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Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version)

Spicy ground beef stir-fry over rice with a runny fried egg on top.

18min
613kcal
29gprotein
Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version) — Thai recipe, finished and plated
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Ingredients

Servings 4
  • 400 g Ground beef
  • 6 cloves Garlic
  • 2 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 2 tsp Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Neutral oil
  • 300 g Rice
  • 2 Egg
  • 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
  • 1 bunch Thai basil
  • 1 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 1 tsp Dark soy sauce (optional)

Method

  1. Smash the garlic and chop it roughly.
  2. Heat half the neutral oil in a wide pan over high heat. Crack in the eggs and fry them crispy-edged with runny yolks, about 2 minutes. Lift onto a plate.
  3. Add the remaining oil. Fry the garlic and chili flakes until fragrant, about 20 seconds.
  4. Add the beef and brown it hard, breaking it up, until deeply coloured.
  5. Stir in the soy sauce, dark soy, sugar, and fish sauce. Bubble for a minute. Tear in the basil at the end and toss once.
  6. Spoon over the rice and top with the fried eggs.

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About Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version)

Pad kra pao is Thailand's default fast meal, the dish you order at a street stall when you can't decide on anything else, and this beef version keeps to the essentials: minced meat fried hard with garlic and chilies, hit with soy and fish sauce, and finished with a fistful of holy basil. What separates it from a generic stir-fry is that peppery, almost clove-like basil torn in off the heat, and the willingness to let the beef take on real colour rather than just cooking through. The seasoning leans savoury and slightly sweet, with dark soy giving both depth and a burnished look, while the chili flakes carry the heat that gives the dish its reputation.

Traditionally it arrives over rice with a runny fried egg on top, the crackling, lacy-edged kind fried in hot oil so the whites blister while the yolk stays loose to spill into the meat. That egg isn't a garnish so much as a sauce, and breaking it over everything is part of eating pad kra pao properly. This version is built for a weeknight, coming together in under twenty minutes with pantry staples, and the technique it teaches is worth carrying to other stir-fries: fry the egg first, keep the heat high, and add the basil last so it wilts rather than stews.

Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version): frequently asked questions

How many calories are in Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version)?

A serving has about 613 calories — 29g protein, 65.2g carbs, 25.1g fat, 1.6g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.

Is it high in protein?

Each serving has about 29g of protein, roughly 19% of its calories.

Is Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version) gluten-free?

As written, no — it contains Soy sauce, Dark soy sauce. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for those ingredients to make it gluten-free.

Do I need every ingredient to make Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version)?

The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out dark soy sauce — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.

How many servings does Pad Kra Pao with Beef (Pantry Version) make?

This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.