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
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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!!
Wow!! Yet another amazing dinner thanks to Nagi and her wonderful recipes. I like to try a different one every week. ?
The flavour was just superb and so easy to make. Leaving it alone to cook away to itself while I relaxed with a nice glass of wine was a bonus too.
I even have a bit chicken left to take to work today with some salad. Mmm, is it lunchtime yet!! ?
Oooh, I’m so glad you enjoyed this Kirsty! Thanks for letting me know! And I LOVE knowing you’re trying so many of my recipes!! N x
Hi Nagi, question: Can rice vinegar be used in this or does that throw the whole flavor off? That’s what I had on hand and I’m just curious. Thanks!
Hi Amanda! It’s better with plain white vinegar but rice vinegar will work out!! Very minor difference 🙂
Hi Nagi
This asks for white vinegar. Is this white wine vinegar or distilled malt vinegar? Cooking this next week and just doing my shopping list. ? xx
Hi Kirsty! It just means plain white vinegar 🙂 Not white wine or distilled malt! It is clear liquid, looks like water!
Hi Nagi
All I can get is malt vinegar (brown) or distilled malt vinegar (clear). xx
Hi Kirsty! Just did a bit of research – distilled malt vinegar is what you need! We know that as just white vinegar here 🙂
Oh my, Nagi, this was so wonderful. The sauce is what makes it especially good. One thing I tried with the marinate was to use a soy sauce substitute which is an amino acid called Bragg’s. In our store its actually sold in the Asian section with their soy sauces. I cut soy sauce out of my diet when I went to more healthy choice in all foods I eat. Bragg’s worked so well and was worth the experiment. I can think of other ways to use it. I did make mine with chicken thighs and followed your recipe exactly except for the substitute soy. Thanks so much for pining the recipe.
I’m SO GLAD you enjoyed it Jo! Thank you for letting me know!!! 🙂 N x
Going to try this tonight. Will let you know my results. Looks wonderful and Filipino is my favorite Asian food.
Looking forward to hearing what you think Jo!
I wrote a reply but it didn’t post. Basically what I said was how delicious this dish is. I followed the recipe exactly but did change one thing. It was an experiment I wanted to try. I no longer use soy sauce in my diet but instead have switched to a very healthy substitute, an amino acid called Bragg’s. It tastes and looks like soy sauce but is very good for us and does not contain the sodium soy does. It worked, can’t imagine the soy sauce being better. Thank you, Nagi, for posting this recipe. I plan to incorporate the sauce into other dishes I think it would be wonderful in.
I’m marinading the chicken right now for tonight’s dinner. Looks so delicious I hope mine looks as good. Wish me luck!
You don’t need luck for this! 😉
The dish looks so yum i want to try it.. is it possible to use the recipe for whole chicken?
hi there! I’m afraid a whole chicken won’t work with this 🙁 Takes too long to cook!
I’ve always made chicken adobe with the bone in. Wanted to try skinless & boneless, so Google led me to this site.
Love this recipe. Chicken and flavors came out perfectly.
BTW, you forgot to amend your recipe to show, ‘simmer UNCOVERED’.
Gahh, I will change it NOW! 🙂 Thank you!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Just returned from my office potluck. Colleagues loved it too. No leftovers!
I love this! Thank you for another great recipe. I hope you don’t mind if I share this with “all the cooks”…? I will definitely reference back to your blog!
of course not, very flattered! Thank you Suze!
Hi Nagi,
I tried making this recipe (followed it to a T) and the dish didn’t come out very well. The flavor was ok, but I was expecting a lot more (flavor kapow is in the title). The chicken came out a little dry as well. What did I do wrong?
Woah! I’m so sorry you have troubles with this recipe. The flavour of the sauce is very intense so I feel like something went wrong. What type of soy sauce did you use? I know a friend who kept trying to make this with the wrong type of soy sauce and it kept not working out! It needs to be made with ordinary soy sauce – not light, not dark, not low sodium. I use Kikkoman. Also, did you make this with thigh fillets? Wish I could be there in the kitchen with you to help troubleshoot! 🙂
Hi Nagi
I am in the UK and I am unsure what you mean by “soy sauce ordinary”. Apart from different brands the two types in the UK are light and dark soy sauces. Can you please advise?
Regards
Dave
Hi Dave! I know, soy sauce can be confusing! Kikkoman is the soy sauce I use in this. Basically, any soy sauce you get from the supermarket that does not have “light” or “dark” written on it is “normal” soy sauce. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Thanks for that. I will pick up some Kikkoman tomorrow.
Dave
You don’t mention if the pan should be covered or not for the long simmer…I made this the other day, doubled the recipe, covered it and simmered a bit longer…it was delicious over rice but saucy not glazed…curious if you suggest covered or not?
Hi Tracy! The lid needs to be off for the whole time so the sauce can reduce to turn into a glaze. I’ll make that clear in the recipe! 🙂
Another winner recipe! This is amazingly delicious. I never had chicken adobo using chicken thighs only. It turns out that I love chicken adobo using chicken thighs and only thicken thighs. 🙂 Thank you Nagi!
Yay!! It must be Adobo day, I just heard from a friend who said she also just tried it and loved it! I’m so glad you enjoyed it Sheryn! 🙂 N x
Hello Nagi! I made this last night and it turned out great! My sauce wasn’t as thick as I was in a bit of a hurry and could have let it thicken for a bit longer…but the flavours were there! I’ve tried other adobo recipes but this is the one I’ll keep coming back to! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Rica! I’m SO GLAD you loved it! I love this so much – I actually had it for the dinner a few nights ago! Thank you for coming back to let me know you enjoyed it – N x
I just made this but omitted the onions and shallots as I have people that are allergic. I doubled the soy sauce, vinegar, water, sugar, garlic to make more sauce since I feed about 7 people. My sauce is very thin, not thick and sticky at all and my chicken is a little on the dry side.
Hi Vanessa! Did you double the whole recipe or just the sauce? Because if you did just the sauce but not the chicken as well then one of the reasons that the sauce would have been thin is because you need the right ratio of sauce to chicken as the fat in the chicken is part of the reason why the sauce goes sticky. Other than that, the only other thing would be that the sauce was not reduced down enough. You really need to reduce it right down until it becomes a glaze, not a sauce. This sauce is far too strong flavoured to be used as a pouring sauce, it should only be used as a glaze. 🙂
Two words…wow…yum!!!
Two words: THANK YOU! (And a few more: Have a great weekend! 🙂 )
This looks amazing. I have chicken breasts so would that work? I’ve substituted breasts instead of thighs in other recipes and it hasn’t worked so well so just wanted to check. Thanks for sharing
Hi Peace! You’ll still get that gorgeous glaze, it just isn’t as juicy because breast is a leaner cut. So yes, it will work, just leaner!
Nagi, your recipe calls for chicken thigh fillets. Are those boneless & skinless chicken thighs? Wanted to get the terminology/vocabulary correct before I try this recipe on my family. Pictures look awesome.
Hi Hao, yes, boneless and skinless thighs. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, I have updated the recipe. I hope your family enjoys it! I love love LOVE this. It is so easy and the flavour is so incredible! I was concerned it would be too salty but it isn’t at all, it is such a great balance of flavours!!
Just made this tonight and it is fabulous!
SO GLAD you enjoyed it!! 🙂
This dish is going to happen in my kitchen soon! It will be my first Filipino dish. Looking forward to making it!
It was my first Filipino dish too! It makes me want to try more 🙂