Tender chicken simmered in a tangy, savory sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar and aromatics! This easy Filipino chicken adobo is great as a main dish on busy weeknights for the family. Made with only 8 ingredients in ONE-PAN!
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This popular dish is so iconic in the Philippines that they consider it their national dish! It's one of my favourite Filipino dishes as it's such a quick and easy recipe with big flavor!
Filipino chicken adobo is best served over white rice or brown rice with greens. The best part is when that sauce hits the plain rice making it a whole meal in itself!
No Marinating Required!
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 & Substitutions
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Skin-on Bone-in Chicken thighs: or substitute with drumsticks or chicken legs. Boneless skinless chicken thighs may work as well but reduce the cooking time. I wouldn't recommend using chicken breasts as they're too lean and can result in dry chicken.
- 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.
- Cane vinegar, coconut vinegar, rice vinegar or palm vinegar: white vinegar can also be used as a substitute
- Garlic
- Black whole 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.
Variations
If you’re gluten-free, substitute the soy sauce with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
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. I would avoid any 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:
Cook Onions
On your stove top bring a large skillet to medium heat, add oil. Followed by sliced onions and cook until translucent.
Brown the Chicken
Move the onions aside and place chicken thighs skin side down. Allow the skin to sear until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. The best way to brown chicken is to not touch it after you place it in the pan. If you constantly move the chicken around, it won't brown well.
Add Seasoning
Pour in soy sauce, garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves and lastly white vinegar. For best results, do not stir the sauce as this prevents the acid from fully evaporating. This is a tip that I learned.
Simmer the Chicken
Bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Then cover and reduce to a rolling simmer or low-medium heat for 10 minutes.
Flip Chicken Over
Uncover the lid and flip the chicken over so the skin is facing up. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Simmer Sauce
Uncover the lid and continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes so the sauce can thicken a little bit. Remove off heat to serve and let this rest for a couple minutes before enjoying.
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To reheat on the stove top in a pan over medium heat until the chicken is hot through. You may add some water to help loosen the sauce. Or microwave the dish for 2-3 minutes until hot.
Pairing Suggestions
This serves well with white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, plain noodles, or cooked vegetables like bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, or garlic green beans.
FAQ
Yes, if you wish, marinate the chicken 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.
Other chicken recipes you may like!
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Tender Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 4 skin-on bone in chicken thighs
- ¼ cup regular soy sauce
- ½ cup rice vinegar or use cane vinegar, coconut vinegar, palm vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ yellow onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil any neutral tasting oil
Instructions
- In a medium size pan, around 8-inches, on medium heat, add oil. Once oil is hot, add onions and cook until translucent.
- Move the onions aside and place chicken thighs skin side down. Allow the skin to brown for a few minutes. Do not move the chicken after it hits the pan, this will prevent your chicken from properly browning.
- Pour in soy sauce, garlic, black peppercorns, bay leaves and lastly white vinegar. For best results, do not stir the sauce as this prevents the acid from fully evaporating. (At this point, the sauce will taste very tangy due to the vinegar, but be patient and allow the following simmering process create a tasty well balanced sauce).
- Bring to a boil. Then cover and reduce low-medium heat or a rolling simmer for 10 minutes.
- Uncover the lid and flip the chicken over so the skin is facing up. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Uncover the lid and continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes so the sauce can thicken a bit. Remove off heat to serve and let this rest for a couple minutes before enjoying for the juices to settle into the meat.
Mr G
A one pan dish well within the capabilities of an English cook 🤭
My Filipino friends are even impressed!!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe! Glad it worked out well for your friends 🙂
Nicole
I liked it, but my fiancé said it was way too vinegary.I’ll admit it was a lil strong but I didn’t disturb anything after I put it in & even let it simmer a tad longer in hopes that wouldn’t happen. I really want it to work! Maybe next time I’ll try regular white vinegar instead of the rice vinegar.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for leaving a positive review! I hope it works out better with rice vinegar or feel free to add less vinegar to your liking 🙂
Kelly
Great and easy recipe the family lived it
Christie Lai
Thrilled to read this and glad the whole family enjoyed it! Thanks for making my recipe and for the positive review!
Karin
Thanks for this. I have tried a lot of adobo recipe but this is the best because it’s so easy and the result is a very yummy adobo just the way I love.
Christie Lai
That is music to my ears! I'm very happy to hear this! That's my intention with this recipe as I understand not everyone has a lot of time these days!
Germaine
Christie, since my children are grown, it's been years since I last made a good chicken adobo. Using your recipe exceeded my expectations! It was simple, well portioned, and very easy to follow. The end result was fantastic and delicious! It made me feel like this Filipino has not lost her touch!, hehe. Thanks a whole bunch 👍
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Germaine! So thrilled to hear that it worked out well for you and satisfied your taste buds 🙂
Cathy
Great recipe for simple and delicious chicken adobo! Came out perfect- I followed the recipe as written. Thank you Christie for making it so easy!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Cathy! So happy to hear that it came out perfectly 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Jd
I did cook your chicken adobe recipe and it's so delicious
Hamish
I have heard so many comments about Adobo from my Filipina friend that I must try this recipe. Yours seems so uncomplicated and I have got as far as buying the 4 thighs! I will attempt to cook this later this week and will let you know the results. I have never ever used vinegar in a recipe before so this will be an experience.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much Hamish! I hope you enjoy it!
Natalie
This was so good. I'm glad to have found a recipe without sugar. My uncle would use brown sugar but I'm trying to eat healthier, even though a lot of filipino comfort food is not healthy. I accidentally put together the soy sauce and vinegar in a cup while I was waiting for the chicken to brown. I was worried it wouldn't come out right because the recipe says to put the vinegar last, but it was still good. I also like my adobo saucy instead of a dry and this was just the right amount and consistency of sauce for me.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Natalie! So happy that you enjoyed it and glad it was just right 🙂
Craig Carter
Great recipe! I think adobo can have countless variations based on taste! Sometimes I add a little smoked paprika to the chicken and other times I will add bell pair jalapeños! But the base vinegar, soy sauce and garlic remains the same!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for sharing your positive review! So glad to hear that it worked for you and those additions sound delish!
Jade
Hi Christie,
Does coco aminos work with this recipe as well?
Christie Lai
Hi Jade, yes that's a great gluten-free substitute for this recipe.
Susan
So easy and simple, yet so tasty! Great recipe, and the kids like it too.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my Chicken Adobo, Grace! I am so happy to hear that the kids liked it too 🙂
Marian G
I thought it would be of interest to some readers to say that I used this recipe to improve the taste of supermarket roast chicken legs and thighs which were pretty insipid. I followed Christie's recipe to a tee, except cutting the chicken into pieces off the bone and slightly reducing the second simmer since the chicken I started with was already cooked. It worked great! The sauce was yummy and penetrated the meat well, and the skin was much tastier than when I started. I also steamed some chopped up bok choy in the sauce with the chicken which remained a bit crunchy and was an easy option without having to clean another container. Served with steamed brown basmati rice. Definitely a keeper.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for your kind and positive review, Marian! Very happy to hear that it worked for you and it's now a keeper 🙂 This is music to my ears 🙂
Tom
I cooked it. It's very good.
christieathome
Thanks so much for leaving a positive review, so glad you enjoyed it Tom!
Wanjiku
Loved the recipe and it was pretty easy to follow. Thank you so much!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe and glad to hear that it was easy to make 🙂