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!!
So glad you are both safe what a horrendous way to start a new year for so many people,missed your lovely sunny smile.A Happy new year with a big hug for “Dozer”
SO GLAD YOU ARE BOTH BACK AND SAFE. MISSED YOUR E-MAILS. HAPPY NEW YEAR.
This looks awesome. Can’t wait to try it. Thank you for the updates on you and Dozer. Glad that you’re safe and holidays were good. We moved 25 years ago and still have boxes to unpack. I’m sure with you being so much younger that it isn’t as much a problem. Congratulations.
Wow!! just made this for my family absolutely delious nothing was left on the plate.. Not hearing from you for some time via email thought the worst because of the terrible fires, so glad you are safe..
Terrible what’s happening over there but I’m so happy that you and Buster are safe. I love all your recipes and I especially love Buster. I have a mixed German Shepard and he is 14 yrs old. He’s having a hard time getting up. I know that he’s prob only got another year before he goes which makes me sad. Please keep up with your recipes including videos. I love them all.
Pork Adobo tastes great also recipe much the same as chicken Adobo
Does Nagi have the recipe? If not, what cuts of pork and how do you cook it differently?
Hi Nagi,
Do you have an Adobo recipe for beef or pork? Unfortunately I’m the only one in our house of 4 who eats chicken (well any poultry cuts apart from wings actually).
Thanks!
You can use pork, which I personally prefer because the fat renders and makes an even better sauce. I cook mine low and slow, about 1.5-2 hrs until it’s fork tender. Same ingredients :). (Sorry to hijack , Nagi 💙)
Hi Nagi, Glad you’re back on deck and hopefully refreshed as you’re looking amazing with your 2020 glasses, your eyes couldn’t look any clearer and as for Dozer “HE’S” the real “Princess”. Ha! Ha!
Now for my question. Since I’m still doing my Keto and don’t use sugar can I replace the brown sugar in this with coconut sugar. To be honest I’ve never even used coconut sugar, but wondering if I could in this case as I’d love to try this chicken dish as another I my repertoire.
Glad you received my ecard too, hope you liked it.
Now to forge ahead in 2020 hoping to put these fires behind us as too many have lost their everything including one of our friends.
Ive used coconut sugar before and it’s a good substitute. Traditional adobo doesn’t ask for sugar but I prefer mine with a tbsp of brown sugar …and usually make a 4 lb batch
Thank you Vikki. Very pleased that I can use that as I’d bought it a couple of weeks ago hoping I could substitute it for regular sugar.
hi Nagi, Happy, Healthy and safe 2020! Dozer look fab! Love this food as am not cooking much due to heat. Over Xmas was spoiled by community. Theybrought me cooked meals for one week, double desert and twice home grown Europuen cherry cross breed plum, yum.Got home made no bake cakes, fresh kale and large try of fresh fruit. Am counting my blessings. Cheerio!
This was so delicious and looked amazing. I will be cooking this recipe often.
Thanks!
Good recipe! Tried it.
Thanks so much for letting me know Antonette!
I’m so happy to have stumbled upon this recipe and can’t wait to try it! I’m a Filipino (and a newbie cook) and I actually created my version of adobo from your Vietnamese chicken with lemongrass, using our local calamansi fruit instead of lime— I started following your recipe for Vietnamese lemongrass chicken until I realized while cooking that it smelled and tasted similar to adobo, so I quickly added bay leaves and tons of pepper, using all the marinade cuz it was so good (didn’t end up sticky but still good and similar to the saucy adobo I I grew up with, only much healthier and faster to cook since most traditional adobo recipes require bone-in chicken with skin) 😂 I’ve personally never tried “sticky” adobo but I can’t wait to try out this version.😊
P.S. I love all the recipes I’ve tried so far in your blog and appreciate the level of detail you put in!
Thanks so much Jess, I hope you give this one a go and love it!!
Hey Nagi, I’m going to try and make this tonight. The chicken’s been marinading since last night and I can’t wait! Do you have any side dish recommendations for this dish?
Hi Nagi, I’m in the uk & I’m not sure if the distilled white vinegar we have over here would be right. I use white vinegar for cleaning windows etc and didn’t think I could cook with it? What could I use as a substitute please? X
Hi Lu, the distilled white vinegar we get here can be used in cooking, you could also use apple cider vinegar if you like – N x
Best vinegar will be cane vinegar you can buy from Asian store that carries Filipino product.
If not available, distilled vinegar is better.
Last choice would be apple cider.
I am a Filipino and I cannot wait to try this recipe, Nagi. I will let you know how the dish will turn out.
1.5 cups of water seems like a lot. It it possible this is a typo? I made this tonight and could not get the sauce to thicken. I’ve made some of your other recipes and they have always turned out great. No sure where things went wrong.
So i tried making this today and I didn’t turn the heat down when i left it to simmer (had a dumb moment lol) it did smell really good up until i burned the heck out of it, i will try this again lol.
If I add ginger next time will it change it too much?
Oh no Tiffany!!!! You could definitely add ginger next time though – N x
Seriously INCREDIBLE. Doubling it tonight and doing thighs and legs. Was wondering if I should do it in separate pans? Or if I can slow cook it all together?
Hi Christine, you really need to simmer this to thicken the sauce so I would do it in two separate pans rather than in a slow cooker – N x
I’ve made adobo several times, I’m cooking this tonight using your recipe. I’ll most certainly come back with an update. My mouth is watering as I type this!
Oh can’t wait to hear what you think Tamara!
(moderator pls remove previous attempt)
Hi
Any tips on getting a nice glaze / jam like finish after 3 attempts the sauce never thickens up even after much longer time simmering than in recipe. and trying the suggested options. Adding a little cornflour / cornstarch didn’t help much. Is it not searing well enough? or something else that would cause the sauce to never really thicken
Hi Brenton, sorry you are having issues here, maybe reduce the water and simmer for a bit longer. I’ve never really had issues with this!
I only had 4 chick thighs so maybe to much liquid per chicken. Does it darken up better when properly carmelised and thickened? as I ends up a light brown (I tried 2 types of brown sugar just incase). I simmered for 45mins both times and eventually worked out it wasn’t going to thicken much more. I’ll try less water but keep the rest of the liquid portions the same.
Hi Nagi
Some of your recipes say to marinate up to 24 hours.
Filipino chicken adobo marinate 20 minutes or over night. What is overnight in Max. hrs before cooking.
Respectfully Yours
Ronald J. Lubecki
Hi Ron, I’d say this would be ok up to 24 hours – N x