Filipino Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines and may well become your new favourite Asian chicken dish! Just a few everyday ingredients I can practically guarantee you already have, it’s an effortless recipe that yields juicy, tender chicken coated in a sweet savoury glaze with little pops of heat from peppercorns.
This is a chicken thigh recipe and it MUST be made with thighs – no substituting with chicken breast!
Filipino Chicken Adobo
Filipino Chicken Adobo is one of the first chicken thigh recipes I shared way back in 2015 when I started this website. Back then, I boldly stated that this was my new favourite Asian chicken recipe even it was thoroughly disloyal of me to say that, being of Japanese background and all (Teriyaki, Karaage and Yakitori….to name a few….).
To be honest, I may have embellished a wee bit. Blinded by the excitement of discovering Chicken Adobo, how unbelievably easy it is for a dish that yields such incredible flavour,
Check out how sticky the sauce is! It truly tastes as incredible as it looks. And it’s SO EASY with just a HANDFUL of ingredients!
What you need
Filipino Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines and like all traditional dishes, there are many variations – including different proteins like pork and beef.
Fundamentally though, the key ingredients are the right balance of soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper and sugar that create an incredibly sticky glaze that has a depth of flavour like it’s been slow cooked – but it’s not!
-
boneless skinless chicken thighs – cannot substitute with breast, need the fat to transform sauce into a glaze;
-
soy sauce – all purpose or light soy sauce. NOT dark soy sauce (bottle will be labelled as such if it’s dark soy sauce);
-
white vinegar – just everyday, plain white vinegar. Sub with any clear vinegar, including rice wine, apple cider, sherry vinegar;
-
onion and garlic;
-
peppercorns – or coarse cracked pepper;
-
sugar – brown best, white ok;
-
bay leaves – fresh or dried, not the end of the world if you don’t have; and
-
green onion – optional garnish
How to make Filipino Chicken Adobo
And here’s how to make it. Basically, you marinate the chicken briefly, sear the chicken, then simmer it in the pan with the marinade for 25 minutes. It will look watery right up until the last few minutes, then all of a sudden, the liquid transforms magically into a syrupy glaze!
What Chicken Adobo tastes like
The glaze of Filipino Chicken Adobo is savoury and sweet with a hint of tang, with a distinct soy flavour. The garlic and onion creates a savoury base along with the bay leaves, and the peppercorns add little subtle pops of heat.
Don’t be afraid of the peppercorns in this! The spiciness is tempered from both the cooking time and the strength of the flavour of the sauce so it becomes a flavour enhancer rather than fiery spiciness.
And finally, the chicken itself. It’s incredibly tender, owing to the cook time. Chicken thighs only take about 6 to 8 minutes to cook on the stove, so simmering them in sauce for 25 minutes yields thighs that are so tender inside, it’s like you’ve slow cooked them for hours.
What to serve with Chicken Adobo
Rice to soak up the sauce is essential! Though if you’re counting calories, I can highly recommend Cauliflower Rice – pictured in the first photo in the post alongside Smashed Cucumbers for a seriously delicious dinner plate clocking in at a grand total of just 415 calories.
You may not use all the sauce this Filipino Chicken Adobo recipe makes. It is quite strong, so have a taste before dousing your entire plate with it.
As you can see in the photos, I do not hold back. 😂 – Nagi x
PS If you do have leftover sauce, don’t throw it out! That stuff is GOLD. I use it to make Filipino Chicken Adobo fried rice – just fry up cooked rice with chopped up pieces of this chicken, some chopped Asian greens and the sauce. The sauce is so flavoursome that you don’t need anything else!
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Filipino Chicken Adobo (Flavour Kapow!)
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 750g / 1.5 lb chicken thigh fillets , boneless and skinless (5 - 6 pieces) (Note 1)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/3 cup (85ml) soy sauce , ordinary all purpose or light (not dark soy sauce, Note 2)
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 4 bay leaves (fresh) or 3 dried
For cooking
- 2 tbsp oil , separated (vegetable, canola or peanut)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small brown onion , diced
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp whole black pepper (sub 2 tsp coarse cracked pepper)
Serving:
- 2 green onions/scallions , sliced (garnish)
Instructions
- Combine Chicken and Marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade) and place in the pan. Sear both sides until browned – about 1 minute on each side. Do not cook the chicken all the way through.
- Remove chicken skillet and set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil in skillet. Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and black pepper. Bring it to a simmer then turn heat down to medium high. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Add chicken smooth side down. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes (no need to stir), turning chicken at around 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces down to a thick jam-like syrup.
- If the sauce isn't thick enough, remove chicken onto a plate and let the sauce simmer by itself - it will thicken much quicker - then return chicken to the skillet to coat in the glaze.
- Coat chicken in glaze then serve over rice. Pictured in post as a healthy dinner plate (415 calories) with cauliflower rice and Ginger Smashed Cucumbers.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published February 2015. Updated January 2019 with brand new photos, step photos, video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!!
Life of Dozer
Dozer started 2019 the same way as he finished it – in the POOL!!
Debbie says
Such a flavoursome dish! Ingredients are easily accessible and it doesn’t take too long to cook so perfect for a weeknight dinner. Thanks for another lovely recipe!
Ally says
I want to try this! It sounds wonderful! However, I was wondering, do the peppercorns soften during the cooking process or do they stay crunchy? Thanks in advance!
Lis says
They soften as the sauce cooks. You will be amazed in the delicious flavour considering how little time and effort goes into this dish.
Samantha Cruz says
Personally I crack the peppercorns (using the side of a butcher knife on my cutting board) before mixing them in; cracking them gives a richer pepper flavor (more surface area) and if you crack them right before cooking the flavor is much better than using pre-ground peppercorn (as it just tends to lose the flavor as it ages).
if you do NOT crack them they will still be fairly hard kernels in the finished product; they are not quite as hard as a raw peppercorn but they will still have a bit of a crunch to them.
Molly says
Is this white wine vinegar, or white vinegar like distilled that you can also use for cleaning?
Samantha Cruz says
filipino white vinegar is a cane vinegar (Datu Puti is a common brand name) – it is not the same as distilled white vinegar (that will work but the flavor is not quite the same) – if you don’t have cane vinegar a better substitute would be apple cider vinegar (in my opinion).
jade says
the serving says 407g in the nutrition info, is this the weight for all the servings? The rest of the nutrients appear to be for a single serving
Scott says
Hi Nagi, I used to eat this dish over my friend’s house, and his dad made it so that it was falling off the bone. I kind of remember the flavor, but the “falling apart” thing was what impressed me the most! I tried another recipe this evening that was good, but they didn’t say whether or not to cover the pot/pan at any time. Do you cover it up?
Whitney says
No I would not cover it as this will create more moisture which would add more water affecting the ability to achieve the caramelising you need with the recipe. Plus this is cooked with boneless chicken thighs..
John Saje says
I made this for my wife for Valentine’s and it was a definite hit with her. She went on and on about how good it was to her mom, which made me feel really great. Couldn’t get the sauce to thicken as much as I would have liked to. Next time, i’ll throw a bit of corn starch and water to the sauce. Oh yeah, I couldn’t get the chicken to sear properly once I brought it out from the marinade. Next time i’ll sear the chicken first before marinating. Great recipe! Nagi, can you send me some more Filipino recipes… love the food!
Scott says
hey John… don’t add corn starch. I think that’ll be nasty. If you try and it and works, lemme know, but you just want to reduce the sauce for long enough that it thickens. As for searing the chicken, it’s best to do after you marinade. You don’t need to sear it to the point where you can really see it “seared.” You just want to heat it on high heat for a minute on each side to strengthen the exterior of the chicken so it doesn’t completely fall apart later, from what I understand.
Patricia says
Filo here. Tried your recipe and it’s just taste like how my lola (grandma) make it. Love it!
Lakshmi says
I just made this tonight and it was amazing!! The whole family loved it. Thank you!
Re says
A-MA-ZING!!!!! I was trying this adobo for the first time when company unexpectedly showed up while I was cooking. I had to politely invite them to stay for dinner after they commented on how great the chicken smelled.
We were not disappointed. The sauce didn’t quite thicken up, but it didn’t detract from the meal. Making this again real soon. FABULOUS!! Thank you so much.
Nikki says
I simmered mine for 20/25 minutes on medium high heat and got the desired thick sticky sauce and the meat tasted great. The onions and garlic however just turned into a charred mess. Should I take those out before simmering next time and just add them back in at the end???
Nagi says
Hi Nikki, they shouldn’t char at all in the sauce – sounds like you may of had the heat a little too high? N x
Koren Easterday says
I’ve never had chicken adobo so can’t speak to it’s authenticity in taste, but I can tell you it was wonderful! I used coarse craked pepper rather than whole, low sodium soy sauce and low sodium chicken broth in place of water. Thank for this recipe….it be a staple recipe for me!
Marti says
I’ve made this many times now. This is one of my very favorite recipes. I remember one time I brought some left overs to serve with some girlfriends in a get together. One of them screamed at me, “This is NOT Filipino Adobo! She kept up the argument until I finally said, “With so many varieties of spaghette sauce wouldn’t it be logical that maybe there are different versions of Chicken Adobo?” She walked away muttering under her breath “That is not Filipino Chicken Adobo.” She is like a pit bull in an argument.Only complaint I have ever gotten. Most of the time I get lots of “mmmmmmmm.’ Lucky it was a Pot Luck. She wasn’t stuck eating it. More for us!
Samantha Cruz says
there are regional differences – In the some parts of the Visayas you sometimes see Coconut Milk (mostly bicol and on Mindanao), up in Laguna and ilocano provinces you might see Tumeric or Ginger added. – This recipe is pretty common and is close to what I mostly used in the Visayas
Caroline Lee Depcik says
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
Samantha Cruz says
You will probably want to sear the chicken (after marinating it) in a skillet first but sear the chicken in the morning then transfer it to a slow cooker to simmer adobo (on low) so it is hot and ready when I get home after work. (also helps if you have a rice cooker that has a delayed cooking feature so you have hot/fresh rice ready when it’s time to eat).
Henry says
Cooking our national dish(I’m Filo!) with your recipe was a challenge I took as I wasn’t sure how it will come out. But you nailed it! Will have to cook it back home and let my mom judge it,too! Loved the flavours, just right, not too much of everything! Thank you Nagi!
Anthony Chance says
Hi Nagi,I’ve first tasted this amazing dish at a Filipino Church, in Georgia,I was in love so I started to cook this dish,every chance I got,next thing I knew, family and friends liked it,but the problem I had was the right amount,of the ingredients,too much vinegar or too little of that,I’m heavy handed with my spices,considering I have Caribbean and Soul Food in my back grounds,thanks to you I have it right now,keep up the good work and have a bless New Years…
rebecca says
you can use chicken breast. when i cut off extra fat from chicken breast, which i would normally discard, i saved and put large fat pieces in with water after browning the chicken. then when it was done, i discarded the fat.
i understand from the recipe instructions that fat is necessary to make the sauce thicken, i just don’t want to eat the fat…(previous gall bladder surgery)
very good- definitely a kick- i would double the sugar next time- boyfriend and 7 year old agree.
Jennifer Fulk says
Can you just use bone in chicken breasts and leave the skin on? My family won’t eat thighs.
Susie Timmermann says
WOW…this was awesome! I made this recipe last night for my BFF who is filipino. She said “let me see if it’s as good as my grandmothers was”. She said it was the best she has ever had. It was a hit with my entire family. Definitely a keeper recipe. Thank you for your awesome recipe collection Nagi!
Rick says
You say ….”Marinade for up to overnight.”
Does that mean overnight is the max (i.e. ~8Hr) ,…… or is 24Hr marinade OK
Preparing day before with a 24 Hr Marinade is easy … but want to check that does not spoil anything
Robin says
I have been cooking this recipe a lot lately and love it. I’ve now started adding 1 Tbsp of Sichuan pepper as well as the 1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns in the recipe-the extra zing is amazing!
Andrea says
Everything I make from your recipes always turns out AMAZING!! I’m a convert-love your site👍