Authentic Thai Basil Chicken Recipe

In this Thai basil chicken recipe, you will learn how to make an authentic Thai street version of the dish.

Thai Basil Chicken, known as Pad Kla Pao Gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่ Pad Ka Prao Gai) in Thai, is a contender for one of the most popular and beloved Thai street food dishes.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and felt like you don’t know what to order or what you want to eat?

When something like this happens in Thailand, Pad Klapao Gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่, with chicken) or any kind of meat fried with Holy Thai Basil are dishes that come to the rescue.

Materials Needed For Fried Eggs

1 egg
2 tablespoons frying oil
For basil chicken

1 chicken breast (or other boneless chicken, about 200 grams)
5 cloves of garlic
4-10 Thai chili peppers – Roasting the chili peppers makes them less spicy.
1 tablespoon frying oil
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 dash of dark sweet soy sauce (Indonesian ketchup manis also works)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 handful of Thai basil leaves (try to get your hands on some holy basil)
You can also dress up the pad with chicken, pork, squid, shrimp, tofu, etc., but this time I’m going to use chicken to make this Thai basil recipe. However, you can also replace the chicken with your favorite meat.

Note: To see the exact steps to make this Thai Basil Chicken recipe, scroll down to the recipe panel or read the detailed description and some ingredient details of this amazing Thai dish.

Talk A Little About Thai Basil

There are mainly three types of basil used in Thai cuisine. Thai sweet basil (ใบโหระพา bhai horapa – this is often simply called Thai basil), lemon basil (ใบแมงลัก bhai magrak), holy basil (ใบกะเพ รา) bhaikraprao).

This Thai basil chicken recipe uses holy basil (ใบกะเพรา).

Can I Use Thai Sweet Basil In This Recipe?

Unfortunately, holy basil can be difficult to find outside of Thailand, and Thai restaurants in the United States often use Thai holy basil instead of Thai sweet basil and call it basil chicken. I understand that.

However, sweet basil does not have the bright peppery flavor that holy basil has. To make this dish taste Thai, holy basil cannot be substituted with another type of basil. But if you can’t find holy basil (you can even grow your own) and only sweet Thai basil, you can still make this recipe. It doesn’t have a peppery flavor, but it’s probably delicious.

To put your mind at ease, one day on my last trip to the United States, I found a large box of holy basil in an Asian supermarket that appeared to have been grown in California, or in other words, grown in the United States.

Unfortunately, holy basil can be difficult to find outside of Thailand, and Thai restaurants in the United States often use Thai holy basil instead of Thai sweet basil and call it basil chicken. I am aware of that.

However, sweet basil does not have the bright peppery flavor that holy basil has. To make this dish Thai-style, holy basil cannot be replaced with any other type of basil. However, if you can’t find holy basil (you can even grow it yourself) and only sweet Thai basil, you can still make this recipe. It doesn’t have much of a peppery flavor, but it might be delicious.

To put your mind at ease, one day on my last trip to the United States, I found a large box of holy basil in an Asian supermarket that was clearly grown in California, the United States.
Before starting this Thai basil chicken recipe, my first step is to first cook the rice in a pot. So, as soon as the chicken and eggs are ready, they are ready and cooked.

The first step is to fry the eggs. Thai fried eggs are similar to fried eggs fried in a lot of oil. The extra oil gives them a nice crunch on the outside edges and is incredibly delicious when mixed with rice or chicken.

Once the eggs are done cooking, set them aside and start cooking the chicken.

Finally, as with all of my Thai recipes, the ingredients (and quantities) listed are guidelines, and while I have used them, they can only be used as a rough guide. Thai food is prepared according to your taste.

Thai Basil Chicken Recipe

Time: Within about 30 minutes
Recipe size: 1 meal. Honestly, it tastes best when made in one batch. You can multiply this recipe several times to make several servings at a time, or to make single servings.
Cooking utensils: wok, frying pan
Taste: Salty stir-fry, complete meal, chili pepper, garlic, holy basil aroma
Eat with: Pak Lapao Gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่) is usually eaten with a pile of steamed jasmine rice and a fried egg.

Serve the freshly cooked jasmine rice on a plate, place the spicy Thai basil chicken (pad kra pao gai ผัดกระเพราไก่) on one side of the rice and the fried egg on the other side of the plate.

It is one of the most popular Thai street food in Thailand.

Try this recipe. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know below. If you like these recipes, please share them with your friends who love Thai food. thank you!