This easy Filipino Chicken Adobo recipe is flavored with an array of bold ingredients like jalapeños, honey, brown sugar, lemon juice, and do much more! This is an authentic recipe that really delivers with flavor, but is also wonderfully easy to make in just over half an hour.
Filipino Chicken Adobo Recipe
Filipino chicken adobo is saucy, tender, and is sure to make your mouth water. Really, it’s hard to say what exactly makes this classic chicken dinner so irresistible.
Is it the drumsticks and thighs that have browned skin and tender meat? Or is it the sauce so rich with complex flavors that you’ll be licking your plate to savor every last drop?
I think everyone can agree that it’s a combination of both of those delicious elements that have caused chicken adobo to be a staple in so many kitchens and restaurants around the world!
This recipe takes the classic dish and simplifies it down to easy to follow steps while still staying true to the authenticity of the Filipino classic.
I love eating meat right off the bone, which is just another reason I love chicken adobo! If you feel the same way, then you simply must make Instant Pot Chicken Drumsticks, Garlic and Herb Baked Chicken Wings, and Blood Orange Chicken Thighs.
Why You’ll Love this Easy Chicken Adobo Recipe:
- Complex flavors: The tanginess of apple cider vinegar, the heat of jalapeños, and the sweetness of honey are just a few of the bold ingredients that make this dish so complex.
- Easy: This is a simple one pot recipe that takes just a little over thirty minutes from start to finish.
- Authentic: This Filipino dish is as authentic and traditional as it gets! The inspiration for this chicken dinner is drawn from the many delicious servings of chicken adobo I’ve had at Filipino restaurants over the years.
How to make Chicken Adobo at home
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Heat butter in oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Brown the thighs and drumsticks in the hot butter, then set them aside.
- Add apple cider vinegar, fish sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, honey, garlic, and half the jalapeños to the skillet. This will create the sauce.
- Bring the sauce to a boil.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet.
- Lower the heat and cover the skillet. Simmer the chicken for thirty minutes.
- Mix cornstarch with water to create a slurry.
- Stir the slurry into the sauce.
- Serve the chicken with the remaining jalapeños, and enjoy!
How can I make chicken adobo spicier?
I find that the jalapeños add a great amount of heat to this dish, but there are other ways to bring up the heat if that’s what you’d like to do!
You can replace the jalapeños with serrano peppers, add red pepper flakes, or even a dash of cayenne to the sauce to heat things up.
How long will chicken adobo stay fresh?
In an airtight container in the refrigerator, this chicken dish will stay fresh for between 2-3 days. To reheat, do NOT use the microwave! Reheating bone-in chicken in the microwave never yields good results.
Instead, reheat the chicken right back into the pan over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side until it’s heated through.
Why isn’t my sauce thickening?
There might not be enough cornstarch in your slurry. Luckily, this is a problem that can be easily remedied! Just make more slurry with a bit more cornstarch and slowly stir it into the sauce.
Also, keep in mind that it may take a few minutes for the sauce to thicken over the heat.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Use skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks for the most delicious browned results.
- To made the jalapeños hotter, keep the seeds in. To lessen the heat, toss out the seeds.
- The fish sauce can be substituted with hoisin or oyster sauce in a pinch.
Make dinner more exciting tonight by making this easy chicken adobo!
More spicy chicken recipes we love
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!
Chicken Adobo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 Chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks bone-in and skin-on
- 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 large jalapeños sliced seeds removed if you like it less spicy
- 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- In a large skillet on medium high heat, add butter and oil. Once the butter and oil are hot, brown the chicken thighs and drumsticks. Once browned, remove and set aside.2 Tablespoons salted butter, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 4 Chicken thighs and 4 drumsticks
- In the same skillet, add the apple cider vinegar, fish sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, honey, garlic, and half of the sliced jalapeños, to create the sauce.3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup fish sauce, ¼ cup lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 4 Tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 large jalapeños sliced
- Bring the sauce to a boil. Then add the chicken back into the skillet, and lower the heat to a simmer. Let this chicken simmer in the sauce, covered, for thirty minutes or until cooked.
- After thirty minutes, mix cornstarch with ¼ cup water, pour into sauce, stir to combine, let simmer for a minute or two until sauce begins to thicken. Plate the chicken with sauce and remaining jalapeño slices.2 Tablespoon cornstarch, 2 large jalapeños sliced
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