Grilled Adobo Chicken
Posted: 05/16/23
Updated: 04/03/25
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With a marinade of soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes, this juicy grilled adobo chicken recipe has all the flavors and delicious umami of the popular Filipino dish. The grill gives the protein a wonderful smoky flavor that embraces the rest of the dish beautifully, making this a great choice for any cookouts, potlucks, or laid-back summer evenings.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This grilled adobo chicken is packed with flavors. It’s savory, garlicky, and so satisfying bite after bite. Grilling the chicken highlights the sweetness of the marinade, and adds beautiful charred grilled mark resulting in moist and juicy meat.
- It’s a great dish to make for your next barbecue! Make the easy marinade earlier in the day, and let the chicken soak up all the flavors so it’s ready to be grilled for the pleasure of all your guests. It requires minimal efforts, and you most likely already have the ingredients in your pantry. Pair it with rice, veggies like mushrooms, and squash and a side salad like this cucumber tomato salad.
Chef’s Tips
- For the juiciest and most flavorful chicken, let it marinate for at least 2 hours but ideally even longer, up to 12 hours.
- While the recipe calls for chicken breasts, you can use any cuts for this recipe. Chicken thighs, cutlets, drumsticks, or a combination of all of them would work beautifully. Cooking time will vary slightly per the size of the chicken cuts, but using a internal meat thermometer until it reads 165° Fahrenheit is the most foolproof way to end up with perfectly cooked chicken. And always let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
- Make sure your grill is preheated and ready to go before adding the adobo chicken to get those gorgeous grill marks. Grill it over indirect heat to prevent burning.
Grill Recipes Perfect for Warm Weather
- Achiote Chicken
- Grilled Broccolini
- Smoked Chicken Legs
- Grilled Cauliflower
- Smoked Asparagus
- Jerk Chicken Alfredo
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Grilled Adobo Chicken
Tender chicken breasts are marinated in a blend of soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and spices, then grilled to smoky perfection.
servings
Ingredients
For the Adobo Marinade
- ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup rice vinegar
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar or coconut sugar, or Brown Swerve
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional, more or less to taste
- 1-2 green onions sliced, plus more for garnish
For the Chicken
- 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts approximately 2 pounds total; equally sized
Equipment
- medium mixing bowl
- whisk
- large sealable food-safe plastic bag
- Grill or indoor grill pan
- Tongs
- Internal meat thermometer
- large plate
Instructions
- Add ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce, ⅓ cup rice vinegar, 6 cloves garlic, 2-3 bay leaves, ½ teaspoon whole peppercorns, 2 teaspoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, and 1-2 green onions to medium mixing bowl. Whisk well until ingredients are fully incorporated. Set aside.
- Place equally-sized chicken breasts in sealable food-safe bag. Pour marinade into bag, covering chicken completely, then seal bag while removing as much air as possible.
- Gently massage chicken through bag until each chicken breast is completely covered in marinade. Place sealed bag in refrigerator and marinate chicken at least 1 hour, but no more than 12 hours.
- Toward end of marinating team, preheat grill to medium-high, approximately 375° to 400° Fahrenheit. Once grill is preheated, use tongs to remove chicken breasts from marinade, shaking any excess marinade back into bag. Place chicken breasts directly on grill over indirect heat.
- Grill chicken, uncovered, 7 to 10 minutes or until chicken is golden-brown on bottom. Carefully flip chicken breasts over and grill 7 to 10 minutes more, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 160° Fahrenheit when checked with internal meat thermometer.
- Once temperature is reached, carefully remove chicken from grill and transfer to large plate. Set chicken aside to rest 5 minutes, then slice chicken and serve warm with desired sides.
Notes
- Cook times will vary depending on size and thickness of chicken breasts.
- Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten-free soy sauce, or replace the soy sauce with lite tamari or coconut aminos.
- Make it Keto: Replace the brown sugar with Brown Swerve.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 361kcal | Protein: 52g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Total Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Net Carbs: 5g | Vitamin C: 5mg | Cholesterol: 145mg | Sodium: 1416mg | Potassium: 999mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 2mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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