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Skillet Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice. A one-skillet Filipino-inspired chicken in a tangy, sweet, and spicy adobo sauce served over creamy coconut rice. I make mine with pineapple and jalapeños for a sweet-spicy kick. The creamy coconut rice wonderfully compliments the tangy, sweet, and spicy adobo sauce. Add fresh avocado and a side of beans for the perfect healthy dinner, any night of the week.
Everyone always asks where I get recipe inspiration from. And while I get it from just about everywhere, my number one source is my family. It could be a recipe they’re wanting or a dish they had out one night. No matter where their inspiration comes from, I love to cook for them, and cook what they want to eat.
Hail’s (Red’s girlfriend) has been here since before Dew Tour in December. She’s Filipino and I’m always asking her what to make when she’s around. Adobo came up up the other week and I loved the idea of a simple skillet dinner.
I asked how her mom made it. Then we kind of went back and forth on a few changes/additions to hopefully make it even more delicious. This isn’t quite a traditional adobo, but similar and very delicious. Hail’s fully approved.
Here are the details
The amazing thing about chicken adobo is that it’s naturally a one skillet kind of dinner. Meaning, this is so simple and doesn’t require too many ingredients.
Ideally, you want to use chicken thighs for best flavor and to avoid any dry chicken. However, if your family is like mine, you can also use chicken breasts, or even a mix.
You’ll want to first sear the chicken, then add soy sauce and vinegar. The vinegar is what adds the tang to the sauce. It’s traditional to use brown sugar too, but since we wanted ours to be less sweet, I just used a small amount of honey.
Once the chicken is seared, add the sauce, then toss in the bay leaves. For some spice, we love to throw in a jalapeño. It’s heat really mellows out as the pepper cooks in the sauce, adding just the right amount of spice. Not too spicy, but just right.
At the end of cooking, stir in the pineapple chunks. This is also not traditional, but so yummy. Especially with the jalapeño, it really balances the flavors nicely.
The coconut rice
While the chicken simmers on the stove. Make the coconut rice. We love coconut rice around here. It’s creamier and with just a small amount of coconut flavor it pairs really well with Asian style dishes.
A little cilantro and pinch of salt at the end makes everything just perfect. Then serve the chicken and rice with sliced avocado and cucumber.
Everyone in my family has agreed, they could easily eat this once or twice a week. The chicken is tender, and the sauce is everyone’s favorite – spicy, sweet, and tangy.
The rice completes it all!
Looking for other skillet recipes? Here are my favorites:
Lemon Butter Dijon Chicken and Orzo
French Onion Tater Tot Casserole
Greek Meatballs and Lemon Butter Orzo
Lastly, if you make this Skillet Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Skillet Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 619 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup tamari, or low sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoons honey, use to your taste
- 1-2 jalapeños, seeded, if desired, and sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 dried bay leaves
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- sliced avocado, cucumber, and green onions, for serving
Coconut Cilantro Rice
- 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- 1. Season the chicken all over with black pepper. In a large glass measuring cup, combine the tamari/soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and 1/2 cup of water.2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and sear on both sides until golden, about 4-5 minutes per side.3. Add the garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and pour in the soy sauce mixture. Add the jalapeños and bay leaves. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, uncover and cook another 10-20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the pineapple. 4. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Serve the chicken adobo over rice. Top each plate with avocado, green onions, jalapeños, and cucumber.
Coconut Rice
- 1. Combine the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water in a medium pot. Bring to a low boil. Add the rice and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, cover, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible. Allow the rice to cook 10 minutes on low, then turn the heat off completely and let the rice sit, covered, for another 15-20 minutes (don't take any peeks inside!). 2. Remove the lid, add the cilantro, and pinch salt. Fluff the rice with a fork.
Great recipe, just I’ve found the servings for all of the recipes are tiny!!! Recipes for 6 aren’t anywhere near enough for me and my family. Usually we find it a stretch to feed three following many of the recipes on here, so I’d definitely double the amount of rice needed if you don’t want to be hungry still afterwards.
Hi Fran,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xx
I love every HBH recipe I try, but we lost our minds over this one! The flavors are surprisingly complex, and the creamy coconut rice is an amazing complement to the saucy adobo. Sliced mini cucumber on top/the side was also a great addition. I don’t repeat many recipes, but I’ve been tempted to make this one basically every week since trying it.
I did need to pull the chicken out for awhile to crank the heat and reduce the sauce, and since then have just cut back a bit on the liquids going in so it takes less time to reduce, but that’s my only minor complaint. Worth the alteration, for sure!
Hey Tara,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! xx
I’m filipino and LOVE THIS adobo recipe!!! Followed the recipe but didn’t add the pineapple (instead used fresh on the side). The honey and jalapenos are a nice add-on and will be using this recipe from now on because my family devoured it (thanks Hail!). Loved the coconut rice too!!! A keeper in my rotation!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi there,
Awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed! xx
Loved the Coconut Rice!! I will also reduce the amount of liquid as mine didn’t thicken up like yours in the video? I had it on the lowest heat setting to simmer. Should have been low heat but not too low
Thanks so much Rhonda!! Sorry about the rice!
I guess it must be really important to use basmati rice… I used jasmine rice cause I keep it on hand and it was muuuuushy. The sauce was so salty. I will probably make this again but make some tweaks to make it more to my liking.
Hi Hanna,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear you had some issues. Thanks for sharing your feedback. xTieghan
This was great! Loved the flavor.
Hi Michelle,
Wonderful!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! ?xTieghan
I subbed the white wine vinegar with sherry, and also used quinoa instead of basmati…..all in all – AMAZING!
Hey Alma,
Happy Wednesday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a go!! ☘️Tieghan
The rice is to die for. I’ll definitely be making it with other dishes (would be great as a side with some orange chicken from Trader Joe’s or something). I’m always intimidated to cook Asian food, because I don’t have a ton of experience with that style of cooking, but the chicken was super easy and made my kitchen smell great! If you’re expecting something sweet, like a teriyaki or a pad thai sauce, this is a little bit different, and next time I might try adding some brown sugar and a little corn starch to make it thicker and sweeter (the vinegar and soy sauce make it tarter and saltier than I expected), but I liked it the way it was as well. Definitely making this again!
Hi Sasha,
Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear that it was a hit!! xTieghan
Last night I made this recipe for dinner and we both loved it (and my husband is an extremely fussy eater). The flavours were incredible. This recipe has gone on the “make again” list.
Hi Janice,
Fantastic!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks for making it! Have the best weekend:) xT
Do you drain the pineapple?
Hi Staci,
If you are using canned pineapple, yes:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
This is for sure being added to the regular dinner menu at our house! My husband always likes dinner but when he loves it he goes “this is really good honey” unprompted. This received the loves stamp from a tough critic.
I didn’t add the honey because I forgot and it was sweet enough with the pineapple. I did add a little arrowroot starch to thicken the sauce a tiny bit but for sure not necessary!
Hi Kayla,
Happy Friday!! I am so glad to hear this recipe was a winner, thanks for giving it a go:) xTieghan
My family loved this dish! It was an easy and healthy weeknight win. It had complex flavors or the chicken and vegetables! The rice was out of this world. My 5 year old had two huge servings of the rice.
Hey Damara,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a go:) xTieghan
This was amazing, the salty tangy sauce went so well with the coconut rice.
I’ve loved all the recipes of yours I’ve so far.
Hi Elaine,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a go:) xTieghan
just made this so good. This will be a new favorite of mine for sure.
Hi Chante,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a go:) xTieghan
Thanks for highlighting our culture! I feel like I don’t really see a lot of representation in Filipino food so I’m glad to see you were inspired and even gave it your own signature taste!
Hey Justine,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xxT
This is ridiculously tasty (as all your recipes are), but simmering the sauce for as long as the recipe states, to reduce it to a lovely sticky sauce that will coat the chicken, makes it too salty, IMO. I had to empty out half of what was in the pan, add more water, and reduce again to dilute the saltiness.
As always, your extra additions of the cucumbers, avocado, green onions and pineapple take this to another level! Thank you!
Hey Lesley,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it!! Sorry to hear about the salt! Have the best day:) xx
Well, my husband loved this, but I didn’t so much. I think my problem was that the sauce was way too watery, and really, no amount of additional simmering would have fixed that well enough (but it would have made the chicken overdone). I added cornstarch and water, which helped, but I think next time I’d cut the amount of soy sauce by a lot since it seemed to drown out the sweetness and thickening effect of the honey. I did like the sliced jalapenos and shallots in it, though, as well as the pineapple chunks. Anyway, I’ll try it again with some modifications and report back how it goes!
Hi Helen,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, thanks for sharing your feedback! xTieghan
This took a bit longer to make than recipe states, and I don’t consider myself to be slow in my prep. The sauce was not dark and thick like shown in the pictures, not sure what went wrong. Flavors were good.
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, sorry to hear this took longer than expected. You can always simmer the sauce longer to help it darken and thicken. Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx