Thai Basil Chicken
My Thai Basil Chicken recipe is one I have been SO excited to share! Both my grandma and my mom are from Thailand and I grew up eating Thai food on the regular. When I finally had my own kitchen, I couldn’t wait to start recreating my favorites.
There was only one problem – my grandma and my mom never use measurements. And I mean, never. When I wanted to make Thai food, I would have to FaceTime my mom while I cooked. She would literally watch me pour an ingredient and tell me when to stop. That doesn’t exactly make for the best recipes!
I have become determined to slowly but surely start making recipes for the Thai food I loved. Enter my Thai Basil Chicken recipe. I made so many versions of this trying to get it right and I finally arrived at the easiest and most delicious recipe! It’s the perfect balance of sweet, spicy and savory. It cooks in about 20 minutes and is so easy to scale up or down depending on how many people you are feeding. I make this regularly for just my husband and I and have also fed 10+ people with it too.
The key here is using Thai Basil instead of regular basil. Thai basil packs more of a punch than regular basil – the flavor is stronger and has more bite, which is a perfect balance to the sweetness in this recipe. You can find this, as well as the rest of the ingredients, at most Asian Markets or certain grocery stores like Whole Foods or Central Market. If you’re in a pinch, regular basil works fine!
To make this, you basically toss everything in a pan and stir fry it. Serve it over some rice, and you’ve got delicious Thai Basil Chicken in 20 minutes. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Thai Basil Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds Chicken, finely diced
- 1/4 cup Thai Basil, finely chopped
- 1 Shallot, finely sliced
- 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
- 3-5 Thai Chilis, finely chopped – optional
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tsp White Sugar
- 1 tsp Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp Fish Sauce
- Salt + Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add vegetable oil to a pan over medium heat
- While oil is heating, whisk together soy sauce, oyster sauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and fish sauce in a bowl until well combined or until sugar has dissolved.
- When the oil is glistening + hot, add the shallots and garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, 3-5 minutes.
- Add chicken to pan and cook about 5 minutes or until it loses its color.
- Once chicken has lost its color, drain any excess liquid. Add the thai chilis and sauce. Increase heat to medium high and cook until sauce reduces to a glaze and coats chicken, about 3-5 more minutes. Stir frequently.
- Add in basil and stir for another 30 seconds to one minute, or until basil is wilted.
- Salt and Pepper to taste. Serve immediately over cooked rice and garnish with extra basil if desired!
Notes
- DRINK: An off-dry white wine with fruity and floral notes – like the Fetzer Gewürztraminer
- MUSIC: Something fun and upbeat, like our “Dancing in the Kitchen” Playlist