Delicious and easy homemade takeout in under 20 minutes, this Thai Basil Chicken Recipe will be your new favorite dish. Full of flavor and easily adaptable to any dietary needs, Thai basil chicken stir fry is also a make-ahead meal prep dream dish.
A former client of mine from Thailand brought this dish to a potluck and I was instantly hooked. I very sweetly but (quite) aggressively demanded the recipe and still have a print out of the email in my homemade recipe book today.
Another name for this Thai Basil Chicken recipe is Gai Pad Krapow (or pad kra pao gai). The recipe my client shared with me used American-ized ingredients because our town lacks a really good Asian market.
If you love fast weeknight dinners with zoodles, check out these Greek Turkey Meatballs. These gluten-free meatballs are so delicious and cook up in a flash.
What Ingredients are in Thai Basil Chicken Recipe?
Well, we’re going for a Captain Obvious answer on this one, but basil and chicken kind of play a significant starring role.
Yuck. Sorry about the raw chicken.
You’ll use:
- Thai basil
- Ground chicken (or pork or turkey)
- Fresh ginger
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Soy sauce or coconut aminos
- Chicken stock (related: How to Make Chicken Stock – Three Ways)
- Salt and pepper
- Red pepper flakes
While the recipe I was given only called for carrots, I’ve also added green beans, asparagus, and/or snap peas depending on the season. Peppers, mushrooms (barf), broccoli, or even squash would be wonderful additions as well. Go nuts!
Many recipes call for sliced chicken breast. I’m not sure why Jirapa chose to use ground meat, but I’ve stuck to her directions and it has never steered me wrong.
Traditional recipes will call for whole Thai chilies to be cooked with the meat. I was told to use red pepper flakes, and again, I believe that is due to the availability of local ingredients. And I wasn’t about to “American-splain” how to cook Thai food to someone from Thailand, so I still use red pepper flakes.
I’m always looking for brainless ways to add more veggies to my meals, so I prefer to serve this over zucchini noodles (“zoodles”). Pro tip: to make this a meal prep-style dish, spiralize the zucchini and place in a colander over a bowl or plate. Lightly salt the zoodles to draw out extra water. They can sit uncovered in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Where Do You Get Affordable Organic Free-Range Chicken?
I’m blessed that we have a local butcher for buying organic meat, but we also have a monthly Butcher Box subscription. Butcher Box sources only organic and free-range meat for their customers and ships them to your home once a month.
How is Thai Basil Different From Regular Basil?
Just the appearance alone will let you know it’s not the traditional basil you find in a lot of Italian and Mediterranean cooking. The leaves are smaller and there often are streaks of purple underneath. It has a bit of a spicier flavor than “normal” basil, and you’ll find it served with many Thai curries.
In Thailand, most of the basil used in this type of recipe is called “Holy basil”. It is not a type commonly found here in the states, so look for herbs labeled as “Thai Basil” in your grocer’s produce section.
Can’t find Thai basil at your grocery store? Just use regular basil and we’ll still be friends. But you’ve been officially put on warning. Get your life together man.
Here’s How to Make It:
- Cook the ground chicken in a wok/frying pan until cooked through. Remove from pan.
- Add the ginger, garlic, carrots, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, and chicken stock, and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken back to the pan, and top with basil. Remove from heat and set aside for 2 minutes.
- Salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice, cauli rice, or zoodles.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes:
- Make sure your rice is cooked and ready to go before you start cooking the meat.
- If you’re not Whole30/paleo/gluten-free, you can use soy sauce instead of the coconut aminos.
- Thai Basil Chicken is a meal prep dream. It reheats so nicely and tastes even better the next day!
- To break up the ground chicken into a really fine “mince” I like to cook it until most of the pink is gone. I then take a pastry cutter and chop the meat into teeny pieces.
- Add more of any of the ingredients to your taste/preference. For instance, I love a bunch more basil in mine than what is called for in the recipe.
- I prefer the zoodles to be cold and topped with the warm chicken, but if you like yours warmed up it is just a 2-minute process. Add a tsp of olive oil to the empty pan and gently toss the zoodles around with tongs until warmed through.
More Recipes Like This:
- 10 Minute Instant Pot Bruschetta Chicken
- Instant Pot Orange Chicken
- Sesame Sheet Pan Pork Fajitas
- Baked Teriyaki Chicken Dinner
Thai Basil Chicken WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS
One serving of Thai Basil Chicken has 1 WW Freestyle SmartPoints.
Thai Basil Chicken Recipe - Pad Krapow {Whole30, Paleo}
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 10 leaves Thai basil sliced in half lengthwise
- 3 carrots peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Place a frying pan or wok over medium heat. Preheat for five minutes.
- Cook the ground chicken through; remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add garlic, ginger, carrots, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and chicken stock to the pan and cook until the carrots are crisp-tender - about 3 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan.
- Add basil. remove from heat and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Serve immediately over rice, cauliflower rice, or zoodles (zucchini noodles).
Notes
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This post was originally published in August 2011. It has been retested and updated with reader feedback. New photos were added and the recipe was made printable.
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Would love to use chicken. I have chicken tenders – do they need to be minced?
I would chop it to make it more as you would serve for tacos/burritos. Mincing it would be a lot of work. 🙂
So quick to put the recipe together especially if you use the precut matchstick carrots.
I use GF soy sauce/tamari in place of the coconut aminos.
We make this often and double it so we have leftovers.
This recipe also can be used for the protein in lettuce wraps or spring rolls. So versatile and delicious!!
Wendy, you’re so smart – lettuce wraps! I am totally stealing this idea for myself.
I found dried Thai basil on close-out in my grocery store! I’m excited to try this recipe, I know it won’t be the same as fresh but I’m the kind of person that loves the flavor that herbs impart but I do not like it when they are in pieces big enough for me to detect so typically dried and chopped is the way to go for me. I love going to get Thai food in restaurants but when I get my panang curry I always pick the basil out. Thank you for the recipe <3
I made this doubled with ground turkey, dry ginger and garlic and added an onion. Served over a mix of zucchini and regular noodles. It was very good!
So glad you liked it Sharyce and I love the addition of ground turkey!!
I couldn’t find Thai basil in my store so I used regular basil and it came out great. Thanks!
Great suggestion to use the pastry cutter to break up the cooked, ground meat!
It is one of my favorite tips!
Gonna make this next week because I have regular basil to use up. I like the idea about the green beans.
Let me know what you think Lesley!
Yum! If my basil ever grows (or I cave and buy some), I’ll definitely have to make this.
Waiting for fresh herbs is so hard. And then of course you have way too much when you don’t need it!
Made this for dinner tonight. It was awesome. Your right the ginger makes this! I feel like it needed another flavor so thinking of adding some lemongrass to it next time. Thanks for sharing 🙂