This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Chicken Adobo Recipe
Chicken adobo is one of the most popular Filipino recipes, other than lumpia and pancit.
There are many ways to cook adobo, for example: you can make it with a slow cooker or crock pot chicken adobo, but cooking it on the stove top with a skillet is quick and easy.
What Is Chicken Adobo?
Chicken Adobo is a Filipino chickenrecipe that is well loved by many people.
The ingredients are chicken, bay leaves, black peppercorn and bay leaves. You can use any parts of the chicken: breasts, thighs, legs or wings.
I used chicken thighs for this recipe and yields tender, moist, fall-off-the-bone chicken.
You can use a pot, pan, skillet, slow cooker or an Instant Pot to make this recipe.
Adobo
This recipe is from The Adobo Road Cookbook.
It’s an authentic adobo recipe and yields delicious and amazing results. The seasonings consist of soy sauce and Filipino white cane sugar vinegar. You can also use distilled white vinegar.
How Do You Make the Best and Authentic Filipino Adobo?
- Brown the chicken thighs in the broiler for 3–5 minutes.
- Use whole black peppercorns.
- Reduce the sauce until it is almost completely evaporated; the chicken will then begin to fry in its own fat.
- For more sauce, double the amount of soy sauce and vinegar.
Chicken adobo makes a perfect dish for weeknight dinner as the cooking process is so easy. I just love it that everything gets done in one pot and the ingredients are everyday ingredients that you can get easily in any store.
There is no need to marinate the chicken; the chicken soaks up the sauce while cooking in the pan.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This adobo recipe is only 63 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
This meal is best served with steamed rice. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
How to Make the Best Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe?
Please refer to the recipe card below for detailed step-by-step method on how to make chicken abodo.
For more great recipes like this, sign up for our newsletter. We’ll send daily recipes you’ll love!
Sign up for our newsletter!
Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup white Filipino cane vinegar, or distilled white vinegar
- 6-8 cloves garlic (smashed with the side of a knife and peeled)
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
Instructions
- Place the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, black peppercorns, and bay leaves in a large, nonreactive sauté pan, and then nestle the chicken thighs, skin side down, into the pan.
- Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, and then cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken over, and then cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Uncover the pan, and then increase the heat to high and return the sauce to a boil. While occasionally turning and basting the chicken, continue boiling the sauce, uncovered, until it is reduced by half and thickens slightly, 5–7 minutes.
- Serve with steamed white rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This recipe calls for too much vinegar. Instead of one part soy sauce to two parts vinegar I’d do two parts soy one part vinegar. I’m half Filipino and grew up in the Philippines. This is not how I remember it tasting.
I made and tried this recipe myself and it tastes totally fine. I think the author makes this recipe very accessible to everyone.
Hi Rasa,
I need to cook this for party of 50. Do I just have to multiply the ingredients by 8?
Example, instead of 1/4 cup of soy sauce, I would use 2 cups?
Soy sauce doesn’t work that way as it’s salty. I would suggest you to add slowly to get to the flavors you desire.
I was raised in the Philippines and Adobo was one of my favorite dishes, right after Lumpia. I remember it being made with pork as well as chicken. As has been mentioned above, there are many different ways to make Adobo, and the way I remember was that Adobo day meant that the pot was cooking all day long and the smell would permeate the house. I didn’t know that it could be cooked as quickly as in your recipe, which I am going to try. There is only one way to make Adobo properly, . . . . . . and that is to do it the way that you and your family like it best.
Hi Daniel, please try. This chicken adobo recipe is very good!
Aloha Rasa,
again your site intrigues and captivates me to try from your collection. again being a melange of ethnicities as most in Hawaii, we call it being “Chop Suey” or “Poi Dog” and Hapa…but whatever the term being a mix of Chinese, FIlipino, Portuguese ,Japanese, Hawaiian, Dutch and Spanish. We locals have acquired a wide pallet of tastes and truly enjoy a plethora of “Good Eats” Since our Filipino family had left the P.I. no Pinoy Vinegar/Sukang like Coconut or Palm vinegar being available , it has become a alternative choice with great success to use Organic Apple cider Vinegar with the Mother unfiltered like Bragg’s or now their our other brands on the market too. the inclusion of the Mother gives you the full benefit and alkalizing nature of vinegar and their is a sweetness and umami with Apple cider vinegar that gives it a tang and sweetness that definitely White Vinegar(too medicinal) and P.I. Vinegar can be inconsistent in strength. So try it with Cider Vinegar and Cut back a teaspoon or so. to recipe. Every Region(visayan,Illocano, Tagalog) all have their own interpretation of Adobo and even from island to Island and city to city barrio to barrio to house to house even family to family. It becomes a personal signature and a taste all Filipino’s think their version is the Best…LOL! maybe hubris but each person and Ohana will choose and prepare to their acquired taste. some use coconut milk, sugar,,,,(not my family this is Blasphemy. We add propriety spices that go beyond the basic, Shoyu, Vinegar, Pepper corns and Bayleaf. but Those are family secrets…;-) maybe one day I’ll start a blog…
Hi Glenn, thanks for your comment, so nice to learn so much about this Chicken Adobo dish.
That. is so true- I learned from my Vsayan god-mother.,
Thank you for your comments and your story! I’m going to try it with Braggs this time!
Just a note that regular soy sauce (Kikkoman, etc) is very different to Filipino soy sauce, and using it makes it taste a bit differently compared to traditional Filipino adobo. Filipino toyo (Datu Puti, Silver Swan, Marca Pina) has a thinner consistency and is saltier.
Hi Chel, thanks for your great tip! :)
My Mom used to make this all the time growing up, and this recipe is so similar to hers! Thanks for posting!
I cant wait wait to try this…
This looks outstandingly mouth watering treat.. I am one from a list of Catering companies in Mumbai and I really appreciate this one …
Looks delicious!!inviting!!
Have you ever used bone in chicken breast? My family favors white meat
You can use chicken breast to make this chicken adobo, yes.
Rasa, You always post good recipes worth trying. Thank you…
Thanks for your sweet comment on the chicken adobo recipe.
I can never copy my dad’s adobo, I’ll try yours to see how close it is. Looking forward to trying your recipe!
please unsubscribe me
I can’t unsubscribe you, your email address is not in my email database.