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This delicious low carb Japanese matcha cheesecake is creamy, dense, and oh so delicious.  Completely sugar free and gluten free, it’s a healthier take on the popular Japanese dessert.

Japanese Matcha

Matcha is made from high quality green tea leaves.  It is in powdered form and can be used to make a variety of drinks and desserts like this green tea ice cream recipe.

It’s healthier than green tea as the whole leaves are ingested, whereas we only drink the liquid from steeped green tea.  One serving of matcha equals to about 10 cups of brewed green tea.

I recommend getting organic matcha powder from either [easyazon_link identifier=”B074TQ24SY” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Matcha Konomi[/easyazon_link]or [easyazon_link identifier=”B06XXMQH5R” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Encha[/easyazon_link]. I like using their matcha powders because they source them directly from Uji in Kyoto, Japan.

Uji matcha is renowned for its superior quality and taste, and has been cultivated since the 11^th century.  Matcha green tea from Uji is the most popular green tea in Japan and can be bough everywhere around Japan.

Make sure to get pure matcha powder and not just powdered green tea as they taste completely different! Your package should say matcha.  You’ll also notice that matcha powder and green tea powder are different in colour.

Matcha has a light and bright green colour (on the left) and green tea powder is a darker green colour (on the right).  Green tea powder is also weaker in taste, so you would need to add more powder to matcha dessert recipes.

My Matcha Cheesecake Recipe

This green tea cheesecake recipe features a matcha crust that’s made with almond flour, chopped pistachios and matcha powder.  The pistachios give the crust a good nutty and fatty texture with a beautiful green colour.

The matcha cheesecake batter is made with a combination of cream cheese, sour cream and heavy cream.

This matcha cheesecake is so creamy and delicious. It has the perfect matcha umami flavor.   After you’ve tried making a matcha cheesecake, you’ll definitely want to try making a lemon low carb cheesecake or some lemon cheesecake bites too! You can eat this matcha cheesecake recipe as is, or you can top it with the following low carb toppings:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B00H2AAXMQ” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sugar Free Chocolate[/easyazon_link]
• Whipped Cream
• More Matcha Powder
• Sugar Free Ice Cream

You’ll also want to serve this matcha cheesecake with some low carb drinks like a matcha latte, keto hot chocolate, or bulletproof coffee.

What Sweeteners Can I Use?

You have a couple of options that you can use for low carb sweeteners.  My favourite sweetener combination has always been erythritol and stevia powder, but here are a few other options that you can use.

• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B007XA49BG” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]erythritol[/easyazon_link] (120g) + ¾ tsp [easyazon_link identifier=”B005F9XFN0″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]stevia extract powder[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B007XA49BG” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]erythritol[/easyazon_link] (120g) + ¾ tsp [easyazon_link identifier=”B01DMCMO7O” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]monk fruit powder[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B077SPTP4Z” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Lakanto Classic[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B07H8QHD7Z” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup  [easyazon_link identifier=”B011550972″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sukrin:1[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B0089HCXG0″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sukrin+[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LLMUG22″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Swerve[/easyazon_link] (leaves a cooling sensation)

You’ll need to use ½ cup for all bulk sweeteners but if you use erythritol alone, then you’ll need to add either stevia powder or monk fruit powder to make up for the loss of sweetness.

Lakanto, Sukrin, SoNourished and Swerve all add either stevia or monk fruit to their mix so you don’t need to add more stevia or monk fruit powder.

How to Make a Green Tea Cheesecake

Making a green tea cheesecake is pretty simple as you only need to prepare the matcha crust and matcha cheesecake batter.  The hardest part is the waiting, since you need to bake the cheesecake for 70 minutes and wait for it to cool down in the fridge overnight.

Matcha Crust

The first thing you’ll want to do is make your matcha cheesecake crust.  For this crust we’re using some pistachios for some green colour, almond flour, matcha powder, melted butter and stevia powder.

If your pistachio nuts are already pre-chopped, then you don’t need to use a food processor.  But if not, you can either chop them with a knife or run them through a food processor for about 10 seconds.

All all of the crust ingredients into a small bowl and mix until the melted butter has coated the nuts and formed an oily paste.

Add the crust into a 9 inch spring form pan and press evenly all around with your fingers.  Place it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Make the Cheesecake Batter

Add the cream cheese to a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer until nice and smooth.  It’s important that you mix it until nice and creamy to avoid getting cheese bumps into your batter.

Once the cheese is creamed, you’ll add the erythritol, stevia and vanilla to the batter and mix again.

Then add the heavy cream, a little at a time, and mix for a couple of minutes until the cream cheese batter starts to thicken.  Make sure to use cold heavy cream as warm heavy cream or room temperature heavy cream won’t whip.

Then, add the pure matcha green tea powder and mix until all of the batter is green.  Make sure there are no matcha bumps anywhere. The cheesecake batter will become pretty green.

You can taste test with your finger to see if you want to add more matcha powder for more green tea flavour. Personally, I thought that 2 tbsp of matcha powder was more than enough.

Don’t Over Beat the Eggs

The final step is to add the eggs, one at a time, into the cheesecake batter and mix evenly.  Make sure to not over mix the eggs as you don’t want to add unnecessary air into the cheesecake batter.  This will make the cheesecake crack.

Pour the matcha cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.

Make a Water Bath

To make a water bath, you have a couple of options.  You can either wrap the spring form pan in foil and add it to a large tray of hot water, or you can add a tray of hot water to the bottom rack of your oven and place the cheesecake on the top rack.

I personally prefer to add my spring form pan directly inside the tray of water because my Japanese oven is too small to add a tray of water at the bottom so the moisture doesn’t circulate properly, thus resulting in cracked cheesecakes.

If you choose to wrap the spring form pan in aluminum foil, make sure to wrap it in 2-3 layers to make sure no water leaks in the pan!

How Long Should I Bake this Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake?

The key to baking any cheesecake is to bake them at low temperatures for a good amount of time.  This cheesecake requires about 70 minutes of baking time at 150C/300F.

Try not to bake it longer than 70 minutes as the cheesecake will start to burn at the top.  Also, try not to bake it less than 70 minutes as the middle will still be raw.

Can this Green Tea Cheesecake be Frozen?

Yes, it can be frozen! You can freeze it whole, or cut slices and freeze them individually.  For thawing, just leave it in the fridge a few hours to thaw.

Tools Used to Make this Matcha Cheesecake Recipe:

• [easyazon_link identifier=”B000237FSA” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]9 inch springform pan[/easyazon_link]: This is incredibly useful to have for any type of cakes because it has a loose bottom so you can easily detach the sides and transfer the cake to a plate.  I suggest getting a non-stick one so that you cake batters never stick to it.
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B074TQ24SY” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Pure Matcha Green Tea Powder[/easyazon_link]: Real matcha powder is much stronger in taste and more green in colour than green tea powder or instant matcha powder.

Final Tips & Recaps

Make sure to read the following tips in order to make the perfect green tea cheesecake!

• Use room temperature cream cheese and sour cream so that it’s easier to mix and so that it doesn’t leave any bumps in the cheesecake batter.
• Use real matcha green tea powder and not green tea powder.  The two are very different. Make sure your green tea powder says matcha on the package. Preferably from Uji, Kyoto in Japan.
• Instead of almond flour or pistachios, you can use any other nut flour or nuts that you want.
• Add the heavy cream, a little at a time, to avoid getting it splattered all over your and your kitchen counters.
• Use a water bath to avoid cracks and burned cheesecake tops.
• Here are all possible sweeteners that you can use for this recipe.
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup Lakanto Classic
  • ½ cup So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend
  • ½ cup   Sukrin:1
  • ½ cup Sukrin+
  • ½ cup Swerve (leaves a cooling sensation)

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This creamy and delicious Japanese matcha cheesecake is completely sugar free and gluten free!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword green tea cheesecake, japanese cheesecake, low carb cheesecake, matcha cheesecake, matcha green tea cheesecake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Chill Time 8 hours hours

Total Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

SERVINGS 10 slices

NET Carbs 4.59g

FAT 35.34g

PROTEIN 9.6g

CALORIES 376kcal

Cook Asian Keto Kitchen

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
• Pour about an inch of hot water into a deep baking tray and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
• In a small bowl, mix the matcha crust ingredients together. It should form an oily ball.Transfer the crust to a 9inch/23cm springform pan and press with your fingers and the palm of your hands until it’s all evenly distributed.
• Place the matcha crust into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• While the crust is baking, let’s make the matcha cheesecake batter.
• In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and smooth it out with a hand mixer.  You want to make sure there are no cheese bumps and it’s nice and creamy.
• Add the erythritol, stevia and vanilla.  Mix again until nicely incorporated.
• Add the sour cream and mix again.  Add the matcha powder and mix.
• Slowly pour in the heavy cream a little at a time.  Make sure to do this a little at a time or else the cream will splatter all over your shirt and kitchen counter.  Mix for a good minute.  You should have a nice thick green batter now.
• Add one egg at a time and just whisk in until it’s nicely incorporated.  Don’t over mix the eggs so that you don’t create unnecessary air into your cheesecake batter.
• Take the matcha crust out of the oven.Pour in the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.  Smooth and even it out.  Place it in the oven for 70 minutes.
• When 70 minutes have passed, turn off the oven, open the oven door a bit and let the cheesecake cool completely down inside the oven for 1-2 hours.  Once cooled, transfer it to the refrigerator to chill for 8+ hours or overnight.

• Use room temperature cream cheese and sour cream so that it’s easier to mix and so that it doesn’t leave any bumps in the cheesecake batter.
• Use real matcha green tea powder and not green tea powder.  The two are very different. Make sure your green tea powder says matcha on the package. Preferably from Uji, Kyoto in Japan.
• Instead of almond flour or pistachios, you can use any other nut flour or nuts that you want.
• Add the heavy cream, a little at a time, to avoid getting it splattered all over your and your kitchen counters.
• Use a water bath to avoid cracks and burned cheesecake tops.
• Here are all possible sweeteners that you can use for this recipe.
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup Lakanto Classic
  • ½ cup So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend
  • ½ cup   Sukrin:1
  • ½ cup Sukrin+
  • ½ cup Swerve (leaves a cooling sensation)

Mention @asianketokitchen or tag #asianketokitchen!

Mention @asianketokitchen so that I can see all of your goodies!!

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This delicious low carb Japanese matcha cheesecake is creamy, dense, and oh so delicious.  Completely sugar free and gluten free, it’s a healthier take on the popular Japanese dessert.

Japanese Matcha

Matcha is made from high quality green tea leaves.  It is in powdered form and can be used to make a variety of drinks and desserts like this green tea ice cream recipe.

It’s healthier than green tea as the whole leaves are ingested, whereas we only drink the liquid from steeped green tea.  One serving of matcha equals to about 10 cups of brewed green tea.

I recommend getting organic matcha powder from either [easyazon_link identifier=”B074TQ24SY” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Matcha Konomi[/easyazon_link]or [easyazon_link identifier=”B06XXMQH5R” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Encha[/easyazon_link]. I like using their matcha powders because they source them directly from Uji in Kyoto, Japan.

Uji matcha is renowned for its superior quality and taste, and has been cultivated since the 11^th century.  Matcha green tea from Uji is the most popular green tea in Japan and can be bough everywhere around Japan.

Make sure to get pure matcha powder and not just powdered green tea as they taste completely different! Your package should say matcha.  You’ll also notice that matcha powder and green tea powder are different in colour.

Matcha has a light and bright green colour (on the left) and green tea powder is a darker green colour (on the right).  Green tea powder is also weaker in taste, so you would need to add more powder to matcha dessert recipes.

My Matcha Cheesecake Recipe

This green tea cheesecake recipe features a matcha crust that’s made with almond flour, chopped pistachios and matcha powder.  The pistachios give the crust a good nutty and fatty texture with a beautiful green colour.

The matcha cheesecake batter is made with a combination of cream cheese, sour cream and heavy cream.

This matcha cheesecake is so creamy and delicious. It has the perfect matcha umami flavor.   After you’ve tried making a matcha cheesecake, you’ll definitely want to try making a lemon low carb cheesecake or some lemon cheesecake bites too! You can eat this matcha cheesecake recipe as is, or you can top it with the following low carb toppings:

• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B00H2AAXMQ” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sugar Free Chocolate[/easyazon_link]
• Whipped Cream
• More Matcha Powder
• Sugar Free Ice Cream

You’ll also want to serve this matcha cheesecake with some low carb drinks like a matcha latte, keto hot chocolate, or bulletproof coffee.

What Sweeteners Can I Use?

You have a couple of options that you can use for low carb sweeteners.  My favourite sweetener combination has always been erythritol and stevia powder, but here are a few other options that you can use.

• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B007XA49BG” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]erythritol[/easyazon_link] (120g) + ¾ tsp [easyazon_link identifier=”B005F9XFN0″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]stevia extract powder[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B007XA49BG” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]erythritol[/easyazon_link] (120g) + ¾ tsp [easyazon_link identifier=”B01DMCMO7O” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]monk fruit powder[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B077SPTP4Z” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Lakanto Classic[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B07H8QHD7Z” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup  [easyazon_link identifier=”B011550972″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sukrin:1[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B0089HCXG0″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sukrin+[/easyazon_link]
• ½ cup [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LLMUG22″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Swerve[/easyazon_link] (leaves a cooling sensation)

You’ll need to use ½ cup for all bulk sweeteners but if you use erythritol alone, then you’ll need to add either stevia powder or monk fruit powder to make up for the loss of sweetness.

Lakanto, Sukrin, SoNourished and Swerve all add either stevia or monk fruit to their mix so you don’t need to add more stevia or monk fruit powder.

How to Make a Green Tea Cheesecake

Making a green tea cheesecake is pretty simple as you only need to prepare the matcha crust and matcha cheesecake batter.  The hardest part is the waiting, since you need to bake the cheesecake for 70 minutes and wait for it to cool down in the fridge overnight.

Matcha Crust

The first thing you’ll want to do is make your matcha cheesecake crust.  For this crust we’re using some pistachios for some green colour, almond flour, matcha powder, melted butter and stevia powder.

If your pistachio nuts are already pre-chopped, then you don’t need to use a food processor.  But if not, you can either chop them with a knife or run them through a food processor for about 10 seconds.

All all of the crust ingredients into a small bowl and mix until the melted butter has coated the nuts and formed an oily paste.

Add the crust into a 9 inch spring form pan and press evenly all around with your fingers.  Place it in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Make the Cheesecake Batter

Add the cream cheese to a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer until nice and smooth.  It’s important that you mix it until nice and creamy to avoid getting cheese bumps into your batter.

Once the cheese is creamed, you’ll add the erythritol, stevia and vanilla to the batter and mix again.

Then add the heavy cream, a little at a time, and mix for a couple of minutes until the cream cheese batter starts to thicken.  Make sure to use cold heavy cream as warm heavy cream or room temperature heavy cream won’t whip.

Then, add the pure matcha green tea powder and mix until all of the batter is green.  Make sure there are no matcha bumps anywhere. The cheesecake batter will become pretty green.

You can taste test with your finger to see if you want to add more matcha powder for more green tea flavour. Personally, I thought that 2 tbsp of matcha powder was more than enough.

Don’t Over Beat the Eggs

The final step is to add the eggs, one at a time, into the cheesecake batter and mix evenly.  Make sure to not over mix the eggs as you don’t want to add unnecessary air into the cheesecake batter.  This will make the cheesecake crack.

Pour the matcha cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.

Make a Water Bath

To make a water bath, you have a couple of options.  You can either wrap the spring form pan in foil and add it to a large tray of hot water, or you can add a tray of hot water to the bottom rack of your oven and place the cheesecake on the top rack.

I personally prefer to add my spring form pan directly inside the tray of water because my Japanese oven is too small to add a tray of water at the bottom so the moisture doesn’t circulate properly, thus resulting in cracked cheesecakes.

If you choose to wrap the spring form pan in aluminum foil, make sure to wrap it in 2-3 layers to make sure no water leaks in the pan!

How Long Should I Bake this Matcha Green Tea Cheesecake?

The key to baking any cheesecake is to bake them at low temperatures for a good amount of time.  This cheesecake requires about 70 minutes of baking time at 150C/300F.

Try not to bake it longer than 70 minutes as the cheesecake will start to burn at the top.  Also, try not to bake it less than 70 minutes as the middle will still be raw.

Can this Green Tea Cheesecake be Frozen?

Yes, it can be frozen! You can freeze it whole, or cut slices and freeze them individually.  For thawing, just leave it in the fridge a few hours to thaw.

Tools Used to Make this Matcha Cheesecake Recipe:

• [easyazon_link identifier=”B000237FSA” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]9 inch springform pan[/easyazon_link]: This is incredibly useful to have for any type of cakes because it has a loose bottom so you can easily detach the sides and transfer the cake to a plate.  I suggest getting a non-stick one so that you cake batters never stick to it.
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B074TQ24SY” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Pure Matcha Green Tea Powder[/easyazon_link]: Real matcha powder is much stronger in taste and more green in colour than green tea powder or instant matcha powder.

Final Tips & Recaps

Make sure to read the following tips in order to make the perfect green tea cheesecake!

• Use room temperature cream cheese and sour cream so that it’s easier to mix and so that it doesn’t leave any bumps in the cheesecake batter.
• Use real matcha green tea powder and not green tea powder.  The two are very different. Make sure your green tea powder says matcha on the package. Preferably from Uji, Kyoto in Japan.
• Instead of almond flour or pistachios, you can use any other nut flour or nuts that you want.
• Add the heavy cream, a little at a time, to avoid getting it splattered all over your and your kitchen counters.
• Use a water bath to avoid cracks and burned cheesecake tops.
• Here are all possible sweeteners that you can use for this recipe.
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup Lakanto Classic
  • ½ cup So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend
  • ½ cup   Sukrin:1
  • ½ cup Sukrin+
  • ½ cup Swerve (leaves a cooling sensation)

Print Pin Leave a comment

This creamy and delicious Japanese matcha cheesecake is completely sugar free and gluten free!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword green tea cheesecake, japanese cheesecake, low carb cheesecake, matcha cheesecake, matcha green tea cheesecake

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Chill Time 8 hours hours

Total Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

SERVINGS 10 slices

NET Carbs 4.59g

FAT 35.34g

PROTEIN 9.6g

CALORIES 376kcal

Cook Asian Keto Kitchen

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F.
• Pour about an inch of hot water into a deep baking tray and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
• In a small bowl, mix the matcha crust ingredients together. It should form an oily ball.Transfer the crust to a 9inch/23cm springform pan and press with your fingers and the palm of your hands until it’s all evenly distributed.
• Place the matcha crust into the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• While the crust is baking, let’s make the matcha cheesecake batter.
• In a large bowl, add the cream cheese and smooth it out with a hand mixer.  You want to make sure there are no cheese bumps and it’s nice and creamy.
• Add the erythritol, stevia and vanilla.  Mix again until nicely incorporated.
• Add the sour cream and mix again.  Add the matcha powder and mix.
• Slowly pour in the heavy cream a little at a time.  Make sure to do this a little at a time or else the cream will splatter all over your shirt and kitchen counter.  Mix for a good minute.  You should have a nice thick green batter now.
• Add one egg at a time and just whisk in until it’s nicely incorporated.  Don’t over mix the eggs so that you don’t create unnecessary air into your cheesecake batter.
• Take the matcha crust out of the oven.Pour in the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.  Smooth and even it out.  Place it in the oven for 70 minutes.
• When 70 minutes have passed, turn off the oven, open the oven door a bit and let the cheesecake cool completely down inside the oven for 1-2 hours.  Once cooled, transfer it to the refrigerator to chill for 8+ hours or overnight.

• Use room temperature cream cheese and sour cream so that it’s easier to mix and so that it doesn’t leave any bumps in the cheesecake batter.
• Use real matcha green tea powder and not green tea powder.  The two are very different. Make sure your green tea powder says matcha on the package. Preferably from Uji, Kyoto in Japan.
• Instead of almond flour or pistachios, you can use any other nut flour or nuts that you want.
• Add the heavy cream, a little at a time, to avoid getting it splattered all over your and your kitchen counters.
• Use a water bath to avoid cracks and burned cheesecake tops.
• Here are all possible sweeteners that you can use for this recipe.
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup erythritol (120g) + ¾ tsp monk fruit powder
  • ½ cup Lakanto Classic
  • ½ cup So Nourished Monk Fruit Blend
  • ½ cup   Sukrin:1
  • ½ cup Sukrin+
  • ½ cup Swerve (leaves a cooling sensation)

Mention @asianketokitchen or tag #asianketokitchen!

Mention @asianketokitchen so that I can see all of your goodies!!

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• Pinterest5K
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A delicious authentic Japanese sugar free keto teriyaki sauce that’s sweet and sticky, just like the original! Use this Japanese teriyaki sauce recipe to make various teriyaki flavoured dishes!

The Best Keto Teriyaki Sauce

To keep the flavours of this keto teriyaki sauce as authentic as possible, I used organic tamari, aka organic gluten free soy sauce, Lakanto golden instead of brown sugar, and xanthan gum instead of corn starch.

But don’t worry, if you’re worried about soy, I also give the recipe using coconut aminos for a complete soy-free teriyaki sauce! The best part is that both version pretty much tastes the same!

Easy Soy Free Teriyaki Sauce

I’ve tried and tested this recipe multiple times so that you could make this teriyaki sauce soy free if you wanted to!  I give the option to either use tamari soy sauce, liquid aminos or coconut aminos to make this keto teriyaki sauce.

Tamari Soy Sauce

Tamari soy sauce is a soy sauce that’s been fermented with rice instead of wheat.  It tastes very similar to regular soy sauce, but is gluten free.  I use organic tamari in all of my recipes for authentic flavours. The great thing about tamari is that you can replace it with either liquid aminos or coconut aminos as a 1-1 replacement.

I recommend using the Organic Tamari from Eden’s as it’s super delicious!

Liquid Aminos

Liquid Aminos is a vegetable protein seasoning made from non-GMO soybeans.  This product still contains soy, the only difference is that it’s not fermented and has other ingredients added to it.

However, liquid aminos has less carbs than soy sauce and tastes pretty similar.  It’s a 1-1 replacement for soy sauce. I recommend getting Bragg’s liquid aminos!

Coconut Aminos

Coconut Aminos is a soy free alternative to soy sauce.  It’s a 1-1 replacement for soy sauce.  However, it has a lot of carbs.  It has 3g of carbs per tablespoon and you usually need to add lots of tablespoons to different Asian dishes.

So keep in mind that if you want to stay soy-free, just remember that coconut aminos  has more carbs than tamari or liquid aminos.

What are Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients?

The ingredients for traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce usually consists of soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and sake. For a Western style Teriyaki sauce, the ingredients are usually water, soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger and cornstarch.

I have decided to make this healthy teriyaki sauce recipe a mix of both Japanese-style and Western-style.  I wanted to have a thick and sweet sauce, but make sure to have that distinct ginger and garlic taste.

But because this is a low carb teriyaki sauce, the ingredients I used were tamari, Lakanto, garlic, ginger, sake and xanthan gum.

What is Sake?

Sake is an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice, water, yeast and koji.  Just like wine is made from fermented grapes and beer from fermented barley, sake is made from fermented rice.

Sake is one of the most quintessential ingredient used in Asian cooking.  You can use normal Japanese sake or cooking sake when making Japanese recipes.  It adds exceptional flavours to dishes and is something that shouldn’t be left out!

Cooking sake is essentially the same thing as drinking sake, but manufacturers add salt to it to make it undrinkable so that shops without liquor licenses can sell it.

You can either use nihonshu (Japanese sake) or cooking sake. Both will work.  If you can’t find sake, you could use a dry sherry or mirin.  Note that mirin has added sugars so the carb count is really high.

What about the carbs in sake?

100ml of sake from Gekkeikan has about 4.6g of carbohydrates, 96 calories, 0.3g of protein and 0 grams of fat.  That’s about 0.69g of carbs per tablespoon. I think it’s pretty low in carbs considering you don’t need that many tablespoons in recipes.  Usually 1-6 tablespoons is all you’re going to need in any Asian recipe.

If you live in Japan, Gekkeikan sells a 0 net carb drinking sake that you can use in your cooking dishes.  I highly recommend it as it’s super delicious to drink and cook with.

How to Make Teriyaki Sauce Without Corn Starch

You can easily make teriyaki sauce without corn starch by using other low carb alternatives, such as xanthan gum, guar gum, or glucomanan.

For slightly higher carb options, you can use arrowroot flour or tapioca starch and create a slurry with it.

I prefer to use xanthan gum to thicken sauces, just like in my low carb beef stew over on My PCOS Kitchen.

How to Make Teriyaki Sauce Thick

To thicken your teriyaki sauce, you’ll want to add about ½ tsp of xanthan gum to the hot teriyaki sauce.  Do not add the xanthan gum to cold ingredients as it will not thicken at all.  You absolutely need to add it while your teriyaki sauce is bubbling hot.

Sprinkle it all over, whisk on high heat for a minute and your sauce will be thickened!

If you do not want to use xanthan gum, you can either use arrowroot flour or tapioca starch and make a slurry with water.  It will add a little bit of carbs to your total, but not that much.

How to Make Sugar Free Teriyaki Sauce

Making sugar free teriyaki sauce is incredibly simple and only takes a few minutes of your time! What’s even better is that you can keep this low carb teriyaki sauce in the fridge for weeks to use in other dishes!

You’ll want to combine all of your ingredients in a frying pan or sauce pan and heat on medium heat.  Mix everything with a whisk for a minute until the Lakanto has melted.

Once the teriyaki sauce has started to bubble, sprinkle in the xanthan gum and whisk to incorporate.  Heat the sauce for about a minute and turn off the heat immediately.

Do not simmer down the sauce

Do not let the sauce simmer down to let it thicken naturally.  It will become extremely bitter and salty because there is no sugar or corn starch added to it.  To thicken the sauce, you absolutely need to add a thickening agent.  Simmering it down will not work (taste wise).  The sauce will thicken, but it will taste horrible.

Once your sauce is thickened up, you can transfer it to a jar to keep for later use. Note that the sauce will crystallize in the refrigerator, but you will still be able to brush it over any dishes of your choice.

What to Make with Leftover Teriyaki Sauce

This healthy teriyaki sauce can be used in a variety of dishes.  You can make teriyaki chicken wings in the air fryer, baked teriyaki salmon, teriyaki chicken stir-fry, teriyaki brochettes, air fryer keto popcorn chicken and so on. 　You can even add some teriyaki sauce to this pressure cooker whole chicken or some sous vide pork tenderloin to give it that nice Japanese sticky sauce feeling!

You can also make stir fries with different proteins and low carb noodles.  You’ll want to use low carb pasta alternatives to make noodle stir fries, but it’s really easy to find or make your own low carb noodles!

Simply brush the sauce on some protein or vegetables and bake, or stir-fry your protein and vegetables along with the sauce.  I suggest cooking the protein and vegetables first, then adding the sauce at the end to coat everything.  Cook it down and your dishes will be ready to serve.

Tips to make this Low Carb Teriyaki Sauce

Here’s a recap of all the tips you’ll need when making this Japanese teriyaki sauce recipe!

• You can substitute the cooking sake for normal sake (nihonshu). In worst cases you can try to substitute it for dry sherry or mirin, but mirin has lots of sugar so the carb count will go up.
• You can substitute the soy sauce for liquid aminos or coconut aminos, but the flavours will be just a tad different. Note that liquid aminos still contains soy.
• Use fresh ginger and fresh garlic. It will make a huge difference in taste.
• Do not let the teriyaki sauce simmer down to thicken. Thicken with a thickening agent like xanthan gum, guar gum, arrowroot flour or tapioca starch.
• You can either use Lakanto golden or Sukrin gold.
• Use Lakanto maple syrup instead of Mirin, the Japanese sweet rice wine.
• Instead of Lakanto maple syrup, you can also use fiber syrup.

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A sweet and sticky Japanese teriyaki sauce made without sugar!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword japanese teriyaki, keto teriyaki, sugar free teriyaki sauce, teriyaki sauce

Prep Time 1 minute minute

Cook Time 2 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 minutes minutes

SERVINGS 10 tablespoons

NET Carbs 1.45g

FAT 0.01g

PROTEIN 2.06g

CALORIES 15kcal

Cook Asian Keto Kitchen

• Mince the garlic and grate the ginger.
• Place all of the ingredients except the xanthan gum in a frying pan and put to boil.  Once the Lakanto Golden sweetener has melted and the sauce is bubbling, sprinkle in the xanthan gum.  Stir until the sauce has thickened. This should take 1-2 minutes.  Immediately turn off the heat.

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This Authentic kung pao chicken recipe is the original Szechuan stir-fry dish made with juicy pieces of chicken breasts, long green onions, peanuts and chili peppers cooked in spicy Szechuan peppercorns. My keto kung pao chicken recipes uses keto friendly ingredients making this keto Chinese recipe completely soy free and sugar free.

What is Kung Pao Chicken?

Kung Pao Chicken, also known as 宫保鸡丁 (gong bao ji ding) is a classic Szechuan dish made with chicken, peanuts, long green onions (Japanese leeks) and Szechuan peppercorns.  It can also sometimes be called Gong Bao Chicken depending on how it was translated from the pinyin.

The traditional dish traditionally doesn’t use any vegetables apart from the Japanese leeks, but its American counterpart, the famous Panda Express Kung Pao Chicken, will usually use bell peppers and zucchini with a different sauce that includes hoisin sauce in its recipe.

What is in Kung Pao Chicken?

Chinese Kung Pao chicken traditionally uses specialty ingredients like Shaoxing wine, Szechuan peppercorns, Szechuan chili peppers, raw peanuts and Japanese leeks. The chicken pieces are marinated in Shaoxing wine to enhance the flavor of the dish.

• [easyazon_link identifier=”B07K6VD6DL” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Shaoxing Wine[/easyazon_link]: If it’s hard to find, you can use Japanese sake.  If that’s also not available, chicken bouillon will do.  I personally prefer to use sake as it has less carbs.
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B071CX48ZS” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Szechuan Peppercorns[/easyazon_link]: They are usually flash fried into a pan to release their oils and spiciness. These peppercorns are the most important part of the dish as they give the dish its famous numbing flavor.
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B06XX51N55″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Szechuan Chili Peppers[/easyazon_link]: It’s nearly impossible to find Szechuan chili peppers in grocery stores out of Asia, so it’s totally fine to use any kind of dried chili peppers you can find.  If not, you can just use some chili flakes and that will give the heat the dish needs.
• [easyazon_link identifier=”B07VMB9NND” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Raw Peanuts[/easyazon_link]: They are often used in this dish and fried in the oil along with the spices before adding the chicken and leeks in.  If you don’t like peanuts, you can also substitute it for cashew nuts.
• Long Green Onion: The white part of the Japanese leek, also called long green onions, is also used in this Chinese Kung Pao chicken recipe.  If you live in Asia, you’ll find this leek anywhere, but if not, you’ll have to look in Asian supermarkets to see if they have it.  If not, you can just use chopped onions or spring onions.

How many carbs in Kung Pao Chicken

In either the authentic Kung Pao chicken recipe or the Panda Express Kung Pao chicken, the carbs aren’t that high as the chicken isn’t breaded.  The carbs will mostly come from the sauce which has a little bit of sugar in it.  The original dishes have about 14g of carbs and this keto kung pao chicken has 4.7g net carbs.

To make this healthy Kung Pao chicken keto friendly, I’ve switched the traditional sugar and used keto brown sugar, Lakanto Golden, instead.  I’ve also switched the corn starch for a bit of xanthan gum to create a low carb slurry.

How to make Authentic Kung Pao Chicken

It doesn’t take a lot of work to make this low carb kung pao chicken recipe.

First you’ll cut your chicken breasts and add the marinade ingredients.  You’ll want to let it marinate for at least 20 minutes.roast the Szechuan peppercorns in a frying pan until the pan starts to smoke.  This will allow the peppercorns to release their flavors and oil.

You’ll then cook the ginger, chili peppers and peppercorns a little bit. Add the long green onions and peanuts and stir fry just until soft.

Add the chicken breast and stir-fry 4-5 minutes on low-medium heat.  It’s really important to stir fry the chicken on low-medium heat and not high heat so that your chicken breasts stay nice and juicy, instead of completely dried out.

The last step is to add the Kung Pao sauce and stir fry until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes.

Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken

If you’d like to make this healthy kung pao chicken in the slow cooker or a crock pot, you’ll need to roast the peppercorns, peanuts and chili peppers in a frying pan before adding them to a slow cooker.

Once they’re all roasted, go ahead and add all of the ingredients into the slow cooker, mix well and cook for 2.5 to 4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the keto stir fry sauce made of?

The keto stir fry sauce for this keto Kung Pao chicken is a mix of coconut aminos, sesame oil, black vinegar, sake, keto brown sugar with lots of Szechuan peppercorns and chili peppers.

This recipe uses coconut aminos to keep it soy free, but you can also use tamari, soy sauce or liquid aminos.  For the keto brown sugar, you’ll want to use a keto brand like [easyazon_link identifier=”B01ARKFXVS” locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Sukrin Gold[/easyazon_link] or [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LDNBC86″ locale=”US” tag=”mypcoskitchen-20″]Lakanto Golden[/easyazon_link].

Why add baking soda to the chicken breast?

Adding baking soda to meat like chicken, pork and beef helps tenderize the meat, which helps it make it more soft and juicy in this low carb Kung Pao chicken recipe.

What to serve with Kung Pao chicken?

Kung Pao chicken is traditionally served over rice or noodles, but those are nether keto or paleo.  Here are a few sides you can serve it with.

• Broccoli Rice
• Cauliflower Rice
• Shirataki Noodles
• Shirataki Rice
• Zucchini Noodles
• Sauteed Green Beans

How to Store Gong Bao Chicken

You’ll want to store this Chinese Kung Pao chicken recipe in a Tupperware in the fridge.  It will last about 5 days in the fridge.  It’s also freezer friendly so you can freeze individual portions in small Tupperwares or Ziploc bags.  In the freezer, it should last about 2-3 months.

More Keto Asian Recipes

Here are some more keto Asian recipes, you’ll love to make!

Final Tips & Substitutions

Make sure to read the following tips and substitutions before making this authentic Kong Pao chicken recipe!

• Make sure to add that baking soda to the chicken breasts.  It really helps make them super soft and juicy!
• Make sure to use Szechuan peppercorns and not other kinds of peppercorns.  This healthy kung pao chicken recipe is known for its famous numbing taste due to the Szechuan.
• Instead of chicken, feel free to use shrimp or beef!
• Instead of sake, you can use shaoxing wine.  I chose to use sake because it has less carbs and is more available here in Japan than shaoxing wine.
• Instead of xanthan gum, you can use corn starch, arrowroot powder or taptioca starch to make a slurry.
• Instead of long green onions, you can use onions or spring onions.
• Instead of coconut aminos, you can use soy sauce, liquid aminos or tamari.
• Instead of peanuts, you can use cashew nuts.

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Just like the original recipe, but made with healthier ingredients!

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword gong bao chicken, keto chinese recipe, kung pao chicken, kung pao chicken recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Marinating Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

SERVINGS 4 servings

NET Carbs 4.52g

FAT 9.76g

PROTEIN 31.8g

CALORIES 255kcal

Cook Asian Keto Kitchen

• Slice the chicken breast into 1 inch/2 cm cubes.
• Place the chicken breast into a large bowl and cover with the coconut aminos, sake and baking soda. Mix well and let it marinate for 20 minutes.
• While the chicken is marinating, add the Szechuan peppercorns to a frying pan and put on medium heat. Roast them until the pan starts to smoke. Take them out of the frying pan and transfer them to a mortar and pestle. Crush as fine as you can.
• Grate the ginger, slice the chili peppers in 3, slice the long green onion in 1 inch/2cm pieces.
• In a large frying pan, add the Kung Pao spices ingredients and cook on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the long green onion and cook for another minute.Add the marinated chicken pieces and start stir-frying. To get the most juicy pieces of chicken breast, make sure you cook it on low-medium heat. If you cook the chicken breast on high heat, they will dry out. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the Kung Pao sauce ingredients and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
• Remove from the heat and the dish is ready to serve!

• Make sure to add that baking soda to the chicken breasts.  It really helps make them super soft and juicy!
• Make sure to use Szechuan peppercorns and not other kinds of peppercorns.  This healthy kung pao chicken recipe is known for its famous numbing taste due to the Szechuan.
• Instead of chicken, feel free to use shrimp or beef!
• Instead of sake, you can use shaoxing wine.  I chose to use sake because it has less carbs and is more available here in Japan than shaoxing wine.
• Instead of xanthan gum, you can use corn starch, arrowroot powder or taptioca starch to make a slurry.
• Instead of long green onions, you can use onions or spring onions.
• Instead of coconut aminos, you can use soy sauce, liquid aminos or tamari.
• Instead of peanuts, you can use cashew nuts.

Mention @asianketokitchen or tag #asianketokitchen!

Mention @asianketokitchen so that I can see all of your goodies!!