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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.
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Ingredients
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
- Kosher salt and Black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Tamari or low sodium soy sauce
- White wine vinegar
- Honey
- jalapeños
- Dried bay leaves
- Pineapple chunks
- Sliced avocado
- Cucumber
- Green onions
- Coconut milk
- Basmati rice
- Fresh cilantro and basil
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. If you’re dietary restrictions (vegetarian or vegan) restrict you or guests from this recipe, you could always stir fry vegetables and substitute that in for the chicken.
Step One
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.
Step Two
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. After you sauté these ingredients for a bit on medium heat, set to simmer and focus on the coconut rice.
Step Three
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! Also, the great thing about this dish is that you can be creative with it! If you want more veggies, add them in!! Adding sautéed garlic cloves or shallots will add to the flavor and you could even sauté some spinach into the mix. Make this dish yours! This recipe also makes for a great lunch the next day as well, simply heat up the recipe in a microwave or oven after storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This recipe will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days. However, it’s always best fresh…right off the skillet!
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
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.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
I used quinoa but this was amazing
Hi Kelly,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Made this dish tonight and was absolutely delicious! So amazing how all the flavors come together! This will definitely be one of my families favorite dishes!
Hi Mollie,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Yummy but too soupy. I will confess to switching to jasmine rice. And using Champagne wine vinegar. And having only 1.5 pounds of chicken. So there. It was too soupy. Added cornstarch.
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! xTieghan
This was delicious!! The combination of flavors is magical. I made the recipe exactly as written and wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you Teighan!
Hey Leah,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Making this tonight. Can’t find the video and want to make the spicy cucumbers with it. Can you give me ingredients and amounts please?
Hey Mary,
I just did cucumbers:) Please let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xTieghan
This dish hits all the right notes…sweet, a tad spicy, umami! I wanted to drink that sauce!! Follow directions exactly and you can’t go wrong!!!
Hey Vikki,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Have this cooking now. I’m so excited. Husband has been out in the snow all day and says he is starving he is looking forward to coming home to this after I fwd him your recipe. Thank you! I also can’t wait to get your cookbook seems like forever I preordered it yay!
Hey Cindy,
Happy Friday!! Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a go, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
On your IG story, you made a little cucumber salad with a dressing to go with this dish. Where can I find that recipe??!
Hey Cherry,
I just did some diced cucumbers in sesame oil with sesame seeds. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I only have jasmine rice…and only 1.5 pounds of chicken. Here goes!
I hope you love the recipe Errin!
Made this today. Ended up dumping first batch, way too ‘vinegary’. Made second batch with only half the vinegar. Also took chicken out eventually to reduce sauce to nice jammy consistency as seen in the video. Cook lots of HBH recipes and this was a first time fail for me. I figured it was better to be honest. At least knowing this you can start low on the vinegar and add more to your liking, hard to remove it once it’s done. Love HBH and will keep coming back for more……oh and second batch was much better. Thanks for all the hard work Tieghan.
Hey Ann,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xTieghan
Same comment as Christina. Liquidy and not caramélisés, but delicious.
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try!
Could brown rice be substituted in this recipe?
Hey there,
Sure, you will just need to adjust your cooking time accordingly. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
This recipe was so tasty! I did use some cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end. And all I had was brown rice which I had to cook a bit longer- came out a little mushy for rice. But I didn’t care because it was all so delicious! I definitely will be cooking this often.
Hey Kate,
Wonderful!! I am so so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed. Thanks a bunch for making it! xT
i had tons of liquid too, going to have to reduce it. I also double the whole thing, followed recipe to a T and rice is not looking like rice, more like custard ….such a bummer it smells so good
Hi there,
Rice is very finicky and rather than being doubled, you should have done 2 separate batches. Let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
Are you saying throw in 2 whole jalapeños into the simmering sauce?
Not sliced?
oh whoops. I see you said sliced and seeded.
Hi Nancy,
In the ingredients list, it calls for 1-2 jalapeños seeded and sliced. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan, I made this last night. It was delicious!! As another commenter noted, mine didn’t turn out as caramelized and was much more liquidy than yours. I think next time I will cut the sauce portion in half. Or any other tips you might recommend? I followed the recipe exactly, no adjustments. Thanks!!
I’m not Tieghan but – if yours is too saucy you can pull the chicken out before you add the pineapple and reduce the sauce on high for a few minutes to get rid of some of the moisture and volume. It will thicken some too. Add the chicken and pineapple back in when you are happy with the sauce consistency.
Yes, that is a great idea!!
Love it, thank you both!
Hi Christina,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! You can always add some cornstarch to help thicken the sauce or just boil it a little longer. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Sounds absolutely amazing. All of your recipes are. ❤️
But my husband avoids anything
pineapple at all costs. What could I substitute?
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much! Mango would be a great option in place of the pineapple. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Or maybe some orange/ mandarin slices??
Great idea!