Honey Adobo Roasted Chicken

Posted by Ben On March - 9 - 2010 Under Entrées

Honey adobo roasted chicken

After a long week of technical difficulties What’s Cooking is finally back! And this time I want to share with you a very simple recipe of a rub I used a couple of weeks ago for a whole chicken. I asked on twitter and facebook for ideas to cook it and I finally decided to make a sweet adobo (if such thing didn’t exist, it does now, hehe). I’ve made adobo before, this is only a variation to give it a little sweetness.

Honey Adobo Rub

The ingredients:

  • 1 ancho chile de-seeded*
  • 1 pasilla chile de-seeded*
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 TBSP all-spice
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 1 TBSP sesame seeds
  • 2 TBSP honey
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • salt and pepper

The how-to:

  1. Heat an iron-cast skillet over medium high heat in a well ventilated kitchen.
  2. Place the dry peppers and cinnamon stick in the skillet to roast.
  3. After a couple of minutes add garlic cloves and when these start to roast add sesame seeds. Roast for about 45 seconds making sure the seeds don’t burn.
  4. Place all those ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed to “pulverize” them.
  5. Add honey, vinegar, salt and pepper (I recommend using a considerable amount of salt if the rub is going to be used on a whole chicken) and pulse until all the ingredients are well blended.

Notes: *These peppers are dry and can be purchase at a Mexican or Latino markets or at supermarkets in the Latino sectinos. I’ve also seen them in the produce section (by the onions and potatoes).

If you are going to use on chicken, rub the adobe very well over and under the skin. Then bake at 250°F for 1.5 hours.

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¡Buen provecho!

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25 Replies

  1. Maria Said,

    Love all of the seasonings you used. Fabulous!

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 4:03 pm

  2. lisaiscooking Said,

    That's a lovely looking chicken! The sweet adobo sounds fantatic too.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 4:04 pm

  3. nina Said,

    Packed with flavor…just the way I like it. Quite a few spices that I will have to go and hunt down!!!

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 6:49 pm

  4. Teresa Said,

    Looks scrumptious! Isn't it amazing what a little cinnamon will do for a recipe? Love it Ben.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 8:04 pm

  5. bellini valli Said,

    Glad to see you back Ben. I hope the technical diggiculties are behind you and you can focus on creating and photographing delicious dishes like this one.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

  6. MaryMoh Said,

    What a beautiful roast! I have not roasted a whole chicken yet. Would love to try. This just look too good!

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 8:22 pm

  7. Joanne Said,

    mmmm I bet this would make some really interesting chicken tacos or burrito meat. Sounds like a great rub.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 9:52 pm

  8. Peter G @ Souvlaki For The Soul Said,

    Glad to see your technical difficulties are over….the chicken looks amazing! Love the spices, especially the cinnamon.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

  9. The Duo Dishes Said,

    Had no idea you could make adobo sweet. It's a really nice way to season chicken.

    Posted on March 9th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

  10. Diana Hayes Said,

    That chicken looks divine, and the recipe is great .

    Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 1:12 am

  11. Esi Said,

    I wish you had leftovers to send to LA!!

    Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 2:37 am

  12. Núria Said,

    Seguro que estaba super rico!!!! The spices mixture and the honey sound wonderful to me, Ben! Mmmm, I would love to have one of the legs… please ;D

    Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 4:02 am

  13. kat Said,

    I'm always looking for new flavorings for roast chicken & this one sounds so good

    Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 2:27 pm

  14. Joan Nova Said,

    Great idea to add the honey to the adobo seasoning. The chicken looks delicious.

    Posted on March 11th, 2010 at 1:04 am

  15. Soma Said,

    sounds so so very good!

    Posted on March 10th, 2010 at 10:38 pm

  16. elly Said,

    This sounds so delicious! I have a bunch of chicken thighs in my freezer right now, so I think I will make a batch of the rub and use part of it on those soon. YUM.

    Posted on March 11th, 2010 at 3:58 pm

  17. The Leftover Queen Said,

    That looks so good Ben! I just saw another post for roasted chicken and I am drooling over here!

    Posted on March 11th, 2010 at 8:44 pm

  18. Patty Said,

    That roasted chicken recipe was great, the chicken was moist and beautiful. Thanks for posting!

    Posted on March 12th, 2010 at 4:27 am

  19. Foodycat Said,

    I bought some anchos and pasillas to try to make some Mexican chorizo – now I know what to do with the rest of them! This looks so good!

    Posted on March 14th, 2010 at 10:27 am

  20. Culinary Cory Said,

    Nice and simple rub. Sounds yummy!

    Posted on March 14th, 2010 at 10:35 pm

  21. Erica Said,

    The adobo sounds fantastic, Ben! I am glad you are back! I have to try that adobo with some chicken legs next time.

    Posted on March 14th, 2010 at 10:36 pm

  22. Thomas Andrew Said,

    I love a good chicken recipe with some SPICE! :-) Thanks for posting.

    Posted on March 16th, 2010 at 3:14 pm

  23. pigpigccorner Said,

    wow what a gorgeous looking bird! I made adobo chicken recently too and found it a tad too sour, making it sweet is a great idea!

    Posted on March 17th, 2010 at 9:30 pm

  24. Cynthia Said,

    Definitely a one of a kind flavour.

    Posted on March 18th, 2010 at 2:27 am

  25. gaga Said,

    Honey adobo, what a great combo. It looks wonderful.

    Posted on March 30th, 2010 at 4:03 am

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