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Chicken adobo features juicy chicken thighs cooked in a savory and tangy sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, black peppercorns, garlic, and onions. It's absolutely delicious with steamed rice and your favorite vegetables.
It is such a popular dish in the Philippines that they consider it their national dish and each household has their own way of making it. There are also different types of adobo featuring different kinds of meat, like pork adobo or beef adobo.
Of all the Filipino dishes, it is my favorite because it's packed with flavor! The best part is when that brown sauce hits the plain rice making it a whole meal in itself!
Most recipes require you to marinate the chicken in advance (which you can do - see below FAQ for instructions) but this recipe is designed for busy families who want their chicken dinner stat!
I've been making this recipe for 7 years now and it never disappoints so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Skin-on Bone-in Chicken thighs: or substitute with drumsticks, chicken legs, or boneless skinless chicken thighs but cook until an internal temperature of 165 with a digital instant read thermometer. Avoid chicken breast. Not a fan of chicken? Substitute with pork ribs.
- Neutral Oil: any flavorless oil like avocado oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil due to its heavier scent.
- Yellow onion, white onion, or red onion
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute the soy sauce with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Cane vinegar, coconut vinegar, rice vinegar or palm vinegar: or substitute with white vinegar or white wine vinegar.
- Garlic
- Whole Black Peppercorns: Or substitute with black pepper to taste.
- Bay leaves: This adds a subtle bitter flavor to help prevent a dish from tasting too heavy.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients.
Expert Tips
- Brown the Chicken Skin First. This gives the chicken more flavor especially when it’s cooked with the onions.
- Do not mix the sauce! After pouring in the vinegar, do not stir the vinegar into the soy sauce. This helps to burn off the acid in the vinegar in the bottom of the pot.
- Using the right vinegar is important. It's crucial to use the vinegars recommended for chicken adobo as some can really change the flavor. Avoid flavored or sweetened vinegars, black vinegar, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar.
- Let the chicken rest for a bit. Allow the chicken to rest for a couple minutes before enjoying so the juices can settle back into the meat.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make chicken adobo:
- Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan on medium heat. Cook sliced onions until translucent and softened.
- Move the onions aside and place chicken thighs skin side down. Brown the skin for a few minutes and avoid moving the chicken around or it won't evenly brown.
- Add soy sauce, sliced garlic, whole black peppercorns, bay leaves and lastly, the vinegar. Do not stir the sauce or it will end up tasting too acidic because the vinegar didn't have a chance to fully evaporate. The simmering process will create a balanced tasting sauce so don't panic if it tastes very tangy at this point.
- Bring to a boil, cover and then reduce to low-medium heat or a rolling simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, flip the chicken over so it's skin side up. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Uncover the lid and simmer for another 3-5 minutes to the thicken the sauce. Remove off heat and rest for a couple minutes before enjoying for the juices to settle in the chicken.
Storage
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat: microwave the dish for a few minutes until hot or reheat on the stove top in a pan over medium heat until the chicken is hot through out and add a few tablespoons of water to loosen the sauce.
- Freezer-friendly? Chicken adobo can be frozen for up to 3 months in the freezer. To freeze: let the chicken cool down completely and store into a freezer-safe bag with the sauce. To reheat from frozen: thaw the chicken overnight in the fridge and microwave or reheat in a pan on medium heat until hot throughout.
Pairing Suggestions
Chicken adobo serves well with:
- appetizers like lumpia, panara, tenga or pork siomai
- soups or stews like chicken tinola, sinigang, or arroz caldo
- vegetable dishes like Pinakbet, stir fry eggplant, crispy eggplant fritters,
bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans - steamed white rice, brown rice, plain noodles, garlic fried rice, coconut rice, pancit noodles, Filipino-style spaghetti
- other meat dishes like pork adobo, Filipino-style fried chicken, beef tapa, or kare-kare.
- desserts like taho, flan, or ube ice cream.
FAQ
Chicken adobo can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat until hot.
The chicken thighs can be marinated the night before in the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns for additional flavor. When you cook the chicken, brown the chicken first as instructed and then pour the reserved marinade into the pan and add the remaining ingredients.
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Tender Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 4 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
- ¼ cup regular soy sauce
- ½ cup rice vinegar or cane vinegar, coconut vinegar, palm vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil any neutral tasting oil
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan on medium heat. Cook sliced onions until translucent and softened.
- Move the onions aside and place chicken thighs skin side down. Brown the skin for a few minutes and avoid moving the chicken around or it won't evenly brown.
- Add soy sauce, sliced garlic, whole black peppercorns, bay leaves and lastly, the vinegar. Do not stir the sauce or it will end up tasting too acidic because the vinegar didn't have a chance to fully evaporate. (The simmering process will create a balanced tasting sauce so don't panic if it tastes very tangy at this point).
- Bring to a boil, cover and then reduce to low-medium heat or a rolling simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid, flip the chicken over so it's skin side up. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Uncover the lid and simmer for another 3-5 minutes to the thicken the sauce. Remove off heat and rest for a couple minutes before enjoying for the juices to settle in the chicken.
Angela
This is one of my favorite dishes to make and I make it at least once a week! I did switch up the measurements for the soy/coconut aminos and vinegar and tend to like it a little bit better this way but have had it the original way as well! The chicken is just so juicy and flavorful and easy! Love it!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for the positive feedback and for making my recipe once a week, Angela! So happy you've enjoyed my recipe and found it easy and delicious!
Cody Yap
This was delicious!!! I tried this myself. You should also check out sukang adobo or white adobo as equally delicious!! https://remyeats.com/article/dining/sukang-adobo-recipe/
Ingrid
Delicious dish, so much better than my slow-cooker version and almost just as easy! I'll never go back.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it!
Meredith
This is my go to recipe, very fast, very easy and on top of that, its very tasty. Thank you
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it!
Marty
I used white vinegar and boneless skinless chicken thighs (what I had). Recipe turned out excellently. I served it with white rice for myself and daughter, and with salad greens for my wife who is avoiding carbs. Delicious and Easy. Thanks!!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it!
Patricia Hinds
The best one I tried ! Family raved!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it!
Missy
i been searching for a really good adobo recipe cus it’s been either lacking or too salty but this recipe is really good!!! i would love to try with chicken wings, does anyone know how many lbs of chicken wings I can use with this recipe?
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it! I would advise to substitute with the same amount of lbs if you use chicken wings but reduce the cooking time as they will cook faster.
Ann
I love this recipe! Thank you 🙂
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and so glad you liked it!
Gregory Ishii
Quick easy and delish!
Almost like my apo bakets!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making it! Glad you enjoyed it!
Bonnie Katzell
can’t wait to serve to the international Bible study group tonight for our Christmas party along with filipino vegtable fritters.. i will definitely let you know how well it went over but i can tell by the smell it’s gonna be fabulous.
Christie Lai
I hope they all enjoy it 🙂
Bartolome Ybañez
Thank you for this website because I now how to cook adobo
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for the positive review! Glad you learned how to cook it!
Bernadette Galvan
I put the recommended amount of vinegar but it was so acidic to my liking. What helped to balance was adding a sweetener like agave or brown sugar. If it still tasted acidic I diluted it with water. It came out good. I think next time I’m going to add less vinegar n a little more soy sauce.
Christie Lai
Thanks for making my recipe and for sharing your thoughts! Glad it worked out in the end.
Chey
Ahhhh I love this! Tasted exactly like the dish my neighbor would make as a child so it’s filled with nostalgia for me! I tried a crock pot recipe before and it was delicious but this one was way quicker and still super easy. I did marinade the chicken before❤️
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive experience with us! So glad you enjoyed it just like the version you used to have as a child 🙂
Phil
Tastes great. Simple recipe awesome flavours.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making it and for sharing your positive experience! Happy you found it to be simple and tasty!