red dye. It's a bit of a mess.
Besides, you'll have your hands full dealing with the fire alarm.
📋 Recipe
Keto Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
This recipe for low carb Keto Chinese BBQ pork is also known as Char Siu.
- Prep Time: 4:25
- Cook Time: 1:20
- Total Time: 5 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
2-3 pounds pork tenderloin (2 one pound pork tenderloins)
BBQ Sauce:
½ cup sugar-free pancake syrup
6 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
6 tablespoons coconut aminos or soy sauce
½ cup Swerve or equivalent granulated sweetener
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice blend
1 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)
Instructions
1. Wash pork tenderloins and dry with paper towels. Trim the fat from the pork tenderloins.
2. If using food coloring, wear plastic gloves when handling BBQ sauce. Add all BBQ sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until garlic is liquified, 30 seconds.
3. Add BBQ sauce to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until somewhat thickened. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
4. Add pork tenderloins and BBQ sauce to a 1 gallon plastic bag and coat all sides with sauce.
5. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill a large casserole dish or roasting pan with water and place a cooling rack on top. Place pork tenderloins on rack and put it in the oven. Add left over BBQ Sauce to a small bowl.
7. Roast for 45-60 minutes until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. Remove from the oven every 10 minutes during roasting to turn the pork tenderloins and brush both sides with more BBQ sauce.
8. Allow pork tenderloins to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting into ¼ thick slices.
Notes
Nutritional Info is for a 2 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 8 (¼ pound) servings
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ pound
- Calories: 224
- Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 30
Keywords: Low Carb BBQ Park, Keto BBQ Pork, Low Carb Char Sui, Keto Char Sui
If you liked this Chinese appetizer, then you might like my recipes for Scallion Pancakes, Dumplings and Chicken Potstickers.
Jennifer says
I have this marinating now so cannot comment on the final product, but will say that the bbq sauce is DIVINE. I can't imagine this won't be amazing after tasting the sauce and letting the pork marinate all day. I am using a pork loin rather than tenderloin or butt, because that's what I had on hand, but hopefully it still turns out okay. I cut it in 3 long pieces to more closely mimic a tenderloin. I also added a touch of ACV in place of some of the rice vinegar because I read it's supposed to help humans better break down pork. Who knows if it's true, but it didn't alter the taste so I figured might as well. I'll serve it with some fried cauli-rice tonight. Wanted to share a tip in case it's helpful. There is a lot of conflicting info on dyes and I'm on the fence over them and erring on the side of caution since I'm pregnant, and I know you said the dye could be skipped, but I do so love that red red pork so wanted more authenticity. Anyway, I know beets have carbs, but I happened to have some frozen sliced beets in the freezer because my young daughter is obsessed with them. I added a very small slice (probably equivalent to a teaspoon-ish of beet) to the mix before adding to the blender and it gave it a lovely deep red color that is coloring the pork beautifully. Should be a great din din tonight. Thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
That beet idea is a good one. It's such a small amount per serving, that won't really effect the carb count. Glad your daughter likes beets- you are lucky to have a kid who likes vegetables!
Jennifer says
Yes, we are lucky she has a pretty good palette and likes beets and pretty much all other fruits and veggies (not a big meat person though beyond fish). 😂. Just wanted to follow up with my results since I left my original feedback at the point of marinading and hadn’t tried it except for the sauce before it hit the pork. The final product was sooo good! As I mentioned, all I had was pork loin roast rather than tenderloin or shoulder. I cut it into 4 thin strips, but it was so thick, I wish I would have cut it into more because the thinnest portions had the most flavor, and marinated long enough that thin pieces didn’t dry. It wasn’t getting charred enough under the broiler at the end, so I finished it on a grill on high which did the trick. Will make this again for sure. Thank you!
★★★★★
Ralph says
This has EXCELLENT flavoring.
I'll definitely make it again!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Thanks!
David F. says
I made this tonight. Awesome! I really missed Chinese pork since going keto. I followed the recipe to the tee except I didn't have time to marinate for 4 hours. I only marinated 2 hours. I used the pork butt as mentioned in your synopsis. I cut the pork butt into tenderloin like strips and the 2 hours plus the basting was perfect.
We had this with/in my pork and chicken bone broth pho with shirataki noodles and it was outstanding. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. I have lots more pork fully marinated in the freezer for next time.
EmilyKrill says
That meal sounds amazing!
Kim says
Could I air fry this? Been craving this for long
EmilyKrill says
Sure, it won’t be exactly the same because you wouldn’t be steaming the meat, but it’ll be tasty. Follow the recipe up until baking, then air fry for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Open the air fryer at minute 10 to brush it again with BBQ sauce. And use a meat thermometer to check that it has reached 145 degrees F inside. Let me know how it turns out!
Linda Chapman says
Can't wait to try this, I used to buy this regularly when at a grocery store I used to go to that also sold cooked food. Soooo goodI! I moved and kinda forgot about it, but now thanks to you I can make it at home. Yay! I think I will try to make in my ninja foodie, pressured, then finish it off with a bit of crispy at the end. They used pork tenderloin but I'm going for the pork roast...oh man I'm so hungry lol
Thank you for working it out in the low carb way...keto
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Oh deer, I wouldn’t use a pressure cooker for this recipe! It’s not designed to be cooked that way. Please don’t waste a good pork roast to test out your new Ninja. I would feel terrible if it didn’t turn out.
Sage says
Do you have to tent the roasting pan with foil?
EmilyKrill says
No.
Lisa Nicholson says
SOOO GOOD!!!!
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
THAAAAAAANK YYOOOOOOOU!
Heather says
This recipe is so delicious! I'm going to use the leftover marinade and make again tonight.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Yay! Thanks so much for letting me know that you liked it. I'm curious to see what else you use the marinade for. Chicken would be good, I think.
Gina Sorensen says
Can I make this with pork belly?
EmilyKrill says
I think that will work. Just follow my sauce instructions and marinate the pork belly in the low carb marinade. You'll want to cook the pork belly quickly in a high temperature oven rather than steam it like my recipes says. So after you've marinaded the pork belly, place it on a broiling pan and cook it for 20 minutes in a 400 degree F oven, turning halfway through. Baste the pork belly with more marinade after you turn it. After the 20 minutes is up, measure the internal temperature and make sure it is 165 degrees F or above. If not, then cook it for a little wile longer until it reaches temperature. Allow the pork belly to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into 1 inch strips.
I've never made this recipe with pork belly before, but this method should work. Let me know how it turns out. Good luck!
Catherine Garcia says
Got this in my oven right now! Can’t wait to try it.
Seth says
This was just like real Chinese takeout and my family loved it.
★★★★★
EmilyKrill says
Great! Glad it was a hit.