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!!
Alicia says
Hi!
I’m looking forward to trying your recipe!
I have skinless bone-in chicken thighs. Will that work?
Thank you!
Nagi says
Yes!
Patrick says
Arigoto Gazaimasu Nagi, Oishi!!!!! I have made adobo before as well as my fiance, who is Filipina in Yokosuka. Made this and she loved it as well as I did and some of her Filipino friends, this will be my go to recipe for adobo! Like previous poster said, I am going to try this with pork also!!!!
Nagi says
Dōitashimashite! So pleased you enjoyed it Patrick! N xx
Suzannah says
Thank you so much for this recipe. It was delicious! Best adobo ever – just the right amount of sweetness/saltiness!
Nagi says
I’m so pleased to hear that Suzannah! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
KMunoz says
I just made this and it was spectaaacular. I took the chicken out at the end to thicken the sauce, and it took mine a bit longer to get syrup-y like, probably more like 10-12 mins? But so worth it. Also, save the extra sauce? Ha! I ate a lot of it with a spoon haha. Delicious, thanks for the recipe!
Nagi says
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you very much for your message – N xx
Ginny says
This was sooooo good Nagi. Thank you for another winner! And great idea about the stir fried rice for the extra sauce. I’m scraping every last bit of it out of the pan for this tomorrow night.
Nagi says
I’m so pleased to hear that! Thanks for letting me know Ginny! 🙂 N xx
Rose says
I made it this recipe last night ? ? it was so delicious
Nagi says
Thanks Rose! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! N xx
andrew says
Looks amazing. Can this be made in crockpot with skin-on bone-in chicken thighs?
Nagi says
I’m sorry it won’t work Andrew! Liquid needs to reduce in order to thicken 🙂
Holly says
I loved this! Wonderful flavours. I used white balsamic vinegar as I didn’t have plain white.
There is one thing I will tweak next time though. For me it’s too many peppercorns in my mouth at once.
I will either reduce the amount from 1Tbsp to 1tsp, or use the full Tbsp of peppercorns but put most of them in a gauze bag and only some directly in the sauce.
I agree with the person who suggested that it would be great with pork; maybe with country style ribs.
Nagi says
Fantastic to hear Holly! I’m SO glad you enjoyed it! N xx
Holly says
I meant to give it 5 stars, not 4. 🙂
Luke says
Made this last night. Absolutely delicious – a real keeper! My Philippino friend said you could also make it with pork so will try that as well.
Nagi says
Oooh! I had to try it with pork, never thought of that 🙂 So glad you enjoyed this thanks for letting me know!
Marie says
I am making this dish now! It is taking SO long to the the sticky glaze where it should be:( But I bet it will be great:)
Nagi says
It will get there!
Candice says
I’m Filipino and I have never been able to make adobo without it being too salty until I got on to this recipe! Nagi you make me look good!!!! Thank you! There were no left overs on my table!
Nagi says
Oooh! I’m so extra happy to get this feedback from you Candice, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx PS I get the too salty thing, that used to be my problem too 🙂
Kymmie says
I made this recipe two days ago and it was absolutely delicious. My husband loved it. I did not measure ingredients…Just added to taste and it was so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this recipe I will continue to prepare this dish for my husband and children.
Nagi says
Thanks for trying my recipe Kymmie, so glad you enjoyed it! N x
Mary says
Made your slow roast lamb shoulder and Parm crust salmon over Christmas hols and this adobo thing tonight since the house was pretty bare. Your recipes are awesome. Flavour pops in everything I’ve tried. Thanks for not posting “trendy” but crap recipes just for the sake of it. You’re at the top of my bookmarks.
Nagi says
HIGH FIVE! Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed it Mary! N xx
Shantay says
Made this last night. It was great.
Nagi says
AWESOME! I’m so glad you loved it Shantay, thanks for letting me know! N x
Jen says
Made this tonight and it is a keeper! Delish…Only problem is that it took way longer than the time listed! When you add the cook times and rest time up it is way over 25 minutes, not to mention that it took a lot longer to get it to glaze up. (Yes, I did have to take the chicken out which sped up the process.) My cook time total was over an hour. Prep time was longer too if you include cleaning up the thighs a little bit. Thanks for the great recipe that we plan to make again, just wish the times were more accurate.
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed it Jen! I’m sorry the cook time is off, this is an early recipe from the past when I was still learning how to blog! I will update it now 🙂
Maggie says
Looks yum! I have chicken in the fridge marinating and will be making this for dinner tomorrow.
This might be a silly question but should I be taking the bay leaves (I used dried bay leaves) out of the marinate before cooking or cook with the bay leaves in the marinate?
Thanks, Nagi!!
Nagi says
Hi Maggie – not a silly question at all! Just leave them in 🙂 N x
Maggie says
Yikes…. can’t spell properly today. Lol. That should be marinade (not marinate)!
Nagi says
You’re doing better than ME to pick that up. I always have to pause and think!
Caroline says
Hi Nagi~
I’m Asian (Chinese-Filipino) American (Black). I love ALL Asian food, can eat it every day until I die.
This is my first attempt at chicken adobo. My mother traditionally uses drumsticks with the bone (and the marrow does add a delicious flavor when she does this, though it cooks much longer).
Anyway I needed something quick and this was the best! For my first time, I am so proud of myself, and all thanks to you, Nagi! I am grateful for this fast and easy recipe. Next time I will add coconut milk to the marinade :]
Nagi says
You’re so exotic Caroline!!! 😉 So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for letting me know! PS Love the idea of adding coconut 🙂
Sarah says
Is there a way to get this to glaze if using chicken breast?
Nagi says
Hi Sarah! I added instructions in Note 2 for the best way to achieve the glaze using breast 🙂
mary says
hi nagi,
thank you for bringing us the most popular and favourite dishes from all over the world,i dont think you missed anything,and ive cooked most of them,every week i can have different food and i say to my family,tonight we explore thai food,next week lebanese food ,third week,korean food,so there is avariety of dishes to make because of you,you are the best
Nagi says
Aww thank you Mary! I am so glad you are enjoying my recipes, thank you for trying them! N x
Elle says
The only things I changed about the recipe was that I used chicken thighs with skin and bone and I left out the onion…
…but oh my god, when I finally tasted it I almost cried because it tasted exactly how my grandmother used to make it. Thank you so so so much for this recipe, I’ve tried making chicken adobo countless times with recipes from my aunts and other recipes I’ve found on the internet, but this one turned out the BEST. My coworkers have been bugging me to bring them some homemade Filipino food, now that I’ve found the perfect chicken adobo recipe I’m excited to bring some to them!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Elle! It makes me so happy that it is like what your grandmother used to make 🙂 Thanks for letting me know! N x