The biggest staple for Thai rice recipes is so important to many Asian countries. In Thai, to have a meal we say ‘gin kow’ which literally means ‘eat rice’. In Thailand, rice is not a side dish, it is the central dish and all other things that you eat, support it. In a Thai meal, you generally eat more rice than anything else and it serves as the foundation for the food pyramid.
Rice With A Thai Twist Is Never Bland
As you see, there are many ways that you can turn a simple rice dish into different variations with the use of simple ingredients. Rice is a solid choice for a meal since it provides you with a decent amount of carbs. Therefore, it’s always good to have various options at your disposal.
So whenever you don’t know what to do with your rice, make sure you pop this article up to resolve your problems. Feel free to let me know more about what you think about these fascinating Thai rice recipes. Don’t mind sharing it with your close ones.
Want more ideas to round-out your Recipe Box?
A lot of great options are in these posts!
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Types of Rice In Thai Recipes
When you head out to dinner at a Thai restaurant, you will probably have either a Thai rice recipes dish one that features noodles. There are many classic Thai rice recipes and you have a choice of either Jasmine white rice or Jasmine brown rice. But you can probably guess that there are several other types of rice that people in Thailand eat that aren’t on the menu.
A large part of the economy in Thailand is exporting rice — it’s actually the second largest exporter in the world. However, a lot of the rice actually stays in the country and is eaten by many people on a regular basis. In fact, when Thai people want to eat, they say, “Kin Kao,” which literally means “eat rice.” So when you sit down at our Thai restaurant and you want to impress your dinner partner, you have some Thai trivia!
Types of Rice in Thai Food
Thai Jasmine Rice or Hom Mali
This type of rice is available in both white and brown varieties and is the most commonly eaten type. When the long-grained rice is boiled, it will give off a jasmine aroma, which gets stronger the longer it is cooked.
Sticky Rice or Khao Neow
Most Thai rice recipes feature the sticky variety that gets its name from how it looks and feels after it is cooked. The shorter grained rice has a combination of starches in it that makes it sticky. This type of rice has a milky, opaque color to it. This variety of rice is actually steamed rather than boiled in most Thai rice recipes to soften the individual grains, resulting in a dish that can be used for both dinner and desserts.
Brown and Sticky Brown Rice or Khao Neow Dum
This type of rice has a reddish-black color and is slightly crunchy. The crunchy texture is from a bran layer of the grain being left intact in the processing of the rice. This layer is usually polished off to result in white rice. Brown rice is higher in fiber and also has a sticky rice version.
Colored Rice
You can find a variety of colored rice in supermarkets of Thailand. These types are typically used in Thai rice recipes for desserts.
Green: This type uses pandan for color and fragrance. Thai restaurants use this type for in Thai rice recipes for mango sticky rice, rice cakes, and custards.
Yellow: Many dishes combine a variety of colors, including yellow, and are presented together as sticky rice with sweetened coconut milk.
Blue: The blue color comes from the Anchan flower or the Butterfly Pea Flowers and is more of a decorative additive in Thai rice recipes.
15 Thai Rice Recipes That Your Kids Will Love
check out our video
1. 3-Chili Thai Basil Fried Rice Recipe from Hot Thai Kitchen
I wanted a Thai rice recipes dish that really celebrates the flavors of chilies – not just their heat. This fried rice features not one, not two, but three different types of chilies, combined with the fragrance of Thai basil to tie it all together!
And no, it doesn’t make this dish overwhelmingly spicy, and you can indeed customize the heat level while still preserving all the delicious chili flavor. It’s not something I created out of thin air, but a traditional Thai dish (with a couple of tweaks from me)!
2. Pineapple Fried Rice from My Food Story
Like every Thai rice recipes choice, this happens fast. So make sure you have your mise en place ready. I like to start off with essentials like oil, ginger, garlic, bird’s eye chilli, onions and celery in a hot wok. Add veggies and/or meat of your choice, and add the pineapple cubes along with them. Season the fried rice with salt, turmeric, chilli powder, and white pepper. The pineapple brings a sweet dimension to the fried rice, don’t hesitate to add the juice that oozes out of the pineapple when you are cutting it!
3. Thai Curry Shrimp and Rice from Every Day Easy Eats
This spicy Thai Curry Shrimp and Rice recipe makes a perfect weeknight dinner. It is an easy-to-make, one-pot meal that is ready to eat in just 30 minutes! Learn how to make homemade spicy shrimp and rice with this quick and simple recipe.
You are going to love this easy-to-make Thai rice recipes of mine because it is absolutely bursting with amazing Thai coconut curry flavor. The basic elements of this satisfying, Thai-style dish are succulent shrimp, vegetables, and rice.
The heat in the recipe comes from Thai red curry paste, which gets toned down a bit by coconut milk and lime juice. All of the ingredients get cooked together in one pot, which means minimal cleanup is required to prepare this quick and easy meal.
4. Thai Chicken Fried Rice or Khao Phat Gai from Thai Caliente
Thai Chicken Fried Rice or Khao Phat Gai, is a quick and easy fried rice. Serve it Thai Hot with Prik Nam Pla, a spicy Thai fish sauce.
Thai rice recipes are one of those meals that truly brings me back to my childhood. I loved eating it as a kid, and it was a meal that my mom could make in a few minutes with leftover rice and whatever protein she had on hand.
Thai Fried Rice is also something my mom would always make for gatherings and parties, in addition to her famous Thai Spring Rolls. I love that I get to pass down these recipes to my kids.
5. Thai Style Raw Papaya Fried Rice Recipe from Archanas Kitchen
Thai Style Vegetables & Raw Papaya Rice Recipe is a wonderful way to add raw papaya to make a one pot rice recipe that has the flavors of Thai yellow curry paste. Serve it along with a hot bowl of curry or simply as it is for lunch or dinner.
Thai rice recipes are a wonderful way to add raw papaya to make a one pot rice recipe that has the flavors of thai yellow curry paste. All you need is some of the paste that can be kept ready a day advance so that you stir up this recipe quickly. The rice has the richness of all the nutrients and can be easily packed for your lunch box.
6. Thai Saffron-Coconut Rice from The Spruce Eats
If you like saffron rice and/or coconut rice, try this Thai rice recipes pick! Instead of choosing between saffron rice and coconut rice, I’ve combined the two into one recipe. The result is a beautifully golden rice that tastes wonderful and is great to serve company or take to a dinner party or potluck.
It makes the perfect companion to any main you might be serving, from Asian specialties to traditional or gourmet Western fare. And it’s easy to make, too – you don’t need a rice cooker. Just combine everything together in a pot and you’ll have beautiful saffron coconut rice in just 20 minutes!
7. Thai Vegetable Fried Rice With Cashews from Vanilla and Bean
Crunchy, seasonal veggies shine in Thai Vegetable Fried Rice with Cashews. Prep ahead for meal planning and dinner comes together quick! Top with texture rich sesame seeds and green onions, for the best homemade vegetarian fried rice! This recipe is vegan or vegetarian and easily gluten free.
I’ve been a fan of fried rice for as long as I can remember. Before making it at home, I wasn’t quite sure what ingredients created the salty, spicy and umami flavors I adore. And, I always assumed vegetable fried rice was vegetarian or, omit the egg to make it vegan.
The secrets of the best Thai rice recipes alluded me until I started Googling and asking questions at a favorite Thai cafe years ago. Specifically, it was the texture and flavors I couldn’t quite nail down. Also, I always crave more veggies in fried rice than what’s offered at restaurants.
8. Khao Kluk Kapi or Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste from Foxy Folksy
Khao Kluk Kapi is traditional Thai rice recipes dish with shrimp paste. Usually served with various sides or toppings that are tossed together to make a flavor-bursting one-dish meal!
Thai Rice with shrimp paste and sides: green mango, red onions, shredded omelette, cucumber and Chinese sausage
And this Thai rice dish is a very good example of Thai cuisine. Combining four different taste: salty, sweet, sour and spicy.
Khao Kluk Kapi is traditional Thai fried rice with shrimp paste. Usually served with various sides or toppings that are tossed together to make a flavor-bursting one-dish meal!
9. Thai Crispy Rice from Inquiring Chef
Thai Crispy Rice is deliciously addictive. Let the rice crisp on the bottom of the pan for this twist on fried rice that is full of pleasantly crunchy texture and flavor. Ever since I ate Thai-style fried rice in Bangkok and learned to make it at home, it’s my go-to formula for a quick weeknight meal.
Today’s version is a totally addictive twist! I’ve had Thai crispy rice on my mind since I read this article called “The Only Thing Better than Plain Rice is Crispy Rice” in Bon Appetit years ago. The best fried rice I’ve ever had includes crunchy bits of rice throughout. Those little crispy bits have a nutty, toasty flavor and add great texture to the dish.
The Thai rice recipes choice I made today has only two ingredients – the method for getting the rice to crisp up is the only trick. It starts with a batch of cooked rice from this jasmine rice recipe. The rest is easy! Here’s how to do it.
10. Thai Chicken & Rice Soup – A Super Khao Tom Chicken Congee Recipe You’ll Love frp, Tasty Thais
Khao Tom means boiled rice in Thai but this Thai rice recipes dish – what you might also call chicken congee recipe – is far from the bland tasting gruel that the words boiled rice soup might conjure up in your mind.
I know throwing some rice and water in a pot and heating it up is easy, but a few minutes extra effort and you’ll make a rice soup that folks will queue up for and that will be gone in 60 seconds – faster than your car ha ha.
11. Southern Thai Chicken and Rice Recipe from Gran Tourismo Travels
This easy Southern Thai rice recipes creation for khao mok gai makes braised chicken cooked in a spicy curry-like gravy and served with turmeric rice and crispy fried shallots. A Thai Muslim specialty, it’s often called a Thai biryani or Thai style biryani. Like a biryani the chicken can be cooked with the rice or separately. Either way, it’s wonderful.
Our easy Southern Thai chicken and rice recipe makes the incredibly delicious khao mok gai – ‘khao’ means rice, ‘gai’ is chicken, and ‘mok’ means to bury underneath or within in modern Thai.
It comes from the old Khmer word ‘khmok’, which means to cook within banana leaves, which is how this dish was probably once cooked in the same way that Thai hor mok is made, and to find out more about that you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook.
12. Thai Chicken Wild Rice from Gimme Some Oven
This Thai Chicken Wild Rice recipe is full of the best fresh and creamy curry flavors, it’s naturally gluten-free and full of protein and veggies, plus it’s ultra-easy to make in the Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or on the stovetop!
I mean, first off, its a Thai rice recipes choice that is just crazy delicious. It’s made with all of those warm, creamy, cozy Thai red curry flavors that I absolutely love this time of year. Plus, the ingredient list is full of healthy fresh veggies and lean proteins that you can feel great about, and that also just so happen to be naturally gluten-free (or also vegan, if you’d like to omit the chicken).
And best of all, as I mentioned above, this Thai chicken and wild rice is just super simple to make. Just dump all of the ingredients into your Instant Pot (or Crock-Pot), let it work its magic, then stir in some coconut milk just before serving — and voila! The most delicious pot of simmering hot chicken soup will be yours to enjoy in no time.
13. Thai Coconut Rice from Flavorr and Savour
This recipe for Thai Coconut Rice is an easy make-ahead dish. Cooked in coconut milk, it has a subtle coconut flavor that goes well with Asian or Thai food.
This Thai rice recipes is for Thai Coconut Rice is an easy make-ahead dish. Cooked in coconut milk, it has a subtle coconut flavor that goes well with Asian or Thai food.
This rice? It is NOT just rice. This is Thai Coconut rice that won’t fail you by turning into a sticky mess. I like to serve this rice with Thai dishes, but it is good with almost any meal.
It has a subtle coconut flavor and it always seems to turn out perfectly. It also freezes well, so you may wish to double the recipe and freeze half for another meal.
14. Thai Crab Fried Rice from Tried and True Recipe
These Thai rice recipes with crab recipe are chock full of jumbo lump crab and lots of aromatic flavors, thanks to ginger, garlic, shallot, cilantro, and scallions.
The sauce for the crab fried rice is soy sauce, fish sauce, Shaoxing wine, a pinch of white pepper and lime juice. I added a healthy tablespoon of hot sauce and you can use any that you prefer. If you have sriracha, perfect, but you can use chili oil, crushed red pepper, or sambal oolek.
15. Mango Sticky Rice from Joyous Apron
Mango Sticky Rice, the classic Thai and Southeast Asian dessert that combines sweet sticky smothered in coconut sauce and fresh, juicy mangoes. It’s such a lovely and gorgeous flavor combination.
