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!!
Made the Chicken tonight. Turned out amazing! Hubby loved it. Got a little worried about sauce thickening up but patience paid off! Once it started to thicken it went pretty quickly. Will make again. Had everything in the pantry. that’s what made it nice also! thanks Nagi!
I love a recipe where you just have everything available! 🙌
Thanks for the reply Nagi! I had leftover chicken and some rice,so I made your fried rice recipe to jazz it up a bit. that went over well! I read you daily. Thanks for all you do!
Hi Nagi. Thanks for this recipe! Hubby had been making his own version of this and it tasted like pure vinegar – yours does not! Will be making your recipe from now on – another hit with the family.
Wahoo, that’s great to hear!
Hi Nagi, would this go nicely with udon noodles?
Yes of course!
I love chicken adobo and have been making it for years. But now I make it in my IP. I also add red wine vinegar and allspice.
Sounds amazing Viki!
Looks so good…I have eliminated sugar from my diet. Do you think if I marinated in balsamic vinegar instead of white that I could eliminate the brown sugar?
Hi Kim, you’ll still need some form of sweetener to balance the flavours unfortunately – N x
The recipe as I made it was deLICIous! As a two-year keto follower, I had to adapt your recipe: I am not a “mincer,” I smash garlic. Because I live alone, I’ve given up on onions and use shallots instead (one shot deal–garlic and onions in one!). Oh, and erythritol instead of brown sugar. The sauce became quite jammy and it was all quite tasty. Will try cauliflower rice soon. This sauce will be perfect!
I’m so glad you loved it Samara!!
Seriously yummy sauce but I think next time I’ll use cracked pepper as I found the peppercorns to be too much for my palate. Otherwise amazing as usual.
You could definitely use cracked pepper if you prefer Jodie ❤️
This was amazing, could have drank the sauce!!! Thank you, my first Filipino dish x
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Ciara!
This sounds fab, should I rinse noodles till completely cold, or does it go against the idea of the dish to leave them warm?
Hi Karen, which noodles are you using?
I made this for dinner last night & it was soooo good! My husband raved about it & took leftovers for lunch at work today. Thanks Nagi for all you do to provide recipes that keep our tummies happy!
Awesome Patricia, I’m so glad she loved it!!
I add ginger when I cook one.
Looks delicious! The only oils I have are olive, grape seed and sesame. Will it work with any of those?
Grape seed is fine! 🙂
This looks fabulous. Friends coming on Sunday afternoon and it looks just right to share.
On another note, tell me, do you make Dozer his own biscuits? I’m looking for something for my pooch. I’ve checked out a few but wondered if you make your own? Love your posts btw. So down to earth and entertaining. Thanks 🙏
Hi Nagi. I haven’t read through all 258 comments to see if someone else has asked this. Your recipe for the marinade says 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white vinegar. Is this correct? It just seemed a strange way to put it. Love your recipes, thank you.
This was FANTASTIC!! I ate one of the thighs over rice last night, and then chopped up the rest and warmed in a bit of broth with cooked brown rice for the kids tonight. They would have licked their plates clean if I didn’t stink-eye them. So good!!
Very tasty, I made this last night and it was a hit. My sauce didn’t reduce down as much as yours though so I just added a tiny bit of cornflour which worked. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks Nagi!
I’m so glad you loved it Tracey!!
Excellent, would not thicken up fast enough so I added some corn starch
Flavor is amazing
Starved over rice with roasted rainbow carrots
Sounds perfect Henry!
Hi Nagi,
I like your website and frequently use your recipes. I am Filipino, but this is definitely is NOT the way my family makes Chicken Adobo.
There are 7000+ islands in the Philippines and there are possibly 7000+ ways of cooking adobo, too. It varies from place to place, house to house. There is really not a single way to cook adobo. And we cannot say your or my way is the right method.
I love all the different interpretations – makes life interesting 🙂 N x
A Philipina lady showed me her method. She used vinegsr, soy, some sugar, spices and ANISE STARS. Cooked the liquid until it no longer had vinegar flavor. Then she slow cooked chicken (or other meat) in that liquid. I don’t recall measurements or spices, other than much garlic. Anise and garlic added during te slow cooking part.
That’s how it’s done in the Philippines, but where I’m from, no Star Anise and no sugar, Star Anise will give a nice additional flavour too… so it’s ok
Sounds divine Patti! N x
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020 Nagi!
I am very very happy that you and Dozer are safe from the horrible bush fires that gave displaced thousands and killed lots of animals. It is truly heart breaking☹️
Thanks as usual for your lovely recipes. This one looks easy too.
Lots of love and hugs to you and Dozer 💖🌻🤗
Happy New Year Gail!! Yes the fires here are terrible, I’m just praying for some rain at the moment!! N x