I first became interested in chicken adobo when I saw a recipe for it using a slow cooker. It looked delicious but completely different than the adobo that I was familiar with. I thought adobo was that rich, spicy, reddish-brown mexican sauce that comes with chipotle peppers. The recipe I saw didn’t even involve any chile peppers. So then I just had to learn more…
What is Chicken Adobo?
Chicken Adobo is a Filipino dish and is not at all like the Mexican or Spanish Adobo that I was familiar with. Filipino adobo is a tangy, salty mix of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and spices that are used to marinate and stew meat. It creates the most flavorful and complex meat you’ve ever had. It almost reminds me of jerky that’s not dried.
If you want to learn more about Filipino Chicken Adobo, check out these authentic recipes:
- Chicken Adobo from Rasa Malaysia
- Filipino Chicken Adobo from Panlasang Pinoy
- Chicken Adobo from The Woks of Life
What Kind of Chicken Should I Use?
I used bone-in drumsticks for this recipe but you could really use any type of chicken pieces you’d like (or beef or pork for that matter). You’ll want to use a bone-in chicken for the most flavor, and I suggest leaving the skin on to keep everything super moist and delicious. The skin crisps up nicely in the last step and keeps the meat nice and tender.
What to Serve with Chicken Adobo
I served my chicken adobo with some yellow jasmine rice, which isn’t at all authentic, but I found the flavors to be really great together! The brine that the chicken simmers in is super delicious, so I do suggest serving it over rice or noodles of some kind to soak up that awesome broth.
Chicken Adobo
Servings 6Ingredients
- 4 lbs. skin-on, bone-in chicken ($7.96)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce ($0.48)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar ($0.48)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.21)
- 2 whole bay leaves ($0.10)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves) ($0.20)
- 1 Tbsp black peppercorns ($0.15)
Instructions
- Arrange the chicken pieces in a large pot in one layer. Remove the skin if desired.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients (soy sauce, vinegar, honey, oil, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns) in a bowl and whisk until the honey is dissolved. Partially crush the peppercorns if desired. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or over night.
- When you’re ready to make the chicken, add just enough water so that the liquid comes just up to the top of the chicken (about 1/2 cup). Cover the pot with a lid, place the pot over a high flame, and bring it up to a rolling boil. When it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium/low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your broiler on high. Remove the chicken from the pot and place it on a broiler pan (or a sheet pan with wire cooling racks placed on top). Place the chicken under the broiler until it is brown and crispy on top (5-10 minutes), depending on your broiler).
- While the chicken is broiling, turn pot with the soy/vinegar liquid up to high and bring up to a rapid boil. Allow the liquid to boil heavily until it is reduced in volume by approximately one half. You may need to boil it for 5-10 minutes longer than the chicken is in the oven to get it to this point.
- Use a soft brush to baste a few layers of the reduced soy/vinegar liquid onto the browned chicken. Serve over rice or noodles and spoon more of the reduced liquid over top.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Chicken Adobo – Step By Step Photos
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 Tbsp oil, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp minced garlic (about two large cloves), and 1 Tbsp peppercorns.
Place 4 lbs. chicken pieces in a large pot. They really should be in one layer to maximize exposure to the marinade, but my wide pot was in use when I made this. In hindsight, I should have used a wide casserole dish to marinate and then transferred back to the pot to cook. Anyway, do as I say not as I did. ONE LAYER. Then pour the marinade over the chicken, place the lid on the pot, pop it in the fridge. Let it marinate while you’re at work, over night or just for a few hours.
When you’re ready to cook, add a little bit of water so that the liquid comes a little closer to covering the chicken. You don’t want to add too much or else it will take too long for the sauce to reduce later. Cover the pot with a lid, place the pot over a high flame, and bring it up to a boil.
Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to medium/low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through by this point but it’s not too pretty so we’re going to broil it. Turn the broiler on to high.
Boiled chicken is just so blond and sickly looking so we’re going to add color under the broiler. If you don’t have a broiler pan, you can create a make shift one by placing some wire cooling racks over a baking sheet, like I did. After you pull the chicken out of the simmering liquid, turn it all the way up to high and let it boil furiously while you finish broiling the chicken. You want it to reduce in volume and concentrate in flavor as much as possible.
Place the chicken under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes or until it gets a nice brown color to it. The time it takes will depend on how hot your broiler is and how close you have your rack to the heat (it should be fairly close). So, you’ll just have to keep an eye on it. You should hear crackling and popping as the skin begins to crisp. Once the soy/vinegar liquid has reduced in volume by half, use a brush and baste a few layers onto the chicken. This will add moisture and tons of flavor.
I like to let it broil just a few minutes more to let the basting liquid caramelize and get all nice and delicious!
You can serve the chicken over rice or noodles. I suggest spooning more of the reduced liquid over top of the chicken and the rice or noodles. Pictured here with Yellow Jasmine Rice.
See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Hi beth, your chicken adobo looks delicious, I should know I’m filipino. The recipe has so many different variations, but the trinity of soy sauce, garlic and vinegar(any type of vinegar) is a must if it is to be called filipino adobo. I can’t wait to try this out with my parents so they can see a new take on a favorite dish. Thanks again for all the recipes on this site it’s amazing.
I’m making this for my grandmother tonight (though we’re not Filipino, I still craved some Chicken Adobo). It’s marinating as we speak..and I also added more garlic…1 tsp definitely didn’t seem like enough…but I love garlic! I know it’s gonna be good. Thanks for this is easy recipe Beth!
I’ve been making Filipino Adobo since the early 60s….learned from a Filipino. I cook pork country style ribs along with chicken wings and thighs, but I use a heck of a lot more garlic. Also, I prefer not to fry mine….just cook down until everything is “sticky”. Yum!!!! Try some pancit with your adobo!
Anon – Unfortunately I’m not experienced with Bragg’s (I know what product you’re talking about, though), so I don’t know how different the flavor would be. If you try it out, please let us know how it works!
Hi Beth. Can I use Braggs in place of soy sause in this recipe? Thanks!
Ashley – A bone in type of chicken works best because of the long simmer time. You can use cutlets, but they might tend to fall apart during cooking. To serve 3 people, try cutting the recipe in half. Good luck with your party!
Hey,
I am a college student cooking for my first dinner party and all I have is chicken breast cutlets, are those ok? I will only be cooking for 3 females,how much should I use?
This is was sooooooooooooo DELICIOUS Beth, thank you sooooooooooo much!! I made this for dinner the other day and had the neighbor over and she LOVed it! And my boyfriend too. It’s crazy how something so easy could taste sooo darn good. I made this with the Yellow Jasmine Rice to go with it and it was perfect, excellent flavors! Thank you again for being awesome :)
Made this twice and my Filipino husband approves. :) I think generally they use white vinegar, and he could tell something was different when I used apple cider vinegar. It’s good either way. I may try rice wine vinegar next time. I love how insanely easy this is.
Absolutely! This would be delicious grilled! Great thinking :)
Hi Beth, I am making this right now and was wondering if I could grill the chicken instead of broiling it..? Grilled chicken always tastes soooooooo good :)
Lauren – The amount that your chicken shrinks will depend on the fat content… which will definitely vary from purchase to purchase. I haven’t yet figured out how to tell how much there is before purchasing :P
Wow, wow, wow. This was unlike anything I’ve ever had before! I was a little low on honey, so I subbed in a bit of brown sugar. Served it over basmati rice. I cannot wait to eat my leftovers for dinner tonight! I had a bit of trouble with the broiling process because I didn’t have a proper pan and was trying to use my toaster oven, so I can only imagine how much more amazing this would have been crispy!
One thing though – my drumsticks shrunk down a LOT during the cooking process. Is that normal? Figured I was getting a great deal at $.99/pound for chicken, but considering the bone and the amount it cooked down, in hindsight doesn’t seem that great of a deal.
I had a couple friends left over for dinner last night and made this and we all loved it! My friends insisted I make this one of my staple recipes, and I must say that I agree. The thing I love is that I have all of these items in my house at any given time, so it’s so easy to whip up. Buy chicken when it’s on sale and freeze it in individual (1 lb or so) portions, it’ll serve you well later!
its very delicious! :D