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!!
Juni says
Hi Nagi – Can’t wait to try out the recipe. A quick question — Can I marinate the chicken overnight? Thanks
Celine says
this recipe has saved my ‘i have nothing at home but still need to eat’
and ‘i have friends over but oh f*** now i need to cook for them’ type dinner plans for years and years now! i could make this in my sleep if i had to ive gone back to this recipe so many times. delicious everytime. thank you!!!!!
Lyndsay Shones says
Too much acid for an overnight marinade. Would stick to the shorter marinade time. 🙂
Julia says
You won’t need to marinate. The flavors pernitrate very well.
judith rvard says
you can to do the recipe for chicken and they want to chicken to be overnight then eat in the lunch in the morning.
Malachi says
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
judith rvard says
you like the food at the place have soy sauce on top of the chicken and the rice.
madeline says
It sounds really good and i am going too try it soon!
hannah says
I added some country gravy and I loved it you should try it sometime.
Wbrab says
“short on time and cost conscious.”
Bay leaves, onions, and peppercorns are not actually “everyday items that every household has.”
I did have the sugar and garlic. After putting everything in my car, it was $31.
I’m not sure how expensive things are where you are, but $31 for a meal, and I’d rather just go out for a steak.
bec says
I cannot conceive of how you spent so much money on some chicken and spices yet you are able to buy a steak dinner so cheaply.
Char says
I have bay leaves which I bought years ago and peppercorn too. I have vinegar and soy sauce which you can get at the dollar store which also lasts a long time. I only had to buy chicken legs which cost me 12 thighs for $7.99 at Sam’s club and a bunch of green onions for 39 cents.
Ellie says
Your comment surprises me. I didn’t have to go out to buy any ingredients. I had bay leaves in the garden, chicken in the freezer, and everything else is staple pantry items.
VonLex. says
Bay leaves, onions and peppercorns should cost less than $12 and you will get many many uses out of them. Not sure I’d want to eat something cooked by someone that doesn’t keep onions on hand. Do you not use a pepper grinder either?
Alex says
I would say onions are definitely an everyday item most Western households have. Bay leaves are hardly uncommon and dried last for ages — anyone who makes stews will likely have some on hand — and some form of pepper is a staple (perhaps not peppercorns).
For me the whole thing comes to the equivalent of USD 12.02 and that is without accounting for the fact that I’m not using the entire pack of brown sugar or bottle of soy sauce in one recipe.
Silke says
I will only have to buy the chicken, everything else is already on stock in our household.
While this recipe will feed four for the price of 750 g of chicken thighs, the equivalent of 31 $ would buy a steak for one person in my country, without a beverage to go with it.
Ruth Edwards says
I had all the items, that were required..most well stocked cupboards do…there’s no telling when you have to cook an awesome dish such as this.
Vixxi says
I get the peppercorns and maybe the bay leaves,but you don’t have onions? I practically use them everyday. Also,If those were too expensive you could’ve substituted the peppercorns with pepper,and you didn’t even need the other two,they were optional.
L says
Are you retarded?
Steve says
Are you serious? This is a meal with four servings… 7.75/person is not going to get you a steak at any restaurant. And now you have more bay leaves and peppercorns to use for another recipe!
Ana says
Can you use drumsticks instead of thighs?
Bro. Ricky Martin says
I have had a lot of Adobos.
I love the food.
I must make this recipe too.
Hwhite says
It is soo good
Denise de Obaldia says
I made your adobo recipe using more garlic. It was amazing, Delicious. I will make it again! Thank you!
Tracy Elazier says
Very easy and flavorful. The chicken was moist and delicious. I served it with rice and the smashed cucumber salad. Yummy!!!
Michelle says
I love this version of the recipe. I grew up calling this “Flamed-baked Chicken”. The only difference was the brown sugar, which took this to another level! Thank you…thank you…thank you!!!
Rachel says
So full of flavour and easy to make. It smells so delicious when it’s cooking, The peppercorns add pops of flavour and despite the rather large amount of garlic, it’s not dominant. My sauce took a bit longer to reduce but lovely and delicious. Served with brown rice and broccolini,
Thanks Nagi for another great recipe.
Marcella says
So easy to make! Huge hit with friends and family. Since I’m not a huge fan of vinegar, next time (which there will be) I will cut down on vinegar
Donna says
Made in 23Jan,/served to daughter,her husband & his brother. I latter overheard the men saying that I was a chef.
By no means am I a chef.
Rob says
Very tasty. Will definitely make this again. Wish there would have been more sauce.
Chris Wise says
Love your recipes. Please add me to your email list.
Cheers. Chris.
Kitty says
Could you use green peppercorns or too strong. I just love green peppercorns is all lol
Misa says
Love this recipe! It has been a staple in my house for the past year and I don’t anticipate an end to this trend. Such a crowd pleaser! Everyone always asks for the recipe.
JB says
Followed the recipe but mine also turned out watery after frying the chicken & adding all ingredients. After 25 mins of reduction then removing the chicken, it took an extra half hour to reduce the sauce but it didn’t look the same as the video. Nonetheless, it still tasted great. Added 2 dried chili peppers & chopped marbled potatoes!
Aaron Pangilinan says
Obviously you murdered my home country national dish. This is like a Chinese chicken recipe and not our Adobo.