Tender, juicy Filipino Chicken Adobo in a sticky, tangy, savory glaze. Made with common pantry ingredients, this is the perfect dish for busy days, the depth of flavor will amaze you! Video.
Sometimes simple things are best! That is the case with this classic Filipino dish- simple ingredients that deliver incredible depth of flavor.
What is Chicken Adobo?
Chicken Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines that features tender chicken pieces marinated and braised in a tangy and flavorful sauce. The dish is made by marinating chicken in a delicious mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns, which then becomes the sticky sauce. Chicken Adobo is often served with rice and makes for a satisfying and comforting meal. The dish has gained worldwide popularity due to its simple yet delicious taste.
Boneless skinless chicken thighs are the best choice for Chicken Adobo. The thighs marinate in a simple vinegar soy marinade along with garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves. The chicken is browned, and then the marinade is poured back in and simmered until reduced into a delicious syrupy glaze. Savory umami flavor with a delicious tanginess and hint of sweetness.
Watch how to make Chicken Adobo | Video
Table of Contents
WhY you’ll love this!
- Great for Meal Prep! One of the many things we love about this Chicken Adobo is that it makes excellent leftovers, even eaten cold; very convenient to tuck into wraps, tacos, rice bowls or add to salads or sandwiches.
- Easy to make. The whole process takes less than 20 minutes if you don’t include marination time.
- Simple Ingredients! You’ll likely have everything you need, already on hand!
Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken thighs– Thighs are the way to go in this dish. We use skinless and boneless for ease. As they simmer in the marinade, they just get more tender and juicy. You can use bone-in drumsticks and skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. Yes, you can use chicken breast in a pinch, just be careful to not overcook.
- Vinegar– white vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar all work. The flavor may slightly differ but not in a major way.
- Maple syrup– or use brown sugar, coconut sugar, or something with that caramelly note is good.
- Peppercorns– these are added whole! They soften and disperse flavor while cooking. When you bite into them, they just give a slight spice. Fun!
- Chili pepper– not traditional but gives such a nice balance to the salty, sour, and sweet flavors.
- Soy Sauce– Use low sodium soy sauce or tamari if you prefer or gluten-free liquid aminos.
- See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Filipino Chicken Adobo Instructions
STEP ONE– In a shallow bowl mix together vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, black peppercorns and maple syrup. Add the chicken and let marinate for 1-3 hours to get the best chicken adobo taste.
STEP TWO– Heat up large skillet or dutch oven with just enough oil to coat the bottom. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade, brown the chicken in the hot pan about 3 minutes per side over medium-high heat.
STEP THREE– Pour the reserve marinade back into the pan. If using a chili pepper add that in. Simmer the chicken in marinade uncovered until it almost completely reduces, about 15-20 minutes. The chicken will be dark and glazed.
Top with green onions and serve! Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container and can be reheated in a 350R oven, warmed in the microwave, or heated up in a skillet over medium -low heat.
Chicken Adobo FAQS
Chicken thighs marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, black pepper and bay leaves. Then it is browned and simmered in the marinade.
Derived from the Spanish word adobar, meaning marinade or pickling sauce, this tangy sauce was first recorded in 1613 when the Spanish first explored the Philippines.
This is where the magic of the chicken thighs comes in; the longer they cook, the more tender they get.
What to serve with Chicken Adobo
We love serving Chicken Adobo over a bed of jasmine rice, brown rice, quinoa or even cauliflower rice, along with something fresh and crunchy like our Asian Slaw or our Asian Cucumber Salad.
Repurpose leftover Chicken Adobo into tacos, add to salads, wraps or sandwiches.
More Recipes You May Enjoy
We are excited for you to try this chicken recipe! Let us know what you think.
Enjoy, 💛Tonia
Love this recipe? Please let us know in the comments and leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below the recipe card.
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Chicken Adobo Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
- Category: main, chicken
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Filipino
Description
Savory and tangy with a hint of sweet, Chicken Adobo is quick and easy to make, and bursting with flavor! Perfect for weeknight dinners.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
- 1/4 cup white vinegar (see notes)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed or finely minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoons black peppercorns or 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper.
- 1 tablespoons maple syrup or use brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 Fresno chili pepper or jalapeño, sliced thin or use pepper flakes
- 2 green onions, sliced for garnish
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl mix together vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and maple syrup. Add chicken and let marinate for 1-3 hours.
- Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade. Heat up a pan with just enough oil to coat the bottom., brown the chicken in the hot pan about 3 minutes per side.
- Add the reserve marinade back into the pan. If using a chili pepper add that in. Simmer the chicken in marinade uncovered until it almost completely reduces, about 15-20 minutes, more if needed. The chicken will be dark and glazed.
- Serve with green onions.
Notes
Chicken Adobo pairs so perfectly with Asian Cucumber Salad and Jasmine Rice.
White vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar all work. The flavor may sightly differ but not in a major way.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 large thigh
- Calories: 113
- Sugar: 4.9 g
- Sodium: 475.1 mg
- Fat: 2.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.1 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 12.8 g
- Cholesterol: 52.5 mg
This is delicious! I’m wondering how it could be adapted for loads of chicken drumsticks. Crockpot?
That sounds fun! I think you could do it the same method- marinate, sear (this really deepens the flavor) and then simmer in the marinade until it reduces. Crockpot could be used for the last step? Let us know if you try it, curious!
Very,very easy and tasty. I will make this again! I followed recipe as written and used gluten free soy sauce.Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad you liked this one Suzanne!
How many tbsp pepper flakes would you recommend using if I don’t have the whole pepper?
Start with 1/2 teaspoon- depends on your spice tolerance. Add less for mild and more to heat it up!
Excellent and easy!
Glad you enjoyed Karen! One of my family’s favorites.
Made it, it was delicious exactly as recommended!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed!
Could I sub coconut aminos or Braggs? Thank you – anxious to try this if I can avoid the soy sauce.
Yes, for sure!
Sooooooo good—and easy!
Great to hear Josie!
Made this tonight along with jasmine rice and Asian Cucumber Salad as suggested and we devoured every single morsel. So good. Even better, now my house smells delicious. I was concerned about the amount of garlic so I cut back to 4 cloves; the garlic was not overpowering, so next time will use 6 cloves per the recipe. This is definitely going into my rotation and I’m planning on making it while visiting family this summer. We lived in the Philippines for 2 years, so it will be fun to share these flavors from our past.
Awesome Peggy! So happy you enjoyed this!
So excited to try this! Do you need to add salt to the marinade?
Hi Devanshi, No salt needed, the soy sauce is enough!
This was SO amazing! I used the broth from cooking to make instant pot risotto.
I made it a second time and increased the sugar and salt. The flavors were more pronounced and deeper…we couldn’t stop eating it!
Yum Romy! Sounds so tasty!
Will it hurt to marinate the chicken overnight vs 1-3 hours?
Because of the high vinegar content it is best to not marinate overnight. It can break down the meat making the texture mushy.
I’ve made it twice and marinated it overnight, it was delicious!
Cooking for Two: 2~7oz thighs skinned but bone-in. Per recipe and served with Silvia’s Pinto Beans (Chipotle in Adobo variant) with rice. A match made in heaven!
Perfect Jim!
Made with cubed firm tofu and it was great!
Oh cool Laren! Thanks for sharing.
Delicious!! The subtle flavors for the bay leaves and peppercorns + added spice from jalapeno is excellent. Will be adding this to regular cooking routine!
So happy you enjoyed!
My (picky) 14-year-old son gave it a 9.8, which is hard to come by. My husband said it’s definitely in the top 10 of meals I’ve ever made. I did the cucumber salad and jasmine rice as suggested. Simple, easy ingredients, perfect for a weeknight.
Awesome- great to hear! Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Made as written and all I can say is HOW?! How on earth does every recipe on this site make us swoon?! Seriously. 10/5 stars. Highly recommend. Might double the sauce next time so we can slop it on the rice too. Amazing, thank you!
Haha 🥰 so nice to hear this Carolin! Good idea on the sauce.
I have not made this yet – looks delicious – may I sub Coconut aminos for the soy sauce? Thank you!
Yes, you may want to omit the maple syrup.
A suggestion for chicken Adobo.
Thighs should be boneless otherwise its impossible to brown both sides.
I’m 91 and I optimistically save many of your delicious sounding recipes but I know, full well, that I will probably never have the energy to prepare them. But when I do I enjoy every mouthful. Thank you.
Thank you Sheila!
Oh wow – I cannot wait to make this. My mouth is watering just looking at the photos. I love all your recipes – they are so easy to follow and so creative. I’ve made quite a few of them. Thank you!!!
Thanks so much Donna! Let us know how you like it.
Do you slice/crush the garlic, or put it in whole? Thank you.
Oh thanks Caroline, crushed or finely minced. I noted the recipe.:)