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By Taylor Stinson | 2 Comments | Posted: | Updated:
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This Thai Basil Chicken recipe is a healthy stir fry idea that doubles as an easy 30-minute dinner or meal prep lunch!
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Ingredients and substitutions
- White rice – feel free to use jasmine, basmati or brown rice with this recipe.
- Butter – margarine would also help make the rice nice and moist.
- Olive oil – use any neutral cooking oil here such as avocado, peanut, sunflower, canola or coconut oil.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs – chicken breasts work just as well in this recipe.
- Shallots – white or yellow onions would be the best substitute.
- Red chili pepper – if you don't like spice, feel free to leave this out or mince up some jalapeno pepper if you can't find red chilis.
- Salt – to taste.
- Red bell pepper – use another colour bell pepper or another vegetable of your choice .
- Thai basil – regular basil will work as well, but the flavour will be slightly different.
- Sesame seeds & lime wedges – to garnish.
Sauce
- Low-sodium soy sauce – coconut aminos or tamari are the best soy sauce substitutes.
- Garlic – fresh minced garlic is preferred. Jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Oyster sauce – swap out for some hoisin sauce or 1 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. honey mixed together.
- Brown sugar – honey or coconut sugar will also bring a bit of sweetness to this recipe.
How to make Thai basil chicken
Step 1: Make the sauce.
Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Step 2: Cook the rice.
Make the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot on the stovetop.
Step 3: Sauté the chicken.
Add the chicken, shallots and chili pepper to a pan or wok and sauté until the chicken is lightly browned.
Step 4: Add the pepper.
Add the red pepper and cook until tender.
Step 5: Mix in the sauce.
Pour in the sauce and cook until the chicken is completely heated through. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil leaves.
Step 6: Serve and enjoy!
Spoon the chicken and sauce over the cooked rice, garnish with sesame seeds and lime wedges, and dig in!
Thai meal prep variations
There are a few different ways you can customize this dish:
- Protein: Swap out the chicken thighs for chicken breasts, ground chicken, ground turkey, shrimp or even tofu.
- Spice level: For a spicier taste, use Thai chilies in addition to the red chili peppers. For a milder flavor, leave out the red chili peppers entirely.
- Veggies: Add in some diced bell peppers, green beans, bok choy, spinach, zucchini, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, water chestnut and more!
- Toppings: I like to garnish this Thai basil chicken stir fry with sesame seeds and lime wedges, but you could also garnish with green onions or top with a fried egg.
- Sides: Serve this Thai basil chicken with any rice variety of your choice. It would also be delicious with cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Thai basil chicken taste like?
Thai basil is used in a lot of Asian dishes, especially in Southeast Asia. The flavour of fresh Thai basil leaves is a bit peppery; a lot like black licorice or anise, but the longer it cooks, the sweeter the taste becomes.
Is it spicy?
This Thai basil chicken recipe is definitely a bit spicy thanks to the red chili pepper. If you can’t find red chili pepper, you can use some minced jalapeno pepper instead for a bit of kick. Don’t like spice? Leave this out altogether.
Where can you find it?
You can typically find Thai basil in the fresh spices aisle of your local grocery store. If you can't find it at your usual grocery store, try checking at an Asian grocery store.
Can you use regular basil instead?
If you aren't able to find fresh Thai basil at the grocery store, check your local Asian market for it. Using regular sweet basil as a substitute is possible, but the flavour will be less intense and much sweeter than with Thai basil. You may want to add some more sweet basil to enhance the flavours of the Thai basil recipe.
Storing and reheating
You can store any leftovers of this Thai basil chicken recipe in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days. I suggest packing individual portion sizes into glass meal prep bowls – that way, you can reheat the dish right in the container for 1-2 minutes in the microwave. Sprinkle some water over top of it first so the chicken and rice don’t dry out.
Freezing this recipe
Unfortunately, this Thai meal prep recipe does not freeze very well, although you can freeze the cooked rice to use another time. Freeze the cooked rice for up to one month and then defrost it in the fridge overnight before reheating it in the microwave for a couple of minutes. Make sure to sprinkle some rice over top so it doesn’t dry out.
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Meal Prep Tools
- Grab someglass meal prep bowls if you plan on packing this Thai Basil Chicken up for lunch.
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Easy Thai Basil Chicken Recipe
This Thai Basil Chicken recipe is a healthy stir fry idea that doubles as an easy 30-minute dinner or meal prep lunch!
4.95 from 20 votes
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Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 386kcal
Author: Taylor Stinson
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced into 1-inch pieces (about 1.5 lbs)
- 3 shallots or 1 medium-sized onion, diced
- 1 red chili pepper, de-seeded and finely diced
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 cups Thai or regular basil
- Sesame seeds & lime wedges for garnish (optional)
Sauce
- 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
Mix all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, get rice, water and butter cooking in a rice cooker while making the rest of the recipe.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, shallots (or onion), chili pepper and a pinch of salt, sauteeing for 4-5 minutes until chicken is lightly browned. Add red pepper and cook another 2 minutes until peppers are tender.
Add sauce and saute for 2 minutes until chicken is completely heated through. Turn off heat and stir in basil leaves.
Serve by spooning chicken mixture and sauce over cooked rice, then garnish with sesame seeds and lime wedges if desired. Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
If you can’t find Thai basil, use regular basil or cilantro for a different flavour.
Leave out the red chili pepper if you don’t want this dish to be spicy.
Store any leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days and reheat in the microwave.
Freeze the cooked rice for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Calories: 386kcal (19%)Carbohydrates: 33g (11%)Protein: 24g (48%)Fat: 18g (28%)Saturated Fat: 5g (31%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 80mg (27%)Sodium: 1534mg (67%)Potassium: 354mg (10%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 10g (11%)Vitamin A: 1050IU (21%)Vitamin C: 51.2mg (62%)Calcium: 30mg (3%)Iron: 2.2mg (12%)
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Created by Taylor Stinson
Hey there, my name's Taylor! I’m the founder of The Girl on Bloor, a food blog where I share healthy meal prep recipes for busy people. I'm a busy city girl living in downtown Toronto on (you guessed it!) Bloor Street. I've got 10 years experience meal prepping, along with a Master's degree in journalism, and you can find my work across the internet featured on publications such as Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Women's Health, Reader's Digest and more. I also run the awesome 5-Day Meal Prep Challenge, which is a free email course and Facebook group where I share my meal planning strategies and easy meal prep tips and recipes. Be sure to check out my free beginner’s guide to meal prep and follow me on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to get my latest recipes and meal prep tips!
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Angela says
Hi, I love this recipe! On your site there used to be a version with cabbage, carrots, & ground chicken. Is that recipe still available?Reply
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Angela – I’m so sorry but that recipe was deleted a while ago and is unretrievable. I will keep your request in mind though as I develop future recipes and will hopefully put a similar recipe back up on the site!
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