Spicy Thai Basil Chicken (also known as Pad Kra Pao) is a quick and flavorful chicken stir fry dish made in 30 minutes. The balance of savory, spicy, and aromatic notes from garlic, chilies, and fresh Thai basil, makes this stir fry taste even better than takeout!
🔍 Quick Look:
- What is it? A quick and easy version of the popular Thai food called Pad Kra Pao. It is a tasty chicken stir-fry with Thai basil, garlic, chilies, and a savory sauce typically served over rice.
- Why you’ll love this recipe: It’s an easy dish that cooks fast once everything is chopped and ready. It tastes just like Thai restaurant food, and cleaning up will be a breeze since you will only be using one pan. If you’re craving another quick and tasty stir-fry, you’ll definitely love my Spicy Chicken Stir Fry with Lemon.
- 🕒 Total Cook Time: 30 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Method: Stir-fry the marinated chicken and vegetables separately, then combine them in a hot pan or wok and cook until everything is fully cooked and coated in the sauce.
- 👩🍳 Flavor Profile: It has a well-balanced flavor, combining savory and spicy notes with the fragrant aroma of garlic, chilies, and fresh Thai basil.
- ⭐ Difficulty: This chicken stir-fry is an easy to make dish—just cook the chicken and veggies, mix in the seasonings, and serve it over steaming hot rice!
Summarize & Save this content on:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy: The longest part about this recipe is gathering and chopping the ingredients. Once you have all of them, it takes 5-8 minutes to stir fry everything and dinner is ready!
- Authentic taste: I love Thai food and this tastes very similar to the ones I get at the restaurant due to the sauces I use. If you want it to be Thai spicy, you can add more chilis 😉
- One-Pot Dish: This dish requires only one pan, making cleanup a breeze and saving you time in the kitchen.
Jump to:
Key Ingredients
Here’s a look at what you need to make Spicy Thai Basil Chicken at home. The highlights are here but the full ingredient list and quantities of each are in the recipe card.
Chicken Marinade
This recipe uses chicken breast. I slice it thinly myself. Some Pad Kra Pow recipes uses ground chicken, which also works great for this dish as well! Marinating with the corn starch and olive oil makes the chicken super tender and moist. You won’t even be able to tell it’s chicken breast ◡̈
Chicken Stir Fry
The stir fry process is super quick. I recommend to chop up your bell peppers, garlic and onions in advance. The lemongrass paste (you can also use fresh!) is optional to add but gives fragrant flavor in the stir fry.
This best part of this recipe, is that it uses lots of pantry items such as oyster sauce, fish sauce (I recommend 3 crabs brand for the best authentic flavor), soy sauce and sugar. You can find these items at Asian groceries such as 99 Ranch or Hmart.
Thai basil is recommended for this dish as it holds up well in high heat cooking while regular basil is best for raw or gently cooked dishes like salads and pesto. If you do substitute it, add the regular basil at the end of stir fry when it is not super hot (so it doesn’t wilt too much).
Substitutions and Variations
- Chicken Breast: Swap for chicken thighs for a juicier version. You can also use ground chicken for an authentic Pad Kra Pow.
- Thai Chilis: Adjust the number of chilis to control the spice level, or replace with a milder pepper like jalapenos. Note: the taste of the thai chilis do bring in lots of authentic Thai flavor, so I don’t recommend substituting.
- Lemongrass: If you can’t find fresh lemongrass, use a lemongrass paste like me. If that is hard to find, you may omit this ingredient.
Steps To Make the Spicy Thai Basil Chicken
Step 1: Thinly slice chicken breast and place in a bowl.
Step 2: Add fish sauce, corn starch, olive oil, salt, sugar and water to chicken. Mix together in one direction to help with myosin development, which yields more tender chicken. Marinate for 10 minutes while you prep the stir fry ingredients.
Step 3: Chop onions, garlic, thai chilis, basil and bell pepper. Place on a separate plate for easy stir fry in the next step.
Step 4: Heat wok or pan to high. Once the wok gets really hot (smoke is coming out), add 1 tablespoon oil. Fry marinated chicken for one minute.
Step 5: Take chicken out of pan once you see some browning. Your chicken should be 80% done (don’t worry we will stir fry it again to finish cooking). Place on a separate plate.
Step 6: Heat wok on high again and add another tablespoon of oil. Fry garlic, onions, red bell pepper, and Thai chilis.
Step 7: Add chicken (from step 5) back in. Then, add lemongrass (optional), oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar to the stir fry and mix together quickly so the ingredients don’t burn.
Step 8: Fry for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and add in the thai basil. Hope you enjoy with hot white rice or a fresh salad!
Expert Tips
- Prep Ahead: I recommend chopping all your ingredients prior to stir frying. The stir fry process takes 5 minutes and if you’re not ready, the ingredients can easily burn.
- High Heat Cooking: Stir-fry over high heat to create a smoky wok-charred flavor. Traditionally, this dish is cooked on a wok if you want better flavor.
- Control the Spice: Use Thai bird’s eye chilies for authentic heat. The flavor is unbeatable and if you use a different chili pepper, the taste will not be as authentic.
Thai Basil Chicken FAQs
It’s usually medium to spicy, depending on the number of Thai bird’s eye chilies you add. You can easily adjust the heat by using fewer chilies.
Keeping basil in the fridge can cause it to turn black too quickly. Instead, store packaged basil on the kitchen counter, away from direct sunlight and heat.
Add the basil at the very end of cooking and take the pan off the heat right away to keep its flavor fresh and vibrant—overcooking can make it dark and bitter.
Thai basil chicken is best served with hot white rice and a fried egg. To make this a full meal, I recommend to add some delicious vegetables such as Steamed Eggplant with Garlic and Stir Fried Green Beans.
Check Out More Easy Thai Recipes:
- One Pot Rice with Minced pork and Thai Basil – super fragrant rice inspired by the famous
- Thai Fried Eggs – Savory, sweet and a little acidic sauce on top of fried eggs make a super delicious meal!
- Thai Curry Noodle Soup – this delicious red curry soup takes 20 minutes for a quick and easy meal!
Spicy Thai Basil Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 pound chicken breast thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon water
Stir Fry
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- marinated chicken
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste or fresh lemongrass optional
- 2 Thai Chilis add more if you like extra spicy
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ white onion sliced
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ pound Thai Basil roughly chopped
- ½ squeeze of lemon or lime garnish
Instructions
Marinate Chicken
- Thinly slice chicken breast and place in a bowl.
- Add fish sauce, corn starch, olive oil, salt, sugar and water to chicken. Mix together in one direction to help with myosin development, which yields more tender chicken. Marinate for 10 minutes while you prep the stir fry ingredients.
Prepare Stir-Fry
- Chop onions, garlic, thai chilis, basil and bell pepper. Place on a separate plate for easy stir fry in the next step.
Sitr-Fry
- Heat wok or pan to high. Once the wok gets really hot (smoke is coming out), add 1 tablespoon oil. Fry marinated chicken for one minute.
- Take chicken out of pan once you see some browning. Your chicken should be 80% done (don't worry we will stir fry it again). Place on a separate plate.
- Heat wok on high again and add another tablespoon of oil. Fry garlic, onions, red bell pepper, and Thai chilis.
- Add chicken (from step 5) back in. Then, add lemongrass (optional), oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, and sugar to the stir fry and mix together quickly so the ingredients don't burn.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and add in the thai basil. Hope you enjoy with hot white rice or a fresh salad!
Notes
- Prep Ahead: I recommend chopping all your ingredients prior to stir frying. The stir fry process takes 5 minutes and if you’re not ready, the ingredients can easily burn.
- High Heat Cooking: Stir-fry over high heat to create a smoky wok-charred flavor. Traditionally, this dish is cooked on a wok if you want better flavor.
- Control the Spice: Use Thai bird’s eye chilies for authentic heat. The flavor is unbeatable and if you use a different chili pepper, the taste will not be as authentic.
Leave a Reply