What is Chicken Adobo?
Chicken Adobo is a slow-cooked Filipino chicken dish that is well loved by many people. There is nothing not to love about tender, moist, fall-off-the-bone and delicious chicken cooked with a few adobo ingredients. It can be made in one pot, pan, skillet, slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Adobo
This recipe is adapted from Burnt Lumpia‘s cookbook: The Adobo Road Cookbook. It’s a super easy and authentic adobo recipe but yields delicious and amazing results. The adobo seasonings consist of soy sauce and Filipino white cane sugar vinegar. You can also used distilled white vinegar.
How Do You Make The Best and Authentic Adobo?
- Brown the chicken thighs underneath the broiler for 3–5 minutes
- Use freshly ground black pepper instead of whole peppercorns.
- Reduce the sauce until it is almost completely evaporated and the chicken will then begin to fry in its own fat.
- For make more adobo 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 Adobo sauce while cooking in the pan.
You can also make it with a slow cooker or crock pot chicken adobo (click to check out my recipe). This recipe is amazing, so try it. Happy cooking!
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Kiran @ KiranTarun.com
Looks like a delectable cookbook, Bee. Thanks for sharing!
Betty Ann @Mango_Queen
Filipino food rocks in Marvin’s new cookbook The Adobo Road! I have interviewed Marvin for a feature article I wrote and have been an avid follower of his blog. He’s one of the nicest Filipino food bloggers around and I’m so proud of him and his beautiful cookbook! Congrats, Marvin. Thanks for sharing this favorite chicken adobo recipe, Bee!
laura
cant wait to tryt this…thanks b.
Jayne
I’ve made this before and we loved it. I have got to try Marvin’s recipe.
Maria
This is the recipe I use, except that I add a little bit of sugar. It caramelizes the skin when you broil/fry the chicken.
mickeydownunder
G’day! I LOVE Chicken Adobo, TRUE!
I must admit, I don’t cook a lot of Filipino food, but am KEEN, EAGER and PASSIONATE to do! (and review!)
Cheers!
Joanne
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Food Service Warehouse
Wow, this recipe is much more simple than I thought. I’ve had Chicken Adobo but didn’t realize it was something I could actually cook, I’m very excited!
Remy
There are several recipes for adobo. I cook it differently from my mother, my aunts and friends. I use some ingredients they do not use.
I think adobo is a recipe with personal touch. They like mine.
Brian Matuse
I like to add about a Tbsp of good patis or nuoc mam (fish sauce) and about a Tbsp of sugar (brown, if you have it; if you don’t, white sugar works fine). Sometimes, I also like to add a little heat: a seeded finely minced jalapeno or two or 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or more to taste.
Moises
Looks yummy!
I will try this someday!
andre
I miss this Food .I always ate this food when i was in singapore . also I ate this food in my Filipino Friend .
Rebecca
My Filipino maid cooked it the Filipino way but I taught her the Chinese way to sauté them well with some oil only then add in some water. After that her Adobo is so yummy, she was so happy !!
irene
please unsubscribe me
Rasa Malaysia
I can’t unsubscribe you, your email address is not in my email database.
Jessica
Have you ever used bone in chicken breast? My family favors white meat
Rasa Malaysia
You can use chicken breast to make this chicken adobo, yes.
nan kraft
Rasa, You always post good recipes worth trying. Thank you…
Rasa Malaysia
Thanks for your sweet comment on the chicken adobo recipe.
Elisa
I can never copy my dad’s adobo, I’ll try yours to see how close it is. Looking forward to trying your recipe!
Gayatri Mantra
Looks delicious!!inviting!!
Tina
This looks outstandingly mouth watering treat.. I am one from a list of Catering companies in Mumbai and I really appreciate this one …
Tabitha
My Mom used to make this all the time growing up, and this recipe is so similar to hers! Thanks for posting!
John Stuart
I cant wait wait to try this…
Chel
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.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Chel, thanks for your great tip! :)
Glenn
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…
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Glenn, thanks for your comment, so nice to learn so much about this Chicken Adobo dish.
Anela
Thank you for your comments and your story! I’m going to try it with Braggs this time!
Daniel Leeder
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.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Daniel, please try. This chicken adobo recipe is very good!
Glenn
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?
Rasa Malaysia
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.
Mike
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.
Rasa Malaysia
I made and tried this recipe myself and it tastes totally fine. I think the author makes this recipe very accessible to everyone.
Sarah S
Thank you very much for the recipe. I followed all the directions closely and it turned out amazing. I only added a few fresh and slices pepper (medium hot) at the last few minutes. It is the best chiken I have tasted that is cooked by me.
Sarah S
Davey
Wow this is crazy good. I’d never had adobo before but thought I’d give it a shot. It is so good I was drinking the sauce with a spoon after dinner. This will become a regular dish. For the record I added about one TBSP of sugar to the sauce, and broiled the chicken at the end to crisp it up.
Mia Santiago
Instead of fresh garlic, can I use frozen crushed garlic? Also, can apple cider vinegar be substituted for distilled white vinegar? Thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Yes, but why would you use frozen garlic?
Mia Santiago
I use frozen garlic (which are in cubes; 1 cube = 1 clove garlic), in case I don’t have fresh available. Thanks!
Diana
I made this today (I never had Chicken Adobo before) and it was delicious! After I cooked the chicken top and bottom, I removed the chicken to put in broiler for 5 minutes while I reduced the sauce. It was excellent! Thank you for this very easy version of this recipe!
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Diane, thanks for trying this chicken adobo recipe. :)
Ricardo
Hello, I’m of Filipino descent (5th gen). I had many Adobo’s before, but I was wondering where did it all started. What was the Original Adobo? During my research the most common adobo with Soy sauce was part of the Chinese influence. But this incudes the Hindu influence in Adobo sa Dilaw — yellow adobo sometimes they call it Curry chicken, also the Spanish influence in Adobo sa Pula — Red Adobo when red achiote paste from Mexico was added and lastly the European addition which added Balsamic vinegar and rosemary to the list of ingredients. While different sections and regions of the Philippines added their own touch like coconut milk (which I use – to pay homage to my descendants from the visayan region of the PI) some add tomatoes, Pineapples… and the list goes on. But, the Original Adobo called white adobo was very simple: Vinegar, water, Bay leaf, peppercorns & garlic and ginger (well maybe not ginger & garlic) and salt…. Just thought I add this comment in.
Rasa Malaysia
Hi Ricardo, thanks for your comment and information about adobo.