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I made the recipe today as is and it was FABULOUS!!!! (even though I had to use the reduced sodium soy sauce because I couldn’t find the Filipino kind). I made a bowl with the adobo and topped it with chopped mango and onions. The kids made tacos with the same and it was a big hit with everyone! I’ll definitely make this again!!!
I’m seriously salivating as I get ready to write about the soy sauce + vinegar + garlic + brown sugar flavors in this thing. Welcome to Crockpot Pork Adobo.
For the Filipino newbies, Pork Adobo is a traditional Filipino dish with pork marinated and cooked in a soy sauce/vinegar sauce until it’s super tender and completely saturated with flavor. The whole thing is usually scooped over a plateful of hot steaming white rice and if you’re me, you add an extra scoop so the rice gets really saucy. I crave that saucy rice.
In the name of full disclosure, I don’t think Pork Adobo traditionally has, uhh, beans. But mine has beans because I saw the aunties making a similar dish (humba) with black beans at one of the houses at the orphanage and couldn’t get the idea out of my head. Stuck. On food. On BEANS. Typical.
And traditional pork adobo isn’t made in the crockpot, either. I think I might be the only person in the one mile radius around our apartment who owns a crockpot. What a weird contraption anyways. Usually Filipinos cook this in a big ol’ regular pot, just boiling or simmering for a while it instead of crock-ing it all day long. Either way works.
I love the crockpot and I love black beans, so this is Lindsay’s version of Pork Adobo.
This is the gateway recipe that started me driving the black bean train into the wild blue yonder, forever and ever amen. Because since this recipe, I cannot stop thinking about black bean recipes. Part of it is my compulsion to get rid of leftover ingredients (there’s a half bag of dry black beans sitting in the fake fridge right now and it’s making me crazy) and part of it is my complete and utter devotion to this gorgeous little bean. Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins are haunting my dreams in the most chipotle black bean wonderful way right now.
PS. The fake fridge is our actual fridge that doesn’t work, so we use it like a pantry and just keep regular food in there. Even though it’s not cold. Fake fridge. We keep our real fridge food in the freezer.
Cause you were dying to know the details of our scrappy kitchen, right?
As of this recipe, I realized how delicious is it to cook black beans all the way from dry little things with one pretty white spot on them, to soft, squishy, nutritionally-dense yummies that go perfectly with almost any kind of food. I use canned beans in lots of recipes, too, but the more I use dried beans and cook them myself, the more I want to eat them, everyday, always. If that’s even possible.
I know I’m asking a lot of you here, telling you that this plate of what sort of looks a little bit like rice and beans garbage is really one of the best dishes I’ve made all year, but you’re gonna have to trust me. This is worth dusting off the crockpot and going soy sauce shopping.
Think about what flavors are going on here: garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, bay leaves, vinegar, peppercorns, and pork. That garlic gets cooked ALL DAY LONG. It’s almost sweet when it’s all said and done. Now imagine the texture of the melt-in-your-mouth shredded pork with the softness of the black beans, and the tangy, salty sauce, and how perfectly it gets soaked up by the rice.
You love it. I knew you would.
Final thought of the day relating to health: I know pork isn’t exactly fat free, and no one believes in white rice anymore (FYI – brown rice is a complete and utter mystery to my Filipino friends) but because so much of this is made up of the black beans, it’s actually got a decent nutritional profile for the average eater. If you wanted to make this with less pork, or less fatty pork, you could try that. I guess.
But… don’t.
Cause pork rules.
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Crockpot Pork Adobo with Black Beans
- Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
This crockpot pork adobo with black beans is so easy! The garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar make for the BEST flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry black beans
- 2 lbs. pork shoulder (boneless semi-fatty pork that looks like a roast)
- 3 1/4 cups Filipino soy sauce, divided (the one we use is called Silver Swan)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, divided
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled, whole and smashed
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 cup vinegar (I used Silver Swan white cane vinegar)
- 3 cups water
Instructions
- The night before: Rinse the black beans. Soak overnight. This really helps with the texture of the beans, and they won’t take as long to cook. Place the pork in a large bowl with 2 cups soy sauce, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cover and marinade in the refrigerator overnight. I left the meat whole for the marinating, but you can also cut it into pieces before marinating.
- The next morning: drain the beans. Discard the pork marinade, reserving the bay leaves, garlic, and peppercorns. Cut the pork into 2-inch pieces. Place the black beans in the crockpot, cover with the pork, garlic, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Pour 1 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 cups water, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar over the top. Stir once to get the liquid in and around the beans. Cook in the crockpot on low for 8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.
- The last hour: check on the adobo – the pork should be very tender and some of the pieces might naturally fall apart, there should be enough liquid to keep the whole mixture “saucy”, and the beans should be soft. Add the vinegar and cook for another 20-30 minutes. Turn the crockpot off and let the mixture cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
You can use canned black beans instead of the dry ones. If you do, I would suggest omitting the water and just adding the drained canned black beans at the end of the cook time, at the same time that you add the vinegar.
There should be a lot of liquid left over in the crockpot. That’s okay because it helps keep it saucy as it sits in the crockpot, and you can use it to spoon more sauce over the pork/rice.
Japanese soy sauce (Kikkoman) is too heavy for this dish. Try to use a Filipino brand like Silver Swan or, as a last resort, just use the lowest sodium soy sauce.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Filipino
Keywords: pork adobo, black beans, crockpot pork adobo
This recipe looked good, but didn’t turn out to be my favorite. I found the peppercorns quite chewy and hard, and the dish far too salty and acidic. I even cut the soy sauce and vinegar by 50%, and used low sodium soy sauce.
Unfortunately, I will be throwing most of it out. Linday’s recipes are otherwise pretty good for me, but I struggled with this one. Does anybody have tips on what I may have done wrong?
The flavor was amazing, but it was swimming in fat! It definitely needs a leaner cut of meat than pork shoulder.
I’ve been sneaking white beans in my chicken adobo for years, so I was excited to try this recipe. I made this with a few modifications. I didn’t see why I should throw out the marinade, so I just marinated overnight in 1 1/4 cup soy and 2 tablespoons brown sugar (plus the spices) and dumped everything into the crock pot the next morning. It worked fine (that is what I do with my chicken adobo, though I cook with vinegar the whole time). I think I’ll skip the peppercorns next time because they were a little jarring every time I bit into one hidden in the beans.
Hey Guys
Can u substitute Lamb for this? Pork is very expensive in Dubai. xxoo
Hi, Jo! We haven’t tried lamb in this recipe yet, but we’d love to hear if you give it a try! Let us know how it goes.
This looks yummy! I have pork loin… could this work too?
Yes, that should work just fine!
PS. The fake fridge is our actual fridge that doesn’t work, so we use it like a pantry and just keep regular food in there. Even though it’s not cold. Fake fridge. We keep our real fridge food in the freezer.
Just make sure your freezer is empty by the time Typhoon season (Nov thru Jan ) rolls around and buy weekly at the wet market seems like you are vegeterian so shouldn’t be a problem
The reason I have left several comments on your site is because I was born in Ybor City , Tampa Fla
Black Beans RULE
(FYI – brown rice is a complete and utter mystery to my Filipino friends)
Which is why they are hungry 3 hrs later after breakfest
White rice no nutritional value what so ever but it does raise your sugar levels for a few hours which is why you have Merinda at 11 AM & end up Diabetic at 50
white sugar no thanks
white bread no thanks
soy sauce, ?
Back off on the soy sauce to salty
Use sesame seed instead
PS. The fake fridge is our actual fridge that doesn’t work, so we use it like a pantry and just keep regular food in there. Even though it’s not cold. Fake fridge. We keep our real fridge food in the freezer.
Just make sure your freezer is empty by the time Typhoon season (Nov thru Jan ) rolls around and buy weekly at the wet market seems like you are vegeterian so shouldn’t be a problem
sirpo or hey you joe take your pick
from reading this post iI take it you live in the Philippines
I am an expat Perm Resident 13A SINCE 2005 live in Bicol
Thank you for the Website
I am a carnivora but enjoy vegan as side dishes
How could I convert this recipe to an instant pot rather than crock pot? Thanks.
We haven’t tested this recipe in the Instant Pot, so it’s hard to say what the timing would be, especially if cooking the pork and beans together. For the meat, you could for sure cook in the Instant Pot w/ the soy sauce, sugar, and seasonings, perhaps for 30-40 minutes. However, we aren’t sure if that’d be enough time to cook the beans as well. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
Loved this recipe. Thank you, Lindsay! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this!
My mom (from Cebu) makes humba with beans also! It’s a regional thing, I think
This sounds delicious!! My husband is Puerto Rican and loves eating pork but he can’t eat soy sauce what can be a substitute for it?
Is it because of the soy or because of the gluten? For a soy-free option, we’d suggest coconut aminos. For a gluten-free option, we’d suggest either coconut aminos or tamari.
this looks amazing!!! can you make this in an instant pot?
I was so excited to try this! Ordered the Silver Swan soy sauce from Amazon…waited a few days for it to arrive…smelled it cooking all day in the crockpot. And then………holy saltiness, batman! It’s been a few hours now since we had it for dinner, and all I can taste still is salt. I checked and double-checked the measurements, so I know that I followed the recipe exactly. I can’t imagine, however, that this was how it was supposed to taste! Saltiness aside, it was quite good! Pork was tender and flavorful. My black beans must have been old or something, because they didn’t soften enough in 8 hours of cooking. But I can’t criticize the recipe for that.
Overall a yummy recipe, but I will NOT use the Silver Swan sauce if I make it again; I’ll use a low sodium sauce instead.
SWITCH OUT SOY GO TO SESAME SEED
Westerners don’t realize soy is extremely salty
Masarap! Adobo is life!
I found this recipe searching for something to do with my cut up pork butt. I was looking for reviews, but saw mostly “that looks awesome” type comments. Well, I took the chance and tried it. Very good! We try to incorporate black beans on a regular basis for heart health reasons. I used brown rice to serve it over, and we all enjoyed it.
I found this recipe searching for something to do with my cut up pork butt.
I used brown rice to serve it over
You know the cut you bought was a pork butt and know brown rice is a whole lot healthier
KUDOS
You are well ahead of the pac
This looks incredible and I can’t wait to try it!
Hope you enjoy it!
Is the soy sauce in this recipe the thick sweet soy or normal Chinese soy sauce? We live in Guatemala so that specific brand will definitely not be available but if I know the right type to get at least….
Yay! I found a new recipe for the family. Was drawn to this recipe because I was bored of the standard crockpot recipes and this was great. The vinager gave it a nice kick. I went light on the vinager and had extra on the table for those who wanted it. This was perfect for a cold snowy day in Denver. A work week day at that!!
Glad to hear it, Christina!
Thanks for a legit (but healthier because of the beans) adobo recipe! After living in Asia for 7 years and repatriating this year, I’m trying to recreate some of my favorite foods. This was much better than the other recipes I’ve tried.
7 years in Asia and you still haven’t figured it out
Give me a break
Love all your recipes for lentils and black beans also. Have to say I’m ready hit the store and the crockpot! Thanks love your blog.
I learned to cook adobong from filippino cook friends in the Navy. I learned with chicken, so I usually make it that way. Last year I had an assistant priest assigned to my parish who was filippino. His adobo was very much like mine, except he used black beans and added a bit of brown sugar. I now add black beans (as a native Floridian I grew up with black beans & rice) and, if I am cooking for my grandchildren, brown sugar. Do not apologize for the black beans- Filippinos add them also.
Born Gonzalez Clinic/Hospital Ybor City Tampa Fla 1952
Black Bean’s ?
Tell me about them ROFLMFAO
Good to know, Sam! Thanks!
This looks good! Is it really necessary to discard the marinade and then add new soy sauce and brown sugar?