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Easy Thai Basil Chicken

Name: Easy Thai Basil Chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp oyster sauce; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp honey; 2 tbsp sesame oil (sub olive oil); 3 Thai green chilies*; 2 shallots, sliced thinly; 4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly; 1 red bell pepper, diced; 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced; 1 cup Thai basil leaves**; coconut rice, for serving

Published on September 16, 2019

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If you’re a Thai food lover, you’ll definitely love this easy Thai basil chicken! Made with simple fresh ingredients, after trying this dish you’ll agree it’s the best Thai basil chicken recipe!

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It’s Monday! You need a dead-easy, super delicious, better-than-take-out dish!? I got ya covered.

Before I get into all that is this EASY Thai basil chicken, I have to tell you about this book I’m reading. Have you heard of “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate? Uuuuugggh it is so good, but so heart-wrenching. I literally am tearing up the whole time I’m reading it, and yet I can’t put it down. You know the type. It’s a fictional story based on the true scandal of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. I ditched working on the blog yesterday afternoon so I could read it some more. I’m not done, but so far, HIGHLY recommend.

Ok, the food!

So you guys MUST know by now how much I love Thai food and curries, right!? This basil chicken is one of the easiest Thai dishes I’ve whipped up in a long time. It will take all of 15 minutes for you to make! Seriously.

It’s saucy, a little spicy, and wonderful. I make this recipe with Thai basil, but you can swap for regular basil if you can’t get Thai basil. ,

What’s the difference between Thai basil and Italian basil?

We actually grew both types of basil this summer, along with a sweet basil variety, so I got a real feel for the differences! The leaves on Thai basil (also known as holy basil) are slightly more jaggedy, and the flavour is a bit more peppery. It does make a difference when cooking Thai dishes!

Along with the Thai basil, another ingredient you might need to search a little further for is Thai green chilies; luckily, my grocery store has them, but you might not be so lucky. Feel free to use a different chili in your dish, even jalapenos. If you can find Thai bird chilies (the spicy red ones), even BETTER!

How do you make Thai basil chicken?

Gather up all of your ingredients. Whisk the sauce together in a little bowl beforehand, and dice up the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. You should absolutely have everything ready to go, on hand, before you start cooking (mise en place) because the cooking process GOES FAST! I usually start my rice at the same time.

As I mentioned earlier, we grew a lot of basil this year! Luckily it gave me the chance to experiment a lot with this dish, so I feel like I have it down! One thing to note – make sure you drain the liquid off your chicken after cooking it, before you add the sauce to make sure it gets nice and sticky! Sauciness and stickiness is key!

This dish has quickly become one of my favourite go-to dishes, especially since I can adjust the heat and make it kid-friendly too. We love chicken thighs around here, so this is just another awesome use for them!

Some Thai basil recipes call for ground chicken, which I think would also be delicious, but we’re partial to the whole meat chunks!

What do you serve with Thai basil chicken?

I HIGHLY recommend serving this dish with my easy coconut rice! If you’re eating low carb, I think cauliflower rice would be delicious too. Or regular rice if you’re not into the whole coconut milk thing (weirdo 😉)

And once you decide you love this quick dinner, which I know you will, you’ll have to check out my other popular Thai recipes!