This Filipino Chicken Adobo is a simple, yet delicious stove-top quick chicken recipe. Made so easily in one pot, with just a few everyday simple pantry ingredients, this national dish of the Philippines is sure to become a family favorite! Sweet, sticky and tangy chicken marinated in a marinade that requires a handful of ingredients, seared to perfection then braised until fall-off-the-bone tender.
Chicken Adobo
This Filipino Chicken Adobo is such an easy recipe to make and the results are incredibly delicious. Sweet, sticky and tangy chicken, is what I’m talking about. Amazing for a weeknight dinner recipe, a brunch plate or even an addition to a fancy family dinner, this recipe is so delicious it goes with every occasion. You can even prep it ahead and marinate it overnight, then cook it when you come from home the next day!
- Simple pantry stable ingredients
- Sweet, sticky and tangy chicken
- Made in just one pot
- Incredible flavors
Because the chicken thighs are slowly cooked, you end up with incredibly tender thighs. This chicken adobo is great served over rice, even cauliflower rice for a healthier alternative, with additional sauce drizzled over it.
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken – I used chicken thighs with skin and bones for extra flavor. You can use skinless boneless thighs, or even drumsticks, but I wouldn’t substitute it with breast.
- Sugar – This is where the sweetness comes from, you’ll want to use brown sugar to help with a little bit of caramelization.
- Soy sauce – This is where the saltiness comes from in the marinade. I recommend going with a low sodium soy sauce.
- Vinegar – This is where the tangy comes from. I chose Apple Cider Vinegar but you can use a regular white vinegar as well.
- Bay leaves – Also for the marinade, you can use fresh or dried, they’ll just add a nice minty flavor to the marinade.
- Onion and Garlic – Essential for flavoring the sauce.
- Oil – You can use any kind of vegetable oil you have handy such as Sunflower, Olive oil or any kind of neutral tasting oil.
- Green Onions and Red Chilies – I love to use some fresh green onions for garnish and some Thai red chilies. If you like a lot of heat, you can even add some chopped red chilies to your sauce, when you’re sautéing the onions.
How To Make Chicken Adobo
- Prep the marinade: In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, half of the garlic and the bay leaves. Add the chicken thighs and toss well. Marinate for 20 minutes to overnight.
- Sear the chicken: In a large skillet, with a lid, heat 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and cook about 4 minutes per side on high heat or until golden brown. Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate.
- Caramelize the onions: Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and has begun to caramelize, about 5 minutes. If wanting to spice this up, now is the time to add some red chilies. Stir in the remaining garlic and cook for another minute until aromatic.
- Braise the chicken: Add the chicken pieces back to the skillet right over the onion, pour the reserved marinade over the chicken and about ¼ cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the lid from the skillet and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce has started to reduce, thicken slightly and become glossy.
- Garnish and serve: Serve garnished with green onion and red chilies.
FAQ’s and Expert Tips
FAQ’s
Chicken Adobo is a Filipino dish made by braising chicken legs (thighs and/or drumsticks) in a sauce made up of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper. It’s tangy, salty, garlicky, slightly sweet, and spicy. The chicken is slowly simmered in the sauce making it flavorful and incredibly tender.
The Chicken Adobo is so versatile, it goes well with so many sides such as Basmati Rice, Jasmine Rice, Noodles and even Mashed Potatoes.
Yes, you can absolutely bake this. Follow instructions up to and including step 3, preheat the oven to 375F and bake for 30 minutes covered. Uncover the pot and bake for another 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Braising basically means simmering meat and vegetables in a small amount of liquid in a covered pot for longer periods of time to enhance the liquid’s flavor and tenderize the meat. Typically the meat is first seared at a high temperature then finished in a covered pot at a low temperature.
Expert Tips
- If the chicken skin sticks to the skillet when you try to turn it, leave the pieces to cook another minute or so. Once the chicken is ready to be flipped it will slowly release from the skillet.
- If you have the time, you can marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge. This will give the chicken time to absorb the flavors of the marinade.
- Don’t skip the searing of the chicken. Searing the chicken first creates color and lots of flavor.
- Drizzle the simmering sauce over the chicken thighs to help it form a tasty glaze over the meat.
Leftovers
Fridge
Store the leftover chicken in an airtight container. It will store nicely in your fridge for up to 3 days!
Freezer
After it cooled down, transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer. It will last anywhere from 4 – 6 months.
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Chicken Adobo
Equipment
Ingredients
- â…“ cup soy sauce low sodium
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 6 cloves garlic chopped, divided
- 4 bay leaves fresh or dry
- 8 large chicken thighs with skin and bones
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- ¼ cup water
Garnish
- 2 green onions green parts, sliced
- 1 red chili sliced
Instructions
- Prep the marinade: In a large bowl, combine the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, half of the garlic and the bay leaves. Add the chicken thighs and toss well. Marinate for 20 minutes to overnight.
- Sear the chicken: In a large skillet, with a lid, heat 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and cook about 4 minutes per side on high heat or until golden brown. Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate.
- Caramelize the onions: Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion has softened and has begun to caramelize, about 5 minutes. If wanting to spice this up, now is the time to add some red chilies. Stir in the remaining garlic and cook for another minute until aromatic.
- Braise the chicken: Add the chicken pieces back to the skillet right over the onion, pour the reserved marinade over the chicken and about ¼ cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the lid from the skillet and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce has started to reduce, thicken slightly and become glossy.
- Garnish and serve: Serve garnished with green onion and red chilies.
Recipe Notes
- If the chicken skin sticks to the skillet when you try to turn it, leave the pieces to cook another minute or so. Once the chicken is ready to be flipped it will slowly release from the skillet.
- If you have the time, you can marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge. This will give the chicken time to absorb the flavors of the marinade.
- Don’t skip the searing of the chicken. Searing the chicken first creates color and lots of flavor.
- Drizzle the simmering sauce over the chicken thighs to help it form a tasty glaze over the meat.
- Store the leftover chicken in an airtight container. It will store nicely in your fridge for up to 3 days!
- After it cooled down, transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer. It will last anywhere from 4 – 6 months.
This is an EXCELLENT recipe for chicken adobo. I’m 100% Filipina, and not only does this remind me of the adobo I had as a child, it gets my mother’s approval! I remember it as a stew — no searing of the chicken, just all in the pot and cooking away until it was done. This is now my preferred recipe for adobo. I made it once just as written, and it was wonderful. The second time, I changed a few things — I used Datu Puti, a Filipino cane vinegar and increased the soy sauce to the same amount as the vinegar. I also doubled the recipe (using 6 lbs of chicken) — adobo is one of those dishes that improves with time and was never a one-meal dish when I was growing up. Braising it in the oven is a brilliant idea — so easy and SO delicious — and I highly recommend it. And the leftovers freeze really well. Thank you much for this marvelous recipe!
Elena, thank you so much for taking the time go write this comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was a super flavorful dish. It was easy to make and everyone who ate it enjoyed it. I didn’t add the chilis because we don’t like the heat. I will be making this again soon. Thanks for the great recipes!
That’s awesome! So glad you enjoyed it so much!
This is the most flavorful chicken I have ever had. Next time I will marinate over night.
This was wonderful
Substituted the brown sugar with maple syrup YUMMY
So glad to hear this. 🙂
In step 2, you don’t state the temperature of cooking the chicken. Should it be medium? Medium high?
Nevermind. I see the temperature above; it wasn’t in the directions below.
In step 2 it says to sear the chicken over heat. “Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade, and cook about 4 minutes per side on high heat or until golden brown.”
This is one of my favorite dishes
Made this tonight, didn’t have too much time, the chicken thighs only got to marinate for 20mins, turned out so good! No leftovers.
Yay! We are so glad you enjoyed it! It’s such a fun and easy recipe.
This recipe sounds delicious, but with my IBS problems I can’t tolerate spicy foods. If I leave out the chilis, will it still taste good? Is there something I could substitute for them? Thanks Jo!!!
This dish really isn’t spicy at all, and the chilies are mostly for garnish. So yeah the answer, is you can leave them out and it won’t affect the dish at all.