Thai basil chicken, or Pad kra pao gai, is easily one of my favorite Thai dishes. In fact, I use it as my personal “litmus test” to determine whether a Thai restaurant is good or not. But what I love the most about the dish is just how incredibly easy it is to cook at home. All you have to do is stir fry some ground chicken with minced garlic & chilies for a couple of minutes. Add in a few slivers of onion and bell pepper along with a savory and sweet sauce. And then toss in a handful of basil leaves and you’re good to go. It’s literally 20 minutes tops from start to finish, and the taste is out of this world.
Let’s Talk Basil
The Thai name of this dish, Pad kra pao, literally translates as “holy basil stir fry”. And as that name suggests it is meant to be made with holy basil which, surprise, is actually different from Thai basil.
You see, Thai basil has more anise like flavor with hints of cinnamon. While holy basil supposedly has an almost peppery profile. And I say “supposedly” is because holy basil is practically impossible to find outside of Thailand. Trust me most Asian markets in the U.S. don’t even hold this stuff.
The reason I bring this up is that many people commenting online, you know who you are, insist that you can’t make true pad kra pao without holy basil. Which is all fine and dandy when you easily have access to the ingredient. But for the rest of us plebs, that’s a pipe dream.
So feel free to ignore the haters and simply use Thai basil in this dish if that’s all you can get your hands on. Because that’s what I always do, and you know what, it still tastes pretty damn good!
How to Grind up Your Own Chicken
Thai basil chicken is traditionally made with ground chicken. And you can easily use any type of ground chicken meat from the grocery store. However, if you got the time, then I highly recommend you make your own ground chicken the traditional Thai way. Not only is it really easy to do, but it also allows you to make a much coarser grind which vastly improves the texture of this dish.
To do it you will simply need a chicken breast, a meat clever (or regular chef’s knife), and a cutting board.
Begin by roughly cutting the chicken into small pieces on a cutting board.
Then gather the chicken pieces into a pile and rapidly chop it with your meat cleaver (or chef’s knife) all over. Make sure to do this from multiple angles so that you aren’t simply chopping in a straight line.
Use the cleaver to turn the chicken over and give the chicken a couple more wacks until it forms a coarse grind.
You can repeat these steps a couple more times if you want a finer consistency, but basically, that’s it.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- If you want this stir fry to be a bit saucier then add ⅓ Cup of either chicken broth or water to the sauce.
- Thai basil chicken doesn’t always have to be made out of ground chicken as you can easily substitute it with either ground beef, or even pork. Also, if you want to go meatless, you can just use a mixture of sliced vegetables or tofu.
- Traditionally this dish is always served with a side of jasmine rice, and occasionally with a crispy fried egg over top.
- Check out some of our other great Thai recipes like Pad Prik King, and Tom Yum Soup.
Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kra Pao) Recipe
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients
1 to 6 Thai chilies***
4 to 5 Garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil
1 Large chicken breast, coarsely ground (or roughly ½ to ¾ Lb of storebought ground chicken)
½ of a small onion, cut into thin strips
½ of a red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 Handful of fresh basil leaves
For the sauce:
1 Tablespoon of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 Teaspoons of fish sauce
1 Teaspoon of dark soy sauce (optional, mainly for color)
1½ Teaspoons of sugar
A splash of water, about 1 to 2 Tablespoons
*** The number of Thai chilies used depends on your spice tolerance. (1 to 2 chilies = medium spice, 3 to 4 chilies = hot, and 5 to 6 or more = extra spicy)
Instructions
- Prep aromatics: Add the Thai chilies and garlic to a food processor and pulse until it is roughly minced.
You can also do this with a regular chef’s knife on a cutting board if you don’t have a food processor.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Fry the aromatics: Get out a large wok or skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add in the oil and let it get hot. Toss in the minced chilies and garlic, and sautee until the garlic starts to turn golden, about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken: Toss in the ground chicken and stir it in with the aromatics. Stir fry this for 2 to 3 minutes making sure to break up the ground chicken so no large clumps form.
- Add onion, bell pepper, and sauce: Once the ground chicken starts to look fully cooked toss in the onion, bell pepper, and sauce. Continue to toss and stir fry everything for another minute or two.
- Turn off the heat and toss in the basil.
Stir everything for another minute so that the residual heat wilts the basil leaves.
- Serve the Thai basil chicken immediately with some jasmine rice, enjoy!
Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Kra Pao) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 to 6 Thai chilies***
- 4 to 5 Garlic cloves
- 3 Tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil
- 1 Large chicken breast coarsely ground (or roughly ½ to ¾ Lb of storebought ground chicken)
- ½ of a small onion cut into thin strips
- ½ of a red bell pepper cut into thin strips
- 1 Handful of fresh basil leaves
- For the sauce:
- 1 Tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 2 Teaspoons of fish sauce
- 1 Teaspoon of dark soy sauce optional, mainly for color
- 1½ Teaspoons of sugar
- A splash of water about 1 to 2 Tablespoons
Instructions
- Prep aromatics: Add the Thai chilies and garlic to a food processor and pulse until it is roughly minced. You can also do this with a regular chef’s knife on a cutting board if you don’t have a food processor.
- Combine all of the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Fry the aromatics: Get out a large wok or skillet and place over medium-high heat. Add in the oil and let it get hot. Toss in the minced chilies and garlic, and sautee until the garlic starts to turn golden, about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken: Toss in the ground chicken and stir it in with the aromatics. Stir fry this for 2 to 3 minutes making sure to break up the ground chicken so no large clumps form.
- Add onion, bell pepper, and sauce: Once the ground chicken starts to look fully cooked toss in the onion, bell pepper, and sauce. Continue to toss and stir fry everything for another minute or two.
- Turn off the heat and toss in the basil. Stir everything for another minute so that the residual heat wilts the basil leaves.
- Serve the Thai basil chicken immediately with some jasmine rice, enjoy!
){kind=link}