Thai Basil Chicken Stuffed Peppers (Pad Krapow-Style)

About This Recipe

Pad krapow gai — stir-fried chicken with holy basil, garlic, and chile — is arguably Thailand's most common lunch dish, sold from food carts and home kitchens across the country, almost always served over rice with a fried egg on top. This recipe keeps the exact flavor profile of pad krapow but stuffs it into bell peppers and bakes them, turning a fast stir-fry into a heartier baked dinner while keeping every element that makes the original dish work. The technique that defines pad krapow is cooking the chicken hard and fast with garlic and chile pounded (not just chopped) into a rough paste, then finishing with fish sauce, a little sugar, and a generous handful of Thai holy basil stirred in at the very last second so it wilts but keeps its punchy, slightly peppery aroma. That filling is fully cooked on the stovetop before it goes into the peppers, since baking alone wouldn't develop the same char and depth. Baked until the peppers are tender but still holding their shape, then topped with a crispy fried egg just before serving, this dish delivers all the spicy, garlicky, basil-forward flavor of the original in a format built for a sit-down dinner.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4bell peppers(tops cut off, seeded)
• 500 gground chicken
• 2 tbspneutral oil
• 5 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 3Thai chiles(minced, adjust to taste)
• 1shallot(diced)
• 1red bell pepper(diced, extra for filling)
• 3 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspoyster sauce
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 cupThai basil leaves
• 4eggs(for frying)
• 2 cupscooked jasmine rice(for serving)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the chicken filling

   Heat oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add garlic, chiles, and shallot, stir-frying 30 seconds until fragrant. Add ground chicken and cook, breaking it into small pieces, 5-6 minutes until fully cooked.

2. 2

   Add vegetables and sauce

   Add diced red bell pepper, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Cook 2-3 minutes until the pepper softens slightly and the sauce coats everything evenly.

3. 3

   Fold in basil

   Remove from heat and immediately stir in Thai basil leaves so they wilt from residual heat without overcooking and losing their aroma.

   Add the basil off the heat, not while the pan is still on the burner — direct heat too long turns the leaves dark and bitter instead of glossy and fragrant.

4. 4

   Stuff and bake the peppers

   Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Pack the chicken filling into the hollowed peppers, mounding slightly. Stand them in a baking dish with 1/4 cup water in the bottom, cover with foil, and bake 25-30 minutes until the peppers are tender.

5. 5

   Fry the eggs and serve

   While the peppers finish baking, fry eggs in a hot oiled skillet until the whites are set and edges crispy but the yolk is still runny, 2-3 minutes. Serve each stuffed pepper with rice and a fried egg on top.

Variations

• •

  Use ground pork or turkey instead of chicken, following the same technique.

• •

  Skip the peppers and serve the filling directly over rice for a faster, more traditional pad krapow plate.

• •

  Add a handful of green beans, sliced thin, to the filling for extra vegetables and crunch.

Storage

Refrigerate stuffed peppers (without the fried egg) up to 3 days. Reheat covered in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes, and fry a fresh egg to top each portion when serving.

Frequently Asked Questions