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!!
Wow!! Super easy and really good. Definitely adding this to the rotation.
Hi, I tried making this recipe but it turned out extremely sour. By 1/3 + 2 tbsp vinegar do you mean 1/3 cup water + 2 tbsp vinegar and not 1/3 cup vinegar + 2 tbsp vinegar?
Thanks
Hi, nope…she does mean (only cuz I made it as written and I’ve made it once before with another recipe) 1/3 c vin +2 TB vin. But don’t miss adding the 1+ ? cup of Water, too! Could that be why it was real sour? With the water, soy, sugar and onion etc., it shouldn’t be sour. Sorry that happened to you; it’s REALLY sweet/rich/yummy (please trust us 500+ reviewers on that point, LOL.)I hope you’ll try it again! 🙏
Was told to make this by my Filipino friend. Thought it would have a bitter taste. Wrong. The brown sugar mellowed out the vinegar and soy sauce. I will make this again.
I wouldn’t steer you wrong Henry! 😂 N x
Made it tonight with thigh on the bone, but took the skin off.
Turned out great and got a nice review from the Filipino critic.
Thanks for sharing the recipe Nagi
I was provided with a recipe from a Filipino chap I worked with years ago (we did a lunch halvsies one day) so in exchange fir my “exotic” quiche recipe Ramon followed his wife around and took notes on making adobo but i suspect he missed a step or two(or his Mrs was holding out)🤔😀 because my recipe was marinate in vinegar salt pepper and oil bay leaf (chicken or pork or both) and simmer chicken in marinade till done then serve over rice still yummo (as he said complete strangers will knock at your door wanting to try some😀) but not enough sauce for the rice – i have since heard from other Filipino ladies what you dont fry it – but no-one would give me their recipe!😆 so my plan now is to use your recipe. And now I want some adobo!!! Thankyou for including this in your repertoire. Cheers Ailsa
Kapowie! Adobo u musto! Fab flavour and great sticky sauce. We used skin on thighs and drumsticks, browned crispy skin and so tender. Another hit from Tineats! 🤽♂️⛹️♂️🏊♂️🤼♂️
Hi Nagi I have made your recipe before and it was delicious but just wondering if I could sear then put in slow cooker. Would like to serve it for friends and don’t really want to be standing over stove cooking. There are recipes for slow cooker but thought I’d check your take on it. (Or maybe I could just make it in advance) Thanks
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?
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.
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
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!