Stir-fry dishes are often quick and easy and this Thai style basil chicken is one of my go-to recipes! It’s a super simple recipe where diced chicken is sauteed, until golden brown before adding some onions, red peppers and garlic, followed by the tasty sauce! The sauce consists of fish sauce, palm sugar, and lime juice which, when combined with either sliced chilies or chili sauce creates an amazing blend of salty, sweet, tart and spicy! The star of this dish is fresh basil and there is plenty of it! I like to add cashews and/or toasted sesame seeds for an additional layer of flavour and a new texture! This dish comes together in about the same time that it takes to steam rice making it a complete meal in almost no time at all.
Thai Basil Chicken
A quick and easy Thai style chicken stir fry with plenty of basil and cashews!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts (or thighs), cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 shallots, diced (or 1/4 red onion, finely diced)
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soy sauce or tamari)
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 lime, juice and zest (about 2 tablespoons of juice)
- 2 birds eye chilies, thinly sliced (or 1 tablespoon chili sauce such as sriracha)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cup basil (preferably Thai basil)
- 1/2 cup cashew, lightly toasted
directions
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken and saute until lightly golden brown and cooked through, about 7-10 minutes.
- Add the shallots and red pepper and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up and brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the broth sizzles.
- Add the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and zest, chilies, and turmeric and cook for a minute.
- Mix in the basil and cashews and enjoy!
Option: Add extra vegetables!
Option: Add chopped cilantro!
Option: Add chopped mint!
Tip: Steam rice or cook noodles while making the basil chicken to serve with it!
Wow very Yummy!!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe. These basil chicken are AMAZING! Thanks for a great recipe.
I was glad that Ahiam got the information on Unique recipes and I will make this recipe and freeze it all. I am really thankful that I got important information.
My family isn’t big on seafood so next time I’ll try it with soy sauce or tamari instead of fish sauce. . But even with the fish sauce and regular basil instead of thai ball, we loved it and will definitely make again. Thanks for the great recipe!
This was very good. I added flour to the liquid to make more of a sauce. Like other reviewers, I didn’t have fresh basil but dried worked just as well. I added carrot to the chicken and served it over rice. Delicious! This is a make again.
Thanks for sharing this recipe with us!
I’m going to try this but I have a question. I have dried Thai basil leaves, do I still use a cup or would it be less since it’s dried?
A dried basil version is going to be different, still good, but different. I would use 2 teaspoons of dried basil.