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How to Make Thai Chicken Larb Recipe

May 4, 2023 · In: Rice Dishes

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35 Popular Thai Dishes | thai-foodie.com

As summer hits and mint starts to take over our herb garden, Larb Gai, a Thai chicken dish, starts to take over our weekly menu.

Each flavor in larb gai sings of summer: cool refreshing mint, crisp, purple shallots, lip-puckering, zesty lime juice, fragrant toasted rice powder, tongue-tingling chili flakes and fresh bright green cilantro and green onionsโ€”perfect for a summer night in Boone, or Bangkok.

What is Larb?

Larb is what some call a “meat salad”, which sounds weird, but is really the best way to describe it since it’s cooked ground meat of choice mixed up with fresh herbs like cilantro, green onion, and mint. It’s served with sticky rice, and loaded with your favorite Thai flavors: umamai, spicy, and sour!

Larb is popular all over Laos, which is where it orginated, and Thai versions of Larb come from the northeastern area of Thailand closest to Laos, the Isan area. Isan is the area in Thailand where some of my favorite most flavor-packed Thai dishes come from like: Som Tum, Grilled Thai steak salad,  and Thai Sun-Dried Beef Jerky!

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It’s also associated with good luck since it’s name has the same pronunciation in Thai as “good fortune.”

How much better can a Thai dish get?!

How to Make Larb

How to Make Chicken Larb Recipe | Thai-foodie.com

There are so many different versions of larb! You can find some larb recipes made with ingredients like blood, duck, galangal, and tons of other ways.

My larb chicken version is an easy one to do if you don’t live in Thailand, and aren’t able to find the more tricky Thai ingredients, but you still want that authentic Thai larb flavor.

Ingredients for Larb

1 pound of ground chicken, turkey, pork or beef
1/4โ€“1/2 c. water
2โ€“3 shallots, thinly sliced or 1 small red onion thinly sliced
juice of 2โ€“3 limes to taste
2โ€“3 tbsp of fish sauce to taste
2โ€“3 tsp of sugar to taste
1โ€“2 tbsp of roasted rice powder
1 tsp.-1 tbsp. Thai chili flakes to taste
1 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 c. fresh whole mint leaves
1/2 c. green onions chopped in 1/4 in. (optional)

The hardest ingredient in larb chicken to find might be the roasted rice powder, but if you don’t have an Asian market near you, you can order it online.

For how much flavor is packed in Larb Gai, you’d think it would take hours to make, but really it’s easy and quick.

Cook the meat in 1/4 cup of water in a wok or saucepan. Add more water if itโ€™s becoming dry. Once the meat is cooked, turn off the heat and throw in the shallots.

Mix it up to cook the shallots until they wilt some. Add in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, roasted rice powder and Thai chili flakes by teaspoon, until you reach your desired flavor.

Let the meat cool to around room temperature or so before adding the cilantro, mint, and green onions, so the herbs stay fresh.

Usually I am so hungry I don’t let it cool, and end up adding the herbs when the meat is hot and then the herbs get all wilty. It’s still yummy, but it’s even better if I’m patient and wait till it cools, so the herbs are still fresh, crisp and pretty.

What to Eat with Larb Gai

I love eating larb with Som Tum Thai, Thai sticky rice, which is what it’s traditionally served with in Thailand, and steamed veggies like cabbage, which can help cool off the heat from the Thai chili flakes!

Make larb gai tonight for dinner, and share your pic with me on Instagram @thaifoodie, which is my favorite place to hang out online. Can’t wait to see your version!

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35 Popular Thai Dishes | thai-foodie.com

How to Make Thai Chicken Larb Recipe


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Sherri Pengjad
  • Total Time: 30
  • Yield: 4-6 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Description

Need a refreshing Thai salad to cool you down while heating up your tastebuds? Make Larb at home with this simple recipe!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound of ground chicken, turkey, pork or beef
  • 1/4–1/2 c. water
  • 2–3 shallots, thinly sliced or 1 small red onion thinly sliced
  • juice of 2–3 limes to taste
  • 2–3 tbsp of fish sauce to taste
  • 2–3 tsp of sugar to taste
  • 1–2 tbsp of store-bought roasted rice powder or homemade roasted rice powder
  • 1 tsp.-1 tbsp. Thai chili flakes to taste
  • 1 c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 c. fresh whole mint leaves
  • 1/2 c. green onions chopped in 1/4 in. (optional)

Instructions

  1. Cook the meat in 1/4 cup of water in a wok or saucepan. Add more water if it’s becoming dry.
  2. Once the meat is cooked, turn off the heat and throw in the shallots.
  3. Mix it up to cook the shallots until they wilt some.
  4. Add in the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, roasted rice powder and chili flakes by teaspoon, until you reach your desired flavor.
  5. Let the meat cool to around room temperature or so before adding the cilantro, mint, and green onions, so the herbs stay fresh.
  6. It’s best to eat this fresh, like any salad, so try to serve it as soon as you’ve stirred it up. But if life happens and you can’t serve it immediately, just say, mai pen rai and enjoy it!
  7. I love eating larb with Thai sticky rice, which is what it’s traditionally served with in Thailand, and steamed veggies like cabbage, which can help cool off the heat from the Thai chili flakes!
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Category: Thai
  • Method: Stir-Fry
  • Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 3-4

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thaifoodie on Instagram

By: Sherri Pengjad ยท In: Rice Dishes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    July 28, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    This is great Sherri, I made it the other night and it tasted delicious, more like the genuine thing than most other Thai recipes. I couldn’t get hold of rice powder so made my own by toasting Thai rice and grinding it up in the pestle and mortar once it was cool. The rice powder definitely makes the recipe so it’s worth the effort. It’s not easy to get good recipes for some of the lesser known dishes so I am going to be paying close attention to your blog and working my way through your recipes ๐Ÿ™‚ Can’t wait to read what’s next x

    Reply
    • Sherri Phengchard says

      July 28, 2013 at 9:16 pm

      Awesome Rachel! Thanks so much for your kind comment. That is wonderful you made your own rice powder! It’s definitely worth it since I think the rice powder really makes the dish too. Let me know if there are any recipes you would like to see! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Padaek says

    May 15, 2014 at 9:07 am

    Love larb and this looks like such a delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing. Your blog is wonderful! ๐Ÿ˜€

    Reply
    • Sherri Pengjad says

      May 15, 2014 at 12:53 pm

      Thanks so much! I love it too! I’m so glad you are enjoying our blog ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  3. Glennis says

    May 19, 2022 at 11:25 pm

    Until today, I would have said I can “always” get this at my local Asian market deli…but not this day. Seeing this recipe today is AMAZING!! And I have ground pork, turkey and beef on hand!! I can hardly wait!!

    Reply
    • Sherri Pengjad says

      May 20, 2022 at 12:48 pm

      Aww thanks for your kind comment Glennis! I love that you now feel confident to make it at home! I make it every week in the summer! Hope you end up loving making it at home!

      Reply
  4. William Kubiak says

    May 5, 2023 at 2:01 pm

    This recipe is even better if you chop chicken breast with a clever. Gives it a different texture. Other than that , this is an excellent revipe.

    Reply
    • Sherri Pengjad says

      May 9, 2023 at 11:25 am

      Yes! That’s a great idea too!

      Reply
  5. Eliza says

    January 28, 2025 at 10:47 am

    Adore this recipe and how it reminds me of what I had in Thailand!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Thai-Style Lettuce Wraps | Nam Prik Ong | เธ™เน‰เธณเธžเธฃเธดเธเธญเนˆเธญเธ‡ | Thai-Foodie | Thai Foodie says:
    December 30, 2013 at 9:47 pm

    […] so if you want to make Thai-Style lettuce wraps, you have to make up your own. You can always putย larb in lettuce wraps, which is delightful. But another Thai dish we like to put in lettuce wrap is ย Nam Prik Ong, a […]

    Reply
  2. Thai Larb Meatball Lettuce Wraps Recipe | Thai Foodie says:
    March 25, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    […] already have a recipe for larbย on my blog, which I love to make too. But my Thai Hubby loves meatballs, and gave me the idea to […]

    Reply
  3. Top 5 Thai Dishes You Should Order | Thai Foodie says:
    December 18, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    […] Laarb Chicken Salad (Or however your restaurant names it): […]

    Reply
  4. How to Cook Great Thai Food if You Aren't Thai | Thai-Foodie says:
    May 28, 2021 at 6:40 am

    […] sauce and sugar at the end in Khao Soi, and it wasn’t that good, added the herbs too soon in Larb, and they were all wilty, tried making Tom Yum in the crock pot all day and then because of the […]

    Reply
  5. Thai Sticky Rice Recipe & Steamer Tips | Thai-Foodie says:
    June 11, 2021 at 8:42 am

    […] earlier in the day, and dinner was in an hour, and I really wanted Thai sticky rice to go with our Larb. I thought, “Hmm…maybe I’ll cook the sticky rice without soaking it because maybe […]

    Reply

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