Simplified Mexican Chicken Adobo
This recipe is very simple, yet it packs a lot of flavor. I think that the use of canned chipotles in adobo is a clever way to simplify a complex recipe. Tristan Heath, Create Cooking Challenge: Easy Peasy Second Prize winner, VPM viewer
Recipe Ingredients
- - 2 pounds of chicken thighs (boneless and skinless)
- - 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
- - 1 onion, diced (white is most traditional)
- - One 4 oz can chipotles in adobo
- - 2 to 3 cups of chicken broth (more if you like it sauce, less if you like it thicker)
- - Juice of one lime (about 2 tablespoons)
- - salt and pepper
Recipe Instructions
- Season the chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.
- Blend the canned chipotles with the chicken broth and lime juice until smooth. Dice the onion and set aside.
- Set a dutch oven or saute pan on the stove over medium high heat. Add the vegetable oil. When the oil begins to shimmer and start to give off little wisps of smoke, add in your chicken pieces. Work in batches if you need to in order to avoid crowding the pan. Crowding the pan will result in steam which will prevent browning. Browning is what gives the sauce a deeper flavor. Remove the chicken from the pan after browning on both sides.
- Drop the heat to medium and add your diced onions. Keep stirring them until they begin to soften, take some color on the edges, and the golden brown bits in the pan loosen up.
- Once the onions have begun to color and soften, add the sauce to the pot, then nestle in the pieces of chicken. Bring it all up to a simmer then cover and let it cook for about 25 minutes. The chicken meat should shred or tear easily. If in any doubt, use a probe thermometer to test the meat. Chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
- If your sauce seems too thin but your chicken is cooked, remove the chicken pieces and keep cooking the sauce for 5-10 more minutes until it reaches your desired consistency and then return the chicken to the sauce.
- Serve with rice, tortillas, lime wedges, cilantro, and diced white onion.