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Fragrant Thai Basil Chicken is simple, fast and flavorful! Perfect for weeknight dinners, ready to serve in under 30 minutes. Video. Looking for more? Check out our 40+ Best Chicken Breast Recipes and our 50+ Easy Dinner Ideas! ✨
Re-examine all that you have been told… dismiss that which insults your soul.~ Walt Whitman
Thai Basil Chicken is a simple stir fry that couldn’t be easier! This is the kind of food I am craving lately, tasty and satisfying but doesn’t take much effort. As the days get longer, I just want to be spending more time outside.
Ground chicken makes this recipe fast and so easy! You could certainly chop up whole chicken thighs or breasts if you prefer, or use ground turkey.
Traditionally this is made with Holy Basil which is also known as tulsi basil and is available fresh, at some Asian Markets. Thai basil is easier to come by and works great in this recipe. And yes, you can use regular basil! When using regular basil, I like to add just a pinch of ground anise to the stir fry.
If you love it spicy definitely go for the red Thai chilies! Fresno chilies have great flavor and though not as spicy as the Thai chilies, they still have a good kick!
Looking for more ways to cook chicken breast? Take a peek at our Cashew Chicken and 40+Best Chicken Breast Recipes on the blog!
Thai Basil Chicken | 45-sec Video
Ingredients in Thai Basil Chicken
- shallots and garlic
- chilies: fresno or Thai (spicier!)
- ground chicken (or sub ground turkey or Tofu)
- salt and black pepper
- coconut sugar or honey, or sugar
- soy sauce or GF Liquid Aminos
- fish sauce
- red bell pepper
- Thai basil leaves -or Holy Basil (Tulsi) if you can find it, regular basil will work too
Can this be made Vegan?
We haven’t tried it, but scrambled tofu or Crispy Tofu would probably be pretty tasty in place of the ground chicken!
How to make Thai Basil Chicken
STEP ONE: If serving with rice, start that now. Chop all your veggies.
STEP TWO: Heat up a pan or wok to med-high heat. Add oil and shallots, and stir for 2 minutes.
Add garlic and hot peppers and stir for 2 minutes more until shallots are lightly brown on the edges. Scoop out into a bowl and set aside.
STEP THREE: Without cleaning out the pan, add oil, turn the heat to high, and add ground chicken, black pepper, and salt. Stir fry a couple of minutes until the chicken is cooked and starting to brown.
Sprinkle coconut sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce over the chicken and stir until incorporated.
STEP FOUR: Add the red bell pepper and the shallot mixture. Cook about a minute, just enough to warm everything and just barely soften the red bell pepper slices.
Mix in the basil leaves and turn the heat off.
Serve over jasmine rice. Season with more soy sauce if desired.
More recipes you may enjoy
- How to Make Perfect Jasmine Rice
- Lemongrass Chicken
- Thai Larb Salad
- Cashew Chicken
- Instant Pot Thai Curry Chicken
- Thai Fish Curry
- Coconut Poached Thai Chicken Salad
- Thai Pineapple Curry
- 20 Delicious Easy Thai Recipes!
Hope you enjoy and let us know what you think!
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Thai Basil Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stir-fry
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Fragrant and savory this Thai Basil Chicken recipe is simple, fast and flavorful! Perfect for weeknight dinners or an easy delicious lunch. Ready to serve in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3 shallots, cut in thin slices
- 5 large garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 3–6 Fresno or Thai (spicier!) chilies, cut into thin rings
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or peanut oil
- 1 pound ground chicken (or sub ground turkey)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar or honey, or sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or GF Liquid Aminos
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 red bell pepper sliced in bite-sized strips
- 1 cup Thai basil leaves -or Holy Basil (Tulsi) if you can find it, regular basil will work too
- pinch of ground anise seeds if using regular basil (optional)
Instructions
- If serving with rice, start that first.
- Heat up a pan or wok to med-high heat. Add oil and shallots, stir for 2 minutes.
- Add garlic and hot peppers stir for 2 minutes more until shallots are lightly brown on the edges. Scoop out into a bowl and set aside.
- Without cleaning out the pan, add oil, turn the heat to high, add ground chicken, black pepper, and salt. Stir fry a couple minutes until chicken is cooked and starting to brown. Sprinkle coconut sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce over the chicken and stir until incorporated. Add the red bell pepper and the shallot mixture. Cook about a minute, just enough to warm. Add basil leaves and turn the heat off.
- Serve over jasmine rice. Season with more soy sauce if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 511
- Sugar: 6.8 g
- Sodium: 924.3 mg
- Fat: 17.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 63.6 g
- Fiber: 4.9 g
- Protein: 31.7 g
- Cholesterol: 96.3 mg
Keywords: Thai basil chicken, thai chicken, thai basil chiken recipe, ground chicken recipes
This recipe is delicious with ground chicken or thinly sliced chicken breasts; I have made it several times and it’s one of my husband’s favorites. Thank you Sylvia and Tonia!
★★★★★
This is so good to hear Karon!
My girlfriend made this for my cousin, who is visiting, and me last night and we were blown away. “Better than restaurant quality,” he said. Honestly probably the best homemade Thai dish I’ve ever had! The only changes she made were an extra half teaspoon of salt and omitted the red peppers 🌶️. I’m more of a baker myself but I’m going to try making this using tofu next.
★★★★★
Awesome, great to hear Austin!
Very tasty! I used thin strips of chicken breast, about 2 Tbspns of Chili Crisp instead of the Fresno/Thai chilis, and regular basil. I served it with rice Pad Thai noodles. This was delicious!
★★★★★
Sounds perfect Kate!
I just loved this recipe – Imade wraps and added some lettuce and feta.
This is so versatile and quick. I used what i had in the fridge.
★★★★★
Perfect!
SOOOO DELICIOUS. Literally took me 20 minutes to wrap up. I swapped the chicken for tofu and it was so so so good.
I also added some roasted peanuts on top for extra crunch.
★★★★★
Awesome Faye!
This was so tasty. Thank you.
★★★★★
Awesome Mary Beth!
I made this last night (with a few alterations to fit what I had + my diet restrictions), and it was INSANELY delicious. I used Quorn chick’n pieces instead of real chicken, added shitake mushrooms and baby bok choy. I used Tulsi and fresh regular basil, and I didn’t have fish sauce, so I used Tamarind paste and worcestershire sauce, plus coconut aminos. Oh, and I used a whole head of garlic, ha ha. I cooked my rice in Thai culinary broth from Wegmans. Honestly, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
★★★★★
Wow, Love all the adjustments!
Delicious! Our kids loved it too. Highly recommend.
★★★★★
Yay! Great to hear.