This simple Thai Basil Chicken, known as Pad Grapow, is insanely quick and inexpensive to make. It’s light, yet flavorful with lots of heat and tons of basil.
Thai Basil Chicken
This recipe is always a big hit with the family! It’s also quite easy to make. You can easily modify it to make it as spicy or mild as you like. If your family loves Thai food, they may also love this Chicken Satay and this Pad Thai.
I recently got my hands on Chrissy Teigen’s new cookbook, Cravings (affil link). What a beautiful book, love the photography and food styling, with lots of interesting recipes. Although not exactly a low calorie book, I found some dishes in the book that can easily be made light.
This simple chicken dish is a great example, I slightly modified it to make it lighter, and plan on adding some vegetables to the mix to make the portion a little more substantial the next time I make it. My husband loves Thai cuisine and basil, so this combination is a winner!
How To Make Thai Basil Chicken
More Thai recipes you may enjoy:
- Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken
- Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
- Green Curry Shrimp
- Thai Chicken Fried Rice
- Thai Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry
Thai Basil Chicken

Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce, Substitute for GF oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce, Substitute for GF soy sauce
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 serrano chile, seeded and minced (keep seeds for extra hot)
- 2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
- 3 cups fresh Thai or regular basil leaves
- cooked jasmine rice, optional for serving
Instructions
- In a bowl marinate the chicken with oyster sauce and soy sauce 10 minutes.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat, when hot add the oil, garlic and chili and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Increase the heat to high and add the chicken and cook, stirring until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Add the basil and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
- Serve over rice.