Chicken Adobo | Best Adobo Chicken Taco Recipe

Adobo Chicken Tacos have become a favorite in our household. I'm showing you how we make this flavorful adobo chicken recipe that's also dynamite on top of a bed of greens for an awesome salad.

I can't tell you how many times I walked by adobo sauce in the supermarket wondering what exactly you do with it. I'm not super inventive when it comes to cooking, but thankfully my husband is. He came home with a bottle of adobo sauce a few months ago with an idea for chicken adobo tacos. I told him to have at it. The end result was so delicious that I asked him to make it again a few days later. I was SOLD on adobo!

What is Adobo Sauce?

Well, it turns out Abodo is actually a technique and it hails from the Philippines. It involves using pantry staples, like vinegar and salt, to create a marinade that usually coats chicken or pork overnight. Then, the meat is simmered slowly until it's fully cooked. The meat is then usually browned before serving. It's been said that this technique started before refrigeration was available because the vinegar and salt mixture would preserve the meat.

Adobo is also a seasoning or sauce. It's derived from the Spanish word adobar, which means marinade. Marinating meats in vinegar, salt, and other seasonings was already quite commonplace in Spanish cooking, so adobo was coined to describe the method. Now, the term is usually used to refer to the sauce. It usually contains paprika (which gives it a bold, red coloring), chipotle chiles, and other flavors like vinegar, salt, garlic, and oregano.

Adobo Chicken

Since we don't eat a lot of pork, my husband thought he'd create a recipe for adobo chicken that we could use to create tacos. We already had a lot of the ingredients on hand, so this was actually quite easy to make. You just want to be sure to give it plenty of time to marinate; preferably overnight.

If you're wondering which brand of Adobo Sauce to use, my husband prefers this one. You can probably find it in your local grocery store, or on Amazon.

Making the adobo marinade is really quite simple. Just use a blender to mix the sauce, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, and lime. Freshly squeezed lime juice definitely helps to brighten the flavor. Be sure to reserve a bit of the sauce so you can add it at the end of cooking.

Giving the chicken plenty of time to absorb all that flavor is key. Try to marinate your adobo chicken for at least 4 hours if you can, but overnight would be best.

I like to grill the chicken, but you could also cook it on the stove. Once it's all done, grab some Queso Fresco and some tortilla shells. I also like to top this with my Mexican Slaw recipe. It gives it such an awesome flavor!

5 from 3 votes

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Adobo Chicken Tacos

This Adobo chicken recipe is packed with flavor! 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Adobo Sauce
• 1 Vidalia onion chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic minced
• 1 handful Cilantro add to tastef
• 1 Lime (juice only)
• 1 pound Chicken butterflied, coated in olive oil
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil to coat chicken

Instructions

1. Create a marinade by adding all ingredients (except chicken) to a blender and blending until smooth. 

   Reserve ¼ to ½ cup of the marinade to add at the end.

   Coat chicken in olive oil, then marinate it in adobo sauce mixture for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight). 

   Add all to blender and blend until smooth

   Grill your chicken, then slice it and saute on the stovetop to coat it in the sauce. Or, you can simply saute it on the stove (medium-high at first, then turn the temperature down until it's cooked through). 

   Serve with corn tortillas and Queso Fresco. We also like to top this with Mexican Slaw. 

Be sure to also check out our Mexican Slaw recipe to top your adobo chicken tacos! Enjoy!