This Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo is a perfect dish to add variety to your weekly dinner menu.
The sauce is tangy and goes perfect over rice with steamed vegetables.
If you love tender chicken then this recipe is for you! Thighs turn out perfect in the slow cooker, just like my ranch chicken and lemon pepper chicken.
The first time I encountered chicken adobo was on a viral youtube video that popped into my feed. Of course, I had to try out chicken adobo on my site and share how good it is with all my readers. (Note that I use a few more ingredients then she does in her video).
Some will say making chicken adobo in the crockpot isn’t authentic, that’s fine, don’t make it then. If you want the EASIEST way to make chicken adobo then try my recipe, you won’t be disappointed.
What is chicken adobo?
- Chicken Adobo is a Philippine dish, the sauce for this recipe is heavy in vinegar and soy sauce.
- Chinese traders introduced soy sauce to replace the traditional salt in this dish. – Wiki
How to make Chicken Adobo in the Crockpot:
- Chicken thighs – bone-in
- Soy sauce – I use low sodium
- White vinegar – Add a tang to this recipe
- White onion – diced
- Chicken broth – helps keep the entire dish moist and evens out some of the vinegar taste.
- Seasonings – cut fresh ginger, garlic cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns
How long do I cook?
- Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours
- Or HIGH for 4 hours.
Can I use a different cut of chicken?
Yes, pretty much any cut of chicken works though bone-in dark meat will have better results.
- Drumsticks
- Bone-in chicken breast
- Boneless skinless thighs or breasts
Can I add bok choy to this recipe?
Yes, add 3-4 cups of sliced bok choy during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time. Make a great compliment to this along with rice.
Can I make this into shredded chicken?
- If you desire shredded chicken, remove the chicken on to a plate. Remove and discard the skin.
- Shred the chicken off the bone and add the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker with the sauce.
- This shredded chicken is great over rice.
What goes good with chicken adobo?
- Steamed white rice
- Steamed green veggies such as asparagus, bok choy, sugar snap peas or broccoli
- Cauliflower rice for if you’re watching your carbs. This chicken adobo is very low in carbs!
More slow cooker chicken thigh recipes:
- Slow Cooker Hot Chicken
- Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken with Red Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Slow Cooker Leek Chicken
- Slow Cooker Full Chicken Dinner
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First Published: 03/14/2016
Updated: 02/02/2019
Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
Equipment Needed:
- Slow Cooker – 4 quart or larger
Ingredients:
- 5 skin-on bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves left whole
- 3 small slices of peeled fresh ginger root (or 1/4 tsp. ground ginger)
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 black peppercorns (or 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper)
Instructions:
- Set a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add enough of the oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Brown the chicken on both sides. Add the chicken to the slow cooker.
- In a medium sized bowl whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, chicken broth and onion. Pour this mixture over the chicken.
- Add the garlic cloves, ginger slices, bay leaves and peppercorns on top of the chicken.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH 4 hours for without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Remove bay leaves, and garlic cloves if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to Video:
Recipe Notes:
- Drumsticks
- Bone-in chicken breast
- Boneless skinless thighs or breasts
- If you desire shredded chicken, remove the chicken on a plate. Remove and discard the skin.
- Shred the chicken off the bone and add back into the slow cooker with the sauce.
- This shredded chicken is great over rice.
- Steamed white rice
- Steamed green veggies such as asparagus, bok choy, sugar snap peas or broccoli
- Cauliflower rice for if you’re watching your carbs. This chicken adobo is very low in carbs!
Hi, thanks for featuring adobo. I haven’t tried this recipe but I noticed some people wrote flavour was bland! BLAND?! no one I know has ever said about adobo ever. Adobo should practically smack you in the face with its sticky, salty, tangy and garlicky deliciousness. The key tip here is to marinade the chicken! Seriously, do it for an hour minimum but I do it overnight and then brown chicken BEFORE using slow cooker. It kicks the flavour up immensely. IF meat is browned before marinading it just doesn’t penetrate the chicken as much. Also here’s a few other suggestions:
PLEASE REDUCE THE SAUCE in a frypan it makes it a sticky almost caramelised consistency which goes perfectly over some rice or even better garlic fried rice.
The ratio and kind of soy and vinegar really changes and enhances the flavour. Adobo is meant to be more tangy than salty and in majority of versions not sweet at all. Ratio of 1/2 cup soy sauce to 2/3 vinegar. Double if you want extra sauce or using a lot of meat. (my hubby loves it extra tangy so When I make it for him I add more vinegar and up the ginger) Also Japanese soy sauce like Kikoman is VERY different to Filipino or Chinese soy sauce. Please don’t use Kikoman. . I use GF soy sauce. Additionally the use of Filipino cane vinegar from the Asian store elevates the dish. It’s quite different to regular white vinegar. Regular vinegar is good Datu Puti Cane vinegar is GREAT.
I personally don’t use onions (most versions don’t) I imagine that with the addition of sugar as well as onions that it makes it a lot sweeter than it needs to be. (Sweeter adobo is from Cebu region and is called Humba) so to balance flavour I would just use 1/2 a teaspoon or as many Filos do add a couple of slashes of sprite or some other carbonated lemonade to sweeten plus the bubbles help to tenderise the meat and penetrate the meat during marination.
Garlic- 3 cloves is not going to cut it at all. Bare minimum 2/3 bulb garlic. Even better use the whole bulb. I brown it with grated ginger and throw it in pot before separately browning the chicken.
Reducing the sauce is the game changer and in my opinion an absolute must! IF you have the time & patience and want to bring some crispiness back to the skin put it under the grill/broiler for a few mins or just use an air fryer or convection oven like I do. Depends on my level of laziness and/or hunger whether I do this but my Aussie husband loves it. So sometimes I just do it to half the chicken so we have both textures.
I hope you don’t mind my suggestions. I love using a slow cooker especially for adobo but I really wanted to give some advice on how to kick up the flavour. Once again thank you for showcasing the Filipino National dish. Cheers ☺️
We made the Ginnis Irish Beef Stew for St. Patty’s Day. Oh my, it was killer delicious! Every one of the recipes we’ve made, Sarah, are fabulous! We can’t thank you enough. I just copy and send to my hubby’s phone. He copies them down. Since I’m legally blind, I have a separate recipe document file on my lap top. I’m still collecting more each day. LOVE IT! Blessings.
yummy!!
Does white vinegar is the same as distilled white vinegar?
yes
I am not commenting on the recipe but the placement of ads. An ad popped up over the center of the screen and would not let me see the contents until I clicked on the ad, not the close X but the ad. I was a little annoyed. Thank you.