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!!
I just made this but omitted the onions and shallots as I have people that are allergic. I doubled the soy sauce, vinegar, water, sugar, garlic to make more sauce since I feed about 7 people. My sauce is very thin, not thick and sticky at all and my chicken is a little on the dry side.
Hi Vanessa! Did you double the whole recipe or just the sauce? Because if you did just the sauce but not the chicken as well then one of the reasons that the sauce would have been thin is because you need the right ratio of sauce to chicken as the fat in the chicken is part of the reason why the sauce goes sticky. Other than that, the only other thing would be that the sauce was not reduced down enough. You really need to reduce it right down until it becomes a glaze, not a sauce. This sauce is far too strong flavoured to be used as a pouring sauce, it should only be used as a glaze. 🙂
Two words…wow…yum!!!
Two words: THANK YOU! (And a few more: Have a great weekend! 🙂 )
This looks amazing. I have chicken breasts so would that work? I’ve substituted breasts instead of thighs in other recipes and it hasn’t worked so well so just wanted to check. Thanks for sharing
Hi Peace! You’ll still get that gorgeous glaze, it just isn’t as juicy because breast is a leaner cut. So yes, it will work, just leaner!
Nagi, your recipe calls for chicken thigh fillets. Are those boneless & skinless chicken thighs? Wanted to get the terminology/vocabulary correct before I try this recipe on my family. Pictures look awesome.
Hi Hao, yes, boneless and skinless thighs. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, I have updated the recipe. I hope your family enjoys it! I love love LOVE this. It is so easy and the flavour is so incredible! I was concerned it would be too salty but it isn’t at all, it is such a great balance of flavours!!
Just made this tonight and it is fabulous!
SO GLAD you enjoyed it!! 🙂
This dish is going to happen in my kitchen soon! It will be my first Filipino dish. Looking forward to making it!
It was my first Filipino dish too! It makes me want to try more 🙂
Look at the gloss on the chicken! It looks fresh and as you said it full of flavors. I am still very knew to Filipino food, it’s not common here at all. Great timing Nagi, I am in a good mood to try new dishes today. =D
Thanks Helene! Hope you do give it a go, this is FABULOUS! 🙂
The adobo sauce coated chicken is really mouthwatering.
Thanks so much Balvinder!! 🙂
Nagi, oh my gawd, this chicken looks amazing!!!!! I’m all about flavorful and if there’s a slight Asian twist, even better!! Wow, these photos are amazing!
Hi Alice!! This is Asian all the way! A real authentic traditional Filipino dish! 🙂
I love these flavours together they are perfect. If I wasnt convinced I;d just have to look at the pictures
Thanks Tania! I KNEW you would love this. Totally your sort of flavours 🙂
All that intense sticky sauce is just making my mouth water. The images of this are incredible Nagi! You definitely have made me hungry.
Thanks Thalia! 🙂
That glaze! Seriously, it looks incredible. I so with I had this on a plate in front of me right now. 🙂
Thanks Kristen! 🙂
Soy sauce and white vinegar? That is a very interesting combination! I can taste the great flavor from your pictures and it just become one of my favorite chicken dishes too!
I know Maggie! I was quite interested when I first read this recipe, it is not a usual ingredients list that I am used to. But it is truly incredible! The vinegar softens alot with the cooking 🙂
Ok – so I’ve been saying for a while now that I think Filipino food is going to be the next big thing. So I’m thinking this recipe is totally on-trend! You have me dying to try this Nagi. My hubby loves Asian flavors and chicken thighs. And my older son just discovered fried rice, so this just has to happen asap. Pinning!
Allie picking the next food trend….I love it!! 🙂
Wow! Would you look at the glaze on that chicken! It looks like the kind of chicken I’d get all over my face (the best kind). I don’t know how you do it Nagi – every time I open a new post of yours I think, oh my gawd…. get in my belly! Another incredible dish and beautiful photography!
Thanks Kathleen!! Actually, I know how you feel cause that’s how I feel every time I see one of YOUR recipes!! 🙂
That glaze is just amazing. I am not sure I would have any for leftovers. One of my colleagues at work has a Filipino background and I really feel like she has been keeping food secrets from me!
He he, she sure has!! This is honestly great stuff. I will make a batch just so I can make fried rice using the sauce. I love love love LOVE this chicken! 🙂
Any sauce that is GOLD is a sauce for me!! I’m drooling over here, Nagi…it’s not pretty! You have a way of doing that to us!!! Pinned!
Thank you Annie! You are way to nice 😉 And thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Can you freeze the left over marinade or do you have to use it here and then.
Hi Betty – the marinade that the chicken is marinated in needs to be used in the recipe to cook the chicken. So there is no leftover marinade. BUT after cooking, you will be left with about 1/3 to 1/2 of sticky thick sauce (which is the marinade that has reduced down during cooking) which you will not need on the chicken because you only need enough to coat it because the sauce is so strong flavoured. So scrape up the sauce and put it in a small container and freeze it! It is FABULOUS to use as a stir fry or fried rice sauce.
You can also freeze the chicken IN the marinade pre cooking, then just thaw and cook the chicken per the instructions! 🙂
Nagi , you know I have never thought of making adobo chicken at home, but have tried quite a few ( filipino in laws) . It wasn’t quite appealing to me or something I would consider making . Guest what? you have just convinced me to think otherwise. Thanks.
Filipino in laws? What a COOL cultural blend your family has! SO JEALOUS!! I can’t believe you haven’t tried Adobo before!! It is SO your type of flavours Imma. You will love it! 🙂
OH MY! Should I make THIS or our family’s fave teriyaki chicken ( your recipe -of course!) ? YIKES! SOMEONE in this house is begging for the teriyaki chicken, so I will do that one first, this recipe at week end, and let you know which one wins! lol My mouth is watering at the thought. SO glad to have so many wonderful recipes for chicken Nagi 😉
Thank you Lisa!! Your Teriyaki-loving family is going to LOVE this one. It is the Filipino version of Teriyaki – but easier and faster because it’s all made in one pan and it is very low maintenance! 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Made this last night and it really is delicious. The onions in the sauce taste so caramelized..mmm! I marinated for 6 hours but next time I am going to marinate overnight 😉 The taste is ‘soy like’ but has a smoky flavor also, just delicious! ANOTHER keeper. I did do one thing different- NO REALLY, I added the sugar, leftover marinade, and peppers to the onions and garlic and tossed around for about a minute before adding water/stock (oh yeah, I used 1/2 stock because I NEEDED to use it!!!). I wanted the onions to absorb the taste of the marinade and brown sugar 😉 Would it be ME if I did not do a tweak, or add a tad here and there? Thank you Nagi!
Yay!! With every dinner recipe I post, I get almost nervous, waiting for your verdict!! I feel like you are my personal recipe tester. 🙂 “If Lisa approves, I know it’s a winner because she has great taste.” That’s what I think with every recipe I post!! And I always love your tweaks. Tweaks is what real home cooking is all about!! As always, thank you for coming back to share your feedback Lisa! 🙂