Chicken adobo is a type of Filipino chicken stew. Chicken pieces are marinated in soy sauce and spices, pan-fried, and stewed until tender. The best way to eat chicken adobo is to have it with warm white rice. You can make this dish with a slow cooker or crockpot chicken adobo, but cooking it on the stovetop with a skillet is quick and easy. It’s an authentic adobo recipe and yields delicious and amazing results.

The seasonings consist of soy sauce and Filipino white cane sugar vinegar. You can also use distilled white vinegar. Chicken adobo makes a perfect dish for weeknight dinner as the cooking process is so easy. Pouring some of the adobo sauce over rice before eating is a good idea because it makes it more flavorful. This recipe suggests marinating the chicken to make it more flavorful. It is the best way to go if you want to experience authentic Filipino chicken adobo.

If you are in a hurry, feel free to skip this step, but make sure to simmer the chicken longer than 30 minutes to better extract the flavors from it. Rinse the chicken pieces and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil. Brown the chicken on all sides until crisp. Add in the coconut milk, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, pepper/peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, and chili. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pan and allow it to simmer for 1 hour (add a bit of hot water if you need more liquid). In the last 10 minutes of cooking, crank up the heat to medium-high to thicken the sauce slightly. Serve your chicken adobo over rice, and garnish with cilantro.

Ingredients;

  • 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
  • 5 chicken drumsticks
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 14 oz. can coconut milk (400 ml)
  • 1/2 to 2/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4-1/3 cup distilled white or cane vinegar (60-80 ml)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (or 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic (smashed)
  • 1 dried red chili (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped, optional)

Instructions;

  1. Rinse the chicken pieces and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil. Brown the chicken on all sides until crisp.
  3. Add in the coconut milk, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, pepper/peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic, and chili. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low.
  4. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer for 1 hour (add a bit of hot water if you need more liquid).
  5. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, crank up the heat to medium-high to thicken the sauce slightly. Serve over rice