Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo – chicken pieces are cooked in a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, vinegar, ginger and spices for a flavor-packed slow cooker dinner.
I’m going to keep this short today because I took the day off of work so that I could clean my house (I know, I’m kind of a dork) and I want to spend as much time as I can doing that. Plus, I am working on some doughnuts in the kitchen right now! This is why it would be bad if I didn’t have to go to work every day – I would end up baking and cooking all day long and gaining 200 pounds!
For the first recipe from this book, I chose the Chicken Adobo. I’ll admit that I chose it mainly for the picture, because it looks really tasty in the picture in the book. And I struggle with making my food photos look good anyway, and slow cooker recipes are especially hard in my opinion. So, since the photo in the book looked so good, it gave me hope! Well, I had to cheat a little on the recipe to try to make it look somewhat appetizing, but the change I did made an impact on the final dish, and it was a good impact!!
A whole chicken, cut up, is cooked all day in a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and a few other ingredients. The photo in the book shows the chicken with a nice brown glaze on the final chicken, but when my chicken was finished cooking, it did not have that shiny glaze on it. It just looked like chicken that had been cooking all day. I was tempted to just eat it and not take a photo, but then an idea came to me. I took the chicken out, put it on a plate, and set it in the oven on the lowest heat to keep the chicken warm. I took all of the liquid out of the slow cooker (which was a lot) and put it in a saucepan and set it on the stove over medium heat. I left it to reduce down, which took quite some time, but then I had a nice sauce to pour down over the chicken. My final dish still did not look much like the photo in the book, but it was much better. And the extra flavor that the concentrated sauce gave the chicken was amazing!! I don’t think it would have had as much “zing” to it if I wouldn’t have reduced the sauce.
The final verdict? I loved this chicken. It was full of flavor, and extremely tender. It fell right off the bones. The one thing I am learning about cooking in a slow cooker is that you have to get to know your particular slow cooker. I just received this larger one for Christmas, and it cooks a bit hotter than my last one. This recipe said to cook for 6 to 8 hours, but mine was perfect at about 5 1/2 hours. But this recipe is marked to be made again – especially for when I need to just throw something together in the morning!
Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo
Ingredients
- 1 3-lb frying chicken, skinned and cut into serving pieces
- 5 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh peeled ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- Green onions sliced, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the chicken pieces in the slow cooker. Add the garlic, bay leaves, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, ginger, peppercorns and brown sugar and toss all to coat. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and chicken stock together. Pour over chicken and mix gently.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 – 7 hours (or until chicken is cooked through). Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and keep warm.
- Take the remaining liquid and put it in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until reduced to half. Pour over reserved chicken. Garnish with green onions and serve at once.
White On Rice Couple says
Adobo is so wonderful and comforting. All my Philippina customers make it for me, I’m so spoiled. I never have to make it because there’s always a homemade batch waiting! Great pictures!
Abby says
That sounds so awesome. I’m a fan of good slow-cooker food, and chicken usually comes out really great!
Ben says
Hmmm sounds delicious. This adobo is the Philippino version, right? In Mexico we have adobo, too, but it is different than this.
It looks really delicious, I will have to go out and buy that book!
glamah16 says
I love chicken adobo. I made it for a friends large luau once. It is bland looking but the flavor is awesome. I like your browning technique. Looking forward to more !
Cakespy says
Oooh…what a perfect way to work up an appetite for those doughnuts!! Looks delicious and hearty.
Emiline says
You made this look really, really good. That was a smart idea to reduce the sauce.
I’m not so good at taking apart a chicken, myself. I think I could do it, but it would take me a little while.
Happy cleaning!
KJ says
Congrats to Gourmet Slow Cooker Volume II! A great victory. This dish looks delicious. I wish I could tuck into it right now.
Deborah says
Mary,
I used a chicken that was already cut up. That’s what I used!
Mary says
Oh yummy! Thanks for posting such a delicious looking recipe! I’m going to have to try it. I wonder if it can be made with one of those cut up chicken packets instead of actually cutting up the chicken myself…
Astra Libris says
This looks and sounds delicious! Hooray for slow cookers!
chou says
Oh, I can’t wait to share this post with a friend. She’s just getting into slow cooking. 🙂 Thanks!
Tracy says
Looks wonderful! When I saw adobo, I thought it would be very spicy but it doesn’t look like it will be. I may have to dust off the slow cooker and try it.
Cynthia says
I’m coming over, set a place for me.
A scientist in the kitchen says
Glad you like the adobo, it’s one of our national dish in the Philippines! We don’t use a slow cooker, though.
Denise Knight says
It doesn’t look like the adobo my sister-in-law cooks. She is from the Philippines. Take hers and put in crock pot and in well be the most wonderful think you have ever tasted. Do for the rice! humm hmu great.
Katerina says
Which one do you have again? I totally should know this but I can’t remember. This looks good, this recipe was on my list to make too but at 5 1/2 hours it isn’t something I can leave in while I am at work. I will have to take the day off to clean too evidently.
Bellini Valli says
I had a feeling this book would win out as well. My slow cooker languishes in the back of the cupboard waiting to be reborn 😀