Basil fried rice is the best way to use up leftover rice! We love making this one-pot dinner so much that I’ll make a potful of Jasmine rice the night before with Thai fried rice written all over it. Tender seasoned rice that crisps and pops in the pan when fried in butter. The shrimp add sweetness to the rice dish, the sauce adds a salty umami flavor, and the fresh basil gives off a licorice taste that works beautifully with all the other ingredients. I’ve shared the secret to making perfect rice time and time again and it’s making the rice ahead of time, letting it cool down, and then frying it up in a pan with all the sauces. It produces the most delicious fried rice you’ll ever have – and not a mushy grain in sight! If you haven’t tried my hibachi fried rice or my 15-minute fried rice recipe, you need to add those to the list too!
Ingredients for Thai Basil fried Rice:
Jasmine Rice: You’ll want to use day-old jasmine rice or other white rice for this recipe. Fried rice is the best hack if you’ve got a ton of leftover rice after ordering Thai take-out! Turn it into another meal! Preparing the rice a day ahead of time and cooling it in the refrigerator overnight allows it to dry out. It also helps to hold its shape a lot better when we fry it in the pan. I usually make a batch of jasmine rice in my pressure cooker the night before and pop it into the refrigerator. Instructions for that are below!Garlic: cloves of garlic and smashed with Thai chilies and a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle to create a chili garlic paste. This paste is then sautéed in the butter and creates the most amazing aroma!Thai Chili: are sometimes called birds-eye chilies and very traditional to Thai cooking. These peppers are quite hot! So if you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy spicy food, use less of them in this dish. Sauces: Most of these are now available in your regular old grocery store! You’ll need oyster sauce, black soy sauce, and fish sauce. Fish sauce adds that signature deep, rich umami flavor that you find in Thai recipes. You can replace the oystersauce with vegetarian oyster sauce if you’re cooking for those with allergies and those that don’t consume oysters. Black soy sauce is sometimes labeled as dark soy sauce. This ingredient isn’t always available in all grocery stores, but you can replace it with 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce if you can’t find this one!Brown Sugar: Brown sugar adds a depth of flavor to this. Traditionally, palm sugar is used but I know that can be a difficult ingredient to find unless you have an Asian grocery store in your area! Brown sugar works well here if you don’t happen to have palm sugar on hand.White Pepper: White pepper gives the sauce a delicious aroma! Eggs: A couple of beaten eggs are essential to any good fried rice recipe! I use them in my 15-minute fried rice recipe as well as my hibachi fried rice recipe.High Heat Oil + Butter: You’ll want to use high heat oil to scramble the eggs. My personal favorite is avocado oil but sunflower or even vegetable oil will work. Butter is another ingredient that I use in all of my fried rice recipes. It gives the rice a deliciously rich flavor! Start by cooking the eggs in the oil and then the rest of the ingredients will cook in butter to give this the ultimate flavor!Shallots: are essential to Thai cuisine. Most often shallots are used instead of onions. However, if you must, you can replace the shallots with a small red onion in this recipe.Shrimp: is the source of protein! I saute the shrimp right in with the garlic and chili mixture. Feel free to swap the shrimp for chopped chicken instead. My favorite local Thai restaurant also makes a version with mushrooms, yellow and red bell pepper, tomatoes, and other vegetables and it’s delicious! You could also make this with firm to extra firm tofu!Basil: What’s basil fried rice without a little (read: a lot) of basil?You want to use sweet Thai basil for this recipe. If you can’t find Thai basil, you can use Italian basil for this recipe.
How to make the best Thai basil fried rice at home:
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
Garlic Lovers Thai Basil ChickenFirecracker Shrimp (Shrimp in a Blanket)Garlicky Pad See Ew20-Minute Panang Chicken CurryThai Butternut Squash Red Curry
To make three cups of cooked rice, you’ll want to start with 1 cup of dry jasmine rice.Recipe heavily adapted from my hibachi fried rice.
