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!
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boneless skinless chicken thighs – cannot substitute with breast, need the fat to transform sauce into a glaze;
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soy sauce – all purpose or light soy sauce. NOT dark soy sauce (bottle will be labelled as such if it’s dark soy sauce);
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white vinegar – just everyday, plain white vinegar. Sub with any clear vinegar, including rice wine, apple cider, sherry vinegar;
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onion and garlic;
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peppercorns – or coarse cracked pepper;
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sugar – brown best, white ok;
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bay leaves – fresh or dried, not the end of the world if you don’t have; and
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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
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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!!
Hi Nagi
Just wondering if you have ever used Coconut vinegar? I will be making this next week and keep to use vinegar I have.
I haven’t Meg – would love to know how it works out if you try it! N x
Delicious and SO packed with flavor! Made this with chicken drumsticks (following the recipe’s notes) and it came out perfectly. Bless you Nagi!
Perfect Rebecca!! N x
I made this twice already…in the last 2 weeks!! The first time I was lazy and didnt de-bone or skin the thighs, big mistake. It took FOREVER to cook and the flavor didnt penetrate the meat. The second time around I deboned and took the skin off. BIG BIG difference in terms of flavor impact! It came out sticky….juicy..caramelized and rich. The whole family loved it! Definitely a keeper. Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
So much flavour! I was a bit unsure about this recipe because of the vinegar but it was so balanced. I only marinated it for 20 mins and it was delicious.
Hi – I have bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, when do I add the extra water? Is it when I add the water called for in the recipe in step 5?
Hi Christel, I would remove the skin and then add the extra water at step 5 🙂 N x
This is by far my boyfriend and I’d favourite way to cook our adobo! It has the right balance of vinegar and soy sauce. Thank you for this recipe! 😍
One of the best chicken dishes. Full flavour and nice and easy. Family loved it
Great recipe! I used bone in, skin on chicken thighs with the extra amount of water recommended in the notes and it turned out perfect. Going to use the leftover sauce for adobo fried rice! Thanks for another easy and delicious recipe!
I’ve made this 3times. The first time I used low sodium soy sauce and white vinegar. The second and last one I used Datu puti soy sauce and vinegar (Filipino brands). All were delicious but the last two were exceptional. I would make it either way.
This dish is absolutely fantastic. It is actually shocking how much of a flsvojr punch this packs given the simple ingredients and short marinading time. I’ve never tasted anything like this before but love it so much.
I cooked this and it was amazing! The only downfall was as soon as I took out my chicken, the sauce immediately burned. I was not able to use any of the sauce for glazing when serving. If I eliminated the brown sugar, would that help this issue? What are your suggestions?
Hi Samantha, you can’t leave out the sugar, but it just sounds like your heat was a little too high and the sauce reduced too much. Just try turning down the heat next time and it should solve this problem 🙂 N x
Ok, this is actually a FANTASTIC recipe. My Filipino husband absolutely LOVED IT! It was very similar to the adobo we ate in the Philippines. I would make this over and over again. Thank you for the recipe!!!! 😀
Hi Nagi, I’ve tried chicken adobo a couple of times but I found that after reducing the sauce it’s too salty for my taste. Should I reduce the amount of soy sauce?
Hi Nany, if it’s too salty, sounds like you may be reducing it a little too far – try lowering the soy or reducing the time simmering so it becomes less salty. N x
Use a light soy sauce! Reduced sodium. Especially if you reducing it. If you can only use dark soy sauce , try adding a bit of water to reduce the saltiness.
Oh my goodness, so much deliciousness!! Very easy to make, with things I already had. I can always, always count on Nagi’s wonderful website for yummy and wholesome recipes. Another winner!
I added a little cajun touch to your tradition dish 1.4 of red bell pepper to give more vesta color and a little different flavor.
Sounds great Ray – would have added some sweetness too! N x
Yet another favorite of both toddlers and both adults in our house. Your recipes keep us fed Nagi, and you’ve turned me from a reluctant cook to someone who loves cooking and serving up something I know is gonna be great! The only one disappointed is the dog as the kids spilled so much less than usual.
I loved this recipe. Found it by searching recipes for ingredients i had on hand. I’d never eaten this dish or made it before and I loved it! I had skin-on thighs and left it on, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Next time I’m making it with double the sauce ingredients, as it’s the bomb and I’d like to use it on other goodies. Five stars!
This was my first time making Adobo Chicken and my whole family loved it, including the kids which is a big win. Just 2 questions – 1) when you simmer the chicken, do you keep the flame on med-high or turn it down to low? some recipes say to cover it with a lid 2) there’s so much liquid that’s left in the end, how do you get it so thick like gravy?
After adding the chicken, the recipe says to simmer. Should I heat the reduced or stay between the medium/ high mark?
Hi Tana, no you may need to reduce the heat slightly so it’s not too hot so it doesn’t burn. N x
Hi Nagi,
I really enjoyed this recipe, definately “flavour kapow”. On personal preference I wouldn’t add the peppercorns next time simply because they remain hard and were too spicy for my kids. I will opt for some fresh coursely ground black pepper next time. I did use 2 lbs of chicken thighs so slightly more than called for and did the quick sear step in two batches. Once seared they all fit snugly into my jumbo cooker. The sauce cooked down beautifully into that saucy glaze. I will definately make this again!
Love that you have so many options that are reasonable for a weeknight dinner.
Cheers,
Holly x