Chicken legs stewed in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar and garlic. This Filipino Chicken Adobo is easy, savory and oh, so delicious!
Filipino Chicken Adobo
If you haven’t figured it out by now, a lot of my recipes are handed down to me by my mom and this one is no exception. We ate this Filipino Chicken Adobo frequently when I was growing up because 1. it’s delicious and 2. it’s a very easy dish to make. There are minimal ingredients, the chicken is braised (so easy!) and you can have dinner on the table in less than 45 minutes.
It’s really a great option for a home-cooked meal on a weeknight! It’s one of those meals that seems like it takes a lot of work to prepare but is really simple. Who doesn’t love a meal like that?!
Chicken adobo is a classic dish in the Philippines, different from Mexican adobo. The basic gist of the Filipino dish is meat stewed in vinegar and soy sauce with crushed garlic and peppercorns. It’s made differently in different regions of the Philippines but the vinegar and soy base is the same.
I really like to finish my chicken adobo off on the grill because grilled food is just so good and I like the little bit of texture and char that the grill provides. You can stick then under a broiler for a few minutes too or just skip that all together and serve the chicken straight from the pot.
We’ve always had jasmine rice with our chicken adobo and I also like to serve it with some stir-fried snow peas. They literally cook in about 2-3 minutes so it’s a side dish that’s just as easy to prepare as the chicken. But you can serve whatever sides you want with it if you’re not into rice or snow peas. Enjoy!
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Filipino Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb chicken pieces drumsticks and thighs
- 1/2 C soy sauce see notes for gluten-free suggestion
- 3/4 C white vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
Instructions
- Place chicken, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn the chicken periodically in the cooking liquid.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and grill or broil for about 5 minutes.
- While the chicken is finishing cooking, continue boiling the sauce until it reduces by almost half. Place the cooked chicken on a platter, strain the sauce and pour over the chicken.
- Serve with jasmine rice and stir-fried vegetables.
Notes
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
This is not the right picture of chicken adobo at all, not even close! Adobo is with sauce, this is GRILLED CHICKEN or BBQ
We actually do serve it with the sauce the chicken is cooked in. I just forgot to pour it over the chicken before taking pictures since I was still a newbie blogger when I published this post 😉
These look delicious! Pinning! Thanks so much for linking these up to Saturday Night Fever! Hope you have a Happy Halloween. XO
I love adobo and yours look delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Isn’t it wonderful how such simple ingredients can make something so tasty?
Those are gorgeous chicken pieces. Pinned. So wonderful that you have great recipes from your mom. Thanks for sharing this with us on Weekend Bites.
Thanks Diane! My mom has always been my best recipe source, I’m very lucky 🙂
Drool worthy!!!
Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST The Midnight Baker ! I hope to see you there!
Judy@ http://www.bakeatmidnite.com
Thanks Judy
I love using chicken legs in this recipe! Thank you so much for linking up at Tasty Tuesday! Your recipe has been pinned to the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board! Please join us again this week!
It’s always great findind different ways to use chicken legs, they’re so much cheaper than chicken breast!
Your Filipion Chicken Abodo looks delicious and what a lovely presentation. Hope you are having a great fall day and thanks so much for sharing this awesome post with Full Plate Thursday.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Thank you!
It’s a really a delicious dish. Although this one’s dry.
You can skip grilling or broiling to retain more of the moisture. Only a few minutes grilled gives it a great grilled flavor without drying it out (unless you cook it too long).
Adobo is always unique! My FIL also loves grill and crisp up pork and chicken skin. We used to make this dish at least once a week. We’ve had to stop because of the soy and are still looking/creating a soy-free sauce. Love this! Pinned.
I hope you’re able to find a substitute – soy sauce has such a unique flavor!
These look so good! Our neighbor is the king of grilling chicken wings. He’s always looking for new marinades and recipes to try out. I’m definitely going to share this one with him!
I used chicken drumsticks but I’m sure it would be excellent with wings. I’d cook them a little less in the liquid though.
So often few ingredients simply prepared yield the best results. These wings look great!!
That’s very true Thao!
Your recipes always make me want to run out and buy whatever I need to make what you’re posting! This recipe sounds delicious and I love the fact that they are grilled. Most of my recipes are from my mom, as well. Years of trial and error always makes for the best recipes! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe today!
It’s true, recipes passed down are almost always the best!
Yum! This sounds delicious! I love the flavors in the marinade!
Thanks Annie!
This really does look fantastic! Love an easy and delicious chicken recipe 🙂
Thanks Annmarie! I love how versatile chicken is 🙂
I love this easy, yet flavorful, recipe! I can always count on you for fast, weeknight meals that are still healthy! Pinned!
Easy, tasty recipes are the best 🙂