Thai ground chicken

This Thai ground chicken recipe is quite exceptional; it reminds me of my days living in Bangkok in 100 degree weather, strolling through markets and food stalls, excited to try new flavors and ingredients. Thai cuisine can be very simple, as this chicken recipe shows. This Thai ground chicken dish tastes as close to authentic Thai food as you can cook in your kitchen. It’s strong, salty, fresh and clean. An absolute must try.

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ground chicken with lime and cilantro

Thai ground chicken

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 15 reviews
  • Author: Caroline Phelps
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 7 minutes
  • Total Time: 17 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: Stove Top
  • Cuisine: Thai
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Description

Authentic Thai flavors that will take you back to the streets of Bangkok.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 thumb size ginger, peeled and minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 stalks scallions, finely chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sriracha sauce
  • handful cilantro, chopped
  • 2 limes cut into wedges

Instructions

  1. In a medium size pan, heat the oil and add garlic, ginger and onions. Cook until onions are clear (about 4 minutes).
  2. Add ground chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes, until chicken is halfway cooked. Add sugar, fish sauce, water, soy sauce and sriracha, stir and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.
  3. Turn the heat off and add the scallions and cilantro.
  4. Serve with lime wedges and a side of rice.

Notes

Squeezing a little lime helps cut through the saltiness and adds a refreshing pop to the Thai ground chicken.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 560
  • Sugar: 12.6g
  • Sodium: 2577mg
  • Fat: 32.1g
  • Saturated Fat: 16g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 3.7g
  • Trans Fat: 0.1g
  • Carbohydrates: 33.2g
  • Fiber: 2.1g
  • Protein: 42.9g
  • Cholesterol: 192.6mg
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Caroline Caron Phelps

Meet The Author: Caroline Phelps

Caroline Caron-Phelps is a recipe creator, food blogger, and photographer. She showcases delicious, authentic Asian recipes, especially Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, with beautiful photography, easy-to-follow instructions, videos, and practical recipe variations. Caroline has been featured on Bon Appetit, Shape Magazine, Self, Today Show, and more.

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Questions and Reviews

  1. Awesome! I omitted the sugar and it still tasted great. I thought it would last for a couple of meals but it was so good, we consumed it all in one dinner!






  2. Made this today for dinner, it’s delicious and was so easy and quick to make. I’m making it next week for a family get together; they’ll love it.






  3. Great and easy recipe! It would probably have tasted better if I had the ginger but it was great just the same. I added finely chopped mushrooms as I had to use them too. I put it on chopped rice noodles in a bowl. Lunch done!

  4. This is delicious. Only thing: next time I will reduce amount of fish sauce. It was SUPER salty to me…and I like salty.






  5. Made with jasmine rice and roasted squash & peppers. Though only added 1 tbsp of fish sauce and squeezed in half a lime. Perfect!!!






  6. I perused the internet to find a quick ground chicken recipe since most of them entail meatballs. This was DELICIOUS- however I doubled the recipe which included doubling the SUPER SALTY fish sauce- BIG mistake! It was SO salty I had to rinse off half of the cooked ground chicken in a strainer w/ water. It could have been the kind of fish sauce I used – it said “with Sea Salt” on the bottle. Next time I’ll only add an additional tablespoon. I also only used green onions- cooked the white part w the garlic & ginger and used the green for the garnish along w the cilantro. The entire family loved it -even my extremely picky 4 yr old. This is going in the dinner rotation for sure! Thanks so much for this recipe!!! 






  7. my husband, 2 year old & I love this recipe!! We’ve made it countless times for ourselves and for company. Always gets rave reviews. We have a lime tree so I add some lime juice with the fish sauce, etc. Also we serve this in lettuce wraps which my toddler thinks is so much fun and gets super excited when this is the dinner plan.






    1. Megan, I’m so jealous you have a lime tree! Squeezing freshly picked lime on this dish must be heavenly!!

  8. This recipe for Thai Ground Chicken with Lime and Cilantro is a favorite of mine. It’s so deliciously fresh and simple. Last time I decided to try making it in my instant pot, and it worked! I sauted the minced garlic and ginger in ghee, deglazed the bottom of the IP with the fish sauce, siracha, sugar, water and soy sauce, placed the uncooked ground chicken in the pot, sealed and closed vent for 12 minutes at high pressure and QR after 2 minutes natural release. You then take a woodened spoon and break up the ground chicken and stir to mix with the liquid in the pot. I added the chopped cilantro and squeeze of fresh lime. We enjoyed it over jasmine rice and added avocado and sauteed greens on the side. Yum! It tasted as good as ever and using the IP freed me up to create the other components of my meal. Sometimes I use cauliflower rice as a substitute for rice, if I’m looking to lower carbs for the day. Highly recommend this wonderful recipe.






  9. I rarely leave comments on food blogs, but this recipe, which I stumbled upon looking for a way to use some ground chicken, is a definite keeper that I plan to serve again.. I followed it more or less as written, and served it over jasmine rice. The whole family loved it!






    1. Thank you for sharing Jennifer, I’m so happy your family loved it! It’s also a favorite in our home 🙂

  10. I’m on a low carb diet, and substituted artificial sweetener, my husband had no clue, it was delicious, did add a 1/2 chopped pepper. Served his on rice noodles, and mine on lettuce. We were dueling over the leftovers…thanks for a great, simple recipe.






    1. I haven’t tried this yet. I looked through the comments to see if there was a substitute for the cilantro. I really hate even the slightest amount and have ruined recipes by including it. Any suggestions?

      1. Hi Teri! Yes, you can swap the cilantro for fresh basil 🙂 I do this all the time when I don’t have cilantro in my fridge and it’s absolutely delicious! 🙂

  11. My wife is a Thai woman and I cooked this for her. SHE LOVED IT. I think that passes the authenticity test!






  12. Phenomenal recipe. Ive made this several times for my girlfriend and we always look forward to this. I use ground turkey as a substitute and its just as tasty if not better!






  13. What a winner! Used onions and green peppers and chicken thighs that were bought already marinated with garlic, cilantro and lime (omitted water in the cooking process because of this). Served with cauliflower rice for low carb deliciousness. Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. Hi Jeff, my husband makes this once a week because it’s so easy and delicious. We both love it too! 🙂