Filipino Adobo Chicken

by Sabrina Snyder

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5 from 23 votes
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Adobo Chicken is a classic Filipino recipe cooked in soy sauce, garlic, vinegar and peppercorns that makes the most delicious braised chicken ever.

Filipino recipes are delicious and underrated as Chinese Recipes are more popular in the United States, but if more people had tried this Adobo Chicken recipe it could even give my crazy popular Orange Chicken recipe a run for it’s money in the flavor department.

Filipino Adobo Chicken FILIPINO ADOBO CHICKEN

You may not be entirely familiar with Filipino Chicken Adobo, but I can assure you one bite of this one-pot dutch oven incredible recipe and you will be a fan. Adobo Chicken is a unique Asian recipe compared to most of the Asian braised chicken recipes on the blog (like the Honey Garlic Chicken) because the chicken has no added sweeteners and a half a cup of vinegar along with a full tablespoon of whole black peppercorns.

There are a lot of bold flavors in this chicken adobo recipe. But once the chicken is done marinading and you braise it in the oven you won’t believe how amazing the flavors are. It isn’t too salty, or too strong of vinegar. It isn’t too spicy from pepper, it is in fact completely well balanced and perfect served over Sticky Steamed White Rice.

 How to Make Chicken Adobo

  • Bone in Chicken – This chicken is braised over a long period of time until it is tender, so bone-in skin-on chicken is necessary.
  • Marinate for 4 hours – The time it marinades allows the chicken to absorbs all the flavors of the garlic cloves, soy sauce, vinegar and pepper. Do not skimp on the marinating time.
  • Braise the chicken – Cook the chicken pieces covered first skin side down, then uncovered in the marinade skin side up until it is browned and the adobo sauce is thickened.

Chicken Adobo Recipe

Adobo Sauce Ingredients

  • Chicken Thighs – Chicken thighs and chicken legs are the two best cuts of chicken to use in this Filipino dish, be sure to use bone in and skin on. I do not recommend using chicken breasts in this recipe.
  • Soy Sauce – I use low sodium soy sauce in all recipes as the sodium in regular soy sauce is just too high and the flavors are too salty in recipe testing.
  • White Vinegar – I have tested this adobo recipe with rice vinegar, cane vinegar, apple cider vinegar and white wine vinegar and the classic version with distilled white vinegar is the best option for you to use.
  • Bay Leaf – Do not skip this ingredient and be sure to remove them before serving.
  • Garlic Cloves – Garlic is a prominent flavor in this recipe and must be included. Do not substitute powdered garlic in it’s place.
  • Black Peppercorns – You need a full tablespoon of whole black peppercorns, do not add ground black pepper to this recipe or your palate will be blown out.

Ingredients for Chicken Adobo

What to serve with Adobo Chicken?

We love to serve Baked Brown Rice (it cooks along side the chicken in the oven), Roasted Vegetables and fun dim sum appetizers including Spring Rolls, Egg Rolls and Crab Rangoon dipped in Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Instant Pot Chicken Adobo Recipe

  • Add the marinaded chicken and sauce to your instant pot and set the pressure to high for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken and place on sheet pan and place under broiler to crisp.
  • Reduce remaining sauce on sauté setting of instant pot until reduced by half.

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo Recipe

  • Add all the ingredients and the chicken skin side up into a large slow cooker and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours.
  • Remove the chicken and place on sheet pan and place under broiler to crisp.
  • Remove remaining sauce from slow cooker, reduce on your stovetop in a small saucepan until thickened.

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Dinner, then Dessert

Adobo Chicken

Adobo Chicken is a classic Filipino recipe cooked in soy sauce, garlic, vinegar and peppercorns that makes the most delicious braised chicken ever.
Yield 6 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Filipino
Author Sabrina Snyder
Filipino Adobo Chicken
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 6 chicken thighs bone-in and skin-on
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 4 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 4 bay leaves

Instructions

  • Add all the ingredients together in a large bowl and marinade for 4 hours.
  • Heat oven to 375 degrees, add the chicken skin side down to a large dutch oven along with the sauce and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
  • Uncover, turn the chicken over and glaze with the sauce and cook, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes until the chicken is browned and the sauce is reduced.

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 1168mg | Potassium: 303mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 95IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1.4mg
Keyword: Adobo Chicken

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Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

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Comments

  1. LOVED IT!! I had smaller chicken thighs so I didn’t cook as long – however my sauce didn’t thicken. But it was still great. don’t be afraid of the vinegar!!

    Reply

    1. That depends on the size of the baking dish you use. If you are layering them more and more on top of each other, yes it will increase the time.

      Reply

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