Thai Basil Chicken is arguably the gold standard of Thai Chicken stir fries! An incredibly fast and easy Thai recipe that truly tastes just as good as you’ll get at your favourite restaurant, served over jasmine rice. BONUS: No hunting down unusual ingredients!
If you’re feeling inspired, indulge in a Thai banquet at home with Chicken Satay Skewers, Thai Fish Cakes, Thai Green Curry or Red Curry, and Thai Fried Rice!
Thai Basil Chicken
Wowser. I LOVE Thai Basil Chicken. Just looking at these photos and writing up this post has me peeved that I’ll shortly be reheating leftovers instead of firing up the wok. (That’s a nice insight into the immaturity that is me.)
This is a recipe I got from the mother of a friend way back when I was in uni. Obviously, a Thai friend!
And it’s one of the few recipes that I haven’t tinkered with at all. I usually can’t help it – even recipes from well respected chefs. But this one – it’s perfect as it is. It is truly just like what you get at (good) Thai restaurants and on the streets of Thailand!
What you need for Thai Basil Chicken
Here’s what you need for Thai Basil Chicken. The really nice thing about this Thai recipe is that you can get everything you need from the grocery store – at least, you can here in Australia!
Best substitute for Thai Basil
The best substitute for Thai Basil is normal basil. While it lacks the slight aniseed flavour that’s distinctly associated with this Thai dish, it is still very much worth making!
Thai Basil
Thai Basil is a key ingredient in this recipe, being the namesake and all. 😂
Thai Basil tastes like normal basil with a hint of aniseed flavour. Nowadays it’s fairly widely available in Australia in large grocery stores and green grocers (Coles, Woolies, Harris Farms).
In actual fact, the authentic version of Thai Basil Chicken is Thai Holy Basil which is different to Thai Basil. It’s actually quite hard to find even in Thai stores, so much so that most Thai restaurants just use ordinary Thai Basil and it’s the flavour that most people have become accustomed to.
Here’s a photo showing the difference between holy basil and Thai Basil.
In the video and photos, I’ve used Thai Holy Basil. (Sydney-siders, I found it in the dark depths of a Thai grocery store in the city, I had to ask for it and the store owner got it from the back!)
Thai Basil Chicken is often overly saucy when you get it from mid-standard restaurants outside of Thailand.
This recipe sticks more to the traditional way of cooking it with enough sauce to coat the stir fry and to soak the rice a bit (enough!). But not so much sauce that when you dish it up, it’s sitting in a pool of sauce which frankly is too salty and unnecessary because the flavours of this dish are so strong, you don’t need all that sauce.
Serve this over Jasmine rice or any other rice of choice. If you want to add a fresh side, try this Asian Slaw – it’s a great all rounder that goes with all Asian foods. Or for a simpler option, just add a side of plain chunks of tomato and cucumber which is a common side that’s added to plates in Thailand.
As with all stir fries, this Thai recipe moves super fast once you start cooking – about 5 minutes. So if you can get the chopping done in 10 minutes, you’ll have dinner on the table in 15 minutes.
Hey! That’s faster than ordering home delivery! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
More Thai takeout favourites
Pad Thai – truly just like takeout!
Starters – Chicken Satay and Thai Fish Cakes
Pad See Ew – Thai stir fried noodles
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Thai Chilli Basil Chicken
Ingredients
- 225g / 7oz chicken thigh fillets , skinless boneless, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 green onion , cut into 4cm / 2" lengths.
- 1 cup Thai basil leaves , loosely packed (Holy Basil if you can find it) (Note 1)
- 2 garlic cloves , large, finely chopped (Note 2)
- 1 birds eye or Thai chilli , deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
Sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (or all purpose) (Note 3)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Serving
Instructions
- Put Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Heat oil in wok or pan over high heat.
- Add garlic and chilli and cook for 10 seconds. Don’t inhale – the chilli will make you cough!
- Add the white part of the green onions and chicken and fry until cooked, around 2 minutes.
- Add Sauce and cook for 1 minute until the water reduces to make a thick glossy sauce.
- Toss through green part of green onions and basil leaves. Stir until just wilted, then serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published in July 2014, updated with fresh new (better!) photos, new words, a brand new recipe video and of course I added a Life of Dozer section!
Life of Dozer
Story of his life. And mine, for that matter.
Wow… again… 🙂 A really good local Chinese restaurant here makes Basil Beef and I have never been able to replicate it. But I tried this recipe with beef instead of chicken. Fantastic!! I added in sliced onion to fry with the beef thinly sliced but that was the only extra. Such an amazing flavor. Your recipes are so perfect. I have a whole new Asian cookbook folder but all your recipes in it I’ve tried. They’re all so outstanding!!! Thank you 🙂
Hi Nagi! Your recipe says it makes one XL serving, or two smaller ones. Is your nutrition information for one serving or two?
Hi Laura, nutrition is per serving assuming the recipe is 2 servings here. N x
Amazing!
Hi Nagi, I am originally from Britain and Taiwan. So it is to my amazement that you have perfected such a wide array of recipes of all cuisines. What I love about your recipes and narrative is that you share so much of the why and how of cooking, it feels like such an intimate cooking lesson!
I love Thai Basil chicken but I find that every time I cook this recipe I get a lot of liquid from the chicken. Is there a trick I am missing? Is using defrosted chicken the reason I get so much liquid?
Thanks for your guidance in advance.
Love your recipes! So easy to
Understand! I just discovered your site and I love it!
I’ve just made this recipe for the first time for dinner tonight and it is stunning! Thank you Nagi, for another wonderful, delicious recipe. You are truly inspiring!
Awesome recipe. Made it before, but everyone else found the chilli a bit much and I should have drained off some of the liquid that resulted from cooking the chicken, which really watered down the sauce.
So I made it again tonight with 1 chilli and drained off the liquid, probably a little much, but never mind.
It was cooler (I would have liked the second chilli as well) and the sauce was much more intense. Still perfecting things, but it is a great dish, as are many of those you put up Nagi.
Thanks!
Cooked this last night. Wow! It was delicious. Thanks for sharing this Nagi
You’re so welcome Shelly!! N x
So damn delicious. I’ve made this recipe countless times and it’s always a hit. Today I’ll add fried cashews to add an element of another fave dish. Thank you for your constantly fantastic recipes Nagi!
Delish! Have made heaps of your recipes because they always have such great reviews and I realised that I should probably contribute to help someone else googling these amazing dishes. Thanks Nagi, your recipes are always spot on 🤤🤤🤤
Thanks so much Katelyn, that’s so great to hear! N x
This was so delicious and easy! Cooked for 3 people so used 1.25lbs of chicken thighs and doubled the remaining chicken ingredients. I decided to triple the sauce ingredients so there would be a little extra for each person and it worked perfectly! Had this on a bowl of rice and it was heaven. Thanks again, Nagi! This is the 7th recipe I’ve made from your blog and I’ve yet to be disappointed.
Hi Nagi!
Would I double the recipe if I was to cook it for 4 people?
Thank you!
Hi Stephanie, yes you would as the recipe serves 2. – N x
Loved this recipe! I have a bunch of thai holy basil growing in my herb garden (by chance!) and was looking for a recipe to re-create my fave dish at my fave thai restaurant being basil chicken stiry fry, and this hit the nail on the head!! so so delish!! Thankyou Nagi!
….loved it, i added yard long beans. Loads of chillies and the correct basil makes all the difference if you can get.
About to make this one 🙂 Nagi, I have been using your recipes non stop lately, you are my go to food blogger and I just adore everything we have made from your page x
This was so good! So many possibilities for add-ins too. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Nagi, would it be ok to double the recipe?
Yes 100%!
This was delicious! I also used regular basil and it still tasted amazing. This will be a regular go-to recipe for me.
I’m so glad you loved it Anna!! N x
Hey Nagi! I really wanna try this and because I don’t have chillis at home, would chilli paste (like Sambal Belachan) work? I can’t just get one chilli and wouldn’t know what to do with the rest if I were to buy a bunch! Thank you!
Hi Sally – yes that would be a fine substitute – 1 tsp should do the trick – N x
Wow! That was delicious!! Being the times at hand my grocery store did not have exactly everything. It was either 4 lbs of chicken thighs or the right amount of breasts. I went with chicken breast and was worried, but it turned out phenomenal! I also added a handful of julienned carrots near the end to add some color and sweet earthiness. I am just starting to get into cooking out necessity and this recipe was a godsend! Thank you so so much!
Oh also I’m a huge lover of Thai chilis and spice so I doubled the chilis. It was perfect
This was really interesting to read! I love the range of posts, there is really something for everyone, great post!