I usually don’t lay claim to any recipe as “the best”. Although I can be exceptionally opinionated in real life, I find that I tread pretty carefully when it comes to my blog. I don’t want to risk offending anyone, and everyone has their own sense of taste. What is heaven to some is abhorrent to others. Take beets, for example. If ever there was a divisive issue, it’s beets. They are one of the few foods that I simply will not touch, and yet many people think they are delicious. Or hard-boiled eggs. Now there’s a touchy subject, one that could ruin my marriage if I am not careful. I love them, but my husband cannot even stand to be in the same room when I am eating one.
So I don’t want to call this “the best” chicken recipe, because you may think you already have the best chicken recipe. There are zillions upon zillions of chicken recipes out there and everyone has their favourites. So for fear of offending anyone, I won’t call this the best recipe. I will waffle and tread carefully and call it “one of my favourites”. I have about a dozen favourites, which just goes to show I don’t discriminate. But this really is one of my favourites and I will tell you why. It’s remarkably easy. It’s not exactly quick, because it has to poach for half an hour, but once you pop everything in the pan, you can ignore it and go about your business. And then you proceed by grilling or broiling, which crisps the skin delightfully. It also creates a lot of delicious sauce, which is wonderful for pouring over rice (or in my case, veggies). I’d say that for the effort you put in, which is minimal, it is by far one of the best chicken recipes I’ve ever had.
Chicken Adobo is a Filipino dish and I was first introduced to it by a good friend of Filipino heritage. It never occured to me to ask for her recipe, although I see her all the time. But a few years ago, I chanced upon a recipe from Mark Bittman and his version added the grilling or broiling, which I highly appreciated. It met with rave reviews the first time I made it. Since then I have changed the recipe a fair bit to make it a lot more diabetic friendly, and it hasn’t changed the rave reviews. It’s delicious every single time and it meets with the approval of even my pickiest eater.
So you may have your favourite chicken recipe. Or recipes. But trust me, if you make this, you will love it. It will quickly become one of your favourites. Maybe even your favourite.
Chicken Adobo
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 cloves chopped garlic
½ teaspoon ground pepper
3 lbs chicken thighs (or a combination of thighs and drumsticks)
Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic and pepper together in a large skillet or dutch oven. The skillet should be large enough to accommodate the chicken in a single layer. Bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, turning once.
Preheat the grill or broiler. Broil or grill the chicken 3 to 4 inches from heat source, about 5 minutes on each side.
Meanwhile, increase heat on the sauce in the pan until it boils vigorously. Cook until reduced to about 1 cup.
Serve chicken with sauce poured over. Pass any remaining sauce around at the table.
Serves 4 to 6. For 4 servings, each serving has 3 g of carbs.
John D says
I made this last week and it was delicious. Served with Cauliflower RIce and Green Beans. I over did the sauce at the end so it was way to thick, but the chicken as prepared was outstanding. Will be a regular on our menu.
Shayna Fuller says
It’s also so yummy with ginger, peppercorns, and green onions ; )
Sandra says
Your Chicken Adobo recipe is out of this world.
I made it tonight only because you recommended it as one of the best chicken dishes you make. I can appreciate why you would. The chicken was moist and tender and the sauce added a wonder flavor and a sense of something really special. – – Which is unbelievable because everything is simple from the ingredients, to the preparation, to the cooking and serving. It looked beautiful too.
I had never heard of Chicken Adobo until I saw the recipe on your site. This recipe is something that I will keep and use often. Thank you for another superb recipe.
Carolyn says
it’s so funny that you mention this recipe. It’s quite an old one and I had forgotten about it for a while but just remembered it the other night and thought I should make it again!
Aashima says
I live in the UK & our ovens don’t have broilers. What do I do?
Carolyn says
Bake it for 10 to crisp up the skin.
Cooking Rookie says
I made this recipe yesterday – yum!! Was so good with garlic rice :-). I used skinless boneless chicken thighs, so I reduced the cooking time to 20 minutes, but other than that I followed the recipe to the letter (which is very rare for me). Thanks, Carolyn!
Ashley says
Looks delicious! I make my adobo differently but this is very tempting to try…I also use apple cider vinegar, but also onions, potatoes, paprika, mushrooms and I brown the chicken first then boil it so its never been crispy but I love crispy chicken in general! I learned my mom's way of cooking it (she's Filipino) but thank you for this, I'm excited to try it!! 🙂
Savannah McQueen says
I am hosting a chicken recipe blog hop. This recipe looks fabulous. I wish you would consider adding it to my blog hop. Here is the link – http://www.savannahssavorybites.com/2011/08/baked-chicken-with-fried-potatoes-and.html
Sugar Free Low Carb says
I always grab the chicken adobo at all the Filipino potluck parties. My father is from the Philippines and has cooked professionally. He makes the best adobo. For some reason, he always adds bay leaf along with a combination of the ingredients you list. I've asked him for the recipe, but he never measures anything when he cooks.
Janice says
This looks delicious. I would serve it with some spicy rice (it is my favorite). 🙂
Lizzy says
I made this yummy dish of yours this week, too…but didn't take the time to take photos. I used chicken breasts since that's what I had in the freezer…love that I didn't have to go to the grocery store and still had a fabulous meal! Thanks for a winner that I'll make again and again 🙂
Magic of Spice says
Chicken Adobo is one of my nieces favorite dishes…looks perfect 🙂
A Little Yumminess says
I am big fan of adobo and a friend shared a recipe with me a while back. there are so many variations of this recipe! It is amazing how it such an easy yet tasty dish
Elisabeth says
The only adobo I used is the spice mix that comes dry. I never made the adobo sauce just with these 4 simple ingredients that I always have on hand.
Your fabulous chicken is the proof that really convinced me to make my own adobo sauce. Yumm!!!
Thanks, Carolyn!
Stephanie says
This looks soo good! Thanks for stopping by my blog and telling me to come check it out. I actually have the majority of the ingredients in my pantry already too, so it will be easy to make soon!
Cara says
I can't get over how simple this is for being so delicious!
Rachel C - thinladysings says
oooooo that looks so good! And easy to make gluten free if I just replace the soy sauce with tamari soy sauce. totally trying this!! Thanks!