Chicken adobo is one of the most famous dishes from the Philippines. This is a hearty meal where chicken is braised in a sweet and savory sauce until perfectly tender. It’s incredibly simple and packed with authentic Filipino flavour!

What is chicken adobo?

Filipino adobo is an umbrella term for any dish that is typically braised and/or simmered in a sauce composed of vinegar and sugar. This is why you’ll see so many different variations of adobo in the Philippines, each with their own unique vegetables and proteins.

My mom’s adobo usually took THREE days to make. Excessive? Maybe. But it turned out delicious every time. She’d first marinate the chicken overnight and then cook it the next day. Then she’d let the cooked adobo sit in the fridge overnight again before re-heating and serving it to our family. The amount of flavour developed was absolutely incredible, but now that I’m cooking for myself I found that I could actually shorten her method down to a day or even just under an hour (perfect for lazy days).

Interestingly enough, some food historians say that the indigenous people of the Philippines actually prepared adobo long before colonialism and contact with other Asian countries. Before soy sauce was brought to the Philippines, the indigenous Filipinos would preserve proteins with vinegar and salt to make them last longer. That pre-colonial version is now known as adobong puti (white adobo).

The more widely-known adobo we all know and love adds a couple more ingredients to the mix. Apart from soy sauce, modern adobo also adds some sugar for sweetness; as well as garlic, bay leaves, and pepper corns for the aromatics.

I’ve made a couple adobo recipes already on this site, from adobo fried rice, coconut chicken adobo, and string bean adobo, but today we’re going back to the basics and cooking the classic chicken adobo. This is a Filipino family favourite and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or legs: Dark meat is key for a good adobo. The chicken absorbs the marinade perfectly and becomes incredibly tender after simmering in the sauce.
Soy sauce: Filipino soy sauce (toyo) gives adobo its distinct dark, caramel colour. My go-to brands are usually Datu Puti or Marca Piña. Otherwise, I’d recommend either using Kimlan dark soy sauce (very similar to Filipino soy sauce) or using regular soy sauce and substituting about 1-2 tablespoons of it with Lee Kum Kee’s dark soy sauce.
Vinegar: The key ingredient for adobo, which gives the dish its tang. Traditional recipes use cane vinegar, but any standard white vinegar should work for this recipe.
Brown sugar: The sweetness of the brown sugar helps to balance out the savoriness from the soy sauce and tang from the vinegar.
Garlic cloves, black peppercorns, bay leaves: These aromatics are the holy trinity for any adobo. A quick note about the peppercorns: I personally like to keep them whole just because that’s how my parents (and apparently their parents’ parents) have been cooking it for years…I personally think it’s a rite of passage for anyone to accidentally bite into a peppercorn when eating adobo. Do what you will, but crushed/ground black pepper works perfectly fine as well.

Instructions for chicken adobo

In a large bowl, combine together the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, and peppercorns. Gently stir to combine.

Add in the chicken. Be sure they’re evenly submerged/covered in the adobo marinade. Let the chicken marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight (for best results).

After marinating, gently pat the chicken pieces dry to remove excess liquid. Sear the chicken on all sides over medium-high heat until the chicken develops a deep, golden brown colour.

Pour in the rest of the remaining marinade. Add the bay leaves and just enough water to partially cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, scoop off any scum that float to the surface, then let it simmer with a lid over medium low heat for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid. Turn the heat up to high and begin reducing the adobo sauce until lightly thickened to your desired consistency. Occasionally baste the chicken with the adobo sauce.

Serve the adobo chicken with a side of white rice. Top with scallions. Enjoy!

Adobo -the quick version.

For a quick version of chicken adobo that you can prepare in just under an hour, feel free to skip the marinating step.

Simply sear your chicken on all sides until golden brown, pour in the adobo sauce, bay leaves, water, and cook according to the recipe instructions!

Craving more delicious and hearty meals? You might love these recipes: