Thai Basil Chicken
If you haven’t tried Thai Basil Chicken before, now is the time! Tender chunks of finely chopped chicken sautéed with shallot, garlic, Thai chilies, veggies, and tons of fragrant Thai basil make this easy, one-pan recipe taste like it came from your favorite Thai restaurant. You can have this delicious and low-key dinner on the table less than 30 minutes!
“This sauce is so good. So many recipes I try have minimal flavor but this wowed me.” – Cass, So Much Food reader
Table of Contents
What Is Thai Basil Chicken, Anyway?
Everyone needs those recipes that come together quickly in one pan for busy weeknights. This is that recipe! Thai basil chicken is totally adaptable, comes together in less than 30 minutes, and gets made in ONE PAN. Less dishes on a weekend = bliss. I love ordering take out from my favorite Thai restaurant, but I also love to try and recreate the foods at home!
Unfamiliar with this dish? Thai basil chicken, or Pad Krapow Gai, is one of the most popular street foods in Thailand. The method of cooking is inspired by Chinese stir-fry. In this instance, chicken is stir fried with Thai basil and aromatics like shallots, garlic, and Thai chilies.
Thai basil is, obviously, a key ingredient in Thai basil chicken. (In fact, the authentic dish actually calls for Holy Thai basil which is slightly different than Thai basil. Holy Thai basil is fairly difficult to find, and I’ve adapted this recipe to use regular Thai basil since it’s easier to source.)
Thai basil has the same sweetness that Italian basil has, but with a hint of anise spice. I love having it on hand and adding it to fried rice, curries, stir fries, and even wontons!
There’s something so satisfying about making this recipe at home and having it be just as good as takeout! While I would never claim for this recipe to be authentic, the spirit and flavors of the dish are meant to honor the classic Thai dish.
Helpful Cooking Tools
Key Recipe Ingredients (+ Substitutions)
Jenny’s Tip: In order to get the flavors right, there are some specialty Asian ingredients that you’ll need to acquire, so I urge you to visit your local Asian market! You can get all the ingredients on Amazon as well (and some well-stocked grocery stores!), but I love supporting local Asian markets and businesses.
- Chicken. I used finely chopped boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you could also use ground dark meat chicken or diced chicken breast.
- Aromatics. Thinly sliced shallots, scallions, and garlic make up the flavor backbone here.
- Thai Birds-eye Chilies. Small Thai chilies pack some heat, but they add incredible flavor! Adjust the amount of chili based on how spicy you like your basil chicken. You could also swap in thinly sliced serrano chile.
- Veggies. I opted for red bell pepper, mushrooms, and green beans because that’s how my favorite Thai restaurants serve Thai basil chicken. You could swap in different veggies or omit them altogether.
- Soy sauce. Soy sauce makes up part of the sauce.
- Dark mushroom soy sauce. You can find dark soy sauce at just about any Asian market or on Amazon. Dark soy adds tons of umami flavor, but we only need a bit because it’s very intense.
- Oyster sauce. Oyster sauce is classic here and also adds rich flavor.
- Fish sauce. Fish sauce is a staple in Thai cuisine and adds umami to tons of dishes. Don’t skip this ingredient if you can help it! (It doesn’t make the stir-fry taste like fish, promise!)
- Brown sugar. Brown sugar adds a bit of sweetness to balance out the savory notes. You could swap in honey, if necessary.
- Thai basil. An obvious one! Thai basil is stirred in at the end to maintain its green color and flavor.
How to Make Thai Basil Chicken in 30 Minutes
- Make the stir-fry sauce. Once you start the cooking process, this recipe moves very quickly. I always measure out the sauce ingredients and chop my veggies first so I’m not trying to do everything in a rush while things are cooking.
- Sauté the aromatics. I prefer using my favorite wok for Thai-inspired recipes like this, but a large skillet will do. You’ll know the wok (or pan) is hot enough when the oil starts to shimmer. Add the shallot, garlic, and Thai chilies and cook, stirring often, just until fragrant.
- Cook the chicken and veggies. The diced chicken goes into the hot wok first, along with the scallions and mushrooms. At this stage, you don’t want to cook the chicken all the way through. It needs to cook for just 3 to 4 minutes to cook it most of the way through. Add the green beans and bell peppers last, then keep stirring until the veggies are softened to your liking and the chicken is fully cooked and super juicy.
- Add the sauce. The sauce will thicken when it comes into contact with the hot wok, so stir, stir, stir!
- Finish with Thai basil. Add the Thai basil and green onions and cook just for another minute or so to wilt it.
Customizing This Recipe
Switch up the protein. I love chicken thighs here, but you could easily swap in chicken breasts or ground dark meat chicken. You could also swap in beef, ground pork, diced pork tenderloin, shrimp, or even tofu! This recipe lends itself to just about any meat or protein with great results.
Swap the veggies. I love mushrooms, red bell pepper, and green beans, but some other great options would be snap or snow peas, baby corn, bok choy, cabbage, etc.
Use regular basil instead of Thai basil. Just know that your Thai chicken stir-fry won’t taste the same and you’re losing some of the classic flavor.
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Easy Thai-Inspired Recipes
- Thai Basil Chicken Wonton Soup
- Thai Panang Curry
- Tom Kha Gai Soup
- Chicken Curry Noodle Soup
- Thai Beef and Noodle Salad (Yum Nua)
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Thai Basil Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons hot water
Thai Basil Chicken
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
- 3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3-4 Thai birds-eye chilies, chopped
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced into small pieces
- 5 scallions, cut into 1" pieces (light green/white and dark green pieces kept separate)
- 8 oz button mushrooms, quartered
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 1/2 cups Thai basil leaves
Instructions
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
- Sauté the aromatics. Heat the oil in a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the sliced shallot, garlic, and Thai chilies. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often to keep the garlic from burning.
- Prep the chicken. While the aromatics cook, toss the chicken with the cornstarch and some salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and really work the cornstarch into the meat.
- Cook the chicken and veggies. Add the diced chicken to the wok and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is starting to brown. Add the mushrooms and the light green/white parts of the green onion to the wok. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the mushrooms are starting to get soft. Add the remaining veggies and the stir fry sauce and cook, stirring often, until the green beans are no longer raw and the sauce is starting to reduce.
- Add the Thai basil. Stir in the Thai basil leaves and the dark green scallion pieces. Cook 2-3 minutes until the Thai basil is wilted and fragrant. Season to taste with salt if needed and serve over steamed jasmine rice.
Storage Instructions
- To store: You can store the Thai basil chicken in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. All you have to do is just pop the chicken in the microwave to warm it through along with the jasmine rice. I don't recommend freezing this dish since the veggies become unpleasant and mushy after being frozen and defrosted.
Nutrition
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Rate & Review This Recipe
I’m on a roll two recipes in a week! Loved it!
Amazing!
Recipe was delicious and super easy! Only thing that I changed was that I used Serrano peppers instead of Thai peppers since they weren’t at my grocery store! Will be adding this recipe to my recipe book.
So happy you loved the recipe! Serrano is my go-to substitute too!
Holy bananas this is so good. I will be adding to the rotation. Only suggestion is if you don’t like spice start with one chili and increase. I did 3 and we were sweating. But the flavors were on point!
A bit confused. Ginger is mentioned in the essay part of the recipe, but isn’t in the ingredient decking or instructions. Love the recipe just curious how much ginger to use and if it goes in the sauce or in with the aromatics. Thanks!!!!
Hi! I think I originally tried it with ginger and found that it took away from the basil flavor so I removed it from the recipe, but not the commentary. Thanks for the eye on this. If you love ginger, you could definitely add it at the same time you add the aromatics.
This sauce is so good. So many recipes I try have minimal flavor but this wowed me. My Thai basil plant is growing like crazy so this recipe was a perfect use of a bunch of it.
So jealous of your thai basil plant! So happy you loved the recipe.
So good! So easy! We used dark molasses because I couldn’t find dark soy sauce. So delicious. This will becaome a part of our rotation! Served with cauliflower rice. Thanks!
So glad to hear it Margaret!