Pad kra pao is a Thai holy basil stir fry that I think deserves the title: "National dish of Thailand". It’s a favourite of Thai people and Thai food lovers around the world, and if you're getting into Thai cooking, this has to be on your to-do list. (Not to mention it's super quick and easy!)
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The more modern rendition of pad kra pao (the one your local Thai restaurant probably makes) contains veggies like green beans and onions; along with a more complex seasoning that might include oyster sauce, soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. This recipe, however, is an old-school, traditional style that is much simpler. Many Thais call this the original pad gaprao!
🛎 For the modern pad kra pao see my Thai holy basil chicken recipe.
What is pad kra pao?
Or is it "pad krapow"? Or "pad gaprao"? However you write it (more on that in the FAQ), it's a stir fry of meat (typically ground meat), holy basil, and loads of chilies. It’s served on rice, and usually with a fried egg on top.
In Thailand you can find it cooked to order from a street food vendor, served in a fancy restaurant, or provided in a box ready-to-eat from a grocery store. Anywhere you go in Thailand, you’re never far from a pad gaprao. It really IS the food of the people!
Pad kra pao literally means "holy basil stir fry," so the holy basil is the key ingredient here. This recipe uses ground beef, but can be made with any kind of protein. Of all Thai stir fries, this is one of the easiest to make, and a great weeknight recipe as minimal prep is required. And it's gluten free!
Ingredients & Notes
Here are the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them, and as you can see, it's super simple! For amounts, see the full recipe card below.
- Garlic
- Thai chilis, or another spicy chili such as serrano. This is your source of heat, and for a truly authentic pad kra pao, you want to add as many as you can handle!
- Mild red chilis. We want to have a lot of chili flavor here, but not so much as to hurt ourselves, so we can add some milder ones. Anything red and mild will work such as red anaheim, long red pepper, mini bell pepper or even red bell pepper if all else fails.
- Ground beef, regular or lean. Beef flavour goes very well with holy basil, but feel free to substitute with ground pork, ground chicken, or even plant-based meat substitutes.
- Fish sauce. Fish sauce is your only seasoning in traditional pad kra pao, so it’s important to use a good one. Read this post on how to choose a good fish sauce.
- Sugar
- Unsalted beef stock, chicken stock, or water
- Ground black pepper if using beef. For chicken and pork white pepper will also work.
- Holy basil or regular fresh basil leaves. Thai basil will also work, more on substituting holy basil below.
- Eggs, for making fried eggs. Technically optional, but highly recommended.
- Oil for stir frying, I use avocado oil but anything neutrally flavoured is fine.
- Oil for frying eggs, I use canola oil for frying as it's cheaper than avocado oil, but anything neutral and high heat resistant is fine.
- Jasmine rice for serving.
- Prik nam pla (optional) is a spicy fish sauce condiment classically served with pad gaprao. I like to put it on my fried egg to season it, but some people put it on their rice. You just need some fish sauce, chilis, and a squeeze of lime.
TIP: If you've got leftover basil after making this dish, bookmark my all-purpose Thai basil stir fry sauce recipe as a great way to use it up!
How to Make Pad Gaprao
Here's a bird's eye view of the steps. Before you make it, be sure to watch the video tutorial in order to ensure success, especially if this is your first time! If you enjoy it, check out my YouTube channel for more Thai cooking videos!
- In a mortar and pestle, pound the Thai chilies into a fine paste. Add the garlic and the chopped mild chilies and pound just into a rough paste.
- Heat a wok over high heat, then add the beef and spread it out. Sear the beef without moving it until the underside is browned. Toss and keep cooking until liquid from the beef starts to come out.
- Let the beef cook, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has evaporated and the beef starts to sizzle and brown further to develop flavour.
- Push the beef to one side of the pan, add a little more oil and add the garlic and chili mixture, then sauté until garlic starts to turn golden.
- Toss the garlic with the beef then add about half of the stock or water, fish sauce and sugar; toss to mix well.
- Add the julienned mild chilis and toss for 30 seconds; if it’s looking too dry, add a splash more water or stock.
- Turn off the heat, add the basil and mix just until wilted. Taste and adjust seasoning with more sugar or fish sauce as needed.
- To fry eggs with crispy whites an runny yolk. Heat about ¼ inch of frying oil to a small nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add only the egg white and let it fry until the edges start to turn brown, then using a spoon, push the middle of the white down to make an indent for the yolk to sit in. Break any big bubbles that form in the center. (If you want a firmer yolk, simply fry the whole egg.)
- Once the egg white is browned around the edges, carefully place the yolk into the indentation on top of the white.
- Use a spoon to baste some oil around the edges of the egg yolk to help it stick. Let it cook for a bit longer if you prefer the yolk to be a little bit more set.
- Use a wire skimmer to remove from the pan and allow to drain.
- Spoon pad kra pao over some jasmine rice, and top with the fried egg. You can then drizzle the prik nam pla on top of the egg.
How to Make Prik Nam Pla
Prik nam pla is the classic condiment that is served with many Thai dishes, and is used as a tableside seasoning booster. Pad kra pao is usually served with it because the fried egg can always use some extra seasoning.
You don't need a recipe for prik nam pla, in the same way that you don't need a recipe for a PB & J sandwich, because you can make it to your preference. But here is a guideline to get you started:
- Combine chopped chilies and fish sauce in a small bowl. You can also add thinly sliced garlic and/or shallots if you want to make a fancier one. You can add as many chilies as you like.
- Add a squeeze of lime for some acidity. The amount is up to your preference (some people don't even add any), but a good start is 1 part lime juice to 3 parts fish sauce.
Holy Basil vs. Thai Basil
Many of us are familiar with Thai basil (called horapa in Thai), the sweet-smelling herb with purple stems that come with your pho. But few have come across holy basil.
Compared to Thai basil, holy basil has a fragrance that is less floral and more peppery; which is why it’s paired with very spicy dishes like pad kra pao or jungle curry. The aroma is always hard to describe, but trust me when I say the two smell quite different.
The fragrance is also milder than Thai basil, and unless it’s freshly picked from a healthy plant, it can be rather faint. This is why even in the rare occasion where I can find fresh holy basil, it’s not always a good purchase.
Note: if you’ve ever had pad kra pao in a Thai restaurant outside of Thailand, they might be actually be using Thai basil because holy basil is unavailable. Unless, of course, you live in a big enough city with enough Thai restaurants to warrant a supplier bringing it in.
The Best Substitute for Holy Basil
While you might be tempted to use Thai basil as a substitute because it's...well...Thai, in my experience, you're better off using regular basil, also known as Italian basil. The flavour of Thai basil is so distinct from holy basil that you will end up with a dish that tastes quite different (though still tasty).
Regular Italian basil, while not the same, is a closer flavour match. And I’m usually perfectly satisfied with it when I have to use it. Having said that, if your goal is to replicate that pad kra pao you love from your takeout place, they might actually be using Thai basil!
Frequently Asked Questions
You may have seen this word written out in different ways because there just isn't a "correct" way to write Thai words using English letters. So really, they're all approximations with various degrees of wrong.
But it gets further complicated by the fact that gaprao is a word that is commonly mispronounced by Thai people, so there are various English spellings of both the correct and the wrong ways!
The correct placement of the R is in the last syllable, so ka-prao and ga-prao are variations of the correct pronunciation. But because many more Thai words start with kra- than ka-, it's common for Thai people to say kra-pao instead out of habit.
The choice of K or G, or -ao or -ow, are all minor issues, but if you ask me, the closest spelling to the Thai pronunciation is gaprao.
So...why did I title this post pad kra pao, you ask? Because that seems to be the most common English spelling, so I've chosen it in order to help you find my recipe when you search for it!
Yes! If using ground chicken, use dark meat rather than breast so it will not be too dry. If using pork, stick with regular or lean, not extra lean. You should also skip the prolonged browning technique that I use with beef here because chicken and pork can become too dry.
Instead of ground beef you can use ground plant-based meat substitute, or use crumbled extra firm tofu and/or chopped mushrooms. Instead of fish sauce, use soy sauce.
A Useful Tool for Navigating Beef Cuts
There are so many cuts of beef on the market, and if you've ever wanted to try a new beef cut but not sure what to do with it, check this out. Canada Beef, our sponsor for this post, has launched the Canadian Beef Information Gateway which breaks down over 70 cuts of beef, complete with info on how to best cook them and new recipes you can try out.
Check it out and you'll be amazed! Access the Gateway here or scan the QR code below!
Thai Holy Basil Stir Fry with Beef (Pad Kra Pao)
Ingredients
- 6 cloves garlic
- 3 Thai chilies, or as many as you can handle
- ¼ cup chopped mild red chilies, (see note 1)
- ⅓ cup julienned mild red chilies
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 12 oz ground beef, regular or lean
- 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted beef or chicken stock or water
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ¼ cups holy basil or regular basil leaves, (see note 2)
- Cooked Jasmine rice for serving
- 3 eggs, for fried eggs (1 per person)
- Oil for frying eggs, as needed
Prik Nam Pla (optional condiment)
- 1-2 Thai chilies, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced or chopped (optional)
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Notes
- Mild red chilies are for colour and flavour, while the Thai chilies are for heat. Traditionally we use spur chilies (prik chee fa) for the mild peppers, but red anaheim or mini bell pepper will work. Regular red bell pepper flesh is a little thicker and more watery than ideal, but it will also be fine if that's the only thing you have!
- Italian basil is my preferred substitute if holy basil is unavailable. Thai basil can also be used, and the dish will be just as tasty, but I find that the flavour of regular Italian basil is closer to that of holy basil.
FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video to ensure success. If you enjoy them, consider subscribing to the YouTube Channel to not miss an episode. Thank you!
Subscribe to my YouTube ChannelInstructions
For the Prik Nam Pla
- Add chopped Thai chilies and garlic into a small bowl, then add the fish sauce and lime juice. Let this sit while you make the stir fry.1-2 Thai chilies, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 teaspoons lime juice, 1 clove garlic
For the Stir Fry
- In a mortar and pestle, pound the Thai chilies into a fine paste. Add the garlic and the chopped mild chilies and pound into just a rough paste.6 cloves garlic, 3 Thai chilies, ¼ cup chopped mild red chilies
- Heat a wok or a large skillet over high heat, adding about 1 tablespoon of the oil if your beef is lean. Once the wok is very hot, add the beef and spread it out. Sear the beef without moving it until the underside is browned. Toss the beef, and notice how the beef will start to release quite a bit of liquid - keep stirring until all of this liquid has evaporated, and the beef starts to sizzle in its own fat. Once the beef is sizzling, allow it to cook without stirring for 15-20 seconds to brown the beef further and develop flavour, then toss, and repeat the browning 1-2 more times.12 oz ground beef, 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Turn the heat down to medium, push the beef to one side of the pan, and if there isn’t much fat in the pan, add a little bit more oil just so there’s enough to saute the garlic. Add the garlic and chili paste and sauté in the oil for 30 seconds until aromatic and the garlic starts to turn golden, and then toss it with the beef.
- Turn the heat up to high and add about half of the stock or water, fish sauce, sugar, and black pepper; toss to mix well. Add the julienned mild chilies and toss for 30 seconds; if it’s looking too dry, add more of the stock or water.⅓ cup julienned mild red chilies, 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, ½ cup unsalted beef or chicken stock or water, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Turn off the heat, add the basil and mix just until wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more sugar or fish sauce as needed, and add a little more water or stock if it feels too dry. Set this aside while you fry the eggs.1 ¼ cups holy basil or regular basil leaves
For the Crispy Fried Eggs
- To fry the eggs Thai-style, I recommend frying them 1 at a time to prevent them from sticking to each other. There are 2 options for frying eggs:For crispy whites and semi-set yolk: Add about ¼ inch of frying oil to a small nonstick frying pan and put it over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the egg and allow the egg white to bubble. Use a spoon to occasionally baste the top of the egg with oil to cook the yolk. Once the whites are crispy and browned around the edges and the yolk is set to your liking, you can remove it from the pan.For eggs with crispy whites and runny yolk: Separate the egg white and the egg yolk. Add about ¼ inch of frying oil to a small nonstick frying pan and put it over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the egg white and let it fry until the edges start to turn brown. Use your spatula to push the middle of the white down to make an indent for the yolk to sit in. Once the egg white is browned around the edges, carefully place the yolk into the indentation, and use a spoon to baste some oil around the edges of the egg yolk to help it stick to the egg white. Remove from the pan and allow to drain.
- To serve, put jasmine rice on a plate, spoon the pad kra pao over half of the rice, and top everything with the fried egg. You can then drizzle the prik nam pla on top of the egg when ready to eat.Cooked Jasmine rice for serving
Jade says
Made this tonight and it was…DELICIOUS! Thank you Pailin, your recipes are wonderful and take me back to a beach in Thailand on holiday!
Ken says
How do you recommend storing a big batch of chilly garlic paste for the week? I usually make a hefty portion in the food processor but the aroma is usually gone by the 3rd day or so.
Reed says
Love this recipe. Wish I could find Holy basil, but it must be considered invasive or something. In whole, Thai ingredients are fairly rare in Calgary.
Thanks Pailin!
Yvonne says
Have made a few of your recipes and this is next on my list! Preparing to take my 10yo to Thailand later this year - she has been a picky eater, but she is branching out and enjoying new things, with a focus on Thai due to our upcoming travels. Wondering what you would suggest with regards to chilis here? She will not like anything hot (a tiny bit of heat in anything can send her to not eat it). Would she still find it tasty if I leave out the chilis for her portion and add them in after I remove hers?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Just leave it out entirely for her and it'll still be tasty! You can do that with any recipes on my site to modify it for kids!
Kevin says
So good!!! I taught English in Chiang Mai for a few years and pad kra pao was my lunchtime dish along with a rotation of others, but something about pad kra pao and the fried egg, with the spice, the prik nam pla and a splash of vinegar, it was my every other day meal. Coming back home to America, unfortunately this absolute treasure of a dish is often left off of Thai menus. I was so happy to try this recipe and found the absolute magic of this dish is the fish sauce and extra spiciness. It is the best, I love to add in some grilled onions and some kind of green bean or broccoli with it. Still wondering why I never took a cooking class while I was there!! First on my list if I can visit again. Thank you!!
Arun Navaneethan says
Incredibly yum.
Anna says
This recipe is absolutely incredible, I felt love in every bite. Perfect blend of salty, spicy, and herbaceous with plenty of umami. I had garlic chives that needed to be used up, so I added a good half cup or so of those and some sliced carrots for extra veggies. I had Thai basil to use on hand and mini bell peppers instead of mild Chile, but I did add the Thai hot chilies. The flavor was stunning. Thank you for sharing, I love all of your recipes so much!
Veronika Santamaria says
Amazing, just like Thailand. My husband loved it.
Mark says
Pai! This was seriously delicious in every way possible. It embodies what I love about Thai food, the utter balance of flavors. This left me wishing I had a bigger stomach so I could eat more. So easy and so incredibly good. I used fresh, Italian basil from my garden and it was perfect. Can't wait for the day I actually see Holy Basil in the store and can make this again using it.
Sandy says
This was so easy and super yummy! So much so, I made it two days in a row. On the second day I did add veggies: carrots and asparagus.
This is the third recipe of Pai's that I have made and all are stellar 🙂
Brian says
It is a regular, to the point I do not look at the recipe anymore. The only change I make is to use thinly sliced flank steak. We just prefer the texture. It is also a bit easier to eat with chop sticks.
Hendrik says
A note on metric measurements:
For you to use a metric measurements is very welcome, for these two "translate" at the push of a button very comfortable. But!
The metric ingredients for one dish of this recipe include a staggering
"340 g ground beef, regular or lean". Really? And while I'm aware that the recipe uses what seems like quite a lot of herb, 30 g still seem way overdone.
Also the metric world does not measure granulated sugar, let alone chopped up chilies as volume. It has invented scales for this purpose. Why would I want to transfer chili bits to a measuring cup, then try frantically to discern the level they reach, knowing fully well that if I give the measuring cup a little shake the level will be different.
What I'm trying to say is to have an underlying algorithm that simply employs equivalents between milliliters and cups doesn't work. I'm afraid you would actually have to take both measurements while preparing the dish and thus prepare an underlying table of figures for the button push mechanism.
Hendrik says
Here in Germany I have never come across holy basil aka Tulsi - neither as a harvested herb nor as a plant. What I did come across though a few years ago is what is sold here as African Bush Basil. Wikipedia has it down as African blue basil, see here
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_blue_basil
Like holy basil it seems to have a lot of camphor. It tastes a little bitter, a little peppery and I've used it as a substitute in pad gaprao several times. While I have no comparison with the original ingredient it tastes perfectly fine to me and PG has become one of my favorite dishes.
To boot African Blue Back grows exceedingly well on my balcony in our temperate climate - lots of leaves to harvest. I would say I could dish out four servings of PG every week with lots of basil in it easily. If you cut it back in the late autumn and take the pot inside where it's not too warm you can use it for two or three years in a row.
Nolly says
Thank you for always showing nice recipes!
I have a question about "Holy Basil".
I've been struggling to find the correct "Holy Basil" in Japan. I'm a cooking researcher who's never visited Thailand! I wish I could ask you directly.
Anyway, my client asked me to use real fresh holy basil to making Gapao, but it is impossible to get fresh holy basil in a shop here so I bought seeds and planted them.
I've gotten some leaves recently, however, I think this is not the same one that you showed on the video.
I think mine is "tulsi". The leaves are hard like plastic! Do you think it will work as well for these your holy basil recipes?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Hi! So the leaves shouldn't be hard.. so probably not the same thing. Tulsi is theoretically supposed to be the same but it doesn't sound like that's the right one. If you want to send a photo of the leaves to the email under "contact" we can try to investigate further!
Katy says
Genius, why have I never thought to separate the eggs to get a crispy white and runny yolk before?!! Thank you!
Charles Pascual says
Very nice recipe - straight-forward and easy to follow. The video is especially helpful. I looked it up because I had Thai basil I needed to use. I had no Fresno chiles, so I used Jalapeños - otherwise, I followed your recipe as written. Mine was a bit spicier than the dish according to the recipe but it was fine - even my wife who doesn't like food as spicy as I do, said it was good. Thank you for the fried egg tip.
Eli says
I love the recipes on this channel. I found out last minute that my basil had all gone bad and had to use mint instead. Delicious! And definitely recommend eating with a spoon and fork.
CGThai says
You definite use fish sauce. Lemon is a nice touch. But why one star such a good recipe?
Pilar says
Pad kra pao has to be my favorite Thai recipe ever! I just made it today for lunch, with regular basil as tulsi is impossible to find in Spain. It was really easy and as delicious as the one I remember eating in Thailand. Thank you sóó much for this recipe!
Michael M says
This is the 3rd recipe that I have cooked from your collection, and as always with the written and video tutorial it worked perfectly. I have just come back from Bangkok, and while there on business I always eat street food.
I have now decided because your recipes are so good, to cook much more Thai at home. I will do you deep fried chicken next, as this is a staple for me from the street venders. Oh, and I am cooking the crispy skin pork belly tonight.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
So glad to hear!! Thank you for the review and the kind words!
Brad says
Bought your book, follow you all the time. Lived and brought up in Thailand and your dishes are fabulous. Thanks so much!!
Mark says
Let's see, a guy named David Johnston-citing a place in Australia-claims this is not authentic; that's a good one!
Chita says
Authentic and delicious! Glad to find a recipe with fish sauce without soy/oyster which is Chinese. This dish must use fish sauce, not sure why someone said that made it not authentic… five stars!
Charles Pascual says
Terrific dish! Your recipe is straight-forward and easy to follow. The video showed me all the steps and gave me confidence I was doing it right. It comes together quickly yet I wasn't rushed and had time to clean up and put away ingredients as I went along. My wife, who is averse to spicy food, said this had the right balance between spicy heat and flavors. It's a keeper in our house. Thank you.
Molly says
I NEVER review recipes. I was very scared of the spice and there are no Thai peppers in my area so I used 1/2 of one Serrano. I plan to use 1.5 Serrano peppers next time (0.5 was too little). Having a variety of peppers was delicious and well worth it! (I used Serrano, Anaheim and red bell peppers.) Also, this is the first time I’m endorsing fish sauce!!! Thank you for giving me the courage for using/trying fish sauce again. My family wants me to make this again tomorrow. Now I gotta buy more hamburger!!!
Tananda D says
I have had this made with chicken and with duck at restaurants. This was my first time trying this at home. I made your version with the beef and I was nervous about the extended browning but I stuck with it and was very happy with the result
I did not have access to Holy Basil so I went ahead with Thai Basil and it was indeed much like the local restaurants versions I've had...
I think I messed up a little.. I used a bit more ground beef than you did and thus I think the other flavors were a little "light" - I should have doubled the fish sauce, Thai Chilies, and garlic etc...
The issues were entirely on my side.. your recipe/instructions were spot on.. though, I asked my wife to do the eggs and she struggled to get the nice shape you did...they tasted fine but it was not quite as pretty as yours - I chalk that up to our experience level as this was a totally different egg frying technique than we ever tried before.
Pailin Chongchitnant says
So glad to hear! And thank you for the review! Yes if you scale up the beef you should scale up all ingredients proportionally. I'm glad you trusted the browning! The eggs will come with experience, and sometimes a little luck. Some eggs just come out prettier than others, lol!
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Thank you!! And thank you for taking the time to review! And yay for the courage to use fish sauce again!!