My easy, healthy oven pulled chicken is a quick, gluten free, lower sugar version of this popular dish. It contains a handful of spices and a little miso paste, which not only adds goodness but also a rich, savoury flavour, perfect in this dish.

Pulled chicken in black oval cast iron dish with fork, wraps, guacamole in small dish and green cloth.

Pulled meats have gained in popularity in recent years and there is a perfectly good reason for that. They are simply delicious! Slow cooked meat is tender and succulent and the rich sauce it is marinated and cooked in makes this already delicious meat even more delicious. It is probably one of the tastiest ways of serving meat.

It's super simple, low in sugar, made using natural ingredients and above all, bursting with flavour!

Healthy oven pulled chicken ingredients

This recipe contains only 2 tablespoons of honey so it's a lot lower in sugar than pulled chicken recipes which call for bbq sauce or ketchup. And most of them do. I used skinless chicken legs and only 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil so the fat content is also quite low.

I decided to add a small amount of miso paste to my pulled chicken marinade for extra savouriness and depth of flavour (although you can't taste the miso itself). Miso has a very intense, salty, super savoury flavour, which was ideal to combine with tangy tomato paste, sweet honey and sharp vinegar I used in this recipe.

Miso paste is a nutritious ingredient which has many uses far beyond the Japanese cuisine. It is a natural product high in protein and fibre, low in sugar, vegan and gluten free (though not always so check the label carefully). In short, most qualities that readymade barbecue sauces which we tend to add to pulled meats are lacking.

Side view of pulled chicken with coleslaw inside burger bun pierced with bamboos stick, with lime and coleslaw in black dish in background.

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1.Place the chicken legs with the bay leaves inside your oven dish.

4 skinless chicken legs with bay leaves in black oval dish.

2. To make the marinade simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Chicken marinade spices with spoon inside yellow bowl.

3. Stir until smooth.

Pulled chicken marinade with spoon inside yellow bowl.

4. Coat the chicken in the marinade evenly all over and leave to marinate for at least an hour (up to overnight).

Chicken legs coated in marinade inside black oval dish.

5. Cover loosely with foil and cook slowly in a preheated oven at 170 C/gas mark 3 for 2 hours.

Cooked chicken legs in marinade inside oval black dish with red-and-white checkered cloth.

6. Remove from the oven and separate the meat form the bone. This will be very easy to do as the meat will be super tender. Shred the meat, breaking up the larger pieces and place back into the casserole dish.

Shredded chicken with knife and fork on top of white plate.

7.Combine with the juices and enjoy!

Pulled chicken in black oval cast iron dish with fork, guacamole in small dish, wraps and green cloth.

Serving suggestions

You can enjoy shredded chicken in burritos, burger buns, in lettuce wraps, with rice, mango avocado salsa, coleslaw, homemade bbq sauce or a dollop of healthy ranch dip.

This dish tastes delicious served alongside black bean stew and grilled corn salsa.

Top tips

Add more chilli flakes for extra heat if you prefer.
Preparation time includes the minimum recommended time (1 hour) needed to marinate the chicken. The chicken can be left in the marinade overnight.
The sauce may thicken as it cools so you may want to add a drop of water and give a good stir before serving.
Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Freeze for up to 3 months.

You may also like this collection of 13 healthy easy one pot chicken recipes.

Recipe

Keep in touch!

How has this oven pulled chicken recipe turned out for you? What is your favourite way of serving pulled chicken? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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