Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Filipino Chicken Adobo (Flavour Kapow!) Recipe
Filipino Chicken Adobo is the nationwide dish of the Philippines and will effectively change into your new favorite Asian chicken dish! Only a few on a regular basis substances I can virtually assure you have already got, it’s an easy recipe that yields juicy, tender chicken coated in a candy savoury glaze with little pops of warmth from peppercorns.
It is a chicken thigh recipe and it MUST be made with thighs – no substituting with chicken breast!
Filipino Chicken Adobo is among the first chicken thigh recipes I shared approach again in 2015 once I began this web site. Again then, I boldly acknowledged that this was my new favorite Asian chicken recipe even it was completely disloyal of me to say that, being of Japanese background and all (Teriyaki, Karaage and Yakitori….to call just a few….).
To be trustworthy, I could have embellished a wee bit. Blinded by the thrill of discovering Chicken Adobo, how unbelievably simple it’s for a dish that yields such unimaginable flavour,
Try how sticky the sauce is! It really tastes as unimaginable because it appears. And it’s SO EASY with only a HANDFUL of substances!
Filipino Chicken Adobo is the nationwide dish of the Philippines and like all conventional dishes, there are various variations – together with utilizing totally different proteins like pork and beef.
Basically although, the bottom line is the precise stability of soy sauce, vinegar, black peppercorns and sugar that creates an extremely sticky glaze with a depth of flavour prefer it’s been sluggish cooked – nevertheless it’s not!
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boneless skinless chicken thighs – can not substitute with breast, want the fats to rework sauce right into a glaze;
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soy sauce – all function or mild soy sauce. NOT darkish soy sauce (bottle might be labelled as such if it’s darkish soy sauce);
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white vinegar – simply on a regular basis, plain white vinegar. Sub with any clear vinegar, together with rice wine, apple cider, sherry vinegar. Vinegars can differ of their acidity, so if utilizing substitutes begin with much less (see recipe notes);
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onion and garlic;
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peppercorns – or coarse cracked pepper;
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sugar – brown finest, white okay;
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bay leaves – recent or dried, not the tip of the world in the event you don’t have; and
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inexperienced onion – optionally available garnish
And right here’s how one can make it. Mainly, you marinate the chicken briefly, sear the chicken, then simmer it within the pan with the marinade for 25 minutes. It should look watery proper up till the previous few minutes, then rapidly, the liquid transforms magically right into a syrupy glaze!
The glaze of Filipino Chicken Adobo is savoury and candy with a touch of tang, with a definite soy flavour. The garlic and onion creates a savoury base together with the bay leaves, and the peppercorns add little delicate pops of warmth.
Don’t be afraid of the peppercorns on this! The spiciness is tempered from each the cooking time and the energy of the flavour of the sauce so it turns into a flavour enhancer quite than fiery spiciness.
And eventually, the chicken itself. It’s extremely tender, owing to the prepare dinner time. Chicken thighs solely take about 6 to eight minutes to prepare dinner on the range, so simmering them in sauce for 25 minutes yields thighs which are so tender inside, it’s such as you’ve sluggish cooked them for hours.
Rice to take in the sauce is important! Although in the event you’re counting energy, I can extremely advocate Cauliflower Rice – pictured within the first picture within the submit alongside Smashed Cucumbers for a critically scrumptious dinner plate clocking in at a grand whole of simply 415 energy.
You might not use all of the sauce this Filipino Chicken Adobo recipe makes. It’s fairly robust, so have a style earlier than dousing your complete plate with it.
As you possibly can see within the pictures, I don’t maintain again. 😂 – Johnsat x
PS Should you do have leftover sauce, don’t throw it out! That stuff is GOLD. I exploit it to make Filipino Chicken Adobo fried rice – simply fry up cooked rice with chopped up items of this chicken, some chopped Asian greens and the sauce. The sauce is so flavoursome that you simply don’t want anything!
Ingredients
- 750g / 1.5 lb chicken thigh fillets , boneless and skinless (5 – 6 pieces) (Note 1)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/3 cup (85ml) soy sauce , ordinary all purpose or light (not dark soy sauce, Note 2)
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp white vinegar , see Note 3
- 4 bay leaves (fresh) or 3 dried
- 2 tbsp oil , separated (vegetable, canola or peanut)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 small brown onion , diced
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp whole black pepper (sub 2 tsp coarse cracked pepper)
- 2 green onions/scallions , sliced (garnish)
Instructions
- Combine Chicken and Marinade ingredients in a bowl. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet over high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (reserve marinade) and place in the pan. Sear both sides until browned – about 1 minute on each side. Do not cook the chicken all the way through.
- Remove chicken skillet and set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil in skillet. Add garlic and onion, cook 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and black pepper. Bring it to a simmer then turn heat down to medium high. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Add chicken smooth side down. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes (no need to stir), turning chicken at around 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces down to a thick jam-like syrup.
- If the sauce isn't thick enough, remove chicken onto a plate and let the sauce simmer by itself – it will thicken much quicker – then return chicken to the skillet to coat in the glaze.
- Coat chicken in glaze then serve over rice. Pictured in post as a healthy dinner plate (415 calories) with cauliflower rice and Ginger Smashed Cucumbers.
Notes
1. Chicken thighs – do NOT substitute with breast. You need the fat in thighs in order for the sauce to reduce down to a glaze. Can also use bone in thighs, wings or drumsticks (add 3/4 cup water and simmer 30 minutes).
The best way to achieve the closest result with chicken breast is to add 2 tbsp of any oil to the sauce, take the chicken out once cooked and reduce the sauce right down to become jammy, then smear it on the breast.
2. Soy sauce – use all purpose or light soy sauce. Do not use dark soy sauce – bottle will be labelled as such if it is. Dark soy is too intense for this sauce once reduced.
You probably won’t need all the sauce because it is very strong in flavour. Save the leftovers and use it to make fried rice! It is perfect because it is so strong in flavour so a little bit goes a long way. I used it to make a fried rice with leftover Filipino Chicken Adobo and chopped Asian greens. No other flavourings required!
3. Vinegar – This recipe calls for white distilled vinegar because it is neutrally flavoured. You can substitute other white/clear vinegars such as rice wine vinegar, white wine, or apple cider vinegar. The level of acidity in other vinegars however can vary significantly, meaning the adobo could be too sour if you add 1/3 cup all at once! So instead start with 40ml / 1.3 fl oz , and taste the sauce towards the end of cooking. If you want more tang, add more vinegar a couple of teaspoons at a time until it suits your taste.
4. Nutrition per serving, chicken only and assumes all sauce consumed which is unlikely as it’s quite strong. Reduce sodium by using low sodium soy.
Make a low calorie dinner plate with a side of Cauliflower Rice and Smashed Cucumbers – total 415 calories for dinner plate (first photo in post)
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