If you want the quintessential Filipino dish – cook adobo! This Pinoy Instant Pot Chicken Adobo takes only 15 minutes to cook and it’s the adobo recipe that yields a lot of adobo sauce that’s perfect to top on steamed rice. To cook chicken adobo in an Instant Pot pressure cooker, you can either dump all the adobo ingredients and cooked it altogether or you can also do the longer version which is to saute the garlic first and give the chicken pieces a quick sear on the Instant Pot before cooking it all together. I’ve cooked chicken adobo both ways and other times when I’m in such a rush, I even skip marinating. The difference is very subtle so it’s your call.
Filipino Adobo Recipe
Adobo is one of the most popular Filipino dishes and it’s made with either chicken or pork marinated in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns.
There are a lot of different Adobo Recipe variations – some adobo recipes have more soy sauce, others have more vinegar, some are dry, while others have a lot of sauce. If you love pouring the adobo sauce on the steamed rice, my Chicken Adobo Instant Pot Recipe yields a lot of adobo sauce.
This is the best chicken adobo recipe I’ve made so far. You’re going to love it whether you’re a Filipino or not. I added caramelized onion and lots of garlic which made the sauce even more delicious.
Instant Pot Chicken Adobo Recipe
Instant Pot Adobo Chicken Ingredients:
- 4 Chicken Thighs
- 1/4 cup White Vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar for this recipe)
- 1/3 cup soy sauce (I used Kikkoman Soy Sauce for this recipe)
- 1 whole Garlic, chopped
- 3 Bay leaf
- 2 tsp. Peppercorns
- 1 tbsp. Sugar
- 1/4 onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp. cooking oil
How to Cook Chicken Adobo in an Instant Pot
There are two ways to cook chicken adobo in an Instant Pot. The short way is I dump all the ingredients in the Instant pot, cover, seal, and cook it for 15 minutes on the “Poultry” mode. You can omit the cooking oil from the ingredients if you’re going to cook the adobo this way. Below is the longer method:
- Prepare all the ingredients.
- Marinade the chicken for at least 2 hours or overnight in the soy sauce, vinegar, some of the garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, and sugar. Sometimes, I don’t have the time to marinade, it still tasted great but it would be better to do so.
- Press the Saute button on the Instant Pot. Heat the cooking oil then saute the garlic in the Instant Pot until slightly brown. I do this to get the oil to taste & smell like garlic, make sure it doesn’t get burnt. Then set aside the garlic to put on top of the cooked chicken adobo later on. Warning: the house started to smell good! The toddler came and wanted to eat already.
- With the oil still hot in the Instant Pot, brown the chicken on both sides on saute mode.
- Set aside the chicken on a plate.
- Make sure to chop the onions well, after getting a bit teary-eyed from chopping, I took out my mini food processor. Haha.
- Saute the onion in the Instant Pot until translucent, then add in the marinade and topped it with the chicken (skin side up if using chicken thighs).
- Cover the Instant Pot, make sure the “Stem Release” is on the “Seal” position. Then cook it on the “Poultry” mode for 15 minutes. Once done, open the lid, place the chicken on a plate or bowl of steam rice. Reduce the sauce in the Instant Pot by putting it on saute mode for 5-10 minutes to make it a little thicker before pouring over your chicken.
More Instant Pot Filipino Recipes:
- Kare-Kare Instant Pot Recipe
- Pinakbet Instant Pot Recipe
- Arroz Caldo Instant Pot Recipe
- Sinigang na Baboy Instant Pot Recipe
- Beef Shank Bulalo Instant Pot Recipe
- Instant Pot Chicken Papaya Soup
- Pinoy Chicken Curry Recipe
- Chicken Afritada Instant Pot Recipe
- Beef Caldereta Instant Pot Recipe

Chicken Adobo Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Thighs or 8 Chicken Drumsticks (I prefer chicken thighs)
- 1/4 cup White Vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar for this recipe)
- 1/3 cup soy sauce (I combined Kikkoman Soy Sauce for this recipe)
- 1 whole Garlic, chopped or crushed
- 3 Bay leaf
- 2 tsp. Whole Peppercorns
- 1 tbsp. Sugar
- 1/4 whole onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp. cooking oil
Instructions
1. Prepare all the ingredients.
2. Marinade the chicken for at least 2 hours or overnight in soy sauce, vinegar, half of the garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and sugar. I honestly didn’t have enough time to marinade and cooked it right away. It still tasted great but it would be better to do so.
3. Press the SAUTE button on the Instant Pot. Add oil and once heated, saute the garlic and onion until fragrant then press CANCEL.
4. Pour the marinade and arrange all the chicken pieces in the Instant Pot to create a single layer on the bottom of the pot. Skin side up if using chicken thigh.
5. Cover the Instant Pot, make sure the “Steam Release” on the Instant Pot lid is in the “Sealing” position then cook press POULTRY and set it to 15 minutes cooking time.
6. Once the Instant Pot is done cooking, do a quick release (to release the steam) before opening the lid.
7. Place the chicken pieces in a serving bowl or plate then pour the sauce on top. You may reduce the sauce in the Instant Pot by putting it on SAUTE mode for 5-10 minutes to make it a little thicker before pouring over your chicken.
Notes
Note: I reduce the onion from 1 whole to 1/4. I also reduce the cooking oil from 2 tbsp to 1 tbsp.
How to use the Instant Pot to cook Filipino Recipes
Instant Pot is a pressure cooker and is one of the best selling products for many years now. I’m not one to go with fads but I was given one and was kinda forced to use it. I was scared of it at first and was unsure I’d use it coz I never really like my slow cooker and gave it away.
The Instant Pot is the opposite of slow, it makes cooking fast and since it is sealed, you can leave your cooking then come back.
Unlike the old pressure cooker, it has different settings so you can cook poultry, soup, rice, meat/stew, porridge, and you can even steam in it.
Instant Pot Vent
You have the option to put all the ingredients inside the Instant Pot and cook it together without using the saute mode especially with soups but if you want to brown the meat first, that option is available too! Just make sure to set the vent to the “seal” position and release the steam once your food is cooked before opening the lid.
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