This lip-smacking Chicken Thai Basil Fried Rice is ready in just 30 minutes!
Have you ever found yourself wondering what you can cook quickly on a weeknight? I totally understand that you’re looking for something that’s quick to prepare. Without further ado, I introduce you to the chicken Thai basil fried rice.
This recipe is most definitely quick AND 100% tastier than a takeout! No kidding. This will be the end of your pursuit to find an easy, lip-smacking fried rice which is ready within 30 minutes!
The best thing about this chicken Thai basil fried rice is that it requires simple ingredients that you can easily find at your local grocery store.
Last Tuesday, Meg and I were too lazy to cook an elaborate lunch and stumbled upon the idea to do something with our leftover rice. FYI, a day old refrigerated rice is the BEST to make some fried rice. True story! 👨🏻🍳
We chopped some bell peppers, onion, chili peppers and cooked them along with the chicken. We prepared our rendition of a Thai sauce and mixed it in with the leftover rice. That’s it! Simple right? Read on.
And man, it was incredible! It was the best kinda comfort food and was barely any effort. Between the two of us, we managed to prepare the whole meal in under 20 minutes!
That’s quicker than an episode of The Office. Hey! Why not watch an episode WHILE cooking your meal? Man, sometimes I’m astounded by my own ingenuity. 😆
So, let us get into it!
Let me break it down into 6 simple steps!
- Cook the rice
- Sauté the vegetables
- Cook the Chicken
- Stir in the sauce
- Add the rice
- Garnish
Now that you have a basic idea of what’s involved, let’s begin!
Cook the rice
Important note: Rinse the rice a couple of times before cooking it. It washes away the starch which makes the rice gummy.
If you have a rice cooker, use 1 cup of water for each cup of jasmine rice. If you cook rice often, it is well worth your money to get a simple and inexpensive rice cooker. We have had our Aroma rice cooker for 6 years and it is such a time saver!
If you are cooking in a pot, each cup of rice requires 2 cups of water. First, bring the water to a boil and then stir in the rice with a pinch of salt (optional). Cover it with a lid and cook on low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the quantity.
Check occasionally after the first 15 minutes to make sure that it doesn’t start burning at the bottom.
While the rice is cooking, let’s prep and cook the vegetables and chicken!
Sauté the vegetables
Heat a large pan on high heat. We will cook on a high flame to add that slight char to the vegetables and chicken.
Pour some olive oil and add the onions. Keep stirring so that it cooks evenly. Once slightly browned, add in the Thai chili peppers, bell peppers and minced garlic. Toss and stir for about 2-3 minutes.
Cook the chicken
Push the veggies to the edge of the pan or take them out onto a plate, you can add them back after the chicken is cooked.
Add the diced chicken and season it with salt and pepper. Keep stirring so that it cooks evenly. Check with a meat thermometer to see if the chicken is done.
Stir in the sauce
You will absolutely love this sauce! All you need is soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and brown sugar. Just mix them together in a small bowl.
If you are looking for vegan substitutes, this fish sauce and oyster sauce are good alternatives!
Stir in the sauce and mix well with the veggies and chicken. I prefer to cook the sauce for a minute until the smell of the fish sauce fades a bit. Otherwise you can add in your rice right away.
Add the rice
Most probably your rice would have cooked by now and you can bask in your cooking efficiency! 😃
First, fluff up the rice in the pot before adding it to the pan. Just use a fork or a serving spoon and lift from the bottom to separate the rice.
Lastly, add the rice to the pan and mix it well with the sauce.
Garnish
This is for you fancy lads out there. Just kidding! Food is as much for your eyes as it is for your tummy. You deserve a gourmet looking meal every day! 😃
Slice a cucumber and lime, and finely chop some green onions. Garnish your chicken Thai basil fried rice to your liking!
Your very own chicken Thai basil fried rice is ready!
You did it! I hope you enjoy your meal as much as we did! 😃
Please leave your rating and comments below. It’ll motivate me to keep creating and sharing my experiments in the kitchen with you guys!
See you next time!
Chicken Thai Basil Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or peanut oil)
- 1 medium yellow onion (cut julienne)
- ½ red bell pepper (cut julienne)
- 2 Thai chili peppers (fine chopped. Use 1 chili to make it less spicy)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (about 6 garlic cloves)
- 2 chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice (or regular white rice)
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- salt (add to taste)
Sauce
- 1½ tbsp fish sauce (vegan alternative linked in the blog post)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (vegan alternative linked in the blog post)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp brown sugar (or regular granulated sugar)
Garnish (Optional)
- 1 lime (sliced or wedges)
- 2 slices cucumber
- 1 sprig green onion (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Begin by cooking the rice. Before cooking it, make sure to rinse the rice a couple of times to wash away the starch!
- In a hot pan, add olive oil and then add onions. Sauté until they are golden brown. Then add in the Thai chilies, bell peppers and garlic. Keep sautéing for 2-3 minutes.
- Next, push the vegetables to the edge of the pan and add the chicken in the middle. Season it with salt and black pepper. Check with a food thermometer to see if the chicken is cooked.
- Stir all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and add it to the pan. Mix well and let it cook for a minute.
- Fluff up the rice with a serving spoon or fork. Add the rice to the pan. Stir until everything is mixed well. Add salt to taste.
- Serve and garnish with sliced cucumber, lime and green onions!
This recipe looks DELICIOUS! 🤤 can’t wait to try it out😋 thanks for sharing it!
Forgot to rate it😅 but definitely a 5/5🔥