Thai Basil Fried Rice - Khin's Kitchen (2024)

Published: Jun 29, 2020 · Modified: Oct 17, 2022 · by Khin · This post may contain affiliate links.

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. Super quick and easy weeknight dinner, ready in 20 minutes!

Fried rice is our family's go-to staple dish and we can eat it 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 and Singapore Fried Rice recipes.

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 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 way more 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 the fresh basil, fish sauce, fresh chillies, and garlic. The rest of the ingredients are cooked rice, 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 like pork, beef, prawns, squids, 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 would still recommend using Thai Jasmine rice because Jasmine rice has its unique fragrance and taste.

Stir Fry Sauce - Like most Thai stir fry recipes, simply mix the light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and fish sauce. Add sugar to balance the sweet and savoury 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 garlic cloves.

How to make it

1. First of all, gather the ingredients and prepare basil leaves, garlic, and chillies.
2. Cut the chicken into small dice.
3. Season the chicken with sugar and soy sauce. Mix it well and set it aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine light soy sauce, dark soy, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.

5. 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.
6. Next, add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
7. 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.
8. 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.
• Highly recommend adding fish sauce to this recipe but if you are not a fan, you can simply swap it with soy sauce or salt to taste.
• In UK fresh Thai basil is only available in Chinese or Oriental Asian grocery stores. Italian basil, holy or sweet basil is the closest substitute if you can't easily 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/paste ( nam prik pao ) and roasted chilli flakes ( prik pon ) if you have them in hand.

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 harmonized with 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!

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