This quick and easy Thai Basil Beef recipe takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and is so delicious! It's made with ground beef (or steak) and a homemade Thai basil sauce that's easy to customize to your preferred spice level.
Want more 30-Minute Meals? Try Salmon Bowls, Orzo Salad, or Kung Pao Shrimp!
We absolutely love Thai food, wether we make homemade Thai food, or go to our favorite restaurants. My husband's favorite dish is Pad Gra Prow, AKA Thai Basil Beef, and I love this quick and easy version that mimics the flavors we love, even if it's not truly authentic! For authentic Pad Gra Prow, try this recipe from Hot Thai Kitchen!
I love this recipe because it uses ground meat, so it's inexpensive and soaks up more flavor, like I image Thai street food. It's practical for a regular weeknight meal and you can have it on the table in less than 30 minutes!
Let's Talk Basil:
There are a few different types of basil used in Thai cooking.
- Holy Basil (or hot basil) is known for adding heat to dishes. It can be harder to find so Thai basil is often used as a substitute.
- Thai Basil (or Thai sweet basil) has purple stems and a spicy licorice-anise flavor. Thai basil can be difficult to find in American grocery stores but can be found in most Asian grocery stores (I've seen it in every Asian grocery store I've ever been in!). If you can't find it, regular old sweet basil will work as a substitute.
- Sweet Basil is the type of basil we are all probably most familiar with. It's the most common type of basil found in grocery stores and is used in all types of sauces, marinades, and other recipes. This is a perfectly good substitute for Thai basil in any recipe, you just loose a little of the pungent taste that comes from Thai basil.
How to Make Thai Basil Beef
Cook Veggies: In a wok or large skillet over medium high heat add the oil, shallots, garlic, ginger and bell peppers. Sauté for 3 minutes. Push the veggies off to the side.
Add Ground Beef: Turn the heat to high and add the ground beef, breaking it up into small bits. I like to spoon the cooked ground beef into my food processor and pulse it a few times to break it into really small pieces.
Make Sauce: Stir together the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch beef broth and water. Add to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
Add Basil and stir-fry until wilted.
Serve over hot cooked rice.
Recipe Variations:
- Meat: Use ground chicken, ground pork, or extra firm tofu (and vegetable broth) to make it vegetarian. Flank steak would also taste delicious in this recipe. Slice it thinly, against the grain.
- Oyster Sauce: You could substitute more soy sauce.
- Vegetables: Use any color bell pepper and add more vegetables if you like. Try shredded carrot, thinly sliced zucchini, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, or mushrooms.
- Chili Sauce: Substitute sriracha hot sauce in place of the Asian Garlic Chili Paste.
- Rice: Use any kind of rice you like, or skip the rice and serve it in a lettuce wrap!
More Thai-Inspired Recipes:
- Pad Thai
- Green Curry Meatballs
- Spring Roll Bowls
- Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Chickpea Curry
- Thai Quinoa Salad
- Red Curry
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Recipe
Thai Basil Beef
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 shallots , chopped
- 8 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger , minced
- 1 red bell pepper , thinly sliced
- 1.5 lbs lean ground beef*
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
- 1.5 Tablespoons oyster sauce*
- 2 or 3 Tablespoons chili paste with garlic*
- 3/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1.5 cups holy basil leaves* , chopped
- 3 green onions chopped, for garnish
- 5 cups hot cooked rice
Instructions
- In a wok or large skillet over medium high heat, add the oil, shallots, garlic, ginger and bell peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Push the veggies off to the side and add the ground beef, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. (I like to use a meat chopper to break up the meat in very small pieces.)
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili paste, cornstarch, beef broth, and water and add to the pan. Simmer for 5-10 minutes
- Add the basil and stir. Serve over hot steamed rice, with chopped green onion on top.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe September 2019. Updated July 2020 and August 2023.
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I agree that the original sauce ratios would result in a dish that is *far* too salty. I make a lot of different kinds of Asian food, so I trusted my experience when modifying this recipe.
Here’s how I fixed the saltiness problem:
I used the same amount of fish sauce and oyster sauce, but only 2-3 tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce. Paired with jasmine rice, this was not too salty for me, but if you’re worried about the saltiness still, add less of these ingredients initially and then more to taste once the flavours have melded a bit.
I omitted the beef broth, water, and cornstarch completely. The dish is great without those ingredients. They are not needed at all.
I made other small adjustments (swapped a farmstand onion for shallot, used home grown shishito peppers instead of bell), but the other thing I’d make sure to do is use fresh, quality garlic for this recipe since it relies heavily upon that flavour with 8 cloves of Garlic. Fresh ginger is also ideal.
Wow, this was way too salty. Unfortunately, we couldn’t eat it.
But who has fish sauce and oyster sauce?? What else could I use it for so it doesn’t go to waste?
Honestly, once you have them—you’ll use them everywhere! Fish sauce is amazing in stir fries, soups, even salad dressings. Oyster sauce? Total flavor bomb for veggies, noodles, fried rice… Worth the pantry space!
This recipe is REALLY salty. I saw some of the other comments but thought maybe they’re not using low sodium soy sauce or something. I followed the directions exactly (except less chili garlic sauce and used tofu instead of beef) including the low sodium soy sauce. I did not add any extra salt.
I served it with rice. And it was STILL so salty. I don’t think I’d make this again.
Thank you!