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!!
This looks great – just one comment from a Filipina – traditionally there is no onion in adobo…
Made this and it was delicious, I added fish sauce to mine. The umami of flavors and the white rice to soak up the sticky sauce
I love Nagi’s recipes but as a half Filo there’s a few things I want to comment on.
1. To everyone commenting their sauce isn’t reducing, it’s ok, don’t worry about a thick sauce. In fact, the more the better. It’s seriously gold. You want it thin so you can pour over your rice when you serve. I’ve never seen adobo with barely any sauce even when I’ve eaten in Pinoy restaurants. My mum would add more water if it would reduce haha.
2. Lol we ONLY ever use chicken breast for adobo!
3. This is usually cooked in a pot? Just chuck everything in. My mum would think it’s weird cooking in a fry pan and adding more steps than needed but I guess you do get the browning of the meat for more flavour.
Still, flavours were spot on. Almost tasted as good as my mum’s 😉
You bet I made this. What is great about the recipe is that it leaves loads of room for variation with litle chance of disappointment. Hats off !
I cook a lot of recipes off your site and have your cookbook but this recipe takes the absolute cake. Smells delicious, tastes delicious, easy ingredients, easy method. Good enough for visitors, easy enough for a weeknight meal. Kapow!!!!! is an understatement.
Can I sub thighs with bone in and skin?
I made this for dinner tonight…amaze balls! That sticky glaze truly was a flavor bomb. I will keep this one on repeat!
This recipe is amazing. So easy and so tasty!!
I made this recipe with and without onions and tamari soy sauce and twice the amount of garlic than what this recipe says. In my opinion the one without onion was better. The taste improves the next day.
Not sure I would have trusted this to be as good as it was based on reading the recipe but Nagi has never disappointed so I went for it and it was delicious.
I have many Filipino friends and I’ve eaten this dish before BUT I didn’t know that it’s so easy to make!!!
I didn’t use whole black pepper corns because my son dislikes biting into them, so I used cracked pepper corns.
My adobo sauce thickened without me removing the chicken. 🙂
Very delicious. Will make it again!
I don’t put sugar in my adobo. I guess you can.call it lazy Pinoy adobo. Put your cut chicken or pork in a pot, add mince garlic, chopped onions, black pepper, 1/2 c soy sauce, 1/2 c vinegar and 1 c water. On high heat, let it boil for 10-15 mins then simmer for 30 mins to 1 hr. Some like it saucy, some like it simmered until the sauce is oily. Oh, you can add boiled eggs too. Eat with white rice or garlic fried rice. Tyvm 😄
Hi Jo, I know you were being friendly & meant well, but why would you try to change **Nagi’s,** (or ANY food blogger’s recipe), into your own on THEIR blog…It seems a little insulting or impolite??? : )
The BEST chicken adobo recipe! I make this all the time and have yet to meet someone who doesn’t absolutely love it. No matter how much I make leftovers (if any) are sparse because everyone goes back for more until they’re in a food coma.
I now make this every fortnight as a batch cook. It really does come together at the last minute ! The most amazing umami-Rich recipe and beautiful with the smashed cucumber salad. Thank you !!
Like other reviewers mentioned. You will likely have to let the sauce thicken. I took out the chicken, gave it 20 mins to simmer and then still needed to add some cornstarch.
Once the sauce thickens it’s very yummy! I served over cauliflower rice. Family enjoyed it! Currently watching my son spoon up seconds.
Let me start by saying this made for some super delicious garlicky soy, juicy, filling chicken!! My family loved it. I have a hard time saying this is Filipino Adobo though… as a Filipino ! Adobo typically sits in a sauce which is used to dress your white rice- also so delicious. BUT again, going back to my initial comment- this is an easy family fave dish so I thank you for sharing this!
Can I cook the chicken in a crockpot?
I cooked it in crock pot. It’s very easy and delicious. I got my chicken breasts with bone on a big sale, and my friend in Manila told me it’s ok to skip the pan searing step and just use crock pot.
It’s so tender and easy to use to make meals with rice or noodles with vegetables.
So when do you put the vinegar? not in the directions
Yes it is, it’s in the marinade ingredients
Delicious recipe! I added salt and chopped onion to the marinade, and I added salt to the stewed part too.
soy sauce has already salt, my boy you throw that away if you add more salt
Thi was the second time making adobo and was self explanatory, and it came out so good I’m so proud of myself because I’ve tried and tried before reading off recipes, but this recipe was the most easiest way👍🏼