A superb Filipino chicken adobo with onions and garlic cooked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Low carb, keto, and gluten free.
Chicken adobo is traditional Filipino comfort food made easy with a pressure cooker. The chicken comes out tender and flavorful, and the adobo sauce is simultaneously tangy, sweet, and savory. I don’t get the chance to eat Filipino food often, but this is one of my favorites!
The main ingredients in chicken adobo are chicken thighs (I use boneless and skinless ones), onions, soy sauce, and vinegar. The chicken thighs are seasoned and pan seared, followed by pressure cooking with soy sauce, vinegar, and onions in the Instant Pot. The saute mode is then used to reduce the sauce to an almost sticky consistency.
The adobo sauce is the highlight of this dish, so here are a few details regarding the last step when you’re reducing the sauce. The recipe recommends 15 minutes of boiling to be on the conservative side, but you can boil longer for a different result.
If you boil for…
- 15 minutes then you’ll get a decent amount of remaining sauce to spoon over the chicken but it won’t be very thick. The sauce will, however, taste amazing with the onions and chicken.
- 20 minutes then you’ll end up with a thick glaze that easily sticks to the chicken. However, since it’s more of a glaze than a sauce, you won’t have much liquid to spoon over the chicken. You’ll also have to be careful that the sauce doesn’t burn on the bottom of your pressure cooker pot.
Personally, I like the consistency of the sauce when boiled about 17 minutes. I recommend 15 minutes for most people because it’s easy to burn the sauce when it starts becoming glaze-like, but it’s up to you!
A few notes on ingredient substitutions:
- The onions are a must and cannot be skipped. The sauce would have a very different taste and texture without them.
- If you follow the Paleo or Whole30 diet, you can substitute soy sauce with coconut aminos.
- I don’t recommend using chicken breasts. Use chicken thighs, legs, or drumsticks. I use boneless and skinless ones because it’s easier, but you don’t have to.
This recipe’s ingredients were a good amount for my 6 quart Instant Pot, but you can easily double them for an 8 quart pressure cooker.
If you have any leftovers, they store well in the refrigerator and can be reheated the next day in the microwave.
Instant Pot Chicken Adobo
A superb Filipino chicken adobo with onions and garlic cooked in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Low carb, keto, and gluten free.
Ingredients
- 2 - 2.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup white vinegar
- 1 onion sliced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- salt and coarse black pepper
For serving:
- 2 scallions sliced
- cooked white rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions
-
Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. Generously season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper. When the display reads HOT, add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Add half of the chicken thighs and cook for a few minutes on each side before transferring them to a plate. Repeat for the remaining chicken thighs. Turn off the saute mode.
-
Add soy sauce, vinegar, onion, garlic, and cayenne to the pot. Stir well and scrape up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Return all chicken thighs to the pot in a single layer, placing them snugly on top of the onions. Top with bay leaves. Secure and seal the lid. Cook for 10 minutes at high pressure followed by a manual pressure release.
-
Uncover and select the saute mode. Boil for about 15 minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove the bay leaves. Serve the chicken and sauce, optionally with cooked cauliflower rice. Top with sliced scallions.
Nutrition Notes
This recipe yields 6.5 g net carbs per serving. Nutrition information doesn't include serving ingredients like rice.
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 370 | |
| Total Fat 21g | 33% |
| Saturated Fat 1g | 5% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 182mg | 61% |
| Sodium 1540mg | 64% |
| Potassium 10mg | 0% |
| Total Carb 7g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 0.5g | 2% |
| Sugars 3g | |
| Protein 37g |
Your initial description says this recipe is gluten free. For those with celiac, be sure to use gluten free soy sauce (la choy is what we use). Most of the soy sauce brands mentioned in the comments are NOT gluten free.
That’s a good point, thanks for bringing it up!
If I use bone-in vs boneless chicken thighs, so I use more chicken?
Can you de-bone your chicken beforehand? That would give you best results when using this recipe. If not, I would keep the amount of chicken the same. You might need to increase the pressure cooking time when using bone-in chicken; as for how much longer, I don’t know as I haven’t tested them for this recipe.
i dont have that type of pressure cooker, can a regular pressure cooker work?
Any kind of electric pressure cooker will work. If you have something else, you’ll likely need to make adjustments to the recipe.
Great recipe, I subbed apple cider vinegar for white vinegar and it turned out amazing!
Fantastic, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Do you use kikkoman lite? I am having trouble finding a low sodium soy sauce.
Thanks
I use Trader Joe’s reduced sodium soy sauce. Whole Foods also has one under their 365 brand (https://amzn.to/2KwqNnF). Kikkoman, Yamasa, and Tamari also sell low sodium soy sauces. I suggest calling a few nearby stores to see if any of them carry it. Good luck!
This was delicious! I subbed balsamaic vinegar for the white vinegar and added paprika, oregano, and sweet peppers. Delish!! Thanks for the idea.
Those sound like tasty additions 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this, Albert!
Is there any way to make this without an instant pot? Stovetop pan maybe?
Absolutely, you can definitely make this on the stove top. You’ll need to adjust the cooking time in Step 2 until the chicken is very tender.
Please add extra emphasis on the “Low-Sodium” part of the soy sauce. I made this with “light” soy sauce… clearly it’s not the same thing. Haha. Very, very salty, but still delicious. I think if I hadn’t made that mistake, this would have been absolutely perfect. Kids loved it anyway (though did complain a little bit about the salt – it was mostly in the onions, so easy to eat around it). I made one other substitution – I used Great Value frozen chicken breasts (defrosted). I find these are consistently tender – as if they’ve been run through a… Read more »
This sounds so good, however I’m confused about one step; before boiling the sauce is the chicken removed? I would assume so, but just wanted to be sure. Thanks.
Hi Kathleen! The chicken is not removed. It stays in the pot while the sauce is boiling. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I have made this twice and followed your recipe to the T however I always end up with so much more liquid and the sauce always ends up very watery (even if I boil it for over 30minutes to thicken it). It looks nothing like your end result. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Naffie! This is what I can think of: (1) Are you using a kitchen scale to measure your chicken thighs by weight? You might be adding more than the recipe calls for. (2) Are you using chicken thighs that are boneless and skinless? (3) Use less onion, like 1/2 onion since it adds water content. Also double check your measurements of soy sauce and white vinegar. Hope that helps!
Can this be adapted for a slow cooker?
Given the saute steps at the beginning and end of the recipe, it would be a pain to transfer everything between a stovetop pan and a slow cooker, but it’s doable.
I’m new with Instant Pot, if I double this recipe for my 8Qt do I double the cooking time?
No, keep the cooking time the same.
Thanks!
thanks for sharing this, i’ve wanted to try chicken adobo for a while now!