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
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!!
Making this right now and I am soooo excited. Smells amazing. Totally cost conscious and great to find a chicken thigh recipe that will get people excited! Thanks for sharing this!!
Google had an icon thingy for Adobo Chicken and i found this recipe via that link. My first time making and also first visit to this site. I gotta say it was so tasty, i think i over browned the chicken as it was a little dry but thats me being overly cautious, didn’t ruin the flavour tho, ka pow indeed! Im going to try some more of your recipes over the weeks 😋
Thank you , this recipe worked so beautifully and really was delicious!!
Your recipes are always great! First time making adobo and you know I had to come straight here haha! Tyty
Most excellent! And easy! A keeper for us. 😉
For all those who are asking how much water do you put in for drumsticks and wings… I did 3/4 cup of water (only!) and simmered for half hour, turning it over at the 15 min mark. Worked for me!
Just posted how wonderful this recipe is, but forgot to check the 5 stars. Have made this twice in a month. Awesome! Per my husband, Nagi is a genius.
I just made this for the second time this month. Awesome recipe! I did cut the water to 1 cup to reduce the sauce faster. My husband thinks Nagi is a genius.
I’d never heard of adobo before, other than as a Spanish/South American seasoning. This recipe sounded good so I had to try it. It was VERY popular in our house and is set to become a regular favourite. As for the cost of the ingredients, There is not much you can cook without onion, black pepper, garlic etc. The chicken cost a touch over a fiver (GBP 5.15), so a really cheap meal for 4.
Was inspired by last week’s Google doodle about Filipino chicken adobo. This is definitely going to be made again! Everyone wished I had made a double batch. I don’t really like to crunch on whole peppercorns so next time, I’ll use my grinder.
Delicious! Paired with rice and sauteed zucchini. So easy, and I will definitely make it again!
First time experimenting Chicken Adobo. I had heard of it but never made it. This is an amazing Asian dish!
Made as directed, although I used rice vinegar instead of white vinegar. Delicious, nonetheless. Great website Nagi, and in every aspect of it!
All I can say is wow !!!! WOW
Absolutely amazing flavour especially with the smashed cucumber
OMG I never comment on people’s recipe blog. I HAD to come back and let you know that as a Jamaican who only cooks Haitian food fir my husband, we were BLOWNN with this recipe! You have yourself a new “blog-scriber” 😉I will be trying more of your recipes thank you!!!!!
Made this recipe for my family this evening. Added some couscous rather than rice and this was delicious.
Just as she said, it was great! It was easy to cook and as flavorful as it looked in the pics. I enjoyed it. And will be doing it again.
I made this tonight. Family really enjoyed it. I haven’t cooked boneless thighs. They were just as described.
Delish! Only critiques I have are to use ground black pepper instead of peppercorns, and add half the marinade and extra water (the sauce was wayyy too salty after thickening) otherwise this was great!
I love your work so much and Dozer of course. Every time I want to make something special your book and blog are my go-to places. Thank you and thank you for the work you give back to your community.
– a Brazilian living in Philadelphia (USA)