Filipino Chicken Adobo is a beloved national dish, superbly flavorful and simple to make. Chicken thighs are braised, low and slow, in a savory sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper, until they're so tender they practically fall off the bone. This chicken adobo recipe uses just a handful of ingredients most of which you probably already have, so there's no reason to delay - let's make this!

In This Recipe
I hadn't tried Filipino food until I started working on this chicken adobo recipe. Hoping to get a broader feel for the cuisine, I googled Filipino restaurants in Boston and was shocked to find that there was only one Filipino restaurant in all of Massachusetts.
That was back in early 2019, when I first published this recipe. I'm happy to say that as of this recipe update (Oct 2024), there are dozens and what a great thing that is for everyone!
The secret to making this mouthwatering chicken dish is just simple braising - slow cooking chicken in delicious adobo sauce. Chicken thighs are the perfect choice for braising. I use this technique for so many of my favorite chicken dishes, like Braised Chicken with Sallots and Smothered Chicken. There's nothing like thighs for braising. they become incredibly tender and absorb the rich, savory flavors of the sauce.
What is Adobo?
'Adobo' can refer to many different things in the culinary world including a Caribbean spice blend and a smokey Mexican chili sauce. However, in Filipino cuisine, Adobo refers to a cooking method that entails simmering meat, poultry, or vegetables in a tangy, savory sauce of vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and black peppercorns.
Centuries ago, before the advent of refrigeration, the adobo cooking method was used as a way to preserve meat in the hot climate of the Philippines. Since harmful bacteria cannot survive in an acid environment, vinegar was used as a natural preservative for foods.
Today, despite the invention of modern refrigeration, Filipino adobo remains a cherished dish, a testament to its deliciousness!

Ingredients
You need just a handful of ingredients to make Chicken adobo and, as I mentioned, many of them are common kitchen staples. Here's the list:
- Chicken thighs: bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs provide the best flavor and juiciness.
- Vinegar: the tangy base for the adobo sauce. White vinegar is traditional and I love the flavor it provides but some Filipino cooks prefer apple cider vinegar.
- Garlic: chicken adobo has plenty of garlic and it's well-balanced by the other strong flavors in this dish - vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce.
- Onion: adds sweetness, depth of flavor and texture to the adobo sauce.
- Soy sauce: the salty and umami component
- Fish sauce: a unique ingredient that adds a rich, savory flavor (not a fishy taste).
- Spices: black pepper and bay leaves are classic additions. For extra heat, consider adding a pinch or two of red pepper flakes.

A walk-through of this recipe, with photos
1. Marinate
Mix the white vinegar with some chopped garlic, pour it over the chicken, and let it marinate for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade, transfer it to a plate and pat dry with paper towels. Be sure to dry the chicken thighs well, especially the skin side. The dry surface allows for better contact with the hot pan, resulting in a rich, brown caramelization that will flavor the whole dish.

2. Brown
Sear the chicken thighs over high heat, 4 pieces at a time, starting with the skin side down. Then flip the chicken thighs and sear them for just a minute on the other side. The goal here is to get a nice golden brown color on the skin and create a delicious layer of flavor. Even the tasty browned bits that get stuck on the bottom of the pan will add flavor the sauce.

3. Sauté the aromatics
Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions and garlic to the pot. Cook them, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until tender. These aromatic vegetables add lots of flavor.

4. Braise
Add the chicken back to the pot along with the rest of the ingredients: the reserved marinade, the soy sauce, fish sauce, black pepper, bay leaves and water. Cover the pot and cook the chicken thighs at a gentle simmer for an hour.

Done!
Very tender chicken in rich, flavorful adobo sauce. Serve the chicken hot, with rice and lots of sauce spooned on top.

Time saving tip
Peeling a whole head of garlic for this recipe can be time-consuming. Here's a quick trick: smash the garlic - place a garlic clove on a cutting board and place the flat side of a large heavy knife on top it. With the heel of your hand, press down hard or CAREFULLY pound on the knife once or twice, to partially crush the garlic clove. This will loosen the papery skin so you can easily peel it off.


I also want to mention the tempting aromas that will fill your house while the adobo cooks. Even my 16-year-old was lured downstairs to ask 'smells good in here - what's cooking?' And he loved it! This is a great dish for the whole family.

What to serve with chicken adobo
Rice is the traditional side dish for chicken adobo and it really is a must for soaking up all the delicious adobo sauce!
I personally love this dish with steamed green beans, tossed little olive oil and sea salt.
Here's a list of other Filipino side dishes you can serve with chicken adobo (based on this Filipino Side Dishes Reddit Thread):
- A bowl of chopped tomatoes with green onions (sometimes a little minced garlic), with salt and pepper
- Diced Indian mangoes with chopped tomatoes and onions and patis (fish sauce) or salt.
- Sitaw (green long beans) steamed or stir fried
- Broccoli or boiled okra
- Lumpia (egg rolls)
- Sliced banana or mango
- Chopped cilantro or chopped scallions or both
I hope you'll try this Filipino Chicken Adobo recipe. And if you do, please come back to leave a star rating and comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe

Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 mins
- Yield: 4-6 Servings 1x
Description
Chicken adobo is the national dish of the Philippines. It's easy to cook, uses a handful of common ingredients, and tastes amazing! Fall-apart tender chicken thighs in a tangy flavorful vinegar sauce. Serve Filipino chicken adobo with white rice to soak up all the tangy delicious sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on (7-8 thighs)
- 1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 head of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (6 tablespoons), divided
- 2 tablespoons light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced (1 ½ cups)
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce or Filipino fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 dried bay leaves
- Chopped cilantro or chopped scallions, optional garnish
Instructions
Marinate:
- Put chicken into a large bowl. In a small bowl combine vinegar with 1 tablespoon of the chopped garlic, pour over chicken and toss, to coat. Marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge or in a cool place. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess liquid to drip back into the bowl, and transfer chicken to a clean plate. Reserve the marinade.
Cook:
- Pat chicken dry with paper towels (this helps it brown).
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven or heavy pot with a lid. Brown chicken in batches (4-5 pieces at a time), starting skin side down for 3-4 minutes. Then turn and brown for a minute or so on the other side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons fat from the pot.
- Turn heat down to medium-low, add onions and remaining garlic to the pot and sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until the onions are softened.
- Return chicken to the pot along with any accumulated juices. Pour in reserved vinegar-garlic marinade, soy sauce, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 bay leaves and ¼ cup of water. Stir to combine, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook at a low steady simmer for 1 hour or until the chicken is very tender and the sauce is a rich brown color.
- Serve chicken adobo with rice and top with chopped scallions or cilantro, if desired. (See recipe post for more side dish ideas)
Notes
- Nutrition Disclaimer: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition values using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- If you are sensitive to salt or on a reduced-sodium diet, you can make this with low-sodium soy sauce.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Dish, Dinner
- Method: Braise
- Cuisine: Filipino
[This Chicken Adobo Recipe first appeared on Panning The Globe in March 2014. It has been updated with new photos, a photo walk-through of the recipe, serving suggestions that include authentic Filipino side dishes, and clearer instructions in the recipe card. ]
marinette
So easy and so delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Ronny K
Mine is in the oven, and the house smells great. I had to substitute Vietnamese fish sauce(Nuoc Mam Nhi) but at least it's the good stuff. Thanks for another great suggestion!
Tyler
Just made this recipe and loved it. I live in San Francisco and have eaten a lot of adobo. I work with Filipinos and get their homemade adobo as well. Of all the recipes I've tried so far for adobo, this one Is definitely my favorite. I have used recipes where the ratio of soy sauce to vinegar was 1:1 and it is way too salty. I liked this recipes emphasis n vinegar. But make no mistake, the fat from the thighs really enhanced the flavor of the soy sauce ( you didn't need a lot). I really liked frying the thighs first, made the skin not be a funky mess after it stewed in the vinegar. Like another reviewer I left my pepper whole. I may add a little more soy sauce next time, but not much. Served it with garlic fried rice'! This will be my go to recipe for adobo. Thank you!
Emily
I loved the flavor of this recipe. However, I could not get the sauce to reduce or stick to the chicken. What should I do?
Valarie Madueno
I was trying to look for a recipe that's similar to my mother in-laws so I could give it to a friend, and I'm too lazy to cook it for her or write it down... so i searched some haha. The thing with food in general is that nobody makes it quite as good as mom does, and adobo definitely being one of those dishes! I could copy her movements exactly but I will never make it like she does, even in the PI, nobody there either! So I was happy to see how close this was to hers. There's not a lot of variation but there sure is in the measurements- she doesn't use onions though. This saves me from having to write down the list and instructions haha thanks! Note- the PI brand soy sauce (I don't remember the name but if you're Filipino or from the PI like my husband and his family you'll know what it is, as one of them) is the absolute best one to use!
Gemma Seymour
As a US-born Fil-Am, I've been making Adobong Manok all my life, or at least as far back as my parents would let me at the stove—in fact, I'm eating some right now—and I have to say, like many other beloved dishes, there are as many versions as there are cooks, and in the Philippines, which has 7,000+ islands and a population of almost 100 million people, the variations are practically endless.
In my family, we would never use a 1:3 ratio of soy sauce to vinegar, nor would we ever use white vinegar, unless we happened for some odd reason to run out of a more flavorful type. I prefer Datu Puti Premium Cane Vinegar or Coco Vinegar from the Philippines. but even apple cider vinegar would be better than white vinegar, and I would use a 1:1 ratio of Kikkoman koikuchi (regular) shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) to vinegar. For 4 lbs of chicken parts, 1 cup each is a good start. The fish sauce—patis, in Filipino—is something that I occasionally use, but mostly do not.
But sometimes, I will make my adobo with patis and vinegar—no soy sauce—and other times I will make Adobong Puti (white adobo), and use simply sea salt and vinegar. I don't use onion in chicken adobo, but I do like the hint of extra sweetness in pork adobo, which also can benefit from a little siling (hot chile). Other times, I will throw in a can of coconut milk and make Adobong Manok sa Gata.
Don't be afraid to use too much garlic! The more garlic, the better. It will mellow as it cooks, just like the famous French dish, Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, and any extra garlic in the pot after the chicken is gone will be perfect for making adobo fried rice the next morning for breakfast.
There's really no need for the extra oil in my house, since I never bother browning the chicken before braising. Sometimes, I will briefly broil it after braising. The pepper is traditionally put in whole, but I like it cracked, rather than ground, because I dislike biting into whole peppercorns. Also, feel free to toss in more bay leaves. Even for a small pot of adobo, I often use 4 leaves.
Adobo in my family is always served soupy—Manila-style—without reducing the sauce so there's plenty to pour over your rice, but if you like your sauce reduced, definitely consider using less soy sauce, or it will be too salty. I like to serve my adobo with grilled pineapple, grilled banana, or fresh mango. Philippine Adobo never fails to please, and it is usually a Westerner's first introduction to Filipino cuisine, since it is effectively the national dish. Every person for whom I have ever made has fallen in love with it at first bite.
Thank you for helping bring the food of my ancestors to a wider audience. With so many Filipinos in the US, you would think Filipino restaurants would be in every town. I live in a rural town of 12000 people, now, and we have at least three Thai restaurants, but even our largest cities in the US often do not boast a single Filipino restaurant.
Lisa
Gemma, Wow - such great information and insight here about chicken adobo! I love the idea of adobo fried rice for breakfast! The grilled fruits sound like the perfect accompaniment to the tangy, garlicky chicken - I'm definitely going to grill up some pineapple and mango next time I make this. Thank you so much for all of this! Please let me know if you have any other favorite Filipino dishes. ~ Lisa
Awita
I've never had adobo before, and my roommate was raving about how great it is. So i decided to give your recipe a shot. I halved the recipe using only 2 pounds of chicken and followed the cooking time exactly. I'm not sure why but the chicken meat ended up tough. Should I have cooked the chicken longer?
Other than that the sauce is just divine! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Lisa
I'm sorry your chicken turned out tough - that's unusual for thighs. My only thought is that you might have had the heat turned up too high? That would make it tough. Simmering it gently should make it nice and tender.
Chris
It will get tough if you stir the chicken too quickly without allowing the vinegar to boil first.
Christy
How I miss my Grandma. She cooks Filipino Food and Adobo is my favorite! We live in Boston and JnJ Turo-Turo is the nearest Filipino Restaurant and sometimes I went there to eat Adobo. But now that I discover this recipe I can make my own Adobo and eat anytime I want. Thanks!
Ruben
Thanks for your take on a classic Filipino dish! Your version is mmm mmm Yummy. I find that using white vinegar is too assertive for me. For pork adobo, apple cider vinegar is my acid of choice (with a bit of the white for some bite). For chicken adobo, I like to use a more mellow acid like white wine vinegar or cane vinegar. I've had friends use all lemon or all lime juice and those, too, were tasty twists to the dish.
pedro a carlo
I was in the USNAVY for 26 yrs and we try to have it almost everyday at sea
Di
I have my own very different twist. I use about 3 inches of fresh ginger grated, 5 cloves of garlic grated, rice vinegar. I cook it all together in chicken broth until it falls off the bones. take the skins bones and grissle out and mash it up to like pulled chicken then cook the sauce down but leave lots of sauce. it is still sticky sauce but oh so good. and very ready to just dive in. no cutting or anything once in the bowl over rice. so much easier to eat this way. I learned from someone in the Navy as well. but he slow cooked his for about 10 hours. and yes I did 15 in the Navy
Marnie
Thanks for sharing this recipe. There are many variations to making filipino-style adobo, and I found that yours comes closest to the version my mom made for me!
Lisa Goldfinger
Thanks Marnie!
Shane
Great recipe.
I make this pretty often, a few of the additions, I have made are an onion or two chopped up (great in the reduced sauce).
1 Star Anise is also a great way to mix it up and traditional to lots of the Philippines. I haven't reduced my sauce in the past but am going to now.
Great site - I'm going to try the peanut stew once it cools off.
Lisa Goldfinger
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try the star anise next time.
carlos
I have heard wonderful things about "ADOBO" but how is it prepared ? would any one share the recipe ?
thanks
Marlene
I love adobo. Glad I met you at #fwcon and reading more of your International cuisine
Lisa Goldfinger
Great meeting you Marlene! I'm looking forward to exploring the healthy and delicious recipes on noshmyway.com
marina
wow, so simple! Will add this to my list of recipes to do! I thought this dish is a lot more complicated! Love your website by the way:-)
Lisa Goldfinger
Thanks Marina!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea
I was once invited to a love dinner at someone's home featuring food from the
Philippines. This chicken dish was one of the main dishes. Awesome! How wonderful to have a recipe right under my nose. The sauce is to die for.
Loreta Erickson
I agree!!
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living
I adore chicken adobo - my mom used to make this growing up and it's still a family favorite.