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!!
You were 100% correct, Nagi: “Flavour Kapow!” I’ve made adobo chicken for years, but mine has never ever tasted as flavorful as your recipe. We all licked our plates and didn’t want to stop eating the chicken and the smashed cucumbers. It was Flavor KAPOW (all caps :D)!
Great recipe! I am making again tonight and the only thing I will do differently is reduce the peppercorns as last time there were way too many and had a few of complaints. May have been my liberal spoonful though! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Nagi, can I cook this with different parts of the chicken? Thanks
Amazing recipe. I added some chicken liver and some boiled eggs to kick it up a notch. Tasted just like being back in the Philippines. Thank you!
I’ve visited the Philippines past winter, and absolutely fell in love with the taste of Chicken Adobo. Ever since I’m back home I’ve been trying to make this delicious dish. However none of the recipes I tried made it sticky. I was scared I’d never find a good recipe. Untill I tried this one. And WOW!!!! What a taste. It turned out absolutely perfect. I will never not use your recipe while making Chicken Adobo!! I absolutely love it!
Great recipe that keeps the integrity of this classic Filipino dish. Thanks for a well-organized presentation of ingredients in a photo & detailed instructions. So helpful!
Hello Nagi! I just loooove your site! Every recipe I tried is delicious and got that authentic taste I was looking for. This chicken is really amazing, the only thing is that here, in Quebec city, there’s not that much choice for the soy sauce… so it was really salty! Next time I will try the sauce with reduced salt or complete with water the quantity of soy sauce. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!!
Could i make the adobo with pork shoulder?
Hi Lorraine, like chopped pieces or a slow cooked shredded pork shoulder? N x
Shredded pork shoulder. 😃
Hi Nagi
Can i use thigh and legs (maryland cut up) for this?
Hi Philly, sure can – as long as they are de-boned they will work perfectly here. N x
we just finished eating this. It was so delicious!! I love the heat from the black pepper.
I use many of your recipes and I’ve never been disappointed.
Thank you Nagi!
Can I use tofu instead of chicken for a vegetarian dish?
Sure can Ro! N x
When I started cooking this I honestly thought I wouldnt’ get the rich colouring in the sauce. By the end.. it was there. Flavour is awesome and I’ll be using this again and again. Thank you Nagi <3
Recipe sounds great like all your recipes. Can use bone in skinless tighs and skin on drumsticks for this recipr ? Thank you.
This recipe sounds great! Would like to try a different adobo recipe. Can I marinate and bake them in the oven with all ingredients except the water?
This is so delicious. I have made it twice and my whole family loves it. Comfort food at its finest.
Perfect Genoa, I’m so happy it’s a hit! N x
Hi Nagi,
Your chicken adobo recipe is absolutely delicious. I didn’t change anything and there certainly weren’t any leftovers. Will make this again for sure. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!
Amazing recipe. The second time I made it, I added adobo seasoning to the marinade. Both ways were flavorful.
Hi Nagi, I love your recipes and look forward to what you share each week.
Last night I made Chicken Adobo, and while the flavours were wonderful and the family loved it, the sauce didn’t thicken enough. As you suggested, I removed the chicken from the pan to let it simmer another 5-10 mins. It thickened a little but not enough. Any suggestions??
As I said, it was delish
Cheers Wendy 🙂
Add cornstarch when simmering! It thickens up the sauce for you without needing to remove chicken or simmer for longer. Start with a tablespoon and increase per tablespoon. But as it simmers the thicker it will get so don’t put a lot and think its not working! It is!!
My comments above.
Thank you for the recipe. I made this tonight. It was easy for me to make and the ingredients were easy as well. It tasted very good but I didn’t end up with as much glaze as I would like. I think I would like 50% more glaze. Next time I will make more marinade but I’m not sure how much extra water or other ingredients I should add.
Hi Stephen, if you would like more sauce, just use the scaler by hovering your mouse over the serving size – scale up and all the sauce ingredients will scale up too. N x
That scaler is really cool. Thank you very much.