Chicken Adobo Recipe

This chicken adobo is all about that lovely sticky glaze, it’s peppery, tangy & glossy. The kind you want to drizzle over the rice and let it all soak in.

Overhead image of chicken adobo in a dark glaze with bay leaves, topped with sliced spring onions, served in a black frying pan with a wooden spoon.

Nicky’s Notes

A woman with long brown hair and a black top smiles at the camera, sitting indoors with a brick wall and some greenery in the background.

I’m always surprised at how a few simple ingredients can make this dish taste so amazing.
Filipino in origin, Chicken Adobo is complex in flavour, but really easy to make. You just need a little bit of patience for the sauce to simmer down to the perfect consistency.

The tangy-ness comes from rice vinegar. I use about 4 tablespoons for this recipe – which might sound like a lot, but is actually less than many recipes.
It’s easy to adjust to you own preference though (check out the tip section for more info).

What makes this Adobo Chicken so good:

You can make it a little bit saucy, or with less sauce and more of a glaze – just by simmering for a few minutes longer.
Apart from the chicken, this recipe uses store-cupboard ingredients, and nothing too unusual, so if you don’t have it in, you should easily find it in your supermarket.
It tastes great hot or cold (I love it as part of a salad or in a wrap for lunch the next day).

Ingredients for Chicken Adobo

***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***

Soy sauce

I use reduced sodium soy sauce in this recipe as the soy sauce is reduced down in the sauce – which makes it saltier. Regular soy sauce can make it too salty for some palates (you can always add more salt at the end if you like).

Abbreviated Recipe

***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***

Marinade the chicken in garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and bay leaves. When ready, fry the drained chicken thighs in a little oil for 2 mins each side. Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and peppercorns and simmer for 25-30 mins until the sauce is sticky.

Recipe Tips

Adjust the sauce amount: Simmering for around 25 mins results in tender chicken with some sauce in the pan for drizzling. 30 minutes gives you almost no sauce, but the chicken is darker with more of a glossy glaze. Go with your own preference.
Adjust the tang: The sauce should be tangy. You can check this near the end of the simmering time. Taste the sauce about 5 minutes before the end of simmering. If you want more tang, add 1-2 tablespoon of rice vinegar. Don’t stir, just let it simmer for another 3 minutes (this mellows the vinegar, so it’s not a harsh vinegar taste), then taste again. Repeat for more tang if needed. If it’s too tangy, add a teaspoon of sugar to counteract the tangy-ness.

A bowl with white rice, Chicken Adobo, Asian cucumber salad, sliced cherry tomatoes, onions, and spring onions. Two further dishes with sliced spring onions and a tomato and onion salad are at the top of the image.

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What to serve with chicken adobo

Make ahead and Leftovers Guide

This chicken adobo tastes best when eaten right away, but you can make ahead if preferred. Make the adobo but simmer for 20 minutes instead of 30. Then cool, transfer to an air tight container and refrigerate or freeze (if freezing, defrost over night in the fridge before reheating).
Reheat in a pan over a low-medium heat, adding a splash of water to loosen the sauce. Cook for 10-12 mins, turning once, until piping hot throughout.
Leftovers can be reheated the same way as above (you may need a little more water). The chicken is also great cold, chopped up and served on a salad or in a wrap.

Watch how to make it

Place the chicken in a bowl with the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and bay leaves. Mix together to evenly coat. Cover and leave to marinade for 1 hour (up to overnight). If marinating for longer than an hour, place in the fridge.

1 KG (2.2lbs) skinless chicken thigh fillets, sliced in half (this is approx 6 fillets), 6 garlic cloves, 90 ml (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) reduced sodium soy sauce, 4 tbsp rice vinegar or white vinegar, 4 bay leaves
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Use a set of tongs to remove the chicken from the marinade (keep the marinade) and place the chicken in the pan with the oil. Don’t worry if it’s snug in the pan, just don’t overlap the chicken.

2 tbsp oil
Fry for 2 minutes each side.
Add the reserved marinade, water, sugar and pepper and stir.

240 ml (1 cup) water, 1 tbsp light brown sugar, 2 tsp peppercorns
Simmer for 25-30 minutes, turning the chicken over halfway through cooking. Thirty minutes of simmering will give you tender chicken with a glaze that coats the chicken, with just a little bit of sauce left in the pan. Note: If you want more sauce, you can simmer for slightly less time (around 25 minutes) and add an extra splash of water to the pan in the last couple of minutes(don’t pour over the chicken or it will wash off the glaze).
Taste the sauce and add in a little more vinegar if you want it a little more tangy.
Turn off the heat and serve over rice, sprinkled with shredded spring onions.

boiled or fried rice, 5 spring onions, marinated cucumber, tomato and onion salad

Adjust the tang

The sauce should be tangy. You can check this near the end of the simmering time. Taste the sauce about 5 minutes before the end of simmering. If you want more tang, add 1-2 tablespoon of rice vinegar. Don’t stir, just let it simmer for another 3 minutes (this mellows the vinegar, so it’s not a harsh vinegar taste), then taste again. Repeat for more tang if needed. If it’s too tangy, add a teaspoon of sugar to counteract the tangy-ness.

Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (this recipe serves 4) and does not include the serving suggestions (rice and toppings).

Recipe source:
Adapted from Nagi’s Filipino chicken adobo recipe from RecipeTinEats.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More chicken thigh recipes

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