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 using different proteins like pork and beef.
Fundamentally though, the key is the right balance of soy sauce, vinegar, black peppercorns and sugar that creates an incredibly sticky glaze with 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. Vinegars can vary in their acidity, so if using substitutes start with less (see recipe notes);
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 , see Note 3
- 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!!
This is the 4th time I made this delicious recipe but for some reason I couldn’t get it reduce this time. I even took the chicken out…. Any ideas?
I had this issue too and I found out a wide pan worked better at reducing the liquid than something that narrows at the bottom like wok.
Thanks for that feedback Arthur! N x
This is a very classic recipe for adobo. Thanks so much, Nagi
I’m not sure why unless your chicken gave up more liquid for some reason. I would just remove the chicken and cook until it is the correct texture then add the chicken back in! N x
Thanks Nagi!
This is a very classic recipe for adobo. However, I am really puzzled by the addition of a cup and a half of water. I just simmer the chicken the leftover marinade of soy/vinegar and even that needs to reduce at the end to make it more sauce-like. An extra 12 ounces of water would turn this into soup. ???
It is water, so it evaporates. You don’t want to add water and stir it only. You want to cook the water, so you are left with the adobo sauce.
I didn’t find the addition of water made the sauce watery. Mine evaporated nicely. I did add red peppers and mushrooms to incorporate veggies and steamed some broccoli. My kids love this dish 🙏
absolutely loved it! so quick! i barely had to do anything!
I cooked this for my Filipino family and my in-laws said that this is the best adobo chicken they have tasted. Thank you!
Recipetineats consistently delivers delicious and reliable recipes. Thanks so much, Nagi, you are a star!
Awwww Scott! I’m blushing!! N x
This was absolutely delicious. Thank you.
Mine didn’t reduce properly. Is it because I used a lid?
Yes, it needs to cook without a lid
I will be using bone- in chicken…do I use ONLY the 3/4 cup water or do I add the 3/4 cup to the 1 1/2 cups called for in recipe?
My experience with making this bone-in and skin-on is that there ends up being a lot of fat, so trim very well. It can become a bit of a grease-fest. As the sauce reduces, the fat becomes overwhelming in the end result.
I’m Filipino. It is actually made with a whole chicken, so you can use breast. Best eaten with rice, and no cutlery, if you can master it.
Fellow Filipino here. The breast is not the best part of adobo. It dries out. Yes to whole chicken, as it’s more economical but if we’re doing parts, quarters are better. Nagi is correct in using thighs. Breast would’ve been dry af.
I haven’t tried the no cutlery thing yet!! 😂 N x
My Hubby is Filipino and he LOVES this recipe! I put the peppercorns in a cheesecloth or a tea diffuser so you aren’t playing Russian Roulette with every bite lol 😂 Great recipe!
Thanks for responding. I always remove chicken skin so I didn’t really notice a problem.
That’s a great idea Emily! N X
This was my first time cooking and eating A Filipino dish and I loved it. Will be cooking it again.
I am making with bone in thighs that I cut into 4 portions each, just like I had in Tumon.
Let me know how it turns out Will! N x
My daughter who “hates” chicken requests this for dinner at least once a week .. amazing flavour and so easy to make .. love your work Nagi💙
This adds to my list of Filipino adobo variations. Easy to make and everyone loved it. Doubled up on the recipe except for the brown sugar (x1.5) – the rice wine vinegar is somewhat sweet already. The dish turned-out out as directed. Will definitely make this again. 2 thumbs up!!!
Just made it. This recipe is now added to the clean plate club. Super easy to make and incredibly delicious. I replaced the white onion with red halfed and thinly sliced, sliced garlic too. Only thing I’d add personally next time is a chili to add some spice but will make this again for sure!!!
love it
hi—love your recipes–have been making this for years–got recipe from a Philippine nurse at a pot luck dinner—I marinate equal amts. vinegar, dark soy , whole garlic, bay leaves 24hrs than put in oven everyone loves it–your salad recipes are wonderful thank you
Hi Pat, just saw your comment about dark soy? I only have dark soy in my pantry. Does it still work even though Nagi says not to use it? Don’t want to have to but more soy even though it’s not expensive it’s just I try to reduce how much we have
Never had this before, this was fantastic and will be a new staple in my winter menu rotation. I can’t wait to make this for my kids.
My husband loved it!
I plan to make this for a large group and may need to triple or quadruple (!) the recipe. Anyone have experience making this in large quantities and any tips on doing it successfully? Can I make it the night before and will it reheat well? Reheating in microwave is probably the best for this dish, right?
Adobo actually tastes even better the next day.
I just doubled it and it worked great. Unless you have a huge pan to work with for double batches, the reduction time on the sauce takes longer. So, as Nagi suggests, take the chicken out when reducing so it doesn’t overcook.
Could I substitute with rice wine vinegar?
Yes you can Carrie but it will be a bit sweeter. N x