Stir-Fried Thai Chicken with Basil and Peppers is a delicious, healthy meal that is spicy and full of flavor.
Thai Stir-Fry Chicken with Basil and Peppers
With the holiday season now in full swing, I intend on eating light as much as possible throughout the week. After all, there will be holiday parties with lots of tempting delights, and I want to enjoy myself (without going overboard).  But, don’t get me wrong…although I said lighter eating, I don’t mean flavorless, drab or boring. Take this Thai Stir-Fry Chicken with Basil and Peppers, for example. I love spicy food, and one of the ways I keep my taste buds happy is to use lots of herbs and spices in my cooking.
One of the most versatile cooking methods for mixing things up throughout the week is stir-frying. It’s the perfect way to eat healthy, while exploring new flavors that tingle the taste buds. You can mix up the protein (make it vegetarian with regular tofu or pressed tofu), vegetables (try zucchini, broccoli, bok choy or green beans), and sauce (I will be covering this in a future post), and every time, you will have a new dish.
Lately, I’ve been craving spicy Thai food. A few weekends ago, I took one of my sons to a Thai restaurant for lunch. He was playing in a squash tournament, which was a bit of a drive from our house, so instead of going home in between matches, we decided to grab a bite to eat nearby. Luckily, we spotted a little Thai restaurant and grabbed a light meal to kill time before the next match. My son ordered Pad Thai, which they were sold out of  (not sure how this happened since Pad Thai is such a popular dish – any Thai restaurant should have a huge inventory of dried rice noodles for this national dish of Thailand), so he ended up ordering Pad See Eew, also a rice noodle dish, made with fresh, wide rice noodles. I enjoyed a vegetarian curry with tofu and mixed vegetables.
After we got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about our Thai lunch. I just love all the fragrant herbs and spices, the coconut milk, the curries, and the red chilies that are part and parcel to Thai cooking. So, I made Stir-Fried Thai Chicken with Basil and Peppers, full of spicy hot with Thai red bird chilies, and fragrant with Thai basil leaves. All you need is a bowl of steamed brown rice, and you have a meal.
Stir-Fry Thai Chicken and Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 boneless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons rice wine
- 2 tablespoons oil divided
- 1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 4 thai chilies chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sweet soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon organic sugar
- 20 Thai basil leaves or mint leaves
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
Instructions
-
Mix chicken strips with cornstarch and rice wine.
-
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large skillet. Add red bell pepper and stir-fry until it just loses its rawness, about 1 minute. Remove to a bowl.
-
Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in wok. Add garlic and chilies and stir-fry until fragrant, about one minute.
-
Add chicken and stir-fry until no longer pink.
-
Add fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, and sugar. Toss well with chicken.
-
Add basil leaves, stir-fried red bell pepper, and stock. Bring to a boil and give it a quick stir.
More Stir-Fry Recipes:
Stir-Fry Spicy Kung Pao Chicken with Walnuts
Stir Fry Beef and Asparagus in Oyster Sauce Recipe + 4 Tips for the Perfect Stir Fry
18
Stir Fry Rice and Mung Bean Noodles with Shrimp, Chicken and Vegetables Recipe
18
I love your idea for staying healthy during the holiday season. Eat light during the week so you can indulge over the weekend. And with this delicious stir fry, you make eating light look so good!
That’s my game plan – have a few parties coming up, so trying to behave myself!
I grew Thai basil in my garden this year, and loved having the abundance of fresh herbs for Thai-style recipes. This chicken dish looks delicious, and it’s a welcome light change after all of the heavier holiday eating.
You were so smart to plant your own herbs – wish I had an herb garden this past summer, I go through lots of herbs.
This looks fabulous! I am putting it on my to-make list!
Hi Jeanette,
Thanks for the link of my Thai Stir-Fry Chicken with Cashew Nuts! It’s great to get to know your blog! 🙂 I will be back for more.
You’re welcome – love Thai food and your recipe sounds really good!
What a great recipe. One of my favorite dishes to order in a Thai restaurant is a dish with ground chicken, peppers, and Thai basil, and this sounds very similar. Saving the recipe right now!
I haven’t tried the dish you’re talking about, but I will definitely be on the lookout the next time we have a chance to eat out at a Thai restaurant.
What a beautiful recipe Jeanette. I’m trying to stay on track too, it’s quite hard with all of the treats that are around and the temptation to bake. Ok, gotta stop talking about it now. 🙂
Thanks Heather, it is a challenge staying on track this time of year. Hoping to keep posting lighter fare on my blog – that will hopefully keep me on track 😉
An excellent dish, colorful, nutritious and sounds so flavorful!
Nice break from all the leftover recipes!
Thanks Susie, I am definitely ready for some fresh, lighter food after Thanksgiving!
looks so colorful and sounds delicious!
Beautiful healthy dish!
That is such a beautiful bowl of food!
Thanks Diane, Maria and Wenderly, I do like to make dishes that have color in them…makes it so much more appealing to the kids.
i love thai flavors! i usually just buy the little red curry thai paste because its always safe hahaha. this looks fabulous! i would love to make thai chicken on skewers and dip them in yogurt dipping sauce!
Red curry paste is one of my favorites – so full of flavor. I just made a sauce tonight using some red curry paste and coconut milk – bet your Thai chicken skewers would go nicely with it.
I love thai food! This recipe looks very tasty, I must try it out!
Great strategy to eat much healthier during the week, Jeanette! But I wouldn’t feel a bit deprived eating this amazing looking dish! It’s beautiful … you’re making me very hungry. 😉 We’re having ginger-glazed mahi mahi with pico de gallo this evening. 🙂
Shirley
Thanks Shirley – that’s my goal, to eat healthy without feeling deprived. Your ginger-glazed mahi mahi sounds so tempting – would love the recipe.
Thai inspired spices are so warming and flavourful. Perfect for the chillier weather we’re having. The colourful pepper looks wonderful in this dish.
How beautiful. I love stirfrying. It such a simple way of getting great nutrition without loosing the flavor. I love the use of thai basil in this dish. It’s also great to hear your son is not a fussy eater. Yeah Thai Food!
Thanks France – stir frying is so simple and you’re so right, it is an easy way to get all the fresh vegetables into one’s diet and enjoy their natural flavors.
I grew up with a stir-fry crazy mom. She always was making wonderful concoctions of stir-fries! And now I do the same. I will totally make this! I just pinned it! It is going on my must make list….especially since my Thai basil is going so crazy in the garden that my kids think it now looks like a tree. LOL
So glad to find another stir-fry fan. It’s such a versatile way to cook, and just by changing up the protein, vegetables and sauce, you can have a completely different dish each time. Wish I had Thai basil going crazy in my garden 😉
I am always craving Thai Jeanette. 🙂 This looks so delicious! I need to try some new to me recipes like this soon.
Hope you have a chance to try this Aggie – it is very easy and tasty, especially if you like spicy food.
this is the sort of meals I need to make more of for my family- looks wonderfully delicious.
Jeanette, this is mouth watering dish! So yummy!
This is a beautiful dish. I’m always searching for more stir fry recipes and I can’t wait to make this one:)
Hi,
Probably not a big deal since your Readers can figure it out but the Cooking Directions do not show the stir fried red pepper strips that were removed to a bowl being added back to the wok toward the end of cooking.
Thanks for catching that Trico – I fixed the instructions to include adding back the red peppers at the end.
HOLY MOLY! This recipe is to die for!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Courtney – hope you have a chance to try this – it’s an easy recipe to try if you like Thai food.
Thanks Jeanette – sounds really good. Happy 4th.
Thanks Liz – hope you enjoy it!
I love chicken, but combining chicken and basil leaves is a good idea. Great, I like it, thank you for sharing.