When you’re craving Thai food from your favorite Thai restaurant, skip the take-out and make this Thai Basil Beef recipe instead! It’s an easy, flavorful Thai beef recipe that can be made in just 30 minutes.
Pad Krapow is a popular Thai dish you’ll find in most Thai restaurants around the world.
When it’s made with beef or pork, it’s often referred to as its main name – Pad Krapow, Pad Kra Pao, or Pad Gra Prow. When it’s made with chicken, it’s Pad Krapow Gai. Thai Basil Shrimp is called Pad Krapow Kung.
This Thai Basil Beef recipe is an easy dinner that you can whip up for any busy weeknight that the whole family will love. Try this for dinner tonight and let me know how you like it!
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🌟Why this recipe works
When you want to do some Thai cooking at home, try this Thai Basil Beef recipe!
- Easy – This is an easy recipe that is great even for beginning cooks. I’ve included step-by-step photos below to help you along the way.
- Fast – You can make this recipe in just 30 minutes.
- Simple – This dish calls for simple ingredients you can usually find at almost any local grocery store. I also include substitution options in the Ingredient Notes section for your convenience.
- Nutritious – With lean ground beef, lots of fresh veggies, and minimal sauce ingredients, this dish is healthier than most take-out options.
- Delicious – This is a flavorful dish, with big bright basil flavors and fresh veggies.
🧄 Ingredient Notes
I can find all of the ingredients for this Thai basil beef stir fry at my local grocery store. I’ve included substitution options for each below.
- Ground Beef – I like to use Laura’s Lean ground beef, the #1 selling natural beef brand in the U.S., which I usually find at my local Target or Fred Meyer store. The 92% lean/8% fat Laura’s Lean Beef has no added hormones or antibiotics, and is a clean, lean protein that lower in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than most other beef products. It’s a better-for-you ground beef with delicious flavor to use in this recipe!
- Bell Peppers – Thinly slice one red bell pepper and one green pepper for this dish.
- Carrots – You can julienne a carrot or cut into small matchsticks.
- Basil – Use Thai basil leaves if you can. I usually find Thai basil at my local grocery store, but if you have a hard time finding it, use regular Italian basil. You definitely want fresh basil leaves versus dried basil in this recipe.
- Green onion – A small amount of sliced green onions adds a freshness to the end of the dish.
Sauce:
- Soy sauce – a dark soy sauce is preferable as it adds a richer flavor to this dish, and can be found in local grocery stores and most Asian grocery stores or Asian markets. But you can use regular soy sauce or even substitute with coconut aminos if you wish. If you use regular soy sauce, I suggest also adding a dash of fish sauce and/or oyster sauce to add richness to the flavor.
- Rice vinegar – You can substitute white wine vinegar or, in a pinch, apple cider vinegar.
Fish sauce – - Lime juice – Freshly squeezed lime juice adds some nice bright acidity to this dish. You can also use bottled lime juice.
Optional: eggs. A popular addition you might see at a Thai restaurant is to add a fried egg on top.
✅ Step-by-Step instructions
Full ingredient measurements and instructions for this Thai basil recipe are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here’s a step-by-step photo guide to help you as you make this recipe.
- Heat oil in a wok, large saucepan or large skillet over medium high heat. Add the Laura’s Lean beef, salt, and pepper. Crumble the ground meat until just cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1-2 minutes, just until the garlic is softened and fragrant.
- Add the red pepper and green bell pepper, carrots, and green onions, and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the basil and stir.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, and lime juice.
6. Add the sauce to the pan. Stir and cook for another minute. Serve over rice or with a salad.
👩🏻🍳Recipe FAQs
Thai basil is a fragrant basil that has a distinct anise aroma and flavor, and is slightly spicier compared to sweet Italian basil. Holy basil is spicier and has a peppery flavor compared to Thai basil, although Thai basil is sometimes called holy basil, which lends to the confusion. Thai basil has a purple stem and the leaves can be slightly darker in color, whereas Italian basil is an even green color all around.
Allow the food to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three or four days.
You can also add any of your favorite veggies to this dish. Broccoli, snap peas, long beans, mushrooms, and baby corn would all be delicious!
🍽 Serving suggestions
Serve this Thai Basil Beef over garlic rice, coconut rice, jasmine rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice. It’s also delicious when served with an Asian cucumber salad.
🥂 Wine pairings
This Thai Basil Beef is full of bright herbal flavors, so it pairs well with a wine that also has herbal notes, such as a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Like most other favorite Thai dishes, it also pairs deliciously with a Chenin Blanc or Riesling.
🇹🇭More Thai recipes to try
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Thai Basil Beef
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound Laura's Lean ground beef
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1" ginger, peeled and finely minced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup julienned carrots
- 2 green onion stalks, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped basil leaves
For the sauce
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 Talespoon fish sauce
- Optional garnishes: chopped green onions and lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wok or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, salt, and pepper. Crumble the beef until just cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1-2 minutes, just until the garlic is softened and fragrant.
- Add the red and green bell peppers, carrots, and green onions, and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add the basil and stir.
- In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, and lime juice.
- Add the sauceto the pan. Stir and cook for another minute. Serve over rice or with a salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This blog post is sponsored by Laura’s Lean Beef. All recipes, photos, and opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting brands I love who help support what I do!
