Thai Basil Spicy Fried Rice. This is the best Thai chicken fried rice as it’s packed with a spicy savoury umami flavour that totally hits the spot.

The Thai basil really elevates this dish making it perfect for dinner or lunch. Ready in just 30 minutes.
Hit the spot!
I am OVERLY excited to share this recipe with you! It is my version of spicy Thai basil fried rice recipe. It honestly satisfies all your taste buds thanks to the umami flavour of the fish sauce and oyster sauce, to the spiciness of the chilies.
Addictive
You will not be able to stop at one bowl for this authentic Thai basil chicken fried rice. You will want seconds, so if you're feeding your family, you may want to quadruple the portion size. My spicy Thai basil fried rice recipe is similar to Pad Gra Pow, but the rice and the chicken topping is all mixed in.
Easy to make!
This Thai spicy basil fried rice recipe is easy to make and only calls for 30 minutes of your time if you have day old, cooked rice. Making it a fantastic meal for those long days after work when you're craving Thai food, but you don't want to make a trip to the restaurant to get some. You may think this recipe is complicated due to its complex flavours but it’s really not.
What you’ll need
For this spicy Thai basil chicken fried rice, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- cooked jasmine rice, day old leftover rice strongly recommended
- chicken breast
- Thai basil leaves
- red chili
- garlic
- vegetable oil
Sauce:
- oyster sauce
- fish sauce
- regular soy sauce
- white granulated sugar
Chicken marinade:
- fish sauce
- regular soy sauce
Optional:
- lime
- fried egg(s)
How to make Thai basil chicken fried rice
Below are brief steps with visuals to show you how to make spicy Thai chilli and basil fried rice. Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details.
Marinate chicken with marinade ingredients as listed. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle (or food processor), pound (or pulse) red chili, and garlic until oils and juices release.
In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients.
In a hot wok set over medium high heat, add oil. Fry chicken until 75% cooked.
Add chili garlic paste and mix with chicken.
Push everything to the side. Add more oil if needed into empty space. Throw in rice. Toss to mix.
Pour in sauce and toss again until granules are coated in sauce. Note: it is fine if your rice is a bit moist as this fried rice is more on the saucier side than dry.
Throw in fresh basil and mix again.
Remove off heat and enjoy optionally with a fried egg and lime juice.
Cooking Tips
Below are tips on making Thai basil chicken fried rice:
Use day old leftover rice
Using day old leftover rice prevents your rice become sticky and clumpy if you were to use fresh warm rice. Because this rice is saucier than most fried rice recipes, you’ll definitely want to use day old.
Separate cooked rice with hands
To ensure your rice doesn’t stick together, separate the granules with your hands prior to cooking.
Pound the chili and garlic
Using a mortar and pestle will help the juices and oils release from the chili and garlic if you pound it. You may also use a food processor but less oils will release due to the processing motion.
Prepare ingredients in advance
This step is crucial as the cooking process only takes about 5 minutes in a ripping hot wok and the last thing you want to be doing is fumbling around your kitchen looking for the next ingredient to toss into the pan.
Slice chicken thinly but not overly thinly
Because we are cooking this in a hot wok, the high heat will cook the chicken fast, so you want the chicken sliced thinly but not too thin! About 0.75 cm per slice.
Pre-mix the sauce
Since the cooking process is about 5 minutes and the heat is blazing hot, we want to combine our sauce ahead of time so we can easily pour it over the rice to fry.
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this Thai spicy basil chicken fried rice recipe:
Is Thai fried rice different than Chinese fried rice?
Yes, Thai fried rice usually uses fish sauce for seasoning with oyster sauce, unlike Chinese fried rice. Thai fried rice also doesn’t usually contain soy sauce, however for the purposes of taste, I like to add a tiny bit to mine.
Can I substitute the fish sauce?
Fish sauce is essential to Thai cooking especially in this fried rice dish, so it’s highly recommended for that umami taste. However, if you don’t have this ingredient or do not want to add this ingredient to your pantry, then you may omit. Just add more oyster sauce as needed.
If you’re vegan, vegan fish sauce is available for purchase at some grocers or online.
Can I replace the oyster sauce?
Yes, you can substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce especially if you’re trying to avoid animal products.
May I remove or substitute the chicken?
Yes, you can remove or sub the chicken with your protein of choice. Shrimp, beef, pork or tofu will work.
What kind of rice do you use?
1–2-day old cooked Thai Jasmine rice for best texture.
Can I use brown rice?
Yes.
Other recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed this Thai spicy basil fried rice, you may enjoy these other fried rice recipes:
Thai Railway Fried Rice
Shrimp Fried Rice
Kimchi Sausage Fried Rice
Spam Fried Rice
Tomato Egg Fried Rice
Chicken Pineapple Fried Rice
Try it!
Well, I hope you give my Thai Basil Spicy Fried Rice a try! It always excites me when you make my recipes and I hope this is one you try and most importantly, enjoy.
Sharing is caring
If you enjoyed my Thai spicy basil fried rice with chicken, please share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture of your re-creation and make sure to tag me @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories as I would love to see it!
Did you enjoy it?
If you genuinely enjoyed my best Thai basil chicken fried rice, please leave a 5-star review. I would greatly appreciate it 🙂
Take care,
Christie
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Thai Basil Spicy Fried Rice (30-min.)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked jasmine rice day old leftover rice (see Note 1 for quantity of uncooked rice)
- 250 grams chicken breast skinless boneless, thinly sliced at 0.75 cm thick
- 1 cup Thai basil loose cup not packed (or sub with holy or Italian basil)
- 1 red chili pepper finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or as needed for frying
Sauce:
- 1.5 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ½ tablespoon regular soy sauce not light or dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon white granulated sugar
Chicken marinade:
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon regular soy sauce not light or dark soy sauce
Optional:
- 1 lime for serving
- 1 egg fried
Instructions
- Slice chicken thinly, about 0.75 cm thick.
- Marinate sliced chicken with marinade ingredients as listed. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle (or food processor), pound (or pulse) red chili, and garlic until oils and juices release.
- In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients.
- In a hot wok set over medium high heat, add oil. Fry chicken until 75% cooked.
- Add chili garlic paste and mix with chicken. Push everything to the side. Add more oil if needed into empty space.
- Throw in rice and toss to mix.
- Pour in sauce and toss again until granules are coated in sauce. Note: it is fine if your rice is a bit moist as this fried rice is more on the saucier side than dry.
- Mix in fresh basil. Remove off heat and enjoy optionally with a fried egg and lime juice.
Notes
- Remove chicken and sub with tofu
- Sub the oyster sauce with vegetarian stir fry sauce by Lee Kum Kee
- Sub the fish sauce with vegan fish or omit completely and add double the quantity of regular soy sauce
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
Love all the flavours (and chillies) happening in this Thai spicy basil fried rice! I could use a bowl right now! YUM!
Katerina | Once a Foodie
Ohhh yum! This looks amazing, Christie. I might turn the heat down for the kids, by omitting the chillies, but otherwise this is definitely going to become a family favourite around here - we love fried rice and this looks just marvellous.
Never Ending Journeys
This fried rice bowl looks so flavorful! I absolutely love how this dish is Thai, too - one of the best cuisines!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your amazing rice dish looks so so tempting!! Making your fried rice with avocado oil is so smart, and I love the basil and chillies you added!
Josiah - DIY Thrill
This fried rice looks really tasty!
Alex
We love Thai Basil so much in our household, so this fried rice is definitely a favourite - gorgeous flavours!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
I've been growing Thai basil and only using it for Thai basil chicken, so now I have another use for it 🙂 Looks so delicious - Etienne and I love all things spicy! And Thai!
Lauren - BasicGinger.com
I am such a sucker for anything with Thai basil, I cannot wait to make this! Beautifully done! Thanks for sharing!
christieathome
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it!
Susan Galbraith
Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice tasted just like my favorite Thai restaurant. I modified the recipe a little adding red bell pepper and onion as well as omitting sugar but added some Sweet Chili Sauce. I only had 1/2 cup basil so shredded a few Kaffir line leaves and mixed in with basil leaves to add at the end.
christieathome
Fantastic! Very happy to read this kind review! Glad the modifications also worked out as well. Thanks for making my recipe, Susan!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
This is one of my husband and my favorite Thai dishes!! We usually use ground pork, but I cannot wait to try your version. We'll make ours nice and spicy and definitely with a fried egg!
Stacey Benjamin
I can’t find Thai basil or red chilies in my area. Is there something that I can use to substitute these two ingredients?
christieathome
Hi Stacey, feel free to sub with normal or Italian basil. As for the chilis, if you can find dried whole red chilies and rehydrate them before pounding in the mortar and pestle. The chili is essential to this dish. You could use red chili pepper flakes as a very last resort but only enough to taste.
Sai
Okay this recipe is a 10 out of 10! It was really good. I was hesitant at first when I measured out the sauce, I was thinking I might have to double it but I’m so happy I didn’t. It had the perfect amount of flavor and spice.
I did tweak it a little here and there. Like I added 4 1/2 garlic cloves, I love garlic, and two Thai chili peppers. I also did 1 teaspoon of the sauces for the chicken marinade instead of 1/2 teaspoon. Also I put the garlic and chilis in a plastic bag and smashed it with a bread roller, it worked like a charm.
I topped it off with some bean sprouts and it was amazing!
This is my new favorite go to fried rice recipe. I will be making it again!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making and leaving this very kind review, Sai! I'm so glad you enjoyed it with the tweaks 🙂 Smart idea in placing the garlic and chilis in a bag to grind them. Appreciate you sharing this tip for those without a mortar and pestle! Have a great day - Christie
Emily
This was excellent! The kids ate it and the adults went back for seconds. I didn't plan ahead and had to use fresh rice, but will do so next time. Also had to sub Sriracha for the chili because their wasn't one to be had anywhere near me. Thanks for the recipe. Will be making again.
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Emily! I'm so glad your family enjoyed it and the sriracha is a great idea for a sub!