My easy Thai basil chicken recipe is hot, pungent, salty and smoky. Here’s a secret I use to take it to the next level: serve pad kra pao gai kai dow with extra fish sauce and sliced chilis on the side. You better believe I serve mine with a fried egg and a squeeze of fresh lime juice!
Why This Recipe Works
- Spicy, herbaceous, savory Thai basil chicken. Restaurant quality.
- Simple 4 ingredient sauce. Fish sauce and Thai chilis deliver authentic Thai flavors.
- Best with holy basil. But totally works with whatever basil you can find at the store.
- Vegetarian adaptable.
Anytime I make this Thai basil chicken recipe, I’m instantly transported to the time I spent working in Bangkok. I ate a lot of meals at open-air food stalls, sitting on tiny molded plastic stools surrounded by smiling strangers. Those meals cemented my love for fish sauce and chili, and the tasty interplay of fresh herbs. Pad kra pao gai has those flavors in spades.
If you’ve never tried it before, pad kra pao is a Thai stir fry with ground meat, holy basil and chili – served on jasmine rice (sometimes accompanied by a fried egg – kai dow). It’s salty, pungent and fiery with a ton of zesty aromatics. Those aromatics are due in large part to the use of holy basil, which is hot and peppery. This iconic stir fry is considered by many as Thailand’s national dish. Seriously, it’s served everywhere. I’m using ground chicken – but it’s commonly made with ground beef, lamb and even vegetable protein.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
Scroll to the bottom of this page for the full recipe steps and measurements!
For the Stir Fry
- Oil: Use a neutral cooking oil like vegetable or grapeseed oil.
- Garlic, Ginger and Onion: These aromatics bring a sharp, pungent burn – and I don’t skimp on them. Minced ginger in particular introduces a layer of peppery warmth.
- Thai Chilis: These are full on fire. I use them both in the basil chicken stir fry – and serve sliced chilis with extra fish sauce as a condiment. If you’re sensitive to heat, use sparingly. Read more about Thai bird’s eye chilis here.
- Bell Pepper: I use red bell peppers for sweetness and a pop of color, but feel free to use green or yellow peppers.
- Basil: Holy basil is peppery and perfect, but can be tough to find. If you see it, snap it up. A good second choice would be Thai basil (sweeter with licorice notes). If you can’t find either, no sweat. The stuff at your local supermarket (Italian basil) will do quite nicely as well.
- Cilantro: Fresh and lemony. I stir some into the stir fry – and reserve a few leaves to use as a garnish.
- Fresh Lime Wedges: For serving.
- Egg: Optional, but recommended.
For the Sauce
- Fish Sauce: Funky, salty and pungent. Don’t skip this ingredient!
- Soy Sauce: Adds umami.
- Sugar: Proper pad kra pao calls for palm sugar. But you can use granulated sugar instead.
- Sriracha Sauce: Sweet, spicy and perfect.
Fish Sauce: Ingredient and Condiment
Fish sauce is nam pla in Thai. This whiskey colored liquid is pretty much the table salt of Southeast Asia. Read more about fish sauce.
The pungent, almost smoky properties of a good fish sauce add an unreal depth of flavor to this Thai basil chicken dish. Golden Boy, Tiparos and Red Boat (which is gluten free) are a few good ones.
Prik nam pla is a salty, fiery condiment made of fish sauce, a few sliced Thai chilies and (sometimes) a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Serve it on the side.
How to Make This Pad Kra Pao Gai
- Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- In a medium sized pan over medium high heat, add the cooking oil and swirl to coat the cooking surface. Once the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, ginger and Thai chilis and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the diced red bell pepper and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Then add the ground chicken. Cook for 4-5 minutes – or until the chicken is over halfway cooked.
- Next add the sauce and basil leaves and cook for 5-7 minutes – or until the sauce has reduced by half.
- Turn the heat off, add cilantro leaves and stir well.
- Serve over Jasmine rice, with nam pla prick and lime wedges on the side.
Thai Fried Egg (Kai Dow)
Serving pad kra pao with a fried egg on top is about the best thing in the world.
The key is to get the bottom and edges of the egg-white browned and crispy, while keeping the yolk reasonably runny.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a small pan and get it hot enough that it is just shy of smoking.
- Crack your egg, keeping the yolk intact. The egg white will start bubbling pretty aggressively as soon as it hits the pan. That’s a good thing.
- Once the bottom is set, keep your egg moving around the pan so it doesn’t get stuck. Baste the top of the egg white with hot oil. It is ready when the egg-white is crispy and browned around the edges and mostly set on top.
- Add to the top of your Thai basil chicken and rice, break the yolk and dive in!
Storage
Store leftover basil chicken covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Be sure to store any leftover rice in a separate container.
To reheat, microwave until piping hot. Top with cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. The flavors shouldn’t fade from time spent in the fridge. That said, a little extra fish sauce can breathe new life into your leftover pad kra pao!
Frequently Asked Questions
You sure can! But you’ll need to make a few changes. First, swap out the chicken for a vegetarian meat substitute like textured vegetable protein (TVP), soy curls – or Beyond Beef plant based ground (my fave). Next, you’re going to want to track down a vegan fish sauce alternative. Finally, leave the egg out of the equation. Strict vegans will want to use raw cane sugar or palm sugar instead of granulated sugar.
Only as spicy as you want it to be. There are only two sources of heat: the Thai chilis and the sriracha sauce. And you have total control over how much you use. Now, Thai chilis are absolute fire. So if you’re keeping it mild, take the chilis off your shopping list entirely. But if you like a mild burn, you should be OK with the sriracha. That’s sweet spicy. Add a little at a time until you find the right balance.
Hmmm. Yes and no. I think the flavors are absolutely on point. However, you’d be using palm sugar in authentic Thai pad kra pao. Also, making Thai basil chicken without holy basil would likely be a nonstarter in the land of smiles. But this recipe evokes strong food memories of my time in Bangkok every time I eat it – and sometimes that’s close enough for me. Your mileage may vary.
What to Serve With It
Rice! This iconic Thai recipe is almost always served with a side of Jasmine rice in Thailand. But you can also use short grain Japanese rice, sticky rice and even brown rice. If you’re new to making rice at home, I’ve got you covered.
- How to Cook Jasmine Rice
- How to Make Japanese Rice
- Make Sticky Rice at Home
- How to Make Brown Rice in a Rice Cooker
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Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kra Pao Gai)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 26 minutes
- Yield: 4 people 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
This easy Thai basil chicken recipe is based on the classic Thai kra pow gai kai dow. It’s hot, pungent, salty and smoky. Your taste buds will be dancing!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or other neutral oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb size ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1–2 Thai chilis, finely chopped (optional)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 10–15 basil leaves, roughly chopped or hand torn
- 1–2 limes, sliced into wedges (for serving)
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
Sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
Instructions
For the sauce
- Put all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
For the chicken
- In a medium sized pan over med-high heat, add vegetable oil.
- Add the garlic, onions, ginger and Thai chilis. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the onions start to brown.
- Add red bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add ground chicken and cook for 4 minutes, or until chicken is at least half cooked.
- Add sauce and basil leaves and cook for 5-7 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half.
- Turn the heat off, add cilantro leaves and stir well.
- Serve the Thai basil chicken over rice with lime wedges and nam pla prik
To make nam pla prik
- Finely slice two Thai chilies and mix with 1 tbsp fish sauce. Serve on the side for diners to adjust the flavor to their liking.
To make the fried egg (optional)
- Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil to a small pan and get it hot enough that it is just shy of smoking.
- Crack your egg, keeping the yolk intact.
- Once the bottom is set, keep your egg moving around the pan so it doesn’t get stuck. It is ready when the egg-white is crispy and browned around the edges and mostly set on top.
- Add to the top of your Thai basil chicken and rice.
Notes
Store leftovers in the refrigerator (covered) for up to 3 days.
Be sure to store the basil chicken and the rice in separate containers.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 4.9g
- Sodium: 1413mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.1g
- Carbohydrates: 9.2g
- Fiber: 1.3g
- Protein: 21g
- Cholesterol: 98.1mg
Questions and Reviews
I made this and it was delicious! The prep took a long time, but it was worth every knife cut second. It was so easy to prepare because the recipe is so detailed. I substituted the Thai chilis with Jalapenos since I could not find them in my regular store. When it was done, it was so delicious, I amazed myself. This will become one of weekly favorites.
Thank you so much Maggie! 🙂
Excited to try this for hubby and I plus it works well with my weight watchers thank you
Yummy! I used chicken basil sausage removed from casings.
I doubled the recipe and it was so salty. I should not have doubled the fish sauce. My bad. Next time I will know better!
Oh no Kirsten I’m so sorry your meal was too salty! My husband does that too with the fish sauce lol, I have to tell him to go easy 🙂
Delicious. I couldn’t find Thai cile peppers so substituted 2 fresh red Fresno chiles and 1 serrano chile – seeds and all for some heat. I also added 1 small finely diced zucchini in step 2. Already planning to make it again later this week.
Zucchini absorbs flavor so well, we sometimes add it to this recipe too, so yummy!
Love this recipe. I go back to it every other week! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kristi! It’s a favorite in our house as well, we crave it if we don’t have it for more than a week 🙂
This was a very quick and delicious recipe! I added a little brown sugar and used Thai chili sauce over the fried egg. Yum! Thanks!!!
Thank you Lyn!
Fantastic!! I’m always looking out for good ground chicken recipe!!