🇹🇭 Thai
FREE PREVIEW
Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken over Rice)
⏱ 20 min
🍞 ~20g (kid-default portion with 1/3 cup jasmine rice)
🍽 4 servings
⭐ 4/5
⚠️ Estimates only — not medical advice. Carb counts vary by brand and portion. Always verify with your endo or CDCES.
🌍 Cultural note
Pad krapow gai is the soul of Thai street food — every Bangkok food stall has a wok roaring with garlic, chilies, and holy basil at lunchtime. Thai moms make this for their kids too, just with the chilies dialed way back. The smell when the basil hits the hot pan? That's the whole reason Thailand smells like Thailand.
Why this recipe is T1D-friendly
- Almost all the carbs come from rice — easy to portion-control the carb-heavy part separately
- Protein-forward (chicken + egg) means slower glucose rise
- No palm sugar in this version; we use a tiny bit of allulose to balance the savory
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken (0g)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (2g)
- 1-2 Thai chilies (or 1 mild red Fresno for kids) (1g)
- 1 small shallot, minced (3g)
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (0g)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (2g)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce (3g)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce / nam pla (1g)
- 1 tsp allulose or monk fruit (replaces palm sugar) (0g)
- 1 cup Thai holy basil leaves (or sweet basil) (1g)
- 4 eggs (for fried egg topping) (2g)
- 1 1/3 cups cooked jasmine rice, total (about 1/3 cup per kid serving) (~75g across all servings)
- Splash of water (0g)
Rice / noodle / wrap options
| Base | Portion | Carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Jasmine rice (kid default) | 1/3 cup cooked | ~15g |
| Jasmine rice (full Thai portion) | 1 cup cooked | ~45g |
| Right Rice (jasmine flavor) | 1/2 cup cooked | ~12g |
| Cauliflower rice | 1/2 cup | ~3g |
| Shirataki rice | 1/2 cup | ~2g |
| Over lettuce cups | 2 cups | ~2g |
Chicken mixture itself is ~5g per serving. Default kid bowl = 5g chicken + 15g rice = ~20g total.
Directions
- Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and allulose in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok or wide skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add garlic, shallot, and chili. Stir fry 30 seconds until fragrant — don't let garlic brown.
- Add ground chicken. Break it up with a spatula and cook 4-5 minutes until no longer pink.
- Pour in the sauce mixture and a splash of water. Stir to coat.
- Cook another 2 minutes until sauce reduces and clings to the chicken.
- Turn off heat. Stir in basil leaves — they'll wilt instantly in the residual heat.
- In a separate pan, fry the eggs in remaining oil. Crispy edges, runny yolk is traditional.
- Portion 1/3 cup jasmine rice (or sub from chart below) into each kid bowl.
- Top with chicken mixture and a fried egg.
Dash's kid tips 🐆
- For Dash and most kids, swap Thai chilies for a single mild Fresno or just a pinch of red pepper flakes — the basil and garlic are the real flavor stars
- The runny egg yolk is part of the magic — let kids break it and mix it in, that's the Thai way
- If your kid won't touch basil leaves, mince them tiny so they disappear into the sauce
- Make a big batch — leftover pad krapow is incredible cold over cauli rice for lunch