This Sticky Basil Chicken Recipe 🌿🌶️🍗 tastes like it’s from a Thai restaurant but is ready at home in 25 minutes and made with common ingredients! Quick and SO easy, it has the perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and plenty of fresh basil, making it a high protein family favorite dish!
Easy Spicy Basil Chicken Recipe
- A spinoff of my Better-Than-Takeout Sticky Chicken, this basil sticky chicken is a quick, one-skillet dinner packed with bold, better-than-takeout flavor.
- Juicy, tender chicken is coated in a sticky, sweet-and-savory sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, and a touch of chili garlic for optional heat.
- It’s easy, hassle-free, ready in just 25 minutes, and perfect for busy weeknights.
- Even better, it tastes like your favorite Asian takeout, but healthier and made at home with pantry-friendly ingredients!
This recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! You are right… It tastes like the chicken dishes I order at a restaurant – with one exception – IT’S BETTER!
Thank you for sharing this!!!
Helena
Sticky Basil Chicken Recipe Ingredients and Notes
- Honey: Maple syrup would also likely work in a pinch but I prefer honey.
- Ketchup and vinegar: Add tang and depth of flavor to the sauce.
- Soy sauce: Light or dark soy sauce will work, or use coconut aminos or tamari if preferred to keep it gluten-free.
- Sugar: We’re using a combination of both white sugar and brown sugar for a sweet, spicy sauce with a hint of molasses flavor.
- Chili garlic sauce: I added 3 heaping tablespoons chili garlic sauce to the sauce mixture, and the chicken and sauce had a nice kick. If you’re sensitive to spicy foods, dial that quantity back. Start with 1 tablespoon and work up from there. Or if you don’t want any spiciness, it’s easy to omit
- Large egg
- All-purpose flour: Sub a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour, if needed.
- Cornstarch: This contributes to the beautiful, crispy exterior we want.
- Chicken breasts: I prefer lean chicken breasts, but chicken thighs are fine. Either way, be sure to cut the chicken breasts into the same-sized pieces so they cook in the skillet at an even rate.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Or vegetable oil will work.
- Fresh basil: I really wanted to make “Thai Basil Chicken,” which is a fairly popular Thai restaurant recipe. However, it’s tricky to find Thai basil unless you live near a Thai or Asian market, and even if you do, it’s likely not convenient to go there solely to track down Thai basil. I never want anyone to go on a goose chase that I wouldn’t go on myself. So, because of that, we have Sticky Basil Chicken rather than Thai Basil Chicken. I used fresh basil from Trader Joe’s basil plant, but if you have basil from your garden, that would be lovely!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make the BEST Sticky Thai Basil Chicken Recipe
- To a large skillet or wok, add boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces that have been dredged in egg, flour, and corn starch.
- Cook until the chicken is done, about 8 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F!
- Whisk the sauce ingredients, and add the sauce to the skillet. You can dial up the heat in this dish by adding extra chili garlic sauce, or even a few squirts of sriracha.
- Finish with a big handful of torn fresh basil leaves and garnish with sesame seeds if you like.
- Serve as is or over a bed of steamed Jasmine rice, white rice, or with seasoned oven fries with a side of green beans almondine!
Sticky Basil Chicken
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Sauce
- ⅓ to ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, or regular or rice vinegar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce, (tamari or coconut aminos may be substituted to keep GF)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed (light or dark)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 to 4 tablespoons chili garlic sauce, to taste (I used 3 heaping tablespoons and there was a nice kick; reduce to 1 tablespoon or less if you’re very sensitive to spicy foods)
Chicken
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup corn starch, for dredging
- 1.75 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if necessary
- 1 big handful fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces, or as desired; plus more for garnishing optionally
- sesame seeds, optional for garnishing
Instructions
Sauce:
- To a medium bowl, add all the ingredients, and whisk to combine; set aside.
Chicken:
- Add the egg to a small bowl, the flour to a separate shallow bowl, and the corn starch to another shallow bowl.
- Add the chicken to the egg bowl (I add it all at once and smoosh it around with my fingers), pick it up and transfer it to the flour bowl and coat it with flour (doesn’t have to be 100% completely and perfectly coated), pick it up and transfer it to the corn starch bowl and coat it with corn starch.
- To a large skillet, add the oil, the chicken, and cook over medium to medium-high heat for about 8 minutes, or until the chicken is seared, lightly browned or golden on the outside, and cooked through; slip intermittently to ensure even cooking.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the sauce to the skillet, and stir to combine. Stir the sauce nearly continuously for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened up and likely it will have reduced and absorbed into or clung to the chicken and there won’t be much excess.
- Turn the heat off, add the handful of torn basil, and stir to incorporate and until wilted.
- Optionally, garnish with additional basil and/or sesame seeds and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Asian Chicken Recipes:
Better-Than-Takeout Sticky Chicken – Stop calling for takeout or going to the mall food court and make this AMAZING sticky chicken at home in 15 minutes! So EASY with the perfect balance of sweet and spicy with plenty of sticky sauce!
Healthier Orange Chicken – Stop calling for takeout or going to the mall food court and make this HEALTHIER orange chicken at home in less than 10 minutes! EASY, authentic, and so INCREDIBLE that you’ll never miss the fat and calories!
Better-Than-Takeout Cashew Chicken – Juicy chicken, crisp-tender vegetables, and crunchy cashews coated with the best garlicky soy sauce! Skip takeout and make your own restaurant-quality meal that’s easy, ready in 20 minutes, and healthier!
Baked Teriyaki Chicken and Rice — Chicken, rice, pineapple, and red peppers cook together in one pan for an EASY weeknight dinner that tastes like you’re in Hawaii! The homemade teriyaki sauce adds so much INCREDIBLE flavor!
15-Minute Orange Chili Chicken and Broccoli – The orange chili sauce is spicy, tangy, and sweet all in one!! The PERFECT sauce to jazz up chicken and broccoli! A FAST and EASY dinner with great Asian FLAVOR!!
Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken — This sweet and sour chicken recipe takes just 15 minutes to make and tastes way better than takeout. Perfect for a weeknight dinner!
15-Minute Skillet Sesame Chicken with Broccoli – Healthier sesame chicken that isn’t breaded or fried! You won’t miss the fat or calories in this fast and easy version that’s loaded with Asian-inspired flavors! You can happily skip takeout now!
Sheet Pan Ginger Orange Chicken and Vegetables – Fast, EASY, HEALTHY, and loaded with great orange ginger flavor!! A DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup that’s perfect for busy weeknights!!
Slow Cooker Orange Chicken – The easiest orange chicken ever because your slow cooker does all the work!! Super juicy, tender, and coated with a sweet-yet-tangy orange glaze that’s irresistible!!
Absolutely delicious! I made this for my ex chef husband who never cooks anymore but gives helpful guidance 🤣 said, “I’d order this again” I’m saving the recipe, it’s fabulous. I halved it because there’s only 2 of us and followed the recipe exactly and got sheer perfection. Thank you.
Thanks for the five star review Tim and I absolutely love reviews like yours because when you’re cooking for an ex chef and he is saying things like yes he would order this again, it doesn’t get any better! This is a personal favorite chicken recipe of mine and I’m so glad the two of you have enjoyed it as well!
Five star recipe! It’s quick to put together using pantry ingredients and tastes special. I used boneless, skinless thighs and they were flavorful. I will double the delicious sauce next time.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Lindy, and glad this turned out great for you with thighs and that you’ll double the sauce next time – I love this sauce too!
Quick and easy with ingredients in the fridge/pantry (except the chicken). I was looking for an Asian dish that used fresh basil (that I was growing). Served with rice, this dish is restaurant quality! Perfect balance of flavors without the chicken being deep fried. Next time I might add a little broccoli to make it feel healthier.
Quick and easy with ingredients in the fridge/pantry (except the chicken). I was looking for an Asian dish that used fresh basil (that I was growing). Served with rice, this dish is restaurant quality! Perfect balance of flavors without the chicken being deep fried. Next time I might add a little broccoli to make it feel healthier.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad this was perfect! I too am a fan of basil (envious you still have fresh basil growing in late October even in San Diego mine is done) and I am not a fan of fried and broccoli would be a great addition!
See this one https://www.averiecooks.com/better-than-takeout-cashew-chicken/ as it’s got broccoli and you can add the basil
Or https://www.averiecooks.com/skinny-15-minute-sesame-chicken-and-broccoli/
This recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! You are right… It tastes like the chicken dishes I order at a restaurant – with one exception – IT’S BETTER!
Thank you for sharing this!!!
This recipe is absolutely DELICIOUS!!! You are right… It tastes like the chicken dishes I order at a restaurant – with one exception – IT’S BETTER!
Thank you for sharing this!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you also agree that it’s better than what you can get at a restaurant!
Made this tonight as I had lots of basil!! Excellent. Used 2 T garlic sauce. Perfect! Used half amount of chicken for 2 servings but full amount of sauce. Added veggies lightly pre sautéed when simmering the sauce. Plan to also try with shrimp
Made this tonight as I had lots of basil!! Excellent. Used 2 T garlic sauce. Perfect! Used half amount of chicken for 2 servings but full amount of sauce. Added veggies lightly pre sautéed when simmering the sauce. Plan to also try with shrimp
I am glad this was excellent for you and helped you use up some of your basil! I am sure it would be great with shrimp as well.
Absolutely delicious!!! I prepared as written and served over rice. I think when I make this again I will increase the sauce recipe so that there is more of that wonderful sauce!
Absolutely delicious!!! I prepared as written and served over rice. I think when I make this again I will increase the sauce recipe so that there is more of that wonderful sauce!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was absolutely delicious! One of my personal faves and I love sauce too!
Would it work if I use dried Basil in the sauce instead of adding fresh Basil in the end ?
Yes you could but it’s not comparable to using fresh in terms of the flavor intensity.