Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
104 Comments Apr 05, 2022
Updated Oct 27, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo is a perfect dish to add variety to your weekly dinner menu. The sauce has soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and tangy vinegar 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 a chicken adobo recipe 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 than 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. The taste is savory, with a touch of sweetness. There are also hints of garlic and ginger.
- Chinese traders introduced soy sauce to replace the traditional salt in this dish. – Wiki
Recipe Ingredients
- Chicken thighs – Bone-in chicken thighs work the best for Filipino chicken adobo! They get very tender in the crockpot. You can use bone-in chicken breasts, though you will want to cook for the full 7 hours.
- Soy sauce – I use low sodium soy sauce, though regular works just fine in this recipe if that is all you have.
- White vinegar – Add a tang to this recipe. If you are out of white vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar.
- White onion – One whole diced white onion adds so much flavor to the dish.
- Chicken broth – Helps keep the entire dish moist and evens out some of the vinegar taste.
- Seasonings – Sliced fresh ginger root, garlic cloves, bay leaves, and peppercorns
- Green onion – Be sure to grab a bunch of green onions. Slice and top your chicken and rice with the green onion for added texture and flavor.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – First add oil to a hot pan and brown the chicken, no need to cook through. Add the chicken thighs to the crockpot.
Step Two – Next add the onion, ginger, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
Step Three – Pour over the chicken broth, vinegar, and soy sauce. The chicken marinates in the sauce as it slow cooks. Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours. Serve and enjoy!
What to serve with chicken adobo?
- Steamed white rice, jasmine rice, or fried rice goes well with the vinegar and soy sauce flavors.
- Steamed green veggies such as asparagus, bok choy, sugar snap peas, green beans, or broccoli
- Cauliflower rice for if you’re watching your carbs. This chicken adobo is very low in carbs!
- Top your chicken adobo Filipino recipe with green onions. Also, great with a touch of sriracha if you want spicy chicken.
Recipe FAQs
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 be used in this recipe. You can even use a combination of thighs and drumsticks.
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.
If you desire shredded chicken, remove the chicken onto 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 excellent over rice.
Place your whole (thawed) chicken in the slow cooker. Pour over the chicken broth, soy sauce, and vinegar. Place as much of the onion, peppercorns, garlic, and ginger on top of the chicken (It’s ok if some fall down into the sauce). Cook for 8 hours or low or until your chicken is no longer pink inside and is fork-tender.
Want to make more magic in your crockpot? Stay up to date and subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.
Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 5 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce, regular soy sauce will work fine as well
- 1/4 cup white vinegar, (can use apple cider 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
- 10-15 black peppercorns, (or 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper)
- 1 bunch green onion, sliced – for serving
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. Or you can add everything to the slow cooker without dirtying a bowl, this works fine too.
- 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 chicken drizzled with plenty of the sauce out of the slow cooker and enjoy! Top with sliced green onion for flavor and texture.
Sarah’s 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!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
I love this recipe have used it many times over now!
Could I make this in the instant pot?
Yes, there is plenty of liquid for this to work in the instant pot.
How can I make the broth thicker
Add two tablespoons of cold water to two tablespoons of cornstarch, mix well. Add to the sauce. Will take a few minutes for it to thicken.
I keep coming back to this recipe. It’s a favorite at our house! I love that I can just put it in the slow cooker and make rice in the instant pot. Easiest dinner ever!!
Would this work with Cornish hens?
Yes, you may need to cook a little longer though.
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 ☺️
Hi Rose, Can you use Toyomansi?
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.