Filipino Chicken Adobo – Soy and Vinegar Braised Chicken

Name: Filipino Chicken Adobo – Soy and Vinegar Braised Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 8 bone-in chicken drumsticks or thighs (about 1 kg); ½ cup soy sauce (low-sodium if possible); ½ cup white or cider vinegar; 1 cup water; 8 garlic cloves, crushed; 3 bay leaves; 1 tsp whole black peppercorns; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 1 tsp brown sugar (optional, for balance); To serve: cooked brown rice, sliced spring onion

The national dish of the Philippines braises chicken slowly in soy sauce and vinegar. One pot, no marinating needed, and 38 g of protein per serving.

Total: 60 min
Servings: 4 servings
Difficulty: Easy
Calories · per serving: 385 kcal

Written by

Ecem Akkaba · Dietitian

Dietitian, graduate of İstanbul Medipol University. She develops the recipes and nutrition values on FitZen.

Updated: August 3, 2026

In short

Filipino Chicken Adobo – Soy and Vinegar Braised Chicken contains 385 calories per serving: 38 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate and 20 g fat. It takes 60 minutes in total and makes 4 servings.

About this recipe

Adobo is the best-known dish in Filipino cooking, and it is really the name of a method rather than a single recipe: braising meat in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and peppercorns. The vinegar was a natural preservative long before refrigeration; what remains today is the sharpness that balances the salt of the soy.

There is no need to marinate the chicken — everything goes straight into the pot and the meat takes on the flavour as it cooks. Cook it skin-on and remove the skin before serving and you keep the meat moist while cutting most of the fat.

Served over brown rice, the meal lands at 38 g of protein with a balanced carbohydrate profile.

Method

1
Put the chicken in a wide pot with the soy sauce, vinegar, water, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns. Do not stir — letting the vinegar boil off its edge in the first minutes is the point.
2
Bring to a boil covered, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Leave the pot alone at this stage.
3
Lift the chicken out with tongs. Boil the remaining sauce uncovered over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until reduced by half.
4
Heat the oil in a separate pan and sear the chicken pieces 2-3 minutes per side until deeply coloured.
5
Stir the brown sugar into the sauce if using; it should now be glossy and syrupy.
6
Return the seared chicken to the sauce and turn it over low heat for 5 minutes to glaze.
7
Serve over brown rice, spooning the sauce over and finishing with spring onion.

Tips

Do not stir for the first 10 minutes after adding the vinegar. In Filipino kitchens this is treated as a rule — it stops the sauce tasting of raw vinegar.
For a leaner plate, pull the skin off before searing. The protein stays the same and you lose roughly 7 g of fat per serving.
Adobo keeps 5 days in the fridge and improves every day; the vinegar acts as a natural preservative.

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