This Thai Basil Pork Recipe is easy to make on busy weeknights and absolutely delicious! Ground pork, basil, and a savory Thai sauce go perfectly with rice and veggies.
This Thai Basil Pork recipe is inspired by the delicious flavors and ingredients found in Thai cooking. It has ground pork which is so flavorful and savory. Onions, garlic and sweet bell peppers bring flavor and crunch. Then there is the amazing sauce. The flavors in Thai recipes have a beautiful combination of sweet, savory, spicy, and umami. Admittedly, I did not make mine too spicy, but Thai red peppers are the ingredient that gives it that kick.
I’m always looking for quick and easy dinners and ground meat plus a skillet usually seals the deal. But usually, I use ground chicken or ground beef. The inspiration for this recipe was Thai basil dish that ate with ground pork, so I improvised a bit here. I don’t claim that this is an authentic Thai recipe, but I appreciate all of the flavors and thank Thailand for it’s delicious inspiration.
Do you meal plan your dinners? It makes weeknights so much easier! Check out my Meal Planning Theme Night Recipes. This is a great recipe to add to your International Wednesdays meal planning calendar!
Jump to:
- The Inspiration for this Recipe
- Simple Ingredients and Substitutes
- Simple Equipment
- Time Saving Prep-Ahead Steps
- Cooking Steps for Thai Basil Pork Recipe
- Here are some variations for this Pork recipe
- Thai Basil Stir Fry Recipe FAQs
- More Easy Recipes with Asian Cuisine Inspiration
- Thai Basil Pork Recipe with Veggies and Rice
- Comments
The Inspiration for this Recipe
This recipe is inspired by the traditional Thai recipe called, Pad Kra Pao Moo, which I understand translates (perhaps roughly) to Holy Basil Stir fry. I ordered it at a delicious Thai food restaurant in Hoboken, NJ and it was served with sticky rice. I have had it on my list to make for over a year!
It’s a classic Thai dish that has ground pork, Thai holy basil, garlic, chili, and soy sauce. Since holy basil is not a common ingredient in regular grocery stores, you can certainly use Thai basil or Italian sweet basil. Or you can check out any nearby asian markets that sell thai ingredients.
Simple Ingredients and Substitutes
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Sauce Ingredients
- Oyster sauce – Oyster sauce is a sweet and salty condiment made primarily from oyster juices. I love it because it brings umami to the dish. If you don’t have it, you can substitute hoisin sauce, fish sauce, or teriyaki sauce (will be thinner). You can also just use soy sauce.
- Fresh Garlic cloves, minced – Fresh is best in this simple recipe, but you can buy the pre-minced garlic sold in a small jar or use dried garlic flakes or garlic powder.
- Brown Sugar – The brown sugar brings the necessary sweetness in Korean food. You could use white sugar in place of it if you cannot get brown. You can also add chopped apple or asian pear to the food processor or 2 tablespoons of honey.
- Soy Sauce – I used regular Soy Sauce, but you can also use dark soy sauce or low sodium or light soy sauce, or Gluten Free Soy Sauce. If you don’t have Soy sauce, you can add Worcestershire sauce or beef, chicken, vegetable, stock or broth.
- Chicken Broth or Stock – You can also use, vegetable broth or stock or beef broth or stock. You can also use water mixed with a beef or chicken bouillon cube or beef base or chicken base.
- Optional: Thai chilis, serrano peppers, or jalapeno peppers – you can red chili pepper flakes as well.
Stir fry Ingredients
- Onion, diced – I used yellow onion, but you can use white onion, red onion, shallots, or even scallions. If you don’t have fresh onion, you can also use a tablespoon of onion flakes or onion powder.
- Red bell pepper – You can also use green bell pepper, yellow, or orange bell pepper.
- Ground Pork – You can use plain ground pork or a raw pork sausage removed from the casings. You can also use ground beef, lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken in this recipe.
- Basil leaves – Most general grocery stores don’t carry Holy basil or even Thai basil, so regular Sweet basil or any regular basil at your store is fine to use in this recipe.
- Uncooked Long grain White rice – You can substitute with any rice that you have on hand, such as serving this over jasmine rice. You can also sub in quinoa, rice noodles, regular noodles, brown rice, or salad.
See recipe card for quantities.
Simple Equipment
For this recipe, you will need a small-medium pot with lid for the rice.
You also need a large skillet or large frying pan. I use my absolute favorite 12″ Ceramic Pan, which is great because food really does slide right off with minimal oil and I don’t have to worry about food sticking and burning.
Mincing garlic is made super easy with a Garlic Press.
Time Saving Prep-Ahead Steps
We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are steps you can prepare ahead to save time on busy nights! (See the full recipe below)
If not already minced, peel and mince the garlic. Slice the chilis.
Dice the onion. Dice or slice the red peppers.
Make the Sauce. Mix together in a bowl: oyster sauce, minced garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and chili slices (if you are using).
Cooking Steps for Thai Basil Pork Recipe
Cook the rice according to package directions.
Preheat a large skillet/frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then the ground pork. Break up the pork as it cooks and let it really get browned, cooking about 5 minutes. Then stir and cook another 3 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium heat. Add the onions. Stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes, just until they are glistening and starting to soften.
Then add the Chicken Broth scraping up all of browned bits from the bottom.
Stir in the sauce, the red peppers, and the basil leaves.
Let cook for 4-5 minutes until the sauce is thickened.
To serve, add some of the rice to the bottom of the bowls or plates, then top with the pork stir fry. Enjoy!
Here are some variations for this Pork recipe
You can easily customize this recipe to your own preferences by using a different ground meat or adding any veggies you love.
- Noodles – You can pre-cook vermicelli noodles (rice noodles) and mix them into the pork and sauce instead of serving with rice!
- Veggies – Veggies extend this dish to feed more people or have lots of leftovers! They also make it more healthy with more veggies and less pork in each serving. Carrots sliced into matchsticks, green beans, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, celery, mushrooms or bok choy are all great options. For these harder veggies, you will want to give them a quick cook before the pork to start to soften them. Once they start to brown and soften (5 minutes), you can transfer them to a plate and add them back at the end with the basil. For softer veggies, like zucchini or tomatoes, you can add them at the end with the basil.
- Shrimp – I already mentioned that you can use any ground meat, so ground chicken or turkey or ground beef are all great. But you can also make this with shrimp! For the shrimp, you will cook them for 2 minutes on each side, then remove them from the pan to a plate. Then add the broth, sauce and veggies and cook down before adding the shrimp back at the end.
Thai Basil Stir Fry Recipe FAQs
If your sauce is too thin, perhaps you added too much broth or not enough pork or it didn’t reduce enough. Whatever the reason, the key to thickening a sauce without having it turn to a gravy color, is Cornstarch. First, mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of cold water until it dissolves to create a cornstarch slurry. This is the thickener for this sauce and you simply whisk it into the sauce and bring to a simmer. If you need to still thicken it more, do this again!
This Thai Basil Pork recipe reheats nicely. Once you make it, store the pork stir fry and the rice separate in the refrigerator in airtight containers. They will last about 5 days.
The recipe is gluten-free, but you should always check the labels of the soy sauce and other ingredients you use to make sure they are gluten-free.
Since you have the meat and the rice, a vegetable side is perfect. How about Coleslaw with Asian Salad Dressing Recipe? A simple green salad with ginger dressing or your favorite dressing will also work. Or a simple stir fry of broccoli and carrots, or any other vegetables that you like.
More Easy Recipes with Asian Cuisine Inspiration
If you like the flavors in this Thai Pork recipe, you will love these other Asian-inspired recipes too!
Have you tried this recipe? If so, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe below! I love to hear your feedback and your rating helps others to find this recipe. Thanks so much!
Thai Basil Pork Recipe with Veggies and Rice
Ingredients
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Oyster sauce
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons Brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons Soy sauce
- 1 Optional: Thai chilis
Stir fry
- 1 pound Ground pork
- 1 Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 cup Chicken Broth or Stock
- 1 Red bell pepper or 4-5 mini sweet peppers
- 2 cups loose Thai basil leaves – or regular Sweet basil
- 1 cup Uncooked Long grain White rice
Instructions
PREP-AHEAD STEPS
- If not already minced, peel and mince the garlic. Slice the chilis.
- Dice the onion. Dice or slice the red peppers.
- Make the Sauce. Mix together in a bowl: oyster sauce, minced garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and chili slices.
COOKING STEPS
- Cook the rice according to package directions.
- Preheat a large skillet/frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a 1 tablespoon of olive oil and then the ground pork. Break up the pork as it cooks and let it really get browned, cooking about 5 minutes. Then stir and cook another 3 minutes.
- Turn the heat down to medium heat. Add the onions. Stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes, just until they are glistening and starting to soften.
- Then add the Chicken Broth scraping up all of browned bits from the bottom. Stir in the sauce, the red peppers, and the basil leaves. Let cook for 4-5 minutes until the sauce is thickened.
- To serve, add some of the rice to the bottom of the bowls or plates, then top with the pork stir fry. Enjoy!
Melissa says
Yumm!!! We added mushrooms and this would be good with rice noodles as well as rice. Easy to throw together and the flavor was so good. Definitely a budget recipe for a large family so we can enjoy “takeout” without the price.
Carrie Tyler says
Thanks, Melissa!!! Yes, I love rice noodles with it too. I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
xxCarrie
william says
very good recipe, but never add the basil leaves until the last minute, allowing them to cook until they wilt. It is the flavor!