Adobo is a staple Filipino dish. When I was a kid, we had it at least once a week for either lunch or dinner. Every family has their own take on adobo, but the basics are the same — some type of meat (typically chicken, pork or a combination of both) marinated and then cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. It’s a savory main dish packed with flavor, and almost everyone I know loves it.
This is how we do adobo at Casa MBB!
A few quick tips:
- I typically use apple cider vinegar, but you can swap it out for balsamic. The traditional way is to make it with white cane vinegar, which is also great too!
- Low and slow is the way to go; that’s the key to tender chicken adobo. If your sauce is reducing too quickly, add a little water.
- No peppercorns on hand? Substitute with ground black or white pepper.
- Just in case you’re unfamiliar with bay leaves — don’t eat them! They’re there for adding flavor to the dish.
Oh, and this dish is enough for my family of three, but if you have more people to feed, then double the ingredients. I typically serve it with white rice and a veggie on the side.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 medium onion cut in thin half-moon slivers
- 1 tsp black peppercorn (you can reduce this to 1/2 tsp if you want)
Directions
- In a glass bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar and half the garlic to make a marinade. Add the chicken, then cover with plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours.
- In either a dutch oven or a large pan with high sides, heat the olive oil to medium high. Add the onions and cook until they’re fragrant and translucent (about five minutes, give or take). Then, add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, which for me is about minute. Side note: don’t burn the garlic, otherwise it will be bitter.
- Push the onions and garlic to one the side of the pan, then place the chicken in the pan to lightly brown it.
- Pour the marinade into the pot. Add the rest of the garlic, the bay leaves, peppercorns and brown sugar. Stir everything together gently.
- Bring to a low simmer, then cover the pot and continue to cook on low heat for about 25 minutes. If your sauce is reducing too quickly, then add water.
- Remove cover, and then shred the chicken with two forks. Continue to simmer on low for about 15 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Serve with rice and your favorite veggies.
If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. TGIF!
Thanks for sharing!! I’m going to try to this next week. Looks yummy!
You’re welcome, Tara! I hope you like the dish.
Thank you for the recipe. I will definitely try it! Looks quick and easy and I could even put the chicken in tacos. yum
Hi Allision,
I’m thinking if you use them in tacos, you’ll have to reduce the sauce down quite a lot so your tacos don’t get soggy. Let me know how it turns out!
So interesting, as I was copying over the recipe, I noticed there’s no adobo in chicken adobo. I was thinking Mexican, but I guess a Filipino Chicken Adobo means something different?
I think it refers to the specific mix of ingredients in the marinade; that type of combo is the “adobo” part of the adobo!
Yummy! You’re so right about everyone having their own version of adobo! Took me years to replicate my mom’s version. LOL. Making pork adobo tonight!
YUM! I would love to hear how you make your adobo!
My mom loves the pork/chicken combo but her recipe (in the loosest definition of the word – she doesn’t measure anything) is the same for either meat. Here’s the pork version:
2 lbs pork shoulder, cubed (gotta have that fat)
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp black peppercorns
1-2 bay leaf
1/2 cup water
I throw everything but the water into a pot, stir it up and bring to a boil. I let it boil, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes until that sharp vinegar smell goes away. Then I add the water, bring it to simmer, cover it. Let simmer for 30 minutes, longer if there are bones. You just need to watch when its boiling to make sure the liquid doesn’t boil off. Salt to taste.
Hi, Sounds good. My husband only likes white meat. Have you ever tried this with chicken breast instead of thighs?
I typically make it with chicken thighs, but it should work with chicken breast too!
Thanks!
That sounds (and looks) delicious!