Filipino Adobo
Filipino Adobo features pork that’s slow cooked to fork-tender perfection in a medley of bold ingredients like soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and lots of fresh garlic. It’s so easy to make in just one pot and the flavor will blow you away!
Filipino Adobo
Filipino pork adobo is one of those dishes that never leaves your memory. Once you try it, you’ll be dreaming about it nonstop. At least that’s what happened to me! I knew as soon as I took my first bite of pork adobo that I needed to learn how to make it myself. After a few delicious trials, I’ve finally landed on what I think is the very best Filipino adobo recipe.
The keys to success here are in two extremely important elements – the low and slow cooking process and the combination of bold flavors. To really lock in the flavor, the pork is seared first to create a nice crust on the exterior. Then, it’s slow cooked for an hour and a half to two hours to finish cooking all the way through. The result is pork so tender you won’t even need a knife!
And the flavors? Swoon. You’ll need 12 cloves of garlic for this recipe – garlic lovers, this one is most certainly for you! Other ingredients like whole peppercorns, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar create the most mouthwatering combination of flavors. There’s also a whole chopped onion in the mix just to give another layer of satisfying texture and sweet, savory flavor!
How to Make Filipino Adobo
Take a quick look at how easy it is to make Filipino adobo! For more exact measurements and step by step instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Sear the pork. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and add it to the pot. You may need to work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pot. Cook until browned on both sides, then remove from the pot and set aside.
- Add the flavorful ingredients. Saute the onions. Add garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns to the pot. Cook just until the garlic turns a light golden color. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the soy sauce, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pot as you go. Stir in the vinegar. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.
- Slow cook the pork. Add the pork back into the pot and lower the heat to low. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half to two hours. Leave the lid slightly ajar so steam can escape. At the end of cook time, remove the lid entirely and cook for another 20 minutes or so.
- Enjoy! You can serve the pork, garlic and onions immediately with rice. For the best results though, store everything in the fridge overnight then reheat before serving.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you’ll need to make the very best pork adobo:
- Olive Oil – You can swap this with avocado oil if preferred.
- Pork – You’ll need pork shoulder that’s cut into even sized cubes. Try to make the pieces as uniform as possible so everything cooks evenly.
- Onion – It can be a white or yellow onion, either will work just fine.
- Salt – I recommend using kosher (coarse) salt, not iodized.
- Garlic – You’ll need fresh garlic cloves that are smashed! Smashing the cloves helps to release the most flavor. You can do this simply by using the blunt, flat side of a kitchen knife.
- Bay Leaves – Be sure to remove these before serving.
- Whole Peppercorns – Yes, they need to be whole for the very best flavor!
- Soy Sauce – I highly recommend using low sodium soy sauce. Tamari or coconut aminos also work just fine.
- Apple Cider Vinegar – This adds the best sweet, tangy note to the dish that really can’t be replicated by any other vinegar.
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Get the Recipe: Filipino Pork Adobo Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 lbs pork shoulder cut into cubes
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 12 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Equipment
- 1 dutch oven
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed, deep skillet over medium high heat.
- Season the pork on both sides with the salt.
- Place the pork in the pot, working in batches if necessary, and cook until browned, approximately 7-8 minutes.
- Flip the pork pieces over and cook until golden brown, an additional 4-5 minutes. Transfer the pork to a platter and repeat with the remaining pork.
- Add the onion and cook until slightly softened. Add the garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns to the pot and cook until the garlic turns a light golden color, approximately 20-30 seconds.
- Stir in the soy sauce and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of the pot.
- Add the vinegar. Increase to high heat and bring to a boil.
- Return the pork to the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours leaving the lid slightly ajar. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 10-20 minutes..
- Serve with rice or, for best results, store the pork in the refrigerator overnight and reheat before serving.
2 Comments on “Filipino Adobo”
Sounds good but when do you add the onion? And no other liquid is necessary other than soy sauce and vinegar? Can’t wait to try it.
Hi meg! I fixed the recipe to add the onion. And if you want to make it saucier, you can add chicken stock or beef stock as noted at the bottom of the recipe card. But, yes, those are the only liquids.