Whaddup, guys? Today I’m showing you how to make one of my all-time favorite instant pot chicken thigh recipes: Instant Pot Chicken Adobo.
If you’re unfamiliar with Chicken Adobo, here’s the lowdown:
It’s a popular Filipino recipe that normally involves marinating chicken for several hours in a crazy good sweet, salty, tangy, garlicky sauce before cooking. It’s great served with a side of rice and garnished with some thinly sliced green onions.
With traditional Chicken Adobo recipes, you need to marinate the chicken for a few hours. But with the Instant Pot, there’s no need to marinate. The other bonus of making this in the Instant Pot? It all happens in one pot, so you have minimal dishes to wash. Hooray, Instant Pot!
What type of chicken should you use to make Adobo Chicken in the Instant Pot?
I’m a big fan of using boneless, skinless chicken thighs rather than breasts when using the Instant Pot. I’ve mentioned this before, like when I made chili lime chicken in the Instant Pot. The thighs are just a lot juicier and don’t dry out as easily when cooked under pressure. Sure, the chicken breasts are a little better for you. But especially for this recipe, the dark meat adds a little extra flavor and richness that holds up well to the strong flavors in the Adobo sauce.
Trust me. Use the thighs.
How to make Adobo Chicken in the Instant Pot
- Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, and place them in the Instant Pot with a little vegetable oil on the bottom.
- Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot with the chicken thighs. Then lock the lid on and cook under high pressure for 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of natural pressure release.
- After the cooking cycle, remove the lid and use the sauté setting to simmer the sauce to thicken it. Keep stirring the chicken in the sauce while you’re simmering it to make sure it’s well coated and not sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Keep simmering for about 15-20 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and thickened, and it turns a deep golden brown color.
Serve on rice and sprinkle with sliced green onions if you’d like.
A Filipino chicken recipe with an addictive garlicky, salty and tangy sauce.
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 5 cloves garlic (peeled and quartered)
- 2 bay leaves
- cooked rice for serving
- sliced green onions (optional, for topping)
-
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Pour the oil into the Instant Pot to coat the bottom and place the chicken in the pot. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic and bay leaves.
-
Lock the Instant Pot lid and set the pressure valve to sealed position. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then switch the pressure valve open to release any remaining steam.
-
Using the sauté setting, bring the sauce to a boil for about 15-20 minutes, stirring the chicken frequently to coat in the sauce and keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. The sauce will thicken and will become a dark golden brown. Remove the bay leaves and discard them.
-
Serve on a bed of rice and sprinkle with with sliced green onions if desired.
The nutritional value is approximate and may vary based on your ingredients.
Yum!
Would I have the same cook time if I wanted to sub for chicken breasts instead of thighs?
I know you said use thighs, but my husband is picky lol
I hear ya! I have a picky one here in my house too. 🙂
Yes, you could definitely use breasts, though I’d have to do a little testing to see what time works best. But as a starting point, this is what I usually use for timing on chicken breasts: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-chicken-breast-in-the-instant-pot-256180 Most often, I cook breasts on high for 10 minutes and then immediately release the pressure at the end of the cooking cycle. But since this recipe also has some additional simmering time after pressure cooking, you might not need the full 10 minutes of pressure cooking. I suspect that maybe 8 or 9 minutes on high pressure would do the trick to make sure they don’t get overdone… and then just make sure to keep simmering it until they’re fully cooked.