Dad's Instant Pot Chicken Adobo Recipe was developed because his wife is from the Philippines, and Filipino Chicken Adobo is a family favorite meal.
Dad has put his own little spin on this traditional dish. The first thing Dad does differently is he cooks his in the Instant Pot. Using the instant pot makes the process a little faster, easier and sacrifices none of the real Filipino flavor.
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Why use the Instant Pot?
Dad learned how to cook Adobo from his Mother in law, and he cooks a pretty good authentic version. Unfortunately, it takes quite a bit of time to cook the chicken and Dad gets impatient. The Instant Pot is perfect for a recipe like adobo, where the meat needs to be broken down and tenderized over time. Where it would normally take about an hour to cook the chicken, the instant pot does it in about half that.
What does "Crispy Style" mean?
In the traditional Filipino recipe, the final dish is very much a braised texture with a soft skin on the chicken. Dad likes his skin crispier, so he does what has been dubbed a "reverse fry". Once the Adobo is done cooking in the instant pot Dad removes the chicken and pats it dry. Dad then takes the chicken and fries it in some vegetable oil until the skin turns a nice golden brown.
While the chicken is frying, Dad is reducing down the sauce in the instant pot. The result is 100% adobo, but a little bit different. If you want a more traditional Filipino Chicken Adobo then eat it straight out of the Instant Pot and skip the reverse fry.
How to Make Dad's Crispy Style Chicken Adobo
Dad's Crispy Style Chicken Adobo is a pretty simple recipe. Season the chicken with garlic powder, onion powder & salt. Add all of the ingredients except the oil to the Instant Pot. There is no need to use the trivet or do anything special. Just put everything in the instant pot, put the lid on and set the float on sealing. With everything loaded in the instant pot select the manual setting and 8 minutes.
Release, dry and fry.
When the Instant Pot beeps let it sit for 10 minutes. This is called a "natural release". This will help keep the chicken tender. After 10 minutes has elapsed release the remaining pressure. Remove the chicken and pat it dry. This is an important step. A wet exterior will pop and splatter a lot more.
The moisture on the exterior will also not let it get nice and crispy like we want. After you have removed the chicken set the instant pot to the sauté normal setting. This will simmer the sauce and reduce it.
Set a deep side pan over medium high heat. Add about 1 inch of oil to the pan and let it reach 350 degrees. When the oil is at temperature fry the chicken until golden brown. Take your wonderfully crispy chicken and pour all of that lovely sauce that has been reducing over it. Enjoy with a side of garlic fried rice and you have an awesome meal on your hands.
INSTANT POT CHICKEN ADOBO
Equipment
- Instant Pot - Electric Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pkg Chicken Pieces (legs, thighs, wings) You can use as much as fits in the Instant Pot. We do 3 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings
- ½ cup White Vinegar
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic You can do 2 tablespoon or even 3 depending on how garlicky you like it.
- 4 Bay Leaves
- 1 tablespoon Black Peppercorns (mildly crushed)
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder If you want to have your adobo be more traditional you can omit the onion powder.
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil Enough for ¼ inch of oil in your pan.
- 3 stalks Green onions This is mainly just for garnish, if you want to have your adobo be more traditional you can omit the onion powder.
Instructions
- Season the chicken with the garlic powder, onion powder and salt. I keep a mix of the Garlic/Onion Powder Salt mixture in a shaker and use and sprinkle it all over.
- Add all of the ingredients except the oil to the instant pot.
- Close the lid of Instant Pot and set the toggle to sealing.
- Cook on manual for 8 minutes
- After the Instant Pot Beeps let it set for 10 minutes. This is called a "natural release".
- Remove the chicken and pat dry.
- Turn instant pot to sau·té medium and allow the sauce to reduce for about 10-15 minutes. You want it to reduce by about ½.
- You can now take the sauce from the instant pot and pour it over your chicken and eat it if you want or you can proceed to the next instruction to make it "crispy style". I recommend you do "crispy".
- Heat up about ¼ inch of oil in a deep sided pan.
- Once oil hits 350 degrees fry chicken until golden brown.
- Pour the reduced sauce from the Instant Pot over your browned chicken.
- Garnish with diced green onions and ENJOY!
Video
Nutrition
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What is Traditional Filipino Chicken Adobo?
I think most people who are unaware of Filipino food think of Adobo as they yellow seasoning that is "good on everything" according to the jar. However, Filipino chicken adobo is actually a vinegary, salty concoction that can be cooked in many ways. It is basically the national dish of the Philippines. It is a dish that everyone seems to have their own "correct" recipe for. Like many of the Filipino dishes it varies by region, town and family member who cooks it. The basic ingredients you will always find in Adobo are garlic, vinegar and soy sauce.
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You will need a side to go with your Instant Pot Chicken Adobo.
If Chicken Adobo was Batman, then Garlic Fried Rice would be Robin. You need to have Robin so you might as well check out Dad's Recipe for Filipino Garlic Fried Rice to go with it while you are at it. Make it a truly Filipino meal!
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