Chicken Tinola

This is a great recipe. I use three chayote squashes and usually a box + a can of chicken broth (or sometimes I use 3 cans instead). I haven't used spinach before but baby bok choy or regular bok choy both make this delicious. I use a bit extra on the ginger and 1 large onion to make sure it's fragrant. No need for salt if you're using regular chicken broth. Easy, quick and wholesome! I love cooking from whole foods.

I feel like I've made this shout a hundred times already!I always use papaya,eggplant,bok choy,and spinach because I love a variety of veggies and thats what some Filipino restaurants put as well.

This is a Filipino recipe that I grew up with without the spinach.We like to use green papaya and bokchoy.Also chile leaves.Fish sauce just makes it taste better.

We liked this, but felt it was missing a little something. Perhaps some sort of extra seasoning as it was a little bland. The only changes we made were to use peanut oil, minced ginger from a jar (1.5 teaspoons), zucchini instead of chayote as we could not find any and soy instead of fish sauce. We forgot to brown the chicken and just tossed everything together was the onion/garlic/ginger were done sauteing. I think browning the chicken is crucial in adding additional flavour to this soup-type dish. We served it with rice, and liked it very much. Easy, and will make again!

Light soup. I usually use the liquid of washed rice and blanched pepper leaves which is abundant in my garden during summer. Frozen pepper leaves can also be found in some Asian stores.

Tinolang Manok is an awesome meal for a nice cold fall/winter day. I've made this numerous times and its delicious everytime, though using a different recipe (slight differences). I have never heard of it being made it with Bok Choy though, might just have to try that! I always use unripe papaya in my Tinola.

Great meal, all in one plate. Packed with very nutritious items: garlic, squash, bok choy, spinach.

i love tinola. so easy to cook and VERY tasty!!

This recipe is the same as how I cook tinola. It shouldn't taste bland. You just have to balance the ginger and fish sauce and broth. I would, however, sauté the ginger in garlic, onion and one small tomato. I also sometimes substitute potatoes to chayote, and cabbage to the spinach. Tastes just as great. Thanks for sharing!

It is the fish sauce that gives this dish it's wonderful flavor. If you are going to make this dish, buy a bottle of fish sauce. It lasts forever, and you will eventually get accustomed to the horrific smell. I give the recipe four stars because the addition of bok choy is just silly overkill. You do not need bok choy. My wife is from Mindanao, where malunggay is required for this dish. During the summer we are able to get fresh malunggay from a local Asian store, and we use it instead of the spinach. During the winter, spinach is an acceptable substitute. I have found that the frozen malumggay that I can get all year is just too mushy. Additionally, I think that it is critical to cut the ginger into the smallest slices possible. The ginger needs to complement all of the other flavors, not dominate them. Also, use fatty cuts of chicken. I always use thighs. Breasts will not do it. Finally, do not overcook the chayote. Mushy chayote will ruin the dish.

Love this recipe, we have been looking for more fish recipes so made this with Cod instead of Chicken. Make base recipe, then steam/poach cod fillets on top of the recipe - delicious. Can substitute butternut squash or pumpkin or sweet potato for the chayote squash, and vegetable stock for the chicken broth for pescetarian version. To brighten flavor, add a bit of hot sauce or sri racha. Yum!

This recipe was fantastic! The grocery was out of fish sauce, so we made do with oyster sauce instead. Lots of flavor, healthy, and quick to put together.

try add lemon grass when making the soup of tinola....taste & smell really yummy + green papaya & some chili leaves.

This is a very good Filipino meal-in-a-pot dish. The main ingredient garlic, onion, ginger and fish sauce (patis) are the ones making this dish flavorful. I usually add lemon grass (tanglad) and a dash of ground pepper though.

I've made this many times before but I didn't use chicken broth, just plain water and I simmered it for an hour to give the soup flavour. I've also never used bok choy but I did use pepper leaves which gives it a nice peppery flavour. I will be making this for my mother who has been making this for over 50 years now. She's also in the past used papaya if she couldn't find chayote. Can't wait to here her critique!!!

if you can find chili leaves at all, please do. It will make this dish divine.

Typical ingredient is green papaya, malunggay or sili leaves (pepper) , chayote squash could be a substitute for papaya but I would never use spinach although bokchoy can be used.

I washed the spinach in cold saltwater. This removes the unique bitterness of spinach. But nothing beats pepper leaves so use 'em if you can get some.

Very tasty. Didn't use spinach or squash. Would be better with boneless chicken breast or beef I think.

I have never had it this way. But, it does sound really yummy!! This is my goto comfort food along with a side of sticky rice! I think I am going to make this next weekend!

This one of the best soups I have ever tasted it is full of flavor and it is so fresh. This is a great soup to eat while you are on a diet.

This is the most awesome chicken soup ever! I loved the bountiful amounts of both spinach and kale used here which made it nutritious. It was my first time cooking with chayote and it was amazing. It’s a squash that has a mellow melon flavor and is kind of like a non starchy potato. When I make this recipe again, I’m using two chayote squashes. This particular combination made for nice flavors along with just salt and pepper. Very simple recipe to prep and cook, just throw everything in a pot and just simmer. This will be added to my 5 star recipes list!

Definitely can be more nutritious with moringa leaves instead of bok Choy. I sometimes add carrots for color, in addition to chayote &/ or zuchinni. Love my vegetables!

Taste like the authentic Filipino dish.

Pepper leaves are great if you have it. For additional flavor we add a few whole peppercorns and saute in the beginning. Great with fresh cooked white rice.

Yum! Substituted sweet potato for the squash, used vegetable broth and no bok chou. Very tasty! (forgive the auto-correct!).

My family & I really liked this - alot. Had some chayote to use up so my search brought me here. Never heard of it but had all the ingredients on hand (except bok choy, had to go buy it) & thought "why not"? Increased the recipe to serve 6 - used 6 thighs, homemade chicken stock (I keep in the freezer), 4 chayotes, 4 baby bok choy & omitted the spinach. Followed recipe pretty close except I did season & brown the thighs first (in a separate pan, wanted to keep the flavors in the broth clean) & served with steamed jasmine rice, rooster sauce & soy sauce. Light, delicate & tasty, a surprise hit in my house last night!

Fresh moringa leaves beat out bokchoy and spinach nutrition wise. This is always a go to when the kids come down with something. Delicious, too.

Quite delicious--but it makes WAY more than 4 servings. Unless you're feeding 4 adolescent boys.

Very good, I've made this several times. I add more veges - carrots and cabbage & reduce the amount of meat.

Perfectly delicious

So good!!!! I didn't have the squash on hand so I added zucchini and I used way more fish sauce than recommended. I crushed peanuts and put them as a garnish on top, which rounded and brought the flavours together at the end. Very tasty

not cooking the chicken and instead slowly boiling in the broth makes softer and tater chicken. Is a great recipe!

Delicious and great for a rainy day. Tasted like my mom's, and very easy to make

I grew up in a Philippine province and I have always cooked tinola using the ingredients mentioned above except for the broth and spinach. I do use variety of veggies like malunggay leaves, pepper leaves, papaya or even chayote leaves. tip: in order to bring out the best taste of tinola, once you have placed the chicken, put a little bit of salt and pepper right away with the patis. Leave it as if you're frying it for few minutes until you start noticing that it's about to lose the liquid. Once the chicken starts to turn slightly brown, that's the time you add water. I guarantee, you're making your own chicken broth out of it. If you want it a little bit more tastier, add a little bit more of patis as you desired. Add your veggies, starting with the ones that cook longer. Put the leaves last because they cook easily. Or better yet, put the leaves as soon as you're ready to serve it.

Yes! I found it. I should have saved this one to my recipes. My family loved it the first time I cooked it (and we live in the south, so chicken stew is heavily criticized) I subbed the spinach for more bok choy as well. Also, I baked the chicken skins and served on the side. Good, easy dish.

YUMMY!! Used turnip greens instead of spinach. Added 2 more chayote squash. Used leeks instead of onion. Added 2 TBS rice vinegar to broth, and used unsalted chicken stock. Also cut the thighs into 4 pieces each. Delicious!!

I make this almost exactly as written, but I skip the spinach and use more bok choy and chayote instead. It's so comforting and a great "chicken soup" to add to your cooking repertoire. Serve it with hot steaming rice. Yum!

This is the second time I am making this recipe. I am substituting kale for the spinach however as I have a ton of kale and it is just so very good for you! I hope it does not change the flavor too much as I just love this soup!

Delicious! I didn't have chicken, squash or spinach, so in terms of bulk, I only had the bok choy. But the broth was sooo good, delicate yet savory. I like my greens a little crunchy, so I piled up the chopped bok choy in the bowl and poured the onion-garlic-fish sauce-ginger-salt-pepper broth over it. Heaven.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful one-pot Filipino comfort food recipe! I grew up in this. So easy to put together! Recommendations for authenticity: go to an Asian grocery store! You can even get Asian spinach there which tastes very different.

This soup was an enormous hit with my family ranging in ages 9 - 50! Truly didn't need any "doctoring" that we could taste - was simply delicious.

A very easy, tasty recipe and full of goodness. It contains protein and fibre. I used extra salt as didn't have fish sauce at home. Today, I will make again and add potato instead of having it with rice, and eat it as a recovery to exercise. It really doesn't need anything extra added, and you can have it as a soup

It came out quite good. I used 2 lbs of chicken wings instead of thighs. I just need to make sure to cut the chayote vegetable a little smaller, no more than 1" cubed size, so they cook much better and more evenly.

My wife who is from the Philippines says except for the spinach this is very authentic. The spinach, in my opinion, works great. In any case this recipe is easy to make and tastes great.

2 heads of BokChoy instead of spinach. Easy to make!

I made this recipe twice substituted squash one time for carrots and another for zucchini and the second time I made it I substituted broth for white wine... both times this recipe was really good ~ thank you ~ cheers

This was fantastic! We loved the broth. It's simple but very flavorful and easy to make. Next time I try it I'll use less chicken (it was a lot of chicken), and maybe add potatoes or some sort of rice or grain.

I love this recipe. It's pretty close to my Grandmother's recipe and I've used it many times...my kids always ask for it. I add more chayote and don't always add the spinach. It's pretty easy to prep and make. I highly recommend it.

I was actually very afraid making this because it’s out of my comfort zone.. but my husband is Filipino & I really wanted to make this for him. IT CAME OUT PERFECTLY! The chicken needed a bit more time to cook but other than that, it’s amazing! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! You made our tummy’s very happy.

Yummy, nice light but filling meal. I would make it again.

This recipe is better with green papaya instead of Chayote squash

Made this to use up some fresh spinach and bok choy I had on hand (used the "ingredient search" feature on this site). I didn't add any squash (didn't have any). Substituted soy sauce for fish sauce (didn't have any). Used powdered ginger. Added lime juice. Served with fresh cilantro on top and drizzled with sriracha. Yummy!! Will make again.

This soup is sooooooo good! I substituted zucchini and yellow squash for the chayote squash, I added an extra can of chicken broth, mushrooms, and hot chili oil. I will definitely make this again.

Packed with flavour! I tripled the fish sauce, added a tin of diced tomatoes and some chilli garlic paste. Omitted the spinach for more bok choy. Served with steamed sticky rice on the side. Got great reviews at dinner and will definitely make again!

It turned out great! I did use a tiny bit more fish sauce AND the second time I made it I added a can of coconut milk (I know, I know, you can't call it Tinola then) and it was super good too.

A little variation here.Sauteed , onion, garlic and ginger.Instead of adding chicken to the pan, I boiled bone in chicken breast ahead of time (or bone in thigh or whatever is cheap and on sale).Cut or shred into smaller cubes or pieces, (discard bones )set aside.Add the chicken stock to the pot and add your chayote or Bok Choy.Simmer and add the chicken back to the pot.Add pepper leaves(got tons in the garden) and season with pepper.