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If you’re craving bold flavors in a quick and easy meal, Thai basil pork (pad kra pao) is a must-try! This popular Thai street food combines savory ground pork, garlic, red chilies, and fragrant holy basil in a rich, umami-packed sauce. Serve it over fluffy jasmine rice with a crispy fried egg on top for the ultimate comfort food experience. Ready in just 20 minutes, it’s perfect for busy weeknights when you want something fast, delicious, and packed with flavor. One bite, and you’ll see why it’s a beloved dish across Thailand!
Savor the distinctive spicy flavors of Thai Basil Pork with this easy recipe. It’s quick to prepare and offers sweet, spicy and savory flavors in every delicious forkful.
If you enjoy Thai food, you might also like Thai drunken noodles, chicken pad Thai, red curry and coconut soup, and spicy basil chicken skewers.
Why You’ll Love It
Easy to make: You need to make the sauce, cook the pork and combine the two. Cook some rice and fry some eggs, and that’s about it!
A quick meal: If you’re really hungry and you don’t want to wait any longer than necessary, make Thai basil pork. In fact, it’s quicker to cook this from scratch than order takeout!
Bold Thai flavors: Garlic, fish sauce, Thai chilies, Thai basil – there are plenty of traditional Thai ingredients in this dish.
Gluten-free and dairy-free: There’s no gluten or dairy in this recipe.
Pad Kra Pao Ingredients
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Ground pork: The main protein in the dish.
Soy sauce: Use both light soy sauce and dark soy sauce for depth of flavor.
Fish sauce: Adds a fishy, salty flavor.
Sugar: For sweetness. Use brown sugar or white sugar.
Oyster sauce: Choose a Thai brand if you can find it.
Thai chilies: You can adjust the amount used.
Thai basil: You need whole leaves of fresh basil.
Eggs: For the fried egg topping.
How to Make Pork & Holy Basil Stir Fry
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Make the sauce: Combine the fish sauce, both types of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and chicken stock and set aside.
Sauté the aromatics: Sauté the garlic, chilies and shallots in hot oil.
Add the meat: Turn up the heat and add the ground pork, cooking until browned.
Finish the meat and sauce: Pour the fish sauce mixture into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the Thai basil leaves.
Fry the eggs: Fry the eggs until crispy around the edges, then drain on paper towels.
Assemble the dish: Add hot cooked rice to serving dishes, then add the pork mixture and add a crispy fried egg on top. Garnish with chilies if liked, and serve immediately.
Substitutions and Variations
Vegetarian version: Using plant-based ground meat instead of ground pork is a great way to make this dish vegetarian.
Ground pork: You can use ground beef, chicken or turkey in place of the ground pork. If using ground chicken or turkey, make the sauce mixture, but use about ¾ of it at first and taste the ground meat after being fully cooked. If needed, add the remaining sauce.
Soy sauce: Use regular soy sauce instead of some light and some dark soy sauce.
Oyster sauce: There are a few types of oyster sauce out there. However, since this is a Thai dish, I recommend getting the Thai oyster sauce if you can. If that’s difficult to find, any type of oyster sauce – regular, vegetarian or mushroom, will work just as well.
Thai chilies: These are spicy! You can decrease the amount of Thai chiles you use in this recipe to what will work best for you and de-seed them to remove some of the heat. Substitute serrano chilies if preferred, and/or red chili flakes.
Vegetables: Add green beans, snow peas, bell peppers, or mushrooms.
Thai basil: Thai basil can be difficult to find at times, so replace that with Italian basil if needed.
Rice: Thai jasmine rice is great but any short to medium grain Asian rice works too.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers: Begin your meal with tofu Thai wraps.
Side dishes: Enjoy Asian zoodle salad or shrimp spring rolls. You could also swap the jasmine rice for hibachi noodles.
Desserts: Finish up with blueberry ice cream floats.
How to Store Thai Holy Basil Stir Fry
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and eat within 3 days.
Freeze: You’ll lose a lot of flavor if you freeze this stir fry dish, so I don’t recommend it.
Reheat: You can warm it back up in a pan on the stove.
Top Tips
Open a window: Open a window or turn on your hood fan (or both!) This dish releases smoke and very strong aromas.
Use a high heat: Cook the pork over a high heat until it’s browned all over.
Wok cooking: If you like to cook with a wok, you’ll find it great for this recipe. If not, use a pot or skillet with high sides.
Thai Basil Pork FAQs
Most dishes in Thailand are eaten with a fork and spoon. The fork is to tear things apart and the spoon is to scoop it up. Chopsticks are used when eating noodle dishes.
You should be able to find many of the ingredients at your local Asian market and even some conventional stores.
Though limes are prevalent in Thailand, this dish does not traditionally have lime juice in the sauce. You can always serve lime wedges on the side if you want to.
Best Thai Basil Pork Recipe
Thai Basil Pork
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, light
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, dark
- 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce, Thai brand preferred
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- ¼ Cup chicken stock
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil, or canola oil
- 6 Cloves garlic, minced
- 5 Thai chiles, thinly sliced and deseeded
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 Pound ground pork
- 2 Cups Thai basil, whole leaves
- 4 eggs
To Serve:
- 4 cups jasmine rice, cooked
- Thai chilies, roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the fish sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and chicken stock. Set aside.
- Turn on your hood fan or open a window.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan over a medium-high heat. Sauté the garlic, Thai chiles and shallots until the shallots become translucent, about 1 or 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the ground pork, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and slightly browning the meat, around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Pour in the sauce mixture and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated, 1 or 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the Thai basil until wilted. Cover and set aside while you fry the eggs.
- In a small pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat, until the oil begins to shimmer.
- Fry 1 or 2 eggs at a time in the oil, ladling the oil over the white parts of the egg until cooked through and a crispy brown edge forms. Transfer onto a paper towel-lined plate.
- To serve, add a cup of white rice to each plate or bowl, add the cooked ground pork and top with the fried egg.
- Garnish with chopped Thai chiles if using and serve hot.
Notes
Use a high heat: Cook the pork over a high heat until it’s browned all over.
Wok cooking: If you like to cook with a wok, you’ll find it great for this recipe. If not, use a pot or skillet with high sides.
Nutrition
This pad kra pao recipe is a tasty example of Thai food that pairs succulent pork with a variety of seasonings including soy sauce, fish sauce, spicy Thai chilies, sweet basil, and minced garlic. It’s a highly flavorful dish from Thailand that pairs wonderfully with rice and fried eggs, along with some vegetables on the side. You’ll find it slightly sweet, slightly savory and quite spicy, although you can adjust the chili quantity.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.