Thai Basil Fried Rice
If you’re craving a fast, bold, and fragrant Thai dish, this Thai Basil Fried Rice recipe is going to be your new obsession. Bursting with flavor from garlic, chili, and fresh basil, this dish is quick to prepare and deeply satisfying. Plus, it’s a great way to use up leftover rice. Whether you’re making dinner for yourself or a weeknight meal for the family, this recipe brings that irresistible street food flair into your kitchen—without the takeout wait.
📺 Watch How to Make This Thai Basil Fried Rice
🛒 Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 cups cooked jasmine rice (preferably day-old)
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 Thai chilies, chopped (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1/2 bell pepper, sliced
- 4 oz protein of your choice (shrimp, chicken, tofu, etc.)
- 1 tbsp Vegetarian oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Palm sugar
- 1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves
- Optional: Fried egg for topping
Every ingredient plays a role in creating the balanced, punchy flavor of this classic dish. Thai basil, in particular, gives the fried rice its signature aroma and slightly spicy edge.
📍 Tips for the Best Thai Basil Fried Rice
- Use cold, day-old Jasmine or long-gran rice for the best texture.
- Fresh Thai basil is key—but you can substitute with Italian basil.
- Customize the heat level by adjusting the number of Thai chilies.
- Stir-fry quickly over high heat to keep everything crisp and vibrant.
Even small tweaks can have a big impact on the final flavor, so taste and adjust as needed.
❓ FAQ
Can I make this vegan?
Yes! Use tofu or mushrooms as your protein and make sure your sauces are vegan-friendly. (Vegetarian oyster sauce, vegan fish sauce or Yondu)
What if I can’t find Thai basil?
Try your local Asian markets! Sweet basil can work, but the flavor will be different.
Is this recipe spicy?
It can be! Control the spice level by using fewer chilies—or add more if you love heat.
🍳 How to Make Thai Basil Fried Rice
Pound the garlic and Thai chili together using a mortar and pestle. This helps release the natural oils from the chili and garlic, making the fried rice more fragrant. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can carefully smash them with a knife and chop. Set aside.
Slice shallot and set aside along with garlic and chili.
Time to make the sauce for Thai basil fried rice!
Mix oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar, and black or white pepper in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
If you want to make this vegetarian version, go ahead and substitute oyster sauce to vegetarian oyster sauce and fish sauce to light soy sauce!
Heat a large skillet or a wok over high heat until smoking. Add butter and let it melt all the way. It will turn brown and smokey, no worries, this is what we want!
Add garlic, chili shallot, and shrimp. Stir fry everything and cook the shrimp 1 minute each side, then mix everything in the wok and push to a side of the wok.
Crack 2 eggs in the wok. Let the eggs cook a bit then scramble the eggs. When eggs are cooked but still silky, toss everything together.
Add cold rice and pour the sauce mixture. Toss everything together until rice is coated evenly with the sauce, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Toss in basil and turn off the heat. Keep tossing until the basil is well combined with the fried rice.
Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy when it’s hot!
🍽️ Serving Suggestions for Thai Basil Fried Rice
- Top it with a crispy fried egg
- Add cucumber slices and lime wedges on the side for freshness
- Pair it with Thai iced tea or a refreshing cucumber salad
It’s bold enough to be a main dish but also pairs beautifully with lighter sides.
📌 There You Have It!
That’s how you make Thai Basil Fried Rice at home! With a few pantry staples and fresh herbs, you can whip up a delicious, fragrant dish that rivals your favorite Thai restaurant. Ready in minutes, loved by all.

Thai Basil Fried Rice
- Total Time: 8 mins
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
- 3 to 5 garlic cloves
- 1 to 5 Thai chili to your taste
- 1 medium shallot
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (you can substitute with vegetarian oyster sauce)
- 1tbsp fish sauce (you can substitute with Thai light soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp palm sugar or honey
- 1/4 tsp black or white pepper
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 12 oz 16/20 extra jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups day-old cold jasmine rice
- handful holy basil, Thai basil or Italian basil
Instructions
- Pound garlic and thai cili together in a mortar and pestle. This way the natural oil form chili and garlic will be release and will make the fried rice more fragrance. You could carefully smash with knife and chop if you don’t have mortar and pestle. Set aside. Slice shallot and set aside along with garlic and chili.
- Mix oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and pepper in a small mixing bowl, set aside.
- Heat a large skillet or a wok over high heat until smoking. Add butter, garlic, chili shallot and shrimp. Stir fry everything and cook the shrimp 1 minute each side, then mix everything in the wok and push to a side of the wok.
- Crack 2 eggs in the wok. Let the eggs cook a bit then scramble the eggs. When eggs are cooked but still silky, toss everything together.
- Add cold rice and pour sauce mixture. Toss everything together until rice is coated evenly with the sauce, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Toss in basil and turn off the heat. Keep tossing until basil is well combined with the fried rice.
- Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy when it’s hot!
- Cook Time: 8 mins
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42 comments
I tried this, and my family loved it!! Thank you for sharing your awesome recipes!
OMG I absolutely love Thai food and came across this recipe and just made it and ate it 10 min ago! It came out soooo delicious, I couldn’t stop eating it! Thank you so much for sharing! I will definitely check out more recipes from you!
Literally just made this recipe as detailed and OM Goodness! Delicious!
This recipe is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! It is so simple to make and is ridiculously delicious. It tastes like a restaurant quality dish. The amount of flavour that this dish exudes in such swift cooking time is pure genius. If you haven’t made this yet, do it immediately. You’ll be hooked! Simple to make, yet tastes wonderful and looks impressive.
LOVED THE SAUCE FLAVOR.. I added extra veggies, onions, zuccini, yellow squash, mushrooms, celery, carrot,broccli. Sauted before shrimp and put in bowl. Yhen added as per recipe.
Can I use other chilis (serrano) and sweet basil, instead of thai chili and thai/italian/holy basil?
yes, that should be fine.
Hi?
What’s the name of the song?
I found this recipe when i was looking for how to use some thai basil i had left. I absolutly love it! It is quik and easy and soooo delicious! ThNk you!!!
Thank you! I’m so glad you found one of my recipes helpful!
Superb easy. to make dinner. The only change I made was to add the shrimp after the eggs were cooked to make sure the shrimp was not overcooked. This recipe is a keeper!
So simple and incredibly delicious!
Can I use chicken/ tofu instead of shrimp? Will I cook that before adding other vegetables?
Wow! This tastes exactly like the restaurant version of our favorite Thai takeout. Amazing recipe! I used chicken and tofu and made multiple batches just as instructed. The only difference is I marinated my chicken and tofu in soy sauce/sesame oil. Just fantastic!! Thank you!
Sounds delicious!
Hello! If we can’t cook with butter because of lactose issues, can we substitute with an oil?
I was craving some good fried rice but didn’t feel like ordering out. This recipe was perfect! It tastes like restaurant quality and the left overs were just as good the next day heated up. Definitely going to make this again!
So glad you enjoyed! (:
Thanks for this recipe! I tried it today for lunch. I wanted to eat more veggies, so I added spinach and shiitake mushrooms. I also don’t have shrimps so I replaced it with chopped up bacon. It was amazing ❤️
Looks so good. Can I make this a day ahead and reheat?
Can I make this recipe ahead and reheat a day later?
Yes you can!
This is THE BEST way I have ever made Shrimp and Rice ! Definitely keeping this ❤️??!!!
Absolutely delicious! I haven’t used butter in fried rice before, but there wasn’t too much and the whole thing was scrumptious! Not too many ingredients either! Highly recommend making this !
Made this today, it is so good! I didnt have any shrimp but added everything else as per recipe. Delicious! I cant wait to make this again, next time with shrimp ofcourse!
Curious, what is the spice level of this. 2-10 chilies if doubling sounds spicy. I can handle heat but my white boy of a fiancé, not so much, hahaha.
The spiciness on this dish just depends on the number of Chile you put in it. Hope this helped!
Exactly what I was craving
Hi, can you tell what style of wok pan you are using? It looks like the perfect size and shape for me and my glass top stove.
The measurements for the 2 1/2 cups of rice is that before it’s cook or 2 1/2 already cooked?
2 1/2 cups of COOKED jasmine rice! Sorry for the confusion!
Amazing, I for some reason can’t find Thai chilies anywhere so I used jogujang paste still tastes amazing just made my rice more reddish brown. Will be making again but with chicken next time.
That sounds delicious! Thai chili can even be found in regular grocery stores too! But if you couldn’t find any I would suggest trying an asian grocery store near you! Hope this helped (:
Really, really authentic flavor! This is my go-to order at my local Thai restaurant and this was spot-on. Easy and not too many ingredients once you buy the sauces. We loved it with a heaping side of steamed veggies and tons of lime juice. Thank you!
Damn………………this ‘un was great. I grow my own basil so that part was a natural. Thai chili’s aren’t very popular in New Hampshire. I had to settle for a bottle of Thai sweet chili sauce and for my mild tummy it worked quite nicely. Gonna make this a “go-to” dish in my kitchen. Thank you for posting it.
YAY! So glad I could help out! Hope you find my other recipes as helpful!
I’ve tried a few fried rice recipes but I often find the rice is too wet with sauce or the flavor doesn’t come through. This recipe was spot-on and had plenty of flavor and omg-the fresh basil put this over the top. My picky little eater couldn’t stop raving about it and had 3 bowls tonight! A keeper recipe indeed!
This Thai basil fried rice is really good! I used a bit of Kikkoman Tamari Less Sodium Soy Sauce for an added flavor. Yummy! Best paired with my favorite Vitasoy Lychee Flavor Vita Juice Drink.
Best i’ve ever made!
Extremely fragrant and delicious! I only added shrimp this time, but it would be a great idea to fry in some minced pork too. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I will definitely make this again!!
My husband declared that there’s no need to buy this dish anymore! Absolutely the best recipe and tastes just like take out. So good.
Hi Christina, This message makes me so happy! I so glad you and your husband enjoy it this much 🙂