Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe

We’re seeing more and more Filipino food gain popularity overseas with the likes of lumpia and sinigang getting special mentions from various celebrities. But there’s nothing quite like the undying popularity of Filipino adobo. This has made it to charts on the best dishes in the world, and there’s a pretty high chance that your friends outside the Philippines would call this their favorite Filipino dish. But if you’ve yet to try it, trust me on this– this is not just hype. Filipino Chicken Adobo deserves all the praise it gets.

Chicken Adobo has been a signature dish of the Philippines for as far as I can remember. There are many ways on how to cook this dish. This is one of the ways to cook it. I think that this is one of the best versions out there.

Here is another way which makes use of lesser seasoning. This chicken adobo version is tastier and it can even be enhanced if chicken stock is used instead of water.

And if you don’t believe me, let the food speak for itself! Keep reading to know all about the glory of adobo and how to make it for yourself! Thankfully, this is something you can easily recreate at home so long as you have the time for it. Be prepared to set aside a few hours to achieve the most delicious chicken adobo.

Adobo Made with Chicken

Chicken adobo is a signature Pinoy dish that makes use of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and various seasonings to create a rich stew. We marinate the meat in this mixture for hours to really get the most flavorful, satisfying result. And there are actually plenty of versions of adobo, which is why inadobo is used as a verb in Filipino to describe marinating something in this set of ingredients. 

Another popular rendition would be the pork adobo. Some also love their adobo with more than one kind of meat, which is why chicken and pork adobo is a dish you’ll often see at restaurants. But Filipino Chicken Adobo has its own appeal because of how white meat generally starts off without much flavor. It is then able to absorb the taste of your vinegar-y stew fully, and take on that flavor entirely. Of course, each kind of adobo has its own charms, but it’s the understated heavenly taste of chicken adobo that makes it the classic go-to!

The key for a tasty chicken adobo is the marinade. Make sure that the chicken get marinated in soy sauce and other spices until the meat absorbs the flavor. I marinated this for 3 hours. Sometimes, I even marinate chicken overnight to get the best result. Make sure to cover the bowl with cling wrap and put it inside the fridge while marinating the chicken.

The vinegar in the dish helps prevent it from getting spoiled quickly. This is the reason why adobo has been a favorite dish to cook in the Philippines, where the weather is mostly warm and humid. Leftovers can be kept covered in the fridge for a week or kept in room temperature overnight. However, I suggest to keep it in the fridge (covered) to reduce the risk of contamination.

Ingredients in Filipino Chicken Adobo

You might expect that you will be needing a lot of food to put this dish together. But guess what? There are less than ten ingredients in our list, which is part of why Filipinos love to put this together. The components you’ll need are not high in number, and they’re pretty affordable too! Take a look. 

• Chicken – You can make such a large variety of dishes with chicken. Its versatility really is one of the best things about it, and that’s how it also manages to taste great with the richness of a vinegar and garlic stew.
• Cooking oil – We don’t want to serve raw chicken, and so we will definitely be cooking this up with our cooking oil!

Seasonings and spices:

• Dried bay leaves – One of the most popular aromatics, bay leaves provide not just that irresistible smell, but also an earthiness like no other.
• Whole peppercorn – We can create a gorgeous, pepper-y taste for our stew with whole peppercorn.
• Garlic – Collaborates nicely with white vinegar to bind savor, sourness, and spice together.
• Soy sauce – Ever the dependable condiment, soy sauce is the answer to all of your umami needs!
• White vinegar – One of the factors that sets adobo apart from many other stews is the bold use of white vinegar. After all, this undeniably has a very strong flavor that could easily make a dish very unpleasant if you go overboard with it. However, we utilize just the right amount to give balance and sourness to our stew. This is also great for keeping our adobo safe for eating for longer periods!
• Chicken broth – This plays a pretty big role in making our chicken adobo even tastier and irresistible! Pouring in chicken broth instead of water gives us plenty more flavor and richness.
• Sugar – As you can see, we are working with a whole lot of salty seasonings and spices here. And so we need something to balance that out. The sugar is important in this manner, plus it just provides something unique to the stew, which would be hints of sweetness.

How to Make Filipino Chicken Adobo

Let me warn you that this stew is not the kind you would make when you’re on the go. A few hours are required to get this done, and that’s partially because marinating alone takes three hours. But that’s just part of what makes our adobo as delicious as it is! See this through to the end, and you’ll find yourself with heaps of truly delectable and filling chicken adobo.

1. Combine soy sauce, peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves in a large bowl. Stir.
2. Add the sliced chicken piece by piece. Make sure that the chicken gets coated with soy sauce. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 3 hours to marinate the chicken.
3. Heat oil in a pot.
4. Put the chicken pieces gently into the pot. Cook each side for 2 minutes.
5. Pour the remaining marinade into the pot. Add chicken broth (or water). Let boil. Cover the pot and cook in low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Pour the vinegar in the pot. Let the liquid re-boil. Continue simmering for 30 minutes.
7. Add the sugar. Continue to cook until the sauce reduces to your desired consistency.
8. Serve with warm white rice.

What to Serve with Filipino Chicken Adobo

There’s nothing quite like a cup of warm, white rice to eat your adobo with. The way you would eat this depends on you entirely, but some like to soak their rice with the adobo stew, making for a truly delightful and hearty meal. But you could get something even more exciting and loaded with meat and veggies by whipping up some Bacon and Egg Fried Rice with Peas and Carrots. This is a really great side dish for most viands because it is savory and filling but not too rich either.

And since this is a meat stew, it is always a good idea to integrate a vegetable dish into your meal. A lot of people enjoy having their adobo with a Filipino favorite when it comes to veggie recipes– Chop Suey! Bell peppers, snap peas, carrots, white onion, cauliflower, and far more components are nestled together in one dish here. We also get protein from ingredients like chicken breast and shrimp. And unlike our adobo, this would take just a little time out of your day– around 30 minutes.

Now because we’re dealing with a Pinoy classic here, pairing another one with adobo would not be a bad idea. I’m recommending that you fry up some of this delicious Filipino Lumpiang Shanghai, filled with carrot, onion, garlic, and ground pork. It has a distinctly meaty and savory taste thanks to these components, plus some sesame oil for added depth. 

How to Store Filipino Chicken Adobo

Thankfully, this is the kind of stew that gets more flavorful, and unbelievably enough, even more irresistible after a day. That’s because you’ve let the seasonings and spices sit with your meat and stew for longer. The flavors meld together more seamlessly and create a kind of flavor harmony that’s hard to resist. That’s why some even prefer to serve dishes like adobo a day after cooking it. That’s all up to you of course!

But if you’re one of the people who want to store their adobo for a longer period of time, don’t worry. As I mentioned earlier, vinegar is the kind of ingredient that can help preserve food and kill bacteria. That’s why we can expect our adobo to stay safe for consumption for a longer period. For storage, you can start by transferring the stew to an airtight container. Refrigerate this for around 1 week.

But did you know that your Filipino Chicken Adobo could last for a maximum of six months? Talk about meal prep! The way to go about this would be to place the adobo in a freezer bag, and simply freeze this. My suggestion would be that you label your bags and containers with the date you placed them in the refrigerator and the freezer. This way, you won’t get confused as to whether or not your food can still be eaten.

Adobo Recipes to Try

Cooking things the adobo way is just so delicious that, of course, I have a few more recipes doing exactly this that I’d like to introduce to you. The first would be a dish that’s sure to excite those who like heat in their food. My Spicy Chicken Adobo is garlicky, savory, and flaming hot. I use five Thai chili peppers here to make sure the chicken and the stew have just the right kick to them. 

But what about maximizing sweetness instead? If this is more up your lane, you’ll love this Sprite Chicken Adobo recipe. The seamless integration of that soda flavor makes our chicken just sweet enough while tenderizing it effortlessly. I love the juiciness of this dish too. You will definitely be coming back for more once you’ve tried this version of adobo. But going to a different kind of soda and meat, Coke Pork Adobo is yet another dish I’d like to recommend. This is also delightfully sweet, but has smokier undertones in terms of flavor because of the use of cola. The use of pork also makes this taste richer. You are really going to want to indulge in this piece of meaty heaven once you’ve had one bite! But since this is quite flavorful, you’d really want to have this with some rice on the side.

This dish is best enjoyed with warm rice. I like it when the sauce from my chicken adobo is poured over the rice – it makes the dish more appetizing. Yum!

If you are new to Filipino food, this is a dish is a must try. Another chicken dish that I recommend is chicken inasal (Filipino chicken BBQ).

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Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe

This is a recipe for Filipino Chicken Adobo

Course Chicken

Cuisine Filipino

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 2 hours hours

Servings 5 people

Calories 497kcal

Author Vanjo Merano

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. chicken sliced into small pieces
• 5 pieces dried bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole peppercorn
• 8 cloves garlic crushed
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup chicken broth or water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Instructions

• Combine soy sauce, peppercorns, garlic, and bay leaves in a large bowl. Stir.
  1 tablespoon whole peppercorn, 8 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 5 pieces dried bay leaves
• Add the sliced chicken piece by piece. Make sure that the chicken gets coated with soy sauce. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 3 hours to marinate the chicken.
  2 lbs. chicken
• Heat oil in a pot.
  3 tablespoons cooking oil
• Put the chicken pieces gently into the pot. Cook each side for 2 minutes.
  2 lbs. chicken
• Pour the remaining marinade into the pot. Add chicken broth (or water). Let boil. Cover the pot and cook in low heat for 10 minutes.
  1 cup chicken broth
• Pour the vinegar in the pot. Let the liquid re-boil. Continue simmering for 30 minutes.
  1/2 cup white vinegar
• Add the sugar. Continue to cook until the sauce reduces to your desired consistency.
  1 teaspoon sugar
• Serve with warm white rice.

Notes

1. Spice level – Rest assured this is not a spicy dish. Rather, it is mainly a savory and sour one. However, as I mentioned in the article, there is a way to incorporate some spiciness into adobo, and so you can check out my other recipe that does exactly that!
2. Sweetness level – You’ll be getting some sweetness due to the use of sugar in this dish. Don’t worry though because in my opinion, it does not at all overpower the other flavors present.
3. Chicken broth – Don’t have any chicken broth on hand? No problem! You can swap this out with water. It would not be as flavorful a stew, but it definitely still works to create a yummy adobo dish.
4. Sugar – There are also some substitutes you can use instead of sugar. Try utilizing honey or agave instead for a sugary effect!

Nutrition

Serving: 5g | Calories: 497kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 951mg | Potassium: 428mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 328IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 3mg