15-minute Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry with Rice, Green Beans & Fried Egg (Pad Krapow Gai)

15-minute Thai Basil Chicken with Rice, Green Beans & Fried Egg (Pad Krapow Gai)

Stir fry is the easiest way to get a delicious and quick meal on the table. Here is a simple Thai stir fry with chicken and basil, or Pad Krapow Gai, that can be whipped up in 15 minutes with easy-to-find ingredients. It’s fast, tasty, and will surely become one of your family’s favorite quick meals.

In Thai, pad means “stir-fried,” krapow means “holy basil,” and gai is “chicken.” Pad Krapow Gai directly translates to stir-fried basil chicken. I’m adding green beans for more nutrition and bulk, which is optional.

Serve the stir fry over a hot bowl of steamed rice and top with a super fried sunny-side egg with crispy edges for the ultimate hearty meal.

Like all stir-fry recipes, most of the time is spent prepping the ingredients. Have all your ingredients ready to go because cooking is quick.

What you will need: Holy Basil (sub with whatever basil you can find if you can’t find holy basil), chicken thighs (I’m subbing with chicken breast here), garlic, chili peppers and green beans (optional).

Great for Meal Prep!

This is a great recipe to prepare in advance and pack into individual servings for later.

To ensure that you don’t overcook the eggs when reheating in the microwave, undercook the eggs. Cook the eggs just enough so that you can transport them from the frying pan onto the rice to pack away. When the meal is reheated in the microwave, you will have perfect over-easy eggs with a smooth runny yolk.

Top the stir fry with a sunny-side egg. I like to super fried with a good amount of oil on high until the edges are lacey and crispy.

Cuts of Chicken

For this recipe, boneless chicken thigh is preferred that I manually cut into bite-size pieces for better texture. You can use store-bought ground chicken for a quicker version.

No need to marinate the chicken. Just brown it in an oiled wok or pan with a bit of garlic and shallots. Then add the sauce ingredients.

Thai Basil / Thai Chili Substitutions

If you have a hard time finding holy basil, you can substitute them with regular Italian basil, Thai basil or whatever basil that is available. I honestly couldn’t tell the difference once they wilted down.

Chili peppers are optional. I use Thai chili peppers but use whatever you have on hand. You can also eliminate the chili peppers altogether for kids or anyone who doesn’t like spicy food.

Thai Basil Chicken Sauce

If you make Asian food regularly at home, chances you already have all the essential ingredients in the pantry. You'll need dark soy sauce, fish sauce oyster sauce, and of course sugar to balance out the different levels of saltiness.

Dark soy sauce not only adds flavor but also adds color to the dish. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, feel free to sub with regular/light soy sauce. Fish sauce adds that extra funky umami that makes it Thai and Southeast Asian.

The sauce cooks down and creates a nice glaze over the chicken as it cooks on high heat.

Fish sauce (the one with the three crabs is my favorite), oyster sauce (get the premium oyster sauce from Lee Kum Kee), and dark soy sauce (no preference here; use whatever)

15-minute Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry with Rice, Green Beans & Fried Egg (Pad Krapow Gai)

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 2-3 red thinly sliced chili peppers (optional)
• 1 lb roughly chopped chicken thigh
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ½ lb green beans (trim off ends and cut into bite-size pieces)
• 1 cup Thai basil leaves or Holy basil leaves

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Saute garlic, shallots and chilies until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
2. Add chicken and stir fry until chicken is beginning to brown (about 2 minutes).
3. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar, a little at a time to taste. Add green beans and continue to cook 3-5 more minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through. Turn off heat.
4. Stir in basil leaves until they are wilted and any remaining liquid in the wok has mostly evaporated.
5. Serve with steamed rice and a fried sunny-side egg with crispy and lacey edges. Optional sauce for drizzling on egg: combine fish sauce and sliced chili peppers together in a small bowl.