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Chicken Adobo is a tangy, salty, sweet, and spicy Filipino dish. This meal is easy to make and requires just a few simple ingredients. It’s sure to become a family favorite!
You can never have too many chicken recipes and this Chicken Adobo is a keeper! If you’re on the hunt for more easy and delicious chicken recipes, try Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken Casserole, and Jerk Chicken.
Chicken Adobo
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, garlicy, slightly sweet, and spicy. The chicken is slowly simmered in the sauce making it flavorful and incredibly tender.
How to make Chicken Adobo?
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the chicken and drumsticks (skin side down) to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove and place on a plate. Drain off grease.
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To the skillet, add the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, half the chilies, sugar, black pepper, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over med-high heat.
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Add the chicken, skin side up, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and tender.
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Remove chicken from pan onto a clean plate. Bring sauce to a boil over med-high heat and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. (Add cornstarch and water if a thicker sauce is desired.)
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Remove the pan from the heat, discard bay leaves, and add the chicken back. Spoon sauce over the top of the chicken and garnish with remaining chilies.
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Serve chicken and sauce over jasmine rice.
What cut of chicken is best for this recipe?
For best results, use chicken thighs or drumsticks. They are more flavorful and tender. If you don’t like skin, you can remove the skin or use chicken breasts.
What kind of vinegar can I use?
For a more authentic version, use Sukang Maasim (Cane Vinegar found in Asian markets). White vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and rice vinegar work well too.
What should I serve with Chicken Adobo?
This chicken is most often served over white Jasmine rice.
If you’d like a vegetable with dinner, I suggest steamed broccoli or any stir fried or steamed vegetable.
Looking for more chicken recipes? Enjoy these:
- Grilled Honey Balsamic Chicken
- Chicken Parmesan Casserole
- Cornflake Chicken
- Skinny Slow Cooker Kung Pao Chicken
- Best Bourbon Chicken
Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs or drumsticks
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 8 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 chilies of jalapenos sliced (divided)
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and drumsticks skin side down to the pan and brown on both sides. Remove and place on a plate.
- To the skillet, add the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, half the chilies, black pepper, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Add the chicken, skin side up, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and tender.
- Remove chicken from pan onto a clean plate. Bring sauce to a boil over med-high heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. (For a thicker sauce, mix together 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch with 1 ½ teaspoons cold water. Pour into the boiled sauce and cook another 20-30 seconds until thickened.)
- Remove the pan from the heat, discard bay leaves, and add the chicken back. Spoon sauce over the top of the chicken and garnish with remaining chilies.
- Serve chicken and sauce over jasmine rice.
Video
Nutrition
Serves: 6
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
Is it possible it use thighs and make in the oven?
I haven’t tried that with this recipe but I’m sure it would work!
You say it is slow simmered in the sauce in the description on top but that is not what the directions say. It is just spooned over at the end. Do you recommend letting it sit in the sauce for a while?
Hello! You let the chicken simmer in the sauce for about 30-35 minutes (step 2 in the instructions). Let me know if you have any more questions and how it turns out!
Our family has a “go to” recipe for Adobo after living in the Philippines. Every time I see an Adobe recipe I’m game for making to balance against an indigenous recipe. I doubled the sauce based on the comments and only used half the jalapeno. This is a GREAT go-to for Adobo on a work night.
Overall this recipe is very good. After we made it we wished we had twice as much sauce. Next time we will double the sauce recipe.
Wonderful. I used boneless skinless chicken breast and omitted the jalapeno because my wife isn’t too big on bone-in, skin-on chicken or spicy things (bummer, I know) but it still was amazing. Wonderful tangy, salty flavors with a deep umami punch. The slight amount of sugar gives it just the right amount of a sweet undertone to balance things out. What an absolute gem.
typically for a chicken adobo peppers are not in the dish. makes it too spicy. i usually do a chicken/pork version.
Certainly adobo is a simple recipe, however, there are slight nuances that improve the outcome. This proved to be the best recipe I have tried. Right amount of vinegar to soy sauce. Brown sugar added was great. The thickening of the sauce was perfect for the rice side. My wife loved the sauce so much she saved and added it to her tofu. if the We loved it.
This was amazing! My family tore this up tonight! I didn’t add as many jalapeños peppers because I have a 9 and 6 year old who aren’t really into spicy foods. I served this with steamed white rice and steamed broccoli. Definitely a hit tonight! Thanks so much for the recipe! ❤️
this looks good and delicious easy too.will definitely try this version…im a filipino and yes we do add brown sugar..but not with the jalapeno.
This is the best Chicken Adobo I’ve ever made/tasted! ( And being a Filipino I have eaten a lot of Adobos).
I also like putting sugar in my adobo, looks so yummy 😊
Traditional Filipino adobo does not use sugar nor hot peppers. However, adobo is not restrictive: you’re allowed to modify as you wish, just don’t call it Filipino adobo.
I eat my adobo dipped in vinegar; with garlic fried rice or adobo fried rice (stir-fry cooked plain rice in drained adobo pan). Dried fried fish or adobo water spinach goes well with it.
Now I’m salivating. Dang!
Plenty of filipinos add sugar to their adobos. I know some people don’t but it’s not uncommon.
Chilis commonly aren’t added.
But this recipe definitely is ” Filipino Adobo”.
🙂
I grew up in a Filipino-American household. I’ve never seen Adobo made like this before, with the brown sugar and peppers. Can’t wait to try it!
Rosemarie!
I am so excited for you to give this a try! I know you will love this also! Thanks for follow along with me!