20 Popular Filipino Main Dishes – Must Try Classics

While Filipino dishes seem to go over the radar by many who usually go for other more popular Asian dishes. It still stands its ground and is steadily gaining popularity due to social media, especially due to the ingredients like ube, the desserts like leche flan, halo-halo, and many more. These 20 popular Filipino Main Dishes aren’t just ‘food’ it also builds a community which makes the food taste even better!

What are the Top 20 Popular Filipino Main Dishes you need to try ?

1. Chicken Adobo

The first in this Filipino Main Course Menu list is the popular “Chicken Adobo” or “Adobo” a dish that’s made with a choice of meat, usually chicken, pork, beef, or for vegetarians, eggplants or tofu. Simmered in a delectably savory sauce made of onions, garlic, dark soy sauce, vinegar, some depending on the region add chillies for some spice.

2. Pork Barbecue

A party favorite, aside from being a favorite of many, so much so that these can be found in many Filipino Fast food chains sold as a set with rice and a drink of choice, or in bundles by 4’s, 6’s, 12’s or more.  There are a lot of ways to make Filipino barbecue, the most important one is choosing pork that’s not too meaty, but has a slight amount of fat that’ll keep the dish juicy even when grilling/roasting. Brushing this in a marinade of soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, garlic, ketchup, oil, salt, pepper, with some even use soft drinks to help tenderize the meat and add some sweetness.

3. Sinigang

Sinigang is the most popular soup in the Philippines. Each region or family has their own version of the dish to make that “Filipino main dish with a twist”. But this always stays true to the savory and very sour taste. The sourness comes from either pre-packed powders you can easily find at the grocery stores, to ‘all natural’ dried or fresh Tamarind or Kamias (cucumber tree / tree sorrel) some might have at their backyard, or just the addition of vinegar. It’s a colorful dish that uses fish, beef, pork, or other seafood mixed with a good amount of leafy vegetables, radish, tomatoes, and sometimes chilies.

4. Lechon

A dish that one might first think of when going to a Filipino party, festival, almost every celebration, or at a buffet. A long standing favorite by many fellow Filipinos. It’s brought into the party as a whole roasted suckling pig, roasted, fried, or go for the smaller ‘relative’ the crispy pata or lechon belly roll which can be made fried, baked in an oven, turbo, or easily roasted at home. The tender pig is seasoned with salt and pepper, sometimes some lemongrass is added inside or used as a brush to spread the ‘gravy’ using the pig innards, vinegar, garlic, onions, and some sugar that helps create that nice crispy flavorful skin.

5. Chicken Tinola

Another fragrant and hearty cozy soup that many look for during the colder months. Tinola is a dish that makes use of the whole chicken, sliced to pieces, or using any part of your choice. Simmering it with wonderful aromatics that feels like a balm that soothes the body like ginger, garlic, hot pepper leaves, with or without lemongrass. Adding in some seasonings and vegetables like malunggay leaves and green papaya to really complete the meal.

6. Sisig

A Spanish influenced dish, Sisig is a dish that used to be made of leftover parts of the pig. Nowadays you can find full pork, fish, beef, and ‘meatier parts’ of the ‘meat’ used. There are still a good amount of the traditional ingredients such as pig ears, livers, snout, and jowl added in for the usual flavor and texture. Well seasoned, mixed with a good amount of chillies, sunny side egg or raw egg, served on a sizzling plate, thus the dish sometimes being called “Sizzling Sisig” with a  side of calamansi.

7. Lumpia

Another well-known around the world in this 20 popular Filipino Main Dishes list is the usual Spring Rolls but the Filipino version of it. This dish which has been made since the Pre-colonial period of the Philippines is made with either pork, beef, shrimp, or a mix of both or all of these, with vegetables like carrots, green beans, with other fillers. There are a number of different varieties of lumpia, some fresh, with warmed floured wrappers, or wrapped in the flour based wrappers fried unto crispy golden perfection.

8. Bicol Express

For spice lovers out there or for those who love the creamy, slightly sweet and nutty taste of coconut made savory with aromatics and shrimp paste, but with the addition of some or a lot of chillies to add in some heat! A dish originating from the Bicol province is made with a mix of well seasoned pork, aromatics, coconut milk or cream, adding in a good amount of seasonings, before adding red and or green chillies to creamy a fierce looking and tasting dish.

9. Kare Kare

A delectably healthy Filipino stew that’s filled with vegetables, some beef or crispy pata chunks, but most of the time it’s made with oxtail, hocks, and a bit of ‘meaty’ parts, that adds up to how ‘healthy’ ( being collagen filled) this peanut-based stew can be. A dish with hundreds years of history. What makes this dish so appealing aside from its use of meats are the mix of banana hearts, eggplants, and other vegetables simmered with peanuts, peanut butter, and annatto for that lightly vibrant orange-brown sauce. A truly Filipino dish that’s comforting and absolutely Yummy!

10. Arroz Caldo / Lugaw

A warm comforting dish that you usually find many eating for breakfast at side stalls, to breakfast options at fast food chains, to hotels. This filling flavorsome dish has Chinese origins adapted to suit the Filipino palette. Made by cooking chicken parts or boneless chicken chunks with aromatics like garlic, ginger, and onions, with a hint of fish sauce. Then add in regular rice or glutinous rice, simmered with more water or broth than needed. Once the rice has cooked, season with more salt and pepper as needed before serving it in a bowl topping it halved hard boiled eggs and chopped green onions.

11. Chicken Menudo

In the middle of the 20 popular Filipino Main Dishes list is. Chicken Menudo is a flavorfully hearty Spanish-Filipino dish made of tender cooked chicken simmered in a rich vibrant tomato based sauce that’s packed with aromatics like garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots, cured meat, and some spices. A healthy savory-sweet dish that many Filipinos find comfort in. This budget friendly one pot recipe is perfect with a side of freshly cooked rice or toasted pandesal.

12. Pancit Chami

A Noodle Recipe from the Quezon Province. This deliciously savory dish i known for it’s thick chewy egg noodles, doused in a sweet and very savory sauce blend made of ,onion, garlic, chili flakes, corn starch, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, pork broth, pepper, salt, mixed with a lot of veggies such as carrot, Chinese cabbage, with some pork and liver. A popular choice of street food, festival food, or as an afternoon snack

13. Pancit Sotanghon

Another popular Filipino noodle dish. Made of tender cooked chicken chopped to strips, fresh vegetables flavored with a savory-umami sauce made of soy sauce, garlic, onions, oyster sauce, broth cube, with delicate but still slightly chewy translucent glass noodles that absorbs most of the Yummy sauce. A colorful birthday favorite and must try for those wanting a taste of Filipino cuisine. It’s easy, affordable, healthy, and very filling.

14. Picadillo

An eye catching beefy delicacy that’s made of sautéing ground beef or pork with aromatics, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, green peas, olives, and raisins simmered in tomato sauce. A dish with Spanish and Latin influences. This quick to prepare economical dish that’s a popular choice as an everyday meal.

15. Beef Salpicao

A boldly buttery beefy and very garlic-ky dish that’s so good you might get addicted. Made of tender cooked beef chunks often sirloin or ribeye steak, enhanced with Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, a bit of butter and olive oil, and a lot of garlic! You can make it in just under 15 or even 10 minutes. Sere with white or garlic fried rice on the side.

16. Monggo ( Filipino Mung Bean Stew )

“Monggo” or “Mungo” no matter how you spell it, this comforting healthy and very nutrious Filipino Mung Beat Stew is commonly cooked with the typical Filipino aromatics-garlic, onions, with tomatoes, adding spinach and malunggay leaves ( moringa leaves ) for some fiber, the main ingredient-mung beans, sometimes adding shrimp, fish or pork bits for added protein, flavored with fish sauce. A wholesome meal that’s also a great choice for those craving for something filling during the Lenten season.

17. Sinigang Na Hipon

A warm refreshingly sour soup made of fresh succulent shrimp, simmered in a sinigang ( a mix of tamarind and other seasonings ) based soup, adding in more colorful ingredients such as kangkong, string beans, tomatoes, okra, radish, tomatoes, onion, green chilies and fish sauce. A quick simple yet flavorful staple you’ll find many Filipino households during the rainy weather months.

18. Ginataang Galunggong

A creamy and delicious savory Filipino dish that matches the salty and strongly tasting galunggong ( mackarel scad ), and the creamy nuttiness of coconut cream, filled with seasonings like garlic, onions, ginger, and many other vegetables of your choice. the perfect balance of salty, savory, and subtly sweet. Another budget friendly option that’s great even for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.

19. Bangus Steak Recipe

The quickest and easiest dish in this list. Bangus Steak Recipe or “Milkfish Steak Recipe” is a dish you might find eaten during breakfast, as a quick lunch, or as a light dinner. Boldly salty, tangy, and flavorful. All you need is bangus fillet to make it easy to cook and eat, fried then simmered in a Yummy blend of onions, soy sauce, calamansi juice, pepper, a bit of sugar, and water. Easy peasy yet still Yummy!

20. Adobong Tilapia

To end this 20 popular Filipino Main Dishes is another adobo option; Adobong Tilapia. A fish dish that is prepared similarly to the classic adobo but with less cook time. Usually pan fried or sautéed, then basted with the iconic adobo sauce that’s made of ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoes, soy sauce, vinegar, whole peppercorns, dry bay leaves, red chillies, water, and some sugar. This seafood twist on the beloved adobo is Richly flavored and nutrient-rich.

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Food trends might come and go but these mainstay traditional to modernized 20 popular Filipino Main Dishes that are sure to make your lunch, dinner, or breakfast time even better! These dishes will surely pique your interest and showcase the diverse flavors of Filipino cuisine.