A restaurant-style Thai Basil Chicken, aka Pad Krapow Gai or Gai Pad Krapow. This stir-fry recipe is a classic Thai Dish, insanely delicious, very quick to make, and inexpensive.
Satisfy your Thai food cravings with this yummy stir fry recipe! This restaurant-style Thai Basil Chicken only requires about 10 minutes of cooking time or less! It's quick, yet flavorful and packed with a ton of fresh spices and basils!
You will be surprised by how this Thai Basil Chicken turns out, and many would argue it tastes similar or even better than what you get from Thai restaurants!
Thai Basil Chicken
Thai Basil Chicken or Pad Kra Pao Gai is one of the most popular Thai street food recipes. It simply means stir-fried holy basil chicken. You can easily find this on the menu at any Thai restaurant. It's usually served on rice and with an additional topping of fried egg.
Thai Basil Chicken Ingredients:
This Thai Basil Chicken is made with freshly chopped chicken breast, Thai Basil (known as Holy Basil), and seasoned well with a homemade stir-fry sauce.
The savory Thai Basil stir fry sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.
How to Make Thai Basil Chicken at Home:
- To start, you need to make the homemade seasoning paste.
- After that, make the stir fry sauce.
- Then, chop the chicken breast into small pieces.
- Now, it's time to stir fry the chicken breast with the homemade seasoning paste and stir fry sauce.
- Finally, stir in the fresh basil leaves. Just give them a quick stir, turn off the heat, and serve!
Check out more Thai recipes:
- GREEN PAPAYA SALAD (SOM TAM)
- THAI SALAD DRESSING (THAI PEANUT SAUCE)
- THAI RED CURRY CHICKEN
- THAI LEMONGRASS SOUP
- EASY LARB RECIPE WITH CHICKEN
To elevate the flavor of the Thai chicken dish, it's very important to add some garlic and Thai red chilies. I also added a few shallots because when cooked, they can add a mild and slightly sweet flavor to the dish.
Thai Basil or Holy Basil
Thai Basil is commonly used in Thai and Vietnamese Cuisine. Thai Basil goes well with seafood, pork, or chicken. In Thai cuisine, there are three main types of basil used in cooking: Thai Sweet Basil (Ho-rapa ใบโหระพา), Thai Lemon Basil ( ใบแมงลัก), and Holy Basil (gapow กะเพรา).
For this Thai Basil Chicken recipe, I highly recommend using Holy Basil. It has a spicy, peppery, clove-like taste. Thai holy basil or Tulsi is widely used in India for culinary, medicinal, and religious purposes.
Where to Purchase Thai Basil and Alternative:
You can find Thai Basil or Holy Basil at most Asian supermarkets. I understand that many of us may not have access to Holy Basil. For that reason, regular Italian Basil or Thai Sweet Basil will work just fine.
Oyster Sauce:
Oyster Sauce is a common condiment used in Asian cooking, especially for stir-fry recipes. It's a dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts, sugar, salt, and water, then thickened with corn starch. It has a sweet and savory sauce with a deep, earthy flavor. You can purchase oyster sauce at any grocery store or specialty market.
Check out more Southeast Asia Recipes:
- NASI GORENG RECIPE (INDONESIAN FRIED RICE)
- ACAR TIMUN (INDONESIAN PICKLED CUCUMBERS)
- TAMARIND BEEF CURRY
- CHICKEN CURRY WITH INDIAN SPICES
- CHICKEN CURRY WITH INDIAN SPICES
- BEST VEGAN CURRY RECIPE WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Fish Sauce:
Fish sauce is a sweet, salty, fishy condiment. It's better than it sounds! It is a staple ingredient for seasoning in many Southeast Asian cuisines and adds umami-flavor (or savory flavor) to any dish from stir fry to the soup.
There are Fish Sauce varieties available in the market. For this recipe, I highly recommend using Thai fish sauce. It's known for having a saltier and more pungent flavor than Vietnamese fish sauce.
If you are not a big fan of fish sauce, feel free to skip it but you may need to adjust the seasoning. As always I listed all the ingredients I used on this and every other recipe I make as a guide for you. Feel free to adjust the amount of seasoning according to your taste.
Thai Red Chili Peppers:
This chicken dish recipe called for 7 Thai Red Chili Peppers. I used the whole chili and didn't remove the seeds. It gives a bit of a spicy flavor and vibrant color to the dish. You can use less or more according to your liking.
I also ground the peppers along with garlic by using a mortar. If you don't have a mortar, you can finely chop the garlic and peppers or using a food processor.
Thai Basil Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breast , (remove fat and excess skin)
- 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup Thai Holy Basil , (stems removed)
- 7 garlic cloves
- 2 small shallots
- 5-7 whole Thai red chili peppers, (use more or less according to your liking)
Stir-Fry Sauce:
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp less-sodium soy sauce
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce, (to add nice caramel color and luster on the surface)
- 1½ - 1¾ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp fish sauce
To Serve:
- white or brown rice
- 2-3 Fried Eggs
Instructions
- Pound the chilies, garlic, and shallots in a mortar. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk in broth, less-sodium soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and sugar until well combined. Set aside.
- Cut chicken into small pieces. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat. Drizzle in oil. When the pan is hot, add the chilies and garlic paste. Keep stirring to prevent burning for about 15-20 seconds.
- Add the chicken into the wok/skillet. Stir fry until it loses its raw color, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the stir fry sauce, cook and stir until sauce begins to caramelize, about 3 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and evenly coated with the sauce.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the basil. Keep stirring until basil is wilted, about 20 seconds. Serve with rice and fried eggs.
Alli Smith
Your plating skills always inspire me and your recipes are always on point. I have to try your Thai Basil Chicken. It includes all my favorite flavors.
Tami
I'll eat anything with a fried egg, yet I don't think I've ordered this at our local Thai restaurant. I will be making it for the family this week.
Amber Myers
Yum, this looks like a tasty meal. I will have to give it a try. I think I'll like it since I'm a fan of spicy foods.
Terri Steffes
I have an abundance of basil right now, Italian basil and Thai basil. It looks like you used regular basil in the dish. I cannot wait to give this a try.
Rena
This looks AMAZING. I've never tried Thai cuisine but I would definitely eat this dish!
Tasheena
This looks so yummy! It would be the perfect meal to make for my family tonight.
Jeanette
That sounds amazing! I think I need to make that one of our dinners for next week. I can't wait to try it.
Natalie
I am sharing this with my family. While I don't eat meat, they are always looking for new ways to cook with it and am sure they would enjoy this.
Pam Wattenbarger
I have a huge batch of Thai basil growing in my garden that I needed to use. I plan to make this! It looks delicious.
Karen Morse
I always enjoy Thai food as it is packed with flavors! They also have a lot of yummy dishes and recipes that you can easily make at home. This one's a must try! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Ruth I
Yummy dish! I really can't wait to try this recipe. I know Thai food are delicious.
Melissa Dixon
Oh man, this looks so good and I was just making my shopping list, too. I need to add some things to it and then make this for my family sometime this week. I think they will love it, thanks for sharing!
Cathy Mini
This Thai recipe looks so easy to prepare and it seems tasty. I think my husband will surely like it too, thanks for the recipe!
Kathy
This recipe looks so good. Thai food is one of my favorites too. I definitely will be giving your recipe a try. I can't wait to see how it tastes.
Beth
This looks so delicious! I'll have to try to find the ingredients and make this soon. My husband had "Spicy Basil Chicken" the last time we had Thai food. He didn't get a fried egg with his meal, but otherwise, it looks pretty much the same.
Shannon Gurnee
I could definitely make this recipe with our fresh eggs. Looks like a yummy one
Swathi
That thai basil chicken looks delicious Indian holy basil is differ from thai basil. .I love this one pot delicious treat.