Filipino Chicken Thigh Adobo, a delicious recipe made with chicken thighs cooked in a delicious adobo sauce. It is a super easy dish to make from scratch with just a few ingredients. Serve it with rice, salad or any other side of your choice, and enjoy the best homemade dinner tonight.
What is adobo?
Adobo is a popular dish and cooking process in the Filipino cuisine that involves meat, vegetables or seafood cooked in a sauce made from vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. The recipe is considered by many people the sample food of Philippines.
Once cooked, the sauce is sticky and rich, bursting with amazing flavours, which give the thighs a fabulous Asian touch.
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Note!
Go to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact quantities and detailed instructions!
Ingredients overview - the adobo sauce
- vinegar - I used cider vinegar, as it was the only one I had around, but you can use any kind of vinegar
- soy sauce - I chose regular soy sauce, but you can also use a combo of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce
- dark brown sugar - balances out the acidity of the vinegar and makes the sauce richer
- water - to lighten up the sauce
Ingredients overview - the chicken
- chicken thighs - I used both boneless and bone-in thighs and they both worked just as well. I am not keen on the skin-on thighs, so I removed the skin
- onion and garlic - add tons of flavour to the adobo sauce
- bay leaves - adds a delicate aroma
- salt & pepper - to taste
- peppercorns - I used whole peppercorns in addition to the ground peppercorn for extra heat
- oil - for frying
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- in a bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, dark brown sugar and water and mix well, then set it aside
- heat up the oil in a pan, add the chicken thighs, season them with salt and pepper and fry gently until brown. The chicken won't be cooked through at this stage.
- remove the chicken from the pan, and add the peeled and chopped garlic and onion
- fry them until golden
- add the chicken sauce, peppercorns and bay leaves, cover the pan with a lid, and leave to cook until the chicken is tender and the liquid is reduced into a thick sauce.
Is the adobo sauce too strong?
I must admit that I was a bit reluctant at first, was unsure whether I would like the adobo sauce. And that is because it uses quite a bit of vinegar.
I thought the flavour would be too strong and the sauce too sharp. But, surprisingly, it is the very best sauce I have ever tasted. You really cannot tell that is has that amount of vinegar.
Yes, it is slightly sharp, but it has the right amount of vinegar. The base of the adobo sauce are vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Nothing simpler. Not tastier.
Expert tips
You can leave the chicken thighs in the adobo sauce to marinate if you don't need to cook it straight away. That gives extra flavour and makes the chicken incredibly tender and moist.
The chicken can be marinated for as little as half an hour to overnight if you wish, but make sure the marinade goes in the fridge. You can then fry the onion and garlic, then add the chicken thighs and marinade and cook.
Other chicken thigh recipes
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Filipino Chicken Thigh Adobo
Ingredients
- 5 skinless chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless)
- ½ cup soy sauce (125 ml)
- ⅓ cup cider vinegar (85 ml)
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup water (85 ml)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 10 peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
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Instructions
- To make the adobo sauce, add the soy sauce, cider vinegar, dark brown sugar and water to a bowl and mix well.
- In a large pan, heat up the oil over a medium heat, add the chicken thighs, season them with half of the salt and ground black pepper, and brown on both sides.
- Remove them from the pan and set side.
- To the same pan add the peeled and chopped onion and garlic, season with the remaining salt and pepper, and fry until golden.
- Return the chicken to the pan, add the sauce, peppercorns and bay leaves, place a lid on the pan, and leave it to cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced and thickened.
- Serve the chicken with rice or the side dish of your choice, pouring over the remaining sauce.
Video
Notes
- You can leave the chicken thighs in the adobo sauce to marinate if you don't need to cook it straight away. That gives extra flavour and makes the chicken incredibly tender and moist.
- The chicken can be marinated for as little as half an hour to overnight if you wish, but make sure the marinade does in the fridge.
- You can then fry the onion and garlic, then add the chicken thighs and marinade and cook.
Nutrition
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Robin Gramola says
So many comments, but not many of them prepared the dish first. I'll get back to ya, thanks for the recipe.
Erin Nolan says
I just tried your recipe today and my family loved it! I let the chicken marinade for 3 hours. and it was very flavorful! My chicken thighs were a bit fatty and they ended up boiling in the fat. So after the fat melted off, I used another pan to brown the chicken, and placed it back in the original frying pan. Also, I added a little cornstarch/water mixture to make the sauce thicker. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I most definitely will be having it again!
Daniela Apostol says
I am glad you enjoyed it!
Julie says
Curious has anyone tried this in a slow cooker?
Daniela Anderson says
I was thinking about it today actually. I have quite a few chicken thighs and the chicken adobo is one of my favourite dishes. I want to try it in the slow cooker too, l’ll follow the exact same steps to marinade and brown the chicken, the transfer everything to the slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours, l think that should do. I’ll let you know how it turns out, l might need to add cornflour to thicken it.
B. neel says
I would hesitate to us a Marinade that raw chicken has sat in for an hour. Too many times I have read from professional chefs to throw away. I don’t even boil. Why not divide the Marinade? Use only part for Marinade and the rest to cook chicken?
foodlovers says
Easy Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe have their own set of flavor …me this Easy Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe looking nice recipe I will try this thanks for sharing
jay avila says
Going to try this now. Sounds delish. Will let you know.
Thanks for the recipe
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the dish!
Marisa Franca - All Our Way says
This is the second time I have to write this because it is saying I'm spam -- I"m not. I did say that your chicken adobo sounds and looks great. We make our own adobo sauce so we are ready to make it this week.
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you!
Christine - Jar Of Lemons says
This recipe looks so delicious! Perfect for dinner! Saving and hope to try it out soon.
Daniela Anderson says
THank you!
ManilaSpoon says
I am Filipina and certainly proud that this is our national dish!! Chicken adobo is amazing indeed - so tasty yet so easy! I have so many versions of it, too. Have to try this with parsley as you suggested. Looks so yummy!
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you, glad to see that you approve of it!
Swathi says
That chicken looks delicious, I haven' t tried adobo sauce, may be I can give it try. They sound have both tangy and salty balance from soy sauce and vinegar.
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you!
Noel Lizotte says
This chicken looks amazing! I've got some thighs thawing in the fridge. I just might mix up this marinade to use on them. I love how simple the marinade is!
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you! I am sure you will love it!
Molly Kumar says
This looks so delicious and we totally love saucy recipes for special weekend meals. It's going in my weekend recipes to try and I'm sure my family would totally love it 🙂
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you, Molly!
Stephanie says
I love cider vinegar so I'm pretty sure I would like that adobo sauce. Sounds really good and like it would be great with lots of things.
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you!
Veena Azmanov says
I love Abodo chicken rice. I've eaten it a few time while in Singapore. That sauce looks so delicious. I didn't know it was so easy. Can't wait to try this.
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you, Veena! I'm sure you'll love it!
Gloria Duggan says
Chicken thighs are underrated. They are so juicy and full of flavour. This dish sounds very tasty. Love the sauce...and the heat!!
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you, Gloria!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
Being Filipino, I grew up enjoying many variations of adobo from different family members. It's always delicious! Yum - now I am craving it!
Daniela Anderson says
Thank you! I really love it!