The long simmer of this Slow Cooker One Pot Chicken Adobo delivers succulent chicken thighs and drums with a savory sauce of vinegar and soy sauce, spiked with garlic and peppercorns. Serve this national dish of the Philippines with hot rice.
In a small dish, whisk together the vinegar and soy sauce then pour into the bottom of a 6-qt. slow cooker. Add the garlic cloves and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Working in batches, brown the chicken thighs and the legs then transfer them to the slow cooker, turning to coat in the sauce.
Add the chilis, peppercorns and the bay leaves.
Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours until the chicken is tender.
When ready to serve, remove and discard the chilis and bay leaves, transfer the chicken to a dish and garnish with snipped scallions or chopped parsley. Pour the sauce into a dish or pitcher. (see notes.)
Serve the chicken adobo with white rice along with the sauce.
Notes
To thicken the sauce, combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water. Pour the sauce into a small pan and bring to a boil, stir in the cornstarch/water slurry and cook until thickened.
Browning the chicken is not mandatory and can be skipped, but it does add huge flavor to the dish.
Do not add salt to the chicken during the browning process as the soy sauce will add enough seasoning.
We used regular soy sauce, if sodium-sensitive substitute with the low-sodium soy sauce.
We used cider vinegar but rice vinegar or regular white vinegar can be used instead.
Chicken adobo is more flavorful using the darker portions of thighs and drumsticks as the fat content adds flavor to the sauce.
Skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks can be used in this dish.
The chili is optional and can also be substituted with a 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.