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Home Meal Type 30 Minutes
4.88
/5
30 minutes minutes

Thai Basil Beef Stir Fry

Dairy Free Dairy-Free Gluten Free Gluten Free Nut Free Nut Free
Jump to Recipe
By: Denise Bustard15 Comments
Posted: 8/22/16 Updated: 8/28/20

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

This Thai Basil Beef Stir Fry has thin strips of beef, broccoli, and peas all tossed in a lime stir fry sauce and is topped with fresh basil. Fresh, tangy and ready in 30 minutes.

Are you ready to make a super delicious Asian inspired dinner at home? Then you will love this Thai basil beef stir fry recipe! Some of our other favorites are these Lighter Mongolian Beef Meal Prep bowls and this Low Carb Satay Beef Meal Prep recipe.

overhead view of Thai basil beef in a frying pan

This lime beef and basil stir fry has a super simple sauce that takes just a few ingredients. You can pack this stir with any of your favorite veggies, and it takes less than 30 minutes to become a meal everyone is going to enjoy.

If you want to make dinner, even more, a breeze you can prep everything about this meal ahead of time by pre-cooking the rice, cutting the vegetables up, and mixing up the sauce.

Reasons you will ♡ this Thai Basil Beef

  • it's a super healthy dinner packed with veggies
  • it comes together in just in 30 minutes
  • you can swap some ingredients to make it low carb

ingredients required for thai basil beef stir fry sauce

Which ingredients will you need?

For Thai basil beef you'll need:

  • beef: we are using steak for this recipe, you could use your favorite cut or opt for a cheaper cut like flank steak, which works well in this recipe
  • veggies: use 4 cups of your favorite stir fry vegetables. Broccoli, bell pepper, snow peas all work well.
  • basil: I recommend seeking out Thai basil; however, sweet basil can work if you can't find Thai basil

For the sauce:

  • fish sauce: this gives the sauce a ton of umami and the traditional Thai flavors. It smells scary but tastes delicious in this sauce. Find it in the Asian aisle of your grocery store
  • fresh lime: to give a slightly sour and citrusy flavor to the sauce
  • brown sugar: or swap for your favorite low carb sweetener (I like monk fruit sweetener)
  • soy sauce: I recommend low sodium, but if you are gluten-free, use coconut aminos or tamari
  • corn starch: to thicken, or use arrowroot powder

close up view of thai basil beef

Recipe tips

  • prep ahead- you can cook the rice ahead, pre-chop the veggies and mix up your sauce 4-7 days ahead
  • get organized- have your steak sliced, veggies all chopped and stir fry sauce shaken up before you start cooking
  • serve over rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice
  • leftovers are good, but the basil flavor and steak texture is so much better when served fresh, which is why I don't use this recipe for meal prep

Find my favorite kitchen tools in my shop!

can I make this recipe low-carb? 

Yes! Swap the veggies for your favorite low carb vegetables (broccoli and green beans are great), the soy sauce for liquid soy seasoning (sometimes called Bragg's liquid aminos), and the brown sugar for monk fruit sweetener (I usually try a 1:4 ratio of monk fruit to brown sugar when swapping).

can I swap the steak?

I bet this would work with boneless skinless chicken thighs, and it may also work with ground beef.

does this recipe work for meal prep?

I don't recommend this recipe for meal prep, as the steak gets tough and the basil gets soggy after storing.

If you want to prep some of these components ahead to make cooking go quickly, you can:

  • pre-cook the rice (store in the fridge for up to 4 days)
  • pre-chop the veggies (store in the fridge for up to 7 days)
  • shake up the stir fry sauce ahead (store in the fridge for up to 7 days, also may be frozen)

More tasty stir fry recipes

  • 7 Easy Stir Fry Sauce Recipes
  • Maple Ginger Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
  • Honey Sriracha Chicken Stir Fry
  • Lemon Sesame Chicken Stir Fry
  • Instant Pot Coconut Sweet Chili Chicken Stir Fry

Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!

thai basil beef stir fry in large skillet

Thai Basil Beef Stir Fry

4.88 from 8 votes
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
Print Rate
This Thai basil beef stir fry has thin strips of beef, broccoli, and peas all tossed in a lime stir fry sauce and is topped with fresh basil. Fresh, tangy and ready in 30 minutes.
4

Ingredients

Stir Fry:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (finely grated or chopped)
  • 4 cups vegetables (broccoli, snap peas, and/or bell pepper)
  • 12 oz steaks (your favorite cut; flank steak works great)
  • 1 cup basil leaves (Thai basil if you can find it)

Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • juice of 2 limes (3 tablespoons)
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • rice (to serve)

Instructions 

  • Heat oil in a large pan or wok over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the vegetables and cook for 5-8 minutes, until cooked through.
  • Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
  • Add the steak to the pan, and cook for 3 or so minutes, until just cooked through. Remove steak from pan and sop up any extra oil or liquids from the pan.
  • Add the sauce to the pan and cook for 1 or so minute, until slightly thickened. Return the steak and vegetables to the pan, along with the basil leaves, and toss to coat.
  • Serve over rice.

Tips:

Storage
This recipe is best served fresh, but can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Low Carb
Swap the soy sauce for liquid soy seasoning and the brown sugar for ¼ the volume of monk fruit sweetener. Serve over cauliflower rice.
Alternative proteins
Swap the steak for ground beef or chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes.
 
 

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1/4 batch, Calories: 420kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 66mg, Sodium: 433mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 15g
Author: Annie Holmes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Thai

© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.

Did You Make This?Don't forget to leave a review below, and tag us on Instagram using @SweetPeasAndSaffron or #sweetpeasandsaffron
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Meet Denise Bustard

Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more.

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Reader Interactions

4.88 from 8 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




  1. Sheila says

    Posted on 9/9/21 at Posted on 9/9/21

    5 stars
    Took a bit longer than expected but it tasted great!

    Reply
    • Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says

      Posted on 9/10/21 at Posted on 9/10/21

      Hi Sheila, glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review.

      Reply
  2. RYA says

    Posted on 1/17/21 at Posted on 1/17/21

    4 stars
    I added water chestnuts for some crunch and a pinch of salt - very nice!

    Reply
    • Denise Bustard says

      Posted on 1/19/21 at Posted on 1/19/21

      What a great idea! Thank you so much for reporting back and leaving a review, I really appreciate it!

      Reply
  3. Sabrina says

    Posted on 9/1/17 at Posted on 9/1/17

    5 stars
    congratulations on your new cookbook! Love having healthy flavors ready to go in 30 minutes, and have also been looking for broccoli based recipes. love this with steak too, so thank you for all of this!

    Reply
    • Nicole Barba says

      Posted on 12/10/20 at Posted on 12/10/20

      5 stars
      I made this tonight and it was good! The sauce was a little too sweet for me so I may try to adjust that if I make this again. I used seitan instead of steak.

      Reply
      • Denise Bustard says

        Posted on 1/4/21 at Posted on 1/4/21

        Hi Nicole! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed, and thank you for the feedback on the sweetness. Thank you so much for coming back to leave a review, I really appreciate it!

        Reply
  4. Jen | Baked by an Introvert says

    Posted on 8/24/16 at Posted on 8/24/16

    Congrats on your book! I can already tell it is full of amazing recipes!!

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 8/26/16 at Posted on 8/26/16

      Thanks so much, Jen! It was a labor of love and I'm so happy to be finally sharing it 🙂

      Reply
  5. Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary says

    Posted on 8/23/16 at Posted on 8/23/16

    Woot Woot!!! Congrats on the finishing the e-book, lady! 40 30-minute recipes? DANG! That is super impressive! You sure know how to rock quick meals without sacrificing flavor, and this stir fry is a great example! This looks AMAZING! Love the Thai inspired flavors and all those veggies!! Dinner perfection! Pinned! Cheers, Denise! <3

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 8/26/16 at Posted on 8/26/16

      LOL it was a LOT of work but also so much fun to test...dinner was always exciting 🙂 Thanks, Cheyanne!

      Reply
  6. Ashley@CookNourishBliss says

    Posted on 8/23/16 at Posted on 8/23/16

    Yay! Huge congrats on finishing your ebook!! This stir-fry looks awesome! I've been making stir-fries like mad lately! haha They are so quick and simple!

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 8/26/16 at Posted on 8/26/16

      Thank you so much, Ashley! I am so happy to finally share it with everyone 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health says

    Posted on 8/22/16 at Posted on 8/22/16

    Congrats on your ebook, Denise! I can't even begin to imagine how much work it was. All of the recipes sound delicious and healthy too. That's not easy to do in 30 minutes. $5 is a steal!

    Reply
    • Denise says

      Posted on 8/22/16 at Posted on 8/22/16

      Thanks so much, Sarah! It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun to put it all together 🙂

      Reply

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