For Better Chicken, Make It the Puerto Rican Way

In 2022, pre-orders for my cookbook, Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook, started to roll in. In parallel, I noticed a lot of social media cooks—who were not Puerto Rican—using adobo in their recipes. The seasoning had crossed over.

Adobo is just as important as sofrito (a savory herb blend used as the base of most dishes) to Puerto Rican cuisine and many of the recipes in my cookbook use it. It’s delicious in everything from beef stew to Sunday roast chicken. 

Adobo and chicken are a particularly good match. Puerto Rican adobo (shortened from “adobo seco,” or dry marinade) is not to be confused with the braised Filipino adobo. However, adobo does work wonderfully with braised chicken, grilled chicken, and even air-fried chicken! 

Adobo creates a wonderfully complex aroma with garlic at the forefront, with a very mild black pepper, oregano, turmeric, and cumin flavor. Garlic powder offers a different essence than fresh. It’s much more pungent, but it mellows out and takes on a sweetness when cooked. Because adobo is rich in garlic powder, whenever you want to add garlic powder to a recipe, just use adobo instead. You’ll get the garlic flavor you want, with the benefit of a little added seasoning and a beautiful golden color.  

How To Season Chicken With Adobo

A little massage of olive oil, salt, and adobo delivers big flavor with minimum effort when it comes to perfect roast chicken. My absolute favorite chicken seasoning combination is adobo, lemon, and rosemary. Use two tablespoons of salt-free adobo for a four to five-pound whole chicken. If you’re using a blend that contains salt, start with one tablespoon of adobo for the same size chicken. For ground chicken or chicken breasts or thighs, use one tablespoon of salt-free adobo per pound.

Before my cookbook was released, I asked the founders of Burlap and Barrel if they’d ever considered creating an adobo seasoning. They replied, “We have now. You’ll be the one creating it!” My adobo is the only one on the market featuring single-origin ingredients (some of which come directly from Puerto Rico) sourced from small farms. While I highly recommend my adobo, there are a couple other great brands you can look out for at your local grocery store. 

Loisa is a mid-level brand that sells its adobo at Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Target. Healthy Rican is a small brand owned and operated solely by Mayra Luz Colón—you can find her seasonings online.