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Quick and easy Filipino chicken adobo recipe

Quick and easy Filipino chicken adobo recipe

Chicken adobo is the distinct and popular national dish of the Philippines.

Adobo means “marinade” in Spanish and this dish is a yummy chicken marinade of soya sauce and vinegar cooked for hours.

Cooking with vinegar was traditionally used as a means to preserve the meat.

This is our simple recipe for Filipino chicken adobo cooked with our friend Ryan in El Nido and enough for 3-4 people.

Stefan and Ryan cooking Filipino chicken adobo

Stefan and Ryan cooking Filipino chicken adobo in El Nido, Palawan island

Ingredients for Filipino chicken adobo

  • 1.2kg of chicken (we personally prefer breast meat but others the wing, leg or mix)
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 80ml of soya sauce
  • 125ml of vinegar
  • 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 3cm of finely grated ginger
  • 1 red chilli for a bit of kick (optional!)
  • 500ml of water
  • 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 50g of brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed black pepper
  • 1 large onion thinly sliced
  • Salt to flavour
Stefan enjoying Filipino chicken adobo

Stefan about to go face down in his freshly made Filipino chicken adobo

How to make Filipino chicken adobo

  1. In a deep bowl, mix the ginger, chillies, bay leaves, sugar, crushed pepper, chopped onions, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, the chicken pieces and 500ml of water. Stir it well to combine and leave it aside to rest in the refrigerator for as long as you can. 3 hours is ideal, but if pushed for time, 30 minutes. The longer, the tastier it will be.
  2. Transfer the chicken and marinade to a deep saucepan and bring to a boil, uncovered, high heat.
  3. Reduce heat to medium, half cover the pan and cook for a further 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
  4. Transfer the chicken to a separate bowl and continue to cook the sauce (medium heat, half) for a further 10 minutes or until it reduces by half and thickened slightly.
  5. Return the chicken to the juice and stir it to combine on a medium heat, uncovered. Cook for a further 5 minutes to ensure the chicken is cooked through, then remove pan from the heat.

Serve the chicken adobo with rice.

Filipino chicken adobo recipe

Try out our quick and easy chicken adobo recipe from the Philippines

Travel with us as we swam our way through Boracay and Palawan in our Philippines travel video.

 

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Sebastien

Sebastien is the co-founder, editor and author of nomadicboys.com. He is a tech geek, a total travel nerd and a food enthusiast. He spends the majority of his time planning Nomadic Boys' travels meticulously right down to the minute details. Sebastien has travelled to over 80 countries with his partner in crime and the love of his life, Stefan. He regularly shares his expertise of what it’s like travelling as a gay couple both on Nomadic Boys and on prominent publications ranging from Pink News, Matador, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian and many more. Originally from France, Sebastien moved to London in the early 2000s where he pursued a career as a computer programmer for Thompson Reuters and Bloomberg. He subsequently left it all to explore his passion for travelling around the world with Stefan to hand, and thus Nomadic Boys was born.

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