Stir-fried chicken with chillies & basil

Name: Stir-fried chicken with chillies & basil
Prep time: 6 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 17 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil; 450g Chicken; 3 tblsp chopped Garlic; 3 tblsp chopped Shallots; 3 Red Chilli; 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce; 2 tsp Soy Sauce; 2 tsp Sugar; Handful Basil Leaves

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Chicken recipe with Thai flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 37 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 17 min total

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
450g Chicken
3 tblsp chopped Garlic
3 tblsp chopped Shallots
3 Red Chilli
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
2 tsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Sugar
Handful Basil Leaves

Step-by-step instructions

Heat a wok or large frying pan until it is very hot, then add 1 tbsp of the oil. When it is very hot, add the chicken and stir-fry over a high heat for 8-10 minutes, until browned all over. Using a slotted spoon, take the chicken from the pan and set aside.
Reheat the wok and add the remaining oil. Toss in the garlic and shallots and stir fry for 3 minutes, until golden brown.
Return the chicken to the wok and add the chillies, fish sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar. Stir fry over a high heat for a further 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the basil leaves and serve at once.

Why this works on a weeknight

Stir-fried chicken with chillies & basil genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Stir-Fry collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Stir-fried chicken with chillies & basil actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥢 Stir-Fry Chicken Thai ⚡ 30-Min Dinner