Pork Adobo is the pride of the Philippines – one bite and you’ll be hooked! Meltingly tender pork is slow cooked until fall-apart in an intense soy-garlic sauce that reduces down to a glaze, then served over steaming rice. This is food so good yet so simple to make, you’ll be shaking your head in disbelief.
The Filipino are genius!
Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines, and they have every reason to be proud of it! It’s a dish comprised of pork chunks braised in a garlic-soy flavoured liquid that reduces down into an intense flavoured glaze-like sauce. The pork is fork-tender, stained a rich mahogany colour, and when it’s served over a pile of hot steamed rice, you’ll understand why this is a national treasure.
At its heart, it’s a simple, homely dish, and therein lies the genius – that something so easy with so few ingredients can be so incredible. It’s a one-pot recipe that’s hands-off, and the sauce just calls for pantry staples – soy, garlic, onion, vinegar, sugar, pepper and bay leaves.
Oh, and pork! 😅
Recipe credit goes to my brother Goh – RecipeTin’s tech wizard and ace of world food recipe development! He’s sacrificed his waistline eating his way through countless Adobos in the Philippines and Sydney, in pursuit of creating our perfect Pork Adobo I’ve been chasing for years.
tell me about filipino adobo!
Adobo is the national dish of the Philippines, and the country’s best-known food export. There are actually many dishes called “adobo” in the Philippines – some have coconut milk, some are soupy while others are dry-style and glazed, like my Chicken Adobo, a long standing reader favourite and probably the type of Adobo most people outside the Philippines are familiar with.
What pork adobo tastes like – The classic and most common adobo is made with the key ingredients of soy, vinegar and a touch of sugar. Like many traditional foods, Adobo is one of those dishes where every household makes it their own way, to their own tastes, and today’s version is how we like it. We prefer Adobo with a more rounded flavour where it’s mostly savoury with just enough vinegar for brightness without being overly sour (some restaurant are so sour!) and not too sweet (again, some restaurants are tooth-achingly sweet!).
The Adobo sauce has an intense flavour which is the way it’s supposed to be: on the stronger side but without being overly salty. The idea is you eat Adobo with plenty of rice and serve with modest amounts of sauce rather than drowning your rice in sauce.
Ingredients in Pork Adobo
Here’s what you need to make Pork Adobo. I bet you’ve got all the sauce ingredients in your pantry right now! Pineapple is optional – read below for background (yes, some Filipino recipes have it!).
Pork meat – Pork belly is the most common cut used for pork adobo, but I personally prefer pork shoulder for the same fall-apart-juicy meat but less fatty. Shank/knuckle or forequarter chop meat also works really well. Pork neck/scotch is excellent too but reduce simmering time to 1 hour (it doesn’t need slow cooking as long).
Cut the pork shoulder into large 6 – 7cm / 2.5″ cubes. Larger is better so they don’t become “fall-apart” too quickly. Longer and slower cook = more tender, juicier meat and better flavour in the sauce.
Other proteins – Yes, this recipe can be used for other slow cooking proteins. See FAQ! For chicken, use my Chicken Adobo recipe.
Soy sauces – The light soy sauce is the primary soy used here which adds salt and umami without an overwhelming soy flavour. The dark soy sauce darkens the colour of the sauce to almost black. Dark soy is quite intense so we don’t need much – only 1 1/2 teaspoons.
You can substitute the dark soy with more light soy sauce, but don’t substitute the light soy with dark soy sauce because it will too dark and too intense, it will ruin the dish! More about difference soy sauces here.
Brown sugar – This provides the sweetness in the sauce. White sugar can be used instead though brown is better because it adds a smidge of caramel-y flavour. Honey can also be substituted but reduce quantity to 2 1/2 tablespoons.
Rice vinegar – The addition of vinegar is what makes adobo unique and distinctly Filipino. It adds backbone and sharpens the sauce, but in a rounded way as the long braising softens the acidity. Feel free to use other kinds of vinegar. White wine, apple cider, or plain old white vinegar will all work. Vinegars can vary a lot in their intensity, amongst types as well as even brands. So start with the amount per the recipe, then taste towards the end of cooking. If you prefer a little more sharpness, you can add a teaspoon at a time to taste.
Some adobos are deliberately quite tangy, but we prefer a gentler acidity. We use just enough to bring brightness without being overly sour. We sampled some from restaurants that were so sour, we found it was too much and difficult to eat!
Black peppercorns – Whole peppercorns are traditional but not essential in my view. If you don’t like biting into whole peppercorns (I personally love the spicy pops!), you can either add a good pinch of ground black pepper, or leave it out.
Pineapple – Dear Filipinos, I know, I know. This is NOT a very common ingredient in traditional pork adobo. However I saw it included in a few modern versions and frankly, after trying it I fell in love with it as an addition. It provides a delicious sweet and fresh counterpoint to the richly-flavoured pork and sauce, not to mention some welcome colour to what is otherwise a uniformly brown dish (no shade at brown dishes, of course!!)
If you can get your hands on freshly cut pineapple of course that’s best. Otherwise, canned pineapple does a perfectly acceptable job and is what I use. I like bigger chunks cut from rings, but smaller pre-cut pieces will also do fine if that’s all you have.
Bay leaves – You wouldn’t think of bay leaves as having a place in South East Asian cooking! This is a legacy of the Spanish colonial influence on Filipino cuisine. They’re optional if you don’t have any. Fresh is better if you can (it’s an excellent low-maintenance plant, if you want to grow your own!), else dried is fine.
Water – Not shown. Sorry. Because I know you’ve got some! (I’m talking regular tap water here, not a fancy hard-to-find Filipino water!)
How to make pork adobo
It’s an incredibly low-effort recipe. More national dishes need to be this hands-off! 😁
Sear – Using a large heavy based pot, sear the pork in two batches over high heat until nicely golden all over. Take about 4 minutes to do each batch, turning as needed to sear each side and get some nice golden colour on it. Remove to a bowl and reserve residual fat in the pot.
Sauté the onion until it softens, adding the garlic towards the end.
Braising liquid – Add the water, soy sauces, vinegar, sugar, bay leaves and peppercorns. Return the pork and any meat juices accumulated in the bowl to the liquid. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat so the liquid is simmering gently (ie. a few slow-ish bubbles, not rapid small bubbles). More gentle heat = more gentle cooking = more succulent meat.
Slow cook 1 1/2 hours – Partially cover the pot with a lid – by this, I mean place the lid on off centre to leave a crack about 2cm / 1″ – and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours or until the pork is tender and can easily be pried apart. If it’s still not tender, keep simmering until it is!
Proof of fall apart pork!
Remove the pork with a slotted spoon (it’s ok if the onion stays).
Reduce sauce – Then increase the heat and boil the sauce to reduce down to about 1 1/2 cups (375 ml), about 8 minutes. The exact time this takes will vary, it depends on how much liquid you start with, strength of stove etc.
Adobo sauce thickness and flavour – It should be like a thin syrup, it won’t thicken, with an intense flavour – this is the way it’s supposed to be. The idea is you eat adobo with plenty of rice and serve with modest amounts of sauce rather than drowning your rice in sauce.
Serve – Add the pork and pineapple into the reduced sauce and stir for a few minutes just to heat through. Then over jasmine rice, garnished with green onions!
How and what to serve with Pork Adobo
With Pork Adobo, the idea is: lots of steaming rice on your plate, a modest amount of that intense flavoured sauce, and pieces of pork that you break so it “falls apart” before scooping up with a spoon for maximum flavour in every bite. In the Philippines, fork-and-spoon eating is the norm – perfect for Adobo eating!
I’ve used plain jasmine rice here, but any rice works, and garlic fried rice (sinangag) is a popular upgrade – – here’s my garlic rice recipe, not strictly Filipino but similar flavour.
Add something fresh to cut the richness – smashed cucumbers is always a winner, plain undressed tomato and cucumber wedges (very South East Asian), my trusty Asian Side Salad or a crunchy Asian Slaw (the freshness of the mint would be lovely with Pork Adobo!).
Enjoy! – Nagi x
FAQ – Pork Adobo
Yes – this is a traditional pork adobo. It uses the classic core ingredients you’ll find in the most common Filipino versions: pork, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, onion, sugar, black pepper, and bay leaves. The method is also authentic – browning the meat, then slow-braising it until tender while the sauce reduces to a glossy glaze.
However, we do opt to use pork shoulder which, though used in the Philippines, is not as common as pork belly. And our version also includes pineapple which isn’t strictly old-school traditional though you do see it in some modern versions (we tried it with and without and there’s no question – we love it with pineapple!).
Yes. The method in this recipe is ideal for any slow-cooking cut of meat and is easy to adapt – just braise per the recipe until the meat is fork tender, take it out, then reduce the sauce. I think pork is the best for the sauce flavour, though beef would also be lovely and actually, I think it would be nice with lamb too – the strong meat flavour will hold up to the intense flavoured sauce quite well!
If you’re thinking chicken, use my Chicken Adobo recipe – it cooks much faster, in a pan instead of a pot.
Not recommended for this one unfortunately. It’s such a simple sauce, and watery one at that, so getting the flavour relies on the caramelisation you get during the slow cooking stage on the surface and edges of the liquid which then intensifies when the sauce is reduced. I know that in a slow cooker this would really lack depth of flavour.
This recipe was created by my brother Goh – RecipeTin’s resident tech wizard and, unofficially, our king of world food recipe development. While he’s the brains behind everything IT for RecipeTin Eats and RecipeTin Meals, he’s equally obsessive about food. He’s the kind of person who will try his hand at Thomas Keller’s butter-poached lobster, tediously pick crab meat for from-scratch ravioli, can read and understand menus in 12 different languages, and famously spent most of his twenties saving to dine at a fancy restaurant once a year.
His favourite sport is hunting down Sydney’s best hole-in-the-wall joints (his live food map is a thing of legend) and he’s also the guy who unapologetically balances all that appreciation of beautiful food with an equally profound appreciation of the Golden Arches and Colonel Sanders.😅
When it comes to traditional Asian recipes, Goh is my go-to for fact-checking, tasting, or developing recipes entirely from scratch – as with this Pork Adobo. Knowing I’d been wanting to share “our perfect Adobo” for years, he ate his way through countless versions when he recently visited the Philippines, then more here in Sydney (some so unappealing they were almost educational – sauces too thick, too sour, too sweet, meat too dry). Those less-than-perfect meals shaped exactly what we didn’t want, and it didn’t take long for Goh and JB to nail a version that was everything we did want – savoury, balanced, fall-apart tender pork, and a sauce just intense enough.
The real fun was in the development process – heated WhatsApp debates, shuttling samples between houses, rushing over a freshly made batch because “you have to try it while it’s hot!”, and lengthy arguments about sauce reduction (“Can a sauce be too intense?” – yes there is such a thing, we decided). It’s that mix of Goh’s technical precision, culinary curiosity, and love of flavour that made this Pork Adobo working with JB and I that led to this recipe – the perfect Pork Adobo I’d always dreamed of sharing!
Much of the recipe was created based our general knowledge we’ve garnered over the years about Adobo and from the Chicken Adobo I shared some years ago. As a mention in the above FAQ, it’s not a hard recipe (there’s not that many ingredients in Adobo!), it’s just about balancing the flavours to achieve the perfect balance.
Whenever we share particularly traditional recipes, we do extensively scour the internet to see “what others are doing”, more out of general interest and observe common themes. The recipes we mostly referenced are:
Book – “I Am Filipino, This Is How We Cook”
As noted above, we also got samples from Sydney restaurants but I don’t want to name them because neither were very good, I’m sad to report.
Goh also tried adobos from various locations in Manila, including street markets and popular traditional Filipino restaurants.
Watch how to make it
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Pork Adobo
Ingredients
- 1 kg/ 2 lb pork shoulder (the parts ribboned with fat not lean parts), skinless, cut into 6cm/2.5" cubes – or belly (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil , or any other neutral flavoured oil
- 1 large onion , cut in half then 0.8″ / 1/3″ wedges
- 8 cloves garlic , finely sliced
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce , sub regular/all-purpose soy (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar (sub regular white vinegar)
- 3 tbsp (tightly packed) brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns , can omit (Note 3)
- 5 bay leaves , preferably fresh, dried ok too
Optional pineapple (Note 4):
- 6 pineapple rings , each cut into 8 pieces, from canned pineapple in juice not syrup, or 2 cups fresh pineapple pieces
- 2 tsp vegetable oil , or any other neutral flavoured oil
Garnish/serving:
- 1 green onion , finely sliced
- 2 batches jasmine rice , or any other rice of choice (garlic rice would be amazing!)
Instructions
ABBREVIATED:
- Brown pork, remove, sauté onion and garlic, add everything else. Return pork, bring to boil, slow cook 1 1/2 hours until fall-apart. Caramelise pineapple pieces. Remove pork, reduce sauce to 1 1/2 cups (375 ml), stir in pork and caramelised pineapple until warmed. Serve over rice!
FULL RECIPE:
- Sear pork – Heat the oil in a large heavy based pot over high heat. Sear half the pork until golden all over – about 4 minutes – then remove into a bowl. Repeat with remaining pork, add to the bowl.
- Sauté – Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion, cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute until the onion is softened.
- Braising liquid – Add water, soy sauces, vinegar, sugar, peppercorns and bay leaves. Stir. Add the pork back in, including any juices accumulated in the bowl.
- Slow cook 1 1/2 hours – Bring to a boil, then partially cover with a lid (leave a 2cm / 1" crack) and reduce the heat to low/medium low so the liquid is simmering very, very gently. (Note 4) Simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until the pork is fall-apart tender (keep simmering if not tender).
- Caramelise pineapple – While pork is simmering, heat the oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Spread the pineapple out in one layer and cook each side until golden, about 4 minutes each side (I use spatula + tongs to turn). Remove onto plate until required.
- Reduce sauce – Remove pork with a slotted spoon (onion etc doesn't matter when it's in or out). Increase heat to high and boil to reduce the liquid down to 1 1/2 cups – it will be a very thin syrup (it's not supposed to be thick), about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Coat pork – Reduce heat to low. Add the pork and pineapple pieces, plus any juices in the bowl. Stir gently to coat in the sauce and warm the pork through again.
- Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with green onion if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Ah. So this is what it feels like to be dethroned by your own darn dog.😅 Row, Row, Row (with Monsters) featuring Dozer takes over my own cookbooks in the charts – go Dozer, go!
For those who missed the exciting announcement on Friday, Dozer is starring in a children’s book written by Adam Simpson called Row, Row, Row your Boat (With Monsters). Pre-orders were announced last Friday, the book lands in stores (or on your doorstep!) on 11 November 2025, and the author is donating all his royalties to a food charity. 🥰 You understand now why it was an easy YES! when the author asked if I’d like to be involved!
Pork adobo and the co pany of Dozer, with a bowl of fresh steamed rice is all what I wish on a quiet night! Delicious…Thank you Nagi for the pinneaple, it will elevate the dish to this AI age!
Best! May
Hi Nagi! Long time (10+ years) fan of your blog! I’ve been looking for a good pork adobo recipe that uses pineapple – have tried a few others from the web but they just don’t hit the spot.
So imagine how excited I was to see yours! It’s already on my to-do list for next cookup.
I’m a big fan of waste-not. In your trials for the recipe, did any of them include using the pineapple juice from the can? I’ll give it a try and substitute for some of the sugar and water, but just wanted to check.
I have tried a mix of apple cider vinegar, Ching’s Kiang vinegar, and some Datu Puti cane vinegar. It’s so yummy and you can really taste the ching kiang touch vinegar
As a Filipino, idk why a lot of other Filos here on the comments keep saying it’s not how you make the “OG” Adobo when there’s literally loads of ways to do it and no one really gives a f whether you do it the right way or not lol some people even put boiled eggs on it when you’re not really supposed to but they still turn out yummy as!! Just fking cook this delicious recipe and get over it 💀 Anyways, I will be having this tonight but with pineapple juice instead as I usually do. Looking forward for more Filipino Recipes!
Nagi, could I cook this in my slow cooker?
The addition of pineapple reminds me of another Filipino dish called paksiw. This is very close to it. Sweet and sour.
Nagi is so innovative, and a twist is optional. Adobo is a dish that has different versions
I love Nagi’s recipes to bits but this made me skeptical. As a Filipino, this is a bit off the traditional recipe. I don’t know if this is even a regional variation. Adobo is as simple as it gets – only garlic, regular soy sauce (we don’t have light or dark), vinegar (has to be coconut), bay leaf, peppercorns and chicken or pork (or both). But maybe I will give this a try someday, but minus the pineapple 😉
Nagi, please thank your brother for his sacrifices in this recipe development. I also love that you added pineapple even though you stated it’s not a traditional ingredient in this recipe. You, your team, and family work so hard on giving us recipes that are delicious even if it means an atypical ingredient so we can keep impressing our friends and family with yummy food that comes out of your kitchen to ours. Thanks again!
If beef is substituted for the pork, is there a specific cut you’d recommend and if necessary, how would the time be altered? Thanks.
Any cut that is not too lean. You want some fat in it to give the sauce some richness as the it cooks. You can also add a little bit of oil if needed. Cooking low and slow hasn’t failed me. Usually about 2 hours for 3 lbs in a dutch oven. Good luck!
Love me some pork adobo! I personally put a whole head of garlic in mine! The pineapple addition sounds delicious but I will have to probably restrain not adding too much so as not to turn it into another Filipino dish with pineapple (afritada, Pineapple chicken etc)
Well I know what’s for dinner tonight! Thanks for what I’m sure will be another winner, Nagi.
Can this be done in the oven
can this be made in an instant pot? I’m a huge IP gal and would rather use that if it would work. thanks
unfortunately it’s not recommended per Nagi in the above article and also in FAQ section.
I don’t mean slow cooker-I mean instant pot (pressure cooker). I did see that in the FAQ about slow cookers.
Marca Pina or Silver Swan brand soy sauce & cane vinegar are the authentic Filipino ingredients, which can be easily found now in most Asian grocers in Australia. It really gives it that true Filipino flavour. However the recipes recommendations for soy sauce & vinegar work too!
Long wait is over! Finally Nagi discovers Filipino dishes & I am sat!! 😆 I have been waiting for this! I have yet to try your version. ☺️
But Nagi, I hope you’d be able to some more Filipino food such as Filipino beef steak, Kare-Kare, Bicol express, Pansit & Adobo (with gata/coconut). 🙂
I love you Nagi for cooking Filipino food. You know you have many Filo followers 🙂
Delighted to see this recipe we had this for lunch at our Godsons his wife is from the Phillipines .. it was fabulous along with other beautiful dishes .. looking forward to try this soon .. thank you
I just moved to Portugal (!) and have so far have found only general purpose soy sauce at the only grocery store close enough to walk to (no light or dark options).
Would using all multi-pupose (mid-level) soy sauce work?
Yes, it will still work! Just be mindful of the saltiness though. As different soy sauces have varying sodium levels.
Thank you, Marin!
Thankfully, my tastebuds run a little to the salty side!
That’s Pineapple Adobo, not traditional but a favourite too. Since this recipe is by you, it must be good so I will still try. You’re one of my favourite food blogger ❤️
I was given an adobo recipie in th 90’s by a filippino workmate (he wouldve been late 50’s early 60’s and exchanged this for my quiche recipe that hed never tasted before but i hrought some in for him) he wrote down the recipe as his wife made it/ dictated it. His recipe called for pork or chicken or pork and chicken, marinated in vinegar,salt, pepper bayleaf and oil i think overnight then cooked in the marinade (smelled yum) since then i have had other filippinos say to fry meat then add marinade etc everyone has their own way (and seem to poo poo any one elses😁-well back then anyway) its possible my friend left out a step as well, or his wife left it out on purpose🤔😁 this makes me hanker for adobo i might have a go at yours thankyou for sharing
What’s with the 1 star? Was that a mistake? Haha
Why did you rate it 1 star if you didn’t even make it? Accidentally, I hope?
I didnt rate it.i gave it,a 5 today to appease you😁
It was showing a 1 star review, which is why I read it. I figured it was an accidental click based on your message, so I figured I’d let you know. I’m sure Nagi appreciates you fixing it so the rating doesn’t get decreased. Thanks!