This Thai basil fried rice recipe is extra special because it is lightened up with some cauliflower rice! I swear I could not even tell there was any cauliflower rice at all. It blended right in! I also love this recipe because it there is a flavor burst with the addition of Thai basil! If you all don’t know, basil is my favorite herb, and Thai basil does not disappoint!
This fried rice recipe can easily be made vegan by substituting a few ingredients. You can sub the oyster sauce with vegetarian oyster sauce (made out of mushrooms), the chicken and eggs with tofu or leave it out all together.
Key ingredients for this lightened up Thai basil fried rice:
- Rice
- I used Jasmine rice and I made this the night before and let it chill in the fridge. Leftover rice makes the best fried rice!
- Cauliflower rice
- I threw in some frozen cauliflower rice and it blended right in with the actual rice. This adds some extra nutrients and veggies to fried rice!
- Red bell pepper
- Typically you would use Thai red chilis here, but I did not have any on hand! Red bell peppers worked amazing, but if you want a little extra spice definitely try to find some red chilis.
- Green onion and garlic
- This is a must when making fried rice. I like to fry there up in the oil before adding the rice in because it adds so much more flavor.
- Soy sauce
- A little trick I like to add more umami flavor is frying the soy sauce before mixing it in with the rice. I like to push everything in my pan to the edges, and then pour in the soy sauce right onto the hot pan. Let it sizzle for a little bit then mix everything together.
- Oyster Sauce
- This adds a nice color and flavor. I love adding this into almost all of my Asian recipes because it adds such a nice sweet umami flavor.
- Protein
- I choose to add chicken and scrambled eggs to my fried rice. If you are vegan you can sub in some tofu!
Lightened Up Thai Basil Fried Rice
This Thai basil fried rice is extra special because it is lightened up with some cauliflower rice! The cauliflower rice is well hidden, and I guarantee you will not be able to tell it is there! I love the flavor explosion that comes from the Thai basil!
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 1 cup cauliflower rice
- ½ red bell pepper diced
- 2 stalks green onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 2 eggs scrambled
Chicken
- 1 large chicken breast cut into strips
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp corn starch
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
Oil
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl combined everything under the chicken ingredients and set aside in the fridge.
- Prep the veggies and scramble the eggs.
- Remove the eggs from the pan and add 1 tbsp of olive oil and cook the chicken until golden brown on each side. Remove from pan.
- Add 2 tbsp of olive oil. Then add in the green onion, garlic, and red bell peppers. Sauté until fragrant (2 minutes).
- Now add in the rice and cauliflower rice. Stir fry that all together and then add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, and white pepper.
- Add in the chicken and eggs and mix everything until well combined.
- Lastly, serve it up with some siracha or chili oil!
