Kalua Chicken Recipe
Start your own luau with homemade Kalua Chicken. Kalua Chicken is a variation of the dish Kalua Pork. Kalua refers to the traditional Hawaiian method of cooking in an underground oven or imu. Inside the pit, the meat is cooked on top of rocks heated by firewood and layered with canvas tarp, leaves and sand.
Since we will not be cooking the chicken in an imu, we will use liquid smoke to recreate the smokey flavor and slow cook the meat in a Crock Pot or slow cooker. My inspiration for this recipe is an attempt to reduce the amount of red meat in my diet. I decided to experiment and use chicken as a substitute for pork. Surprisingly, the Kalua Chicken tasted as good as the pork version, but with less fat and oil.
If you enjoyed this recipe, try my other local Hawai’i recipes from my blog:
Salmon Furikake
Haupia Pudding
Meat Jun
DIRECTIONS
Remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Poke holes in the chicken. The liquid smoke can absorb easily into the meat, ensuring the chicken will be flavorful.
Rub Hawaiian Sea Salt all over the chicken thighs. Adjust the salt amount based on your preference. If you do not have Hawaiian Sea Salt, you can substitute it for regular sea salt or table salt. Then, rub the liquid smoke on the chicken.
Add 1/2 cup of water into the Crock Pot or slow cooker. Chicken thighs don’t contain as much fat as pork, so the water helps the chicken from drying out. Next, add the chicken into the slow cooker.
Cook on high for 6 hours.
After 3 hours, flip the chicken to prevent from drying. If you will be away from home when cooking, this step is optional. Flip over the chicken if you feel necessary!
After 6 hours, the meat will fall of the bone. Next, shred the meat. Serve it with a side of rice and your Kalua Chicken is ready to eat!
Kalua Chicken | Kalua Chicken Slow Cooker
Start your own luau with homemade Kalua Chicken! This Kalua Chicken recipe consists of Hawaiian Sea Salt and Liquid Smoke cooked in a Crock Pot.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken thighs
- 2 tsp liquid smoke
- 1/2 cup water
- Hawaiian Sea Salt or Regular Sea Salt
Instructions
-
Remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Poke holes in the chicken. The liquid smoke can absorb easily into the meat, ensuring the chicken will be flavorful.
-
Rub Hawaiian Sea Salt all over the chicken thighs. Adjust salt amount based on your preference. If you do not have Hawaiian Sea Salt, you can substitute it for regular sea salt or table salt. Then rub the liquid smoke on the chicken.
-
Add 1/2 cup of water into the Crock Pot or slow cooker. Next, add the chicken into the slow cooker.
-
Cook on high for 6 hours. Flip the chicken to prevent from drying. If you will be away from home when cooking, this step is optional.
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After 6 hours, turn off the Crock Pot. Shred the chicken and serve with a side of rice