There are a select few really good meals in this world that take just 10 minutes to prepare from start to finish. This Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow) is one of them.
And it isn’t one of those rush jobs either. This isn’t an episode of 30 Minute Meals, where Rachel Ray comes up with an ambitious 3-part menu and screeches into the finish line at the end, unceremoniously dumping all of her dishes into serving bowls and delivering her end-of-show sign-off with a sense of tired relief.
This is going to be a relaxed 10 minutes of cooking.
To prove it to you, I will proceed to outline how each one of those minutes is going to be spent.
Making Thai Basil Chicken in 10 Minutes
Minute 1: You’re going to walk leisurely over to your fridge and pull out a pack of ground chicken. Then you’re going to chop up 3 chilies. They don’t have to be pretty.
Minute 2: You’re going to peel and slice 3 shallots. My trick? Cutting off both ends, sweeping my knife lengthwise across the shallot, and peeling off the outside in one fell swoop before slicing. Oh, and if you can’t find shallots, a red onion will do just fine.
Minute 3: Following the same pattern from the previous step, you’re going to slice 5 cloves of garlic. Hint: smashing them with the side of your knife makes ’em a lot easier to peel. Yay garlic!
Minute 4: You’re going to heat a wok over high heat (not medium high. HIGH.), and then add a few tablespoons of oil, along with your prepared chilies, shallots, and garlic.
Minute 5: You will allow said oil, chilis, shallots, and garlic to do their work in said wok, stirring occasionally to help them along a bit.
Minute 6: You’ll add the ground chicken and start breaking it up.
Minute 7: You will continue cooking the ground chicken until browned. How is this happening so quickly? Answer: your stove is cranked up as high as it will go.
Minute 8: You’ll throw in some sugar, soy sauce and fish sauce, and stir-fry everything together. You are a kitchen genius.
Minute 9: You’ll deglaze the pan (which is just a fancy way of saying “scrape up all the brown bits”) with broth, and toss in a bunch of holy basil or Thai basil leaves. (YES, we know this dish is traditionally made with holy basil, but it can be difficult to access in the states, so Thai basil is fine to use!)
Minute 10: You’re almost home free. Just continue stir-frying over high heat until most of the liquid is cooked off and the basil is wilted.
And that, my friends, is dinner. 10 ingredients, 10 minutes. All you need is a bowl of rice to serve it with.
Read on for a much shorter version of the Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow) recipe instructions, this time with visual aids!
Thai Basil Chicken: Recipe Instructions
In a wok over high heat, add the oil, chilies, shallots and garlic, and fry for 1-2 minutes, until softened and just starting to brown at the edges.
Add the ground chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the chicken into small bits.
Add the sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Stir-fry for another minute and deglaze the pan with the broth. Because your pan is over high heat, the liquid should cook off very quickly. Add the basil, and stir-fry until wilted.
Serve your Thai Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapow) over white rice (or brown rice).
Thai Basil Chicken (Easy Gai Pad Krapow)
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 tablespoons oil
- 3 Thai bird chilies or holland chilies (de-seeded if desired and thinly sliced)
- 3 shallots (thinly sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 1 pound ground chicken (450g)
- 2 teaspoons sugar (or honey)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth (or water)
- 1 bunch holy or Thai basil leaves
Instructions
- In a wok over high heat, add the oil, chilies, shallots and garlic, and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground chicken and stir-fry for 2 minutes, breaking up the chicken into small bits.
- Add the sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Stir-fry for another minute and deglaze the pan with the broth. Because your pan is over high heat, the liquid should cook off very quickly.
- Add the basil, and stir-fry until wilted. Serve over rice.
Nutrition
Roxanne Campanella says
Can’t wait to try this. It’s one of my fav’s. I did make your shrimp and lobster sauce the other night and it was the amazing. I’m so glad I found your blog. The recipes remind me of the restaurants we would eat at back home in New York. Until now I couldn’t get the flavors right and now it’s easy, peasy. Thank you so much !
Sarah says
You’re so welcome, Roxanne! Happy to help bring you a taste of home!
Laura says
One of my all time favorite recipes! I have used it for several years now. It is a great recipe that you can easily adjust to suit your needs! I sometimes add a bell pepper or two, broccoli, anything to add a little veg so I don’t need to make a side dish! Thai basil isn’t consistently available near me so I keep some dried in the pantry in case I can’t get it fresh! So delicious and so easy!
Sarah says
Hi Laura, sounds like this recipe is quite the workhorse in your kitchen! Love that you’ve been adapting it to what you have, and also adding veggies! :)
Tiffany Farmer says
Hi. I planted Thai chilies and Thai basil in my garden this year for the purpose of making Thai basil chicken, which I used to eat at a restaurant. I just found your recipe and look forward to making this dish. I would like to add diced zucchini to the dish. If I do, should I add it after the chicken has cooked?
I can’t wait to try your Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi and the Chinese Stuffed peppers. Everything on your site looks amazing.
Sarah says
Hi Tiffany, yes I would add it after the chicken, and dice it small so it doesn’t have to cook too long. Thanks so much and hope you enjoy this recipe and those others––they’re some of my favorites!
Tiffany Farmer says
I just made this dish and it is amazing. I diced the zucchini up small and added it to the wok when the chicken was almost cooked through. The time you have posted for how long to stir fry the different ingredients was spot on. The color of the chicken was not quite the color as in your picture, but probably because I used ground chicken breast since that was what was available at the store. The flavor is amazing. Thank you
Sarah says
You’re welcome, Tiffany! Glad to hear it turned out well. :)
Nancy says
I’ve made this many times now.. Sometimes using ground pork or beef instead of chicken or when I don’t have enough ground meat, I have added tofu or water chestnuts. I loved it everytime. I love how simple and tasty it is! Thanks!
Sarah says
You’re very welcome, Nancy!! Thanks so much for the review and feedback. :)
Amanda says
So good! This site is my go-to whenever my cravings take over and I want to try my hands at re-creating some of the delicious asian food you get back home in Australia. Thanks for a great site!
Sarah says
You’re welcome, Amanda!!
Robin says
I just made this for the first time and my family said, “MMMMMmmm…” at the same time when they took their first bite. It’s delicious!! I had to use regular basil and serrano peppers because the two grocery stores near me did not have the Thai versions. It tasted amazing with the substitutes. I will definitely make this again.
Sarah says
So glad you and the family enjoyed this, Robin! Thank you for coming back to leave us feedback!
Wendy says
I do love sauce so I add more chicken broth, use whatever basil I have on hand, and mix in baby spinach before serving. This is just my kind of recipe. Flavor does not have to take forever. Also may serve with ginger garlic grilled baby bok choy on the side.
Sarah says
100% agree with you that flavor doesn’t have to take a long time! So glad you like this recipe, Wendy!
marcel latour says
Definitely delicious ”fast food..Very easy to cook and enough fun to do too. Very rewarding ! I do this recipe on a regular basis.
Sarah says
I agree, Marcel. This dish is so fast, but such a great reward at the end. It almost seems like it should take longer to make!
Angela says
Hi! I was wondering if you had any suggestions if at all for fish sauce substitutions? I want to make this be we unfortunately have a seafood allergy in the family, and I’m certain that cutting out fish sauce would likely change the flavor entirely! Thanks!
Sarah says
Hi Angela, you can try a vegetarian oyster sauce (made with mushrooms), or a vegan fish sauce (made with seaweed!)