The best Thai Basil Fried Rice recipe, made with jasmine rice, chicken, fragrant Thai basil leaves, fresh chillies, and delicious authentic sauce. Spicy, sweet, and savoury flavours are all packed together in one dish. It's a super quick and easy weeknight dinner, ready in 20 minutes!
Fried rice is our family's go-to staple dish, and we love having it at any time of the day. If you love fried rice like us, you don't want to miss our 15-minute Easy Beef Fried Rice, Spam Fried Rice, and Singapore Fried Rice recipes.
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What is Basil Fried Rice?
Basil Fried Rice is known as ''Khao Pad Krapao'' in Thailand, it's one of the most popular Thai dishes across the world. When you're in Thailand, you can buy it from small street shops to big famous restaurants. You can also find it in the menu of Thai takeaways and restaurants in the UK, Europe, US, Australia, etc.
Fried rice dishes are originated in China and one of the most-eaten food in all traditions as centuries passed by. It's a very simple dish that usually features rice, proteins, eggs, and vegetables. Different countries, and different cultures have different fried rice recipes and tastes. If you are bored with Chinese fried rice, look no further, this spicy Thai basil chicken fried rice has got you covered here!
Why you would love this recipe
This homemade meal saves both time and money compared with ordering from takeaway. Taste better than regular takeout basil fried rice. When you make it at home you can adjust the chillies and basil to your preferene.
You can create restaurant-quality easy Thai basil chicken fried rice with minimum ingredients and simple cooking steps. No special wok or equipment needed. If you are a fan of Thai spicy dishes, you might also love Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad), Spicy Basil Chicken or Tom Yum Fried Rice.
Ingredients you need
This Thai basil fried rice focuses on fresh Thai basil, fish sauce, fresh chillies, and garlic. The rest of the ingredients are cooked rice, chicken or a choice of protein, and pantry-staple stir-fry sauces.
Basil Leaves - Use Thai basil for an authentic Thai flavour. It has a strong, exotic fragrance and is widely used in Thai cuisines.
Protein - I use chicken breast in this recipe but you can add your favourite protein choices such as pork, beef, prawns, squids, minced meat etc. Shrimp basil fried rice is one of our favourites!
Cooked rice - A day-old Thai jasmine rice is ideal to use for this fried rice recipe as day-old rice is less in moisture and less likely to get mushy when you make fried rice.
You can use long-grain or medium-grain rice. I recommend using Thai Jasmine rice because it has a unique fragrance and texture.
Stir Fry Sauce - Like most Thai stir fry sauces, simply mix the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and fish sauce. Add sugar to balance the sweet and savoury at the same time. This simple sauce creates fried rice a mouth-watering result and tastes better than any store-bought sauces.
Onion, garlic & chillies - You will also need fresh shallots, bird-eye chillies, and and a good amount of garlic cloves.
How to make it
- First, gather the ingredients and prepare basil leaves, garlic, and chillies.
- Cut the chicken into small dice.
- Season the chicken with sugar and soy sauce. Mix it well and set it aside.
- In a small bowl, combine light soy sauce, dark soy, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Heat the large wok/pan over medium heat. Drizzle vegetable oil and stir fry the shallots until translucent. Then, follow with the garlic and chopped chillies.
- Next, add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Then add the cooked rice and pour the stir-fry sauce mixture in. Bring the heat to high. Continue to stir fry for 1-2 mins on high heat until all the sauce and rice combine evenly and the rice becomes glossy.
- Add the basil leaves and continue to stir fry with high heat for another 1 min. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving plate. Topped with Thai crispy fried egg or sunny side up.
Tips & Variations
- Stir-frying hot chilli smell can cause coughing; don't forget to turn on your ventilation at high speed.
- I highly recommend adding fish sauce to this recipe, but if you are not a fan, you can simply swap it for soy sauce or salt to taste.
- In the UK, fresh Thai basil is only available in Chinese or Oriental Asian grocery stores. Italian basil, holy basil, or sweet basil are the closest substitutes if you cannot get Thai Basil.
- To make a crispy, sunny fried egg with a runny yolk, you need to add more oil than a regular fried egg. ( about a half cup of oil ). Fry with medium-high heat until the edges are crispy golden brown.
- You can also add a dash of Thai chilli jam ( nam prik pao ) and roasted chilli flakes ( prik pon ) if you have them.
How to serve this dish
You can simply serve this dish on its own or add some toppings and sides. A Thai-style crispy fried egg is ideal for this recipe. Place the fried egg on top and add cucumber slices, shallots, and lime wedges on the side.
Basil fried rice is perfectly complemented by side dishes and soups like Tom Yum Soup, Crispy Chilli Beef, Thai Wings, or Thai Spring Rolls. It'll be a fantastic Thai banquet dinner, for sure!
FAQs
Thai basil has a unique flavour. If you cannot get Thai basil, you can try Italian basil, sweet or holy basil.
Thai jasmine rice is recommended for making this recipe. Instead of jasmine rice, you can also use regular long-grain or medium-grain white rice.
You can swap chicken with shrimp, prawns, squid, pork, lamb, etc.
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📖 Recipe
Thai Basil Fried Rice
Equipment
- Large wok/pan or skillet
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 220 gram Chicken breast Or thigh, Cut small dice ( about 8 oz )
- 3 cup Cooked rice For 2 servings ( about 200 gram )
- handful Thai basil Or Italian Basil or regular sweet basil
- 5-6 Bird eye chilli Or hot chillies, ( Adjust to your taste )
- 3-4 cloves Garlic Finely chopped
- 1 Shallot onion Or small onion, cut thin slices
- 2-3 tbsp Vegetable oil Or neutral flavour oil
Stir fry Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce Or vegetarian stir fry sauce
- 1 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Chicken Seasonings
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
Toppings ( Optional )
- 2 Fried Egg See details in note
- Cucumber slices, shallots, and lime wedges
Instructions
- Cut the chicken into small pieces and season it with soy sauce and sugar. Mix it well and set it aside. Gather and prepare the garlic, chillies, and basil leaves. In a small bowl mix all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Heat the large wok/pan over medium heat, drizzle vegetable oil and stir fry the shallots until translucent. Then follow with the garlic and chopped chillies.
- Next, add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Then add the cooked rice, and pour the stir-fry sauce mixture in. Bring the heat to high.
- Continue to stir fry for 1-2 mins with high heat until all the sauce and rice combine evenly and the rice becomes glossy.
- Add the basil leaves and continue to stir fry with high heat for another 1 min. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving plate.
- Topped with Thai crispy fried egg or sunny side up.
Video
Notes
- A day-old/leftover jasmine rice or cold pre-cooked long/medium-grain rice is perfect for this recipe.
- If you cannot find Thai basil, you can use Italian basil or regular sweet basil.
- If you don't consume fish sauce you can substitute it with light soy sauce or add salt to taste.
- To make a crispy egg, add half a cup of oil in a pan/wok, heat up to medium-high heat, and add the egg and fry until the edges turn crispy and light golden brown.
- Instead of chicken, you can use prawns/shrimp, pork, or a choice of protein.
- Can you make it vegetarian? To make vegetarian Thai basil fried rice, use firm mashed tofu, tofu cubes, or Quorn meat instead of chicken. Add soy sauce and vegetarian stir-fry sauce instead of fish sauce and oyster sauce.
- Adjust the spiciness by adding more or less chillies to your preference.
Thai food lover says
this recipe is so delicious and so Thai. love it
Natasha Sam-Yellowe says
I am impressed!!! This was amazing! Better than Thai takeout! I only did a few minor things different. Added salt and pepper to the diced marinated chicken thighs, added four scrambled eggs and because I couldn’t find Thai pepper I added 2 tbsp of my hottest Mexican ground red pepper. This recipe is a keeper! I had to leave a review while eating it because why not!?
Kristin Stenholtz says
I typically don’t leave comments but this dish was FANTASTIC!!! I used red pepper flakes instead and added pineapple!! So incredibly flavorful!!! We are super picky here with Thai Food! Thanks for the recipe!
Ryles says
Delicious!! This is the best Thai Fried Rice recipe. Thank you so much, it's become a regular at our house.
Khin says
Thanks, Ryles. So glad that you enjoyed this recipe.
Odelia says
Still trying to figure out why my thai basil chicken fried rice had a bitter taste even half hour after finish eating. What caused it? Would like your advise.
Khin says
Hi Odelia, basil has a pungent flavour and overcooked basil can turn a bit bitter. Suggests adding in the fried rice just before turning off the heat.
tyesh says
Came out perfectly <3
Khin says
Very glad that you enjoyed Tyesh!