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This Thai Basil Chicken recipe serves up the most delicious and easy chicken! Honey, garlic, basil, and a host of other goodies come together in this super popular Thai street food dish. Healthy, easy, and oh so tasty!
Thai Basil Chicken is arguably the most beloved of Thai chicken recipes! It’s a super quick and easy Thai dish that tastes as good as your favorite restaurant’s. Serve with rice for a delicious meal that’s bound to bring a smile to your face! Made with chicken breast, garlic, bell peppers, soy and oyster sauce, honey, and some fresh basil. This meal is also perfect for meal prepping and taking to work for lunch.
If you’re looking for other delicious chicken recipes, why not also try my Easy Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole and my Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken!
Why you’ll love this thai basil chicken recipe
- Coated in a delicious sauce. The chicken has a deep and flavorful coating, made with oyster sauce, honey, and soy sauce.
- Fried basil. Fresh basil is gently pan-fried, adding a delicious herbal note and lovely texture to the dish.
- An easy Thai recipe. This all comes together so quickly, no fancy ingredients. From pantry to table in less than 30 mins.
ingredients you’ll need
- Boneless Chicken Breast
- Fresh Basil
- Olive Oil
- Veggies – green onions, bell peppers, red chili
- Kosher Salt
- Oyster Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Honey
- Sesame Seeds
how to make this thai basil chicken recipe
- Make your sauce – In a small bowl, whisk your oyster sauce, honey, and soy sauce. Set aside.
- Fry the basil – Add basil in a single layer to a skillet with oil. Fry undisturbed for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the skillet.
- Sauté – Add your aromatics and bell peppers to the skillet and sauté until sizzling.
- Cook the chicken – Add cubed chicken to the skillet and cook until golden brown. Simmer for 5 mins and add in the fried basil.
- Garnish, serve, and enjoy!
recipe notes and tips
- Use boneless, skinless chicken.
- Cut the chicken into similar sized cubes, so they cook evenly.
- Use a large skillet or a wok.
- Cook your aromatics on a lower heat, you want to be able to release their flavors without burning them
- Have all your ingredients prepped before firing up the skillet/wok, things move fast!
- Finely chop the garlic, instead of mincing it. Minced garlic can burn quickly and become bitter.
- Use low sodium soy sauce, to control the salt content.
- Serve with brown rice or jasmine rice.
- Top with sesame seeds for a satisfying pop of crunch.
faq’s
what’s the best basil to use for this thai basil chicken recipe?
Holy basil is the kind of Thai basil used in the authentic recipe. It has a more peppery flavor than the normal sweet basil used in Italian cooking Holy basil is available at some Thai groceries.
However, Thai Basil is a more common type of basil that is sold at supermarkets and mostly used in Thai restaurants.
If you can’t find Thai or Holy Basil, that’s fine! This Thai Basil Chicken recipe is still delicious with ‘normal’ basil. The sauce still has a wonderful flavor and still super fragrant!
what other vegetables can i add to this stir fry?
You can toss in all kinds of veggies, it’s a great way to use up vegetables, just be aware that harder veggies can take longer to cook.
Here’s some ideas:
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Broccoli Florets
- Cauliflower Florets
- Mushrooms
variati0ns for this chicken stir fry
This is such a verstaile recipe, as mentioned above you can throw in different veggies. You can also use ground chicken or shrimps, instead of chicken breasts.
Feel free to dial up the heat with chili paste or omit the red chili and keep it mild. You can also remove the seeds and ribs from the red chili if you want a medium heat.
If you’re looking for more aromatics, you can also add in some ginger for another flavor twist.
other thai inspired recipes
More chicken recipes to try
- Mexican Chipotle Chicken Pasta
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Creamy Mushroom Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
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Thai Basil Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless or skinless chicken breast
- 1 small bunch fresh basil
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 bell peppers, different colors
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced, for serving
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red chili, seeded and sliced
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk, oyster sauce, honey, and soy sauce; set aside. Cut the chicken into small dice.
- Chop the pepper, red chili, and green onion. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet.
- Add basil leaves in a single layer, and fry undisturbed for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the skillet to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and heat again. Add peppers, garlic, and red chili, sauté until sizzling. Don't let it turn dark.
- Immediately add in the chicken cubes and salt; cook until nicely golden brown. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the prepared sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the fried basil. Transfer the chicken to a serving bowl.
- Garnish with sliced green onion and top with sesame seeds.
Notes
- Use boneless, skinless chicken.
- Cut the chicken into similar sized cubes, so they cook evenly.
- Use a large skillet or a wok.
- Cook your aromatics on a lower heat, you want to be able to release their flavors without burning them
- Have all your ingredients prepped before firing up the skillet/wok, things move fast!
- Finely chop the garlic, instead of mincing it. Minced garlic can burn quickly and become bitter.
- Use low sodium soy sauce, to control the salt content.
- Serve with brown rice, quinoa, or jasmine rice.
- Top with sesame seeds for a satisfying pop of crunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for the recipe!
Just perfect. I took peanut oil instead of olive oil. Everybody loved it.
AWESOME! ,quick and tasty.
Oh boy, where to begin. Made it as directed which was incredible then let the creative side of me run wild. Used chicken thighs cut into slices instead of breast chunks, used 3 bunches of Basil (I like Basil) added at the end instead of stir frying first. I chopped dried chili peppers then to offset the heat I added Pineapple chunks. Finally a small handful of cashews to complement.
Love your suggestions. Glad you loved it
We loved it! My husband said it was the best Thai dish I have ever made. My 11 year old son wanted more! I’d say that is a huge hit.
Thanks! Glad the family loved it.
Easy and delicious recipe.
Thank you
Wow this was great! I was given holy basil by a friend and needed some inspiration. So simple I couldn’t believe the flavour! My picky eater husband devoured it!
I added a dash of sesame oil and sliced up zucchini as I was trying to clear out the fridge but everything else was as instructed.
Sp glad the husband aproved. Thanks for the feedback
So easy quick and very delicious. My family loved it.
so glad you all loved it. Thanks for the review
Made this meal, so so good . Everyone loved it
Glad you guys loved it
vidoes make it so much easier is there a vidoe on this?
Hi there. I don’t have a video for this yet. Coming soon.
Can you fix it to where the ingredients will adjust to how many servings I choose to make?
I will look into it. Not sure how to do that
Is there any substitute I can use for the oyster sauce?? Thanks!
Try fish sauce, hoisin sauce, or just soy sauce. Oyster sauce is more like a sweeter soy sauce.
Tasty… I did it today. It was delicious.
Thank you!