This Whole30, paleo, and gluten-free Char Siu Chicken is a quick and tasty pork-free spin on my crowd-pleasing paleo Char Siu recipe. Slathered with a sticky-sweet sauce, these roasted boneless chicken thighs are a healthy take on Chinese BBQ chicken!
Table of Contents
- What is Char Siu chicken?
- My Whole30 Char Siu Chicken recipe
- Ingredients
- How to make Char Siu Chicken
- Heat oven and season the chicken
- Bake the chicken
- Make the Char Siu Sauce
- Baste the chicken with the sauce
- Cut up and serve!
- How to cook Char Siu Chicken in the Air Fryer
- How do you save leftovers?
- What do you serve with it?
- Char Siu Chicken (Paleo, Whole30, Gluten Free) Recipe
What is Char Siu chicken?
Char Siu Chicken is a riff on char siu, a traditional Chinese dish made by marinating strips of pork shoulder in a sweet and savory sauce and then roasting or grilling them until the meat is tender and the sauce is caramelized. For Char Siu Chicken, skinless chicken thighs are coated with a marinade that typically includes soy sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, red fermented bean curd, and five-spice powder. This dish is often served as an appetizer or main course and enjoyed with rice, noodles, or vegetables.
My Whole30 Char Siu Chicken recipe
My Paleo Char Siu Pork’s been a Nomster favorite for years, but I’ve fielded plenty of requests from non-pork-eaters to create a Whole30-compatible Char Siu Chicken recipe. So I came up with a simple weeknight dish using my original paleo Char Siu sauce that doesn’t even require marinating the chicken beforehand! This healthy and gluten-free Char Siu Chicken is perfect for meal planning ’cause you can throw it in the oven or air fryer on a weeknight and eat the leftovers throughout the rest of the week!
Ingredients
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: I use this cut of chicken because it cooks quickly, doesn’t dry out easily, and tastes better than chicken breast. If you must, you can use boneless and skinless breasts, but make sure you don’t overcook them. Bone-in cuts like chicken drumsticks or wings will also work, but make sure you adjust the cooking time.
- Umami Stir-Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt: My Umami Stir-Fry Powder is the perfect salt blend for all of my Chinese-inspired dishes because it incorporates salt with traditional Chinese seasonings like dried shiitake mushrooms, garlic, ginger, green onion, and white pepper. If you don’t have a jar of this stuff—the recipe is in our green cookbook or you can buy it online—you can substitute Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- Avocado oil
- Plum, peach or apricot jam, sweetened only with fruit juice (I like St. Dalfour brand): Adds sweetness to the sauce without adding sugar or honey. Make sure you buy a brand sweetened with only fruit if you’re doing a Whole30.
- Coconut aminos: I use this condiment as a paleo and Whole30-compatible soy sauce substitute.
- Almond butter: I use it in place of the fermented bean curd in the sauce to add a delightful nuttiness. Nut allergy? You can substitute tahini.
- Tomato paste: In place of ketchup, I use tomato paste to impart umami and give the sauce its distinctive red color.
- Red Boat fish sauce: I always pair coconut aminos with a dash of umami-packed fish sauce to replicate the flavor of soy sauce.
- Chinese five spice powder: This spice blend typically contains star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and fennels seeds and gives the sauce its distinctive flavor.
- Ground ginger
How to make Char Siu Chicken
Heat oven and season the chicken
Heat the oven to 400°F on convection mode or 425°F conventional mode with the rack in the middle position. While the oven is heating, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and then sprinkle on Umami Stir-Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Pour in the avocado oil and toss well to season the chicken evenly.
Arrange the chicken in a single layer, smooth-side down, on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. (Yes, you can line the baking pan with aluminum foil if you want to ensure an even easier clean-up.)
Bake the chicken
Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
Make the Char Siu Sauce
While the chicken is baking, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the jam, coconut aminos, tomato paste, almond butter, fish sauce, five spice powder, and ground ginger.
Whisk until smooth.
Baste the chicken with the sauce
Once the chicken has baked for 15 minutes, flip the chicken smooth-side up and brush ⅔ of the sauce on top of the chicken.
Bake for 5 to 7 more minutes and rotate the tray 180° before basting the chicken with the remaining sauce.
If you prefer your chicken to be more browned, broil it for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. The Char Siu Chicken is ready when the sauce is browned in parts and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170°F.
Cut up and serve!
Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and slice it all up!
How to cook Char Siu Chicken in the Air Fryer
Depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you’ll probably have to cook the thighs in a few batches. Lay the chicken smooth-side up in a single layer in the basket and air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes is finished, brush the sauce on top and air fry for 2 to 5 more minutes or until the sauce is browned in parts and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170°F.
How do you save leftovers?
Store any leftover chicken in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can cut up the leftover chicken and throw it in soups, salads, fried cauliflower rice, stir-fries—you name it!
What do you serve with it?
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Char Siu Chicken (Paleo, Whole30, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1½ teaspoons Umami Stir Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- ¼ cup plum jam or peach or apricot jam, sweetened only with fruit juice (I like St. Dalfour brand)
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 1½ teaspoons almond butter or tahini
- 1 teaspoon Red Boat fish sauce
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F convection roast or 425°F conventional roast with the rack in the middle.
- While the oven is heating, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle on Umami Stir-Fry Powder or Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Pour in the avocado oil and toss well to season everything evenly.
- Arrange the chicken in a single layer, smooth side down, on a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet. (Yes, you can line the baking pan with aluminum foil if you want easy clean up.)
- Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- While the chicken is baking, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the jam, coconut aminos, tomato paste, almond butter, fish sauce, five spice powder, and ground ginger. Whisk until smooth.
- When the chicken has baked for 15 minutes, flip the chicken smooth-side up and brush ⅔ of the sauce on top of the chicken.
- Bake for 5 to 7 more minutes and rotate the tray 180° before basting the chicken with the remaining sauce.
- If you want it more browned, you can broil the top for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. The Char Siu Chicken is ready when the sauce is browned in parts and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170°F.
- Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and slice up!
- Cooking in an air fryer? Depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you will probably have to cook the thighs in a few batches. Lay the chicken smooth-side up in a single layer in the basket and air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes is finished, brush the sauce on top and air fry for 2 to 5 more minutes or until the sauce is browned in parts and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170°F.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How do Iadjust cooking time if I’m using bone-in chicken thighs? And do I have to take the skin off? I love it so much!
Bone-in chicken thighs take about 35 to 45 minutes total to cook. I would start skin side down and then flip skin side up at the 25 min mark. If you keep the skin on, just make sure it doesn’t burn!
Made this today, it was great, I love the sauce and it all came togther pretty quickly and easily. Another winner!
So, so good, and 100% safe vs the restaurant equivalent. This recipe is failsafe and worked perfectly. The whole family loved it, even the non-paleo peeps. I did broil at the end to give it that extra kick – highly recommend this.
I love the sauce in this recipe. I will definitely make this again!
Is there any reason I couldn’t make this sauce in a big batch and save it? Always feel like I never have enough!
You absolutely could! You could even freeze it to make it easy to grab and thaw.