Thai Chicken Larb is the perfect dish when you feel like a light, but full-flavoured meal. Also known as Larb Gai, this is a vibrantly flavoured salad made with chicken mince (ground chicken), lime juice, fish sauce, fresh herbs and chilli. It is fragrant and fresh tasting, with a perfect combination of hot, sour, salty and sweet flavours. It is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser which is quickly and easily made. So good!
Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- There’s no complex cooking technique with this recipe, which makes it suitable for experienced cooks as well as novice cooks. Once you have all the ingredients prepared, it just takes minutes to finish the dish.
- It is made from simple ingredients which are readily available in good supermarkets or Asian grocers.
- This vibrant, flavoursome salad is light to eat, delicious at any time of year but especially suitable for the warmer months.
- There is minimal cooking time, making it perfect for warm nights, when you don’t want to heat your kitchen.
- You can customise the recipe to suit your taste. For instance, I like to add fresh mint, Thai basil and coriander. If you don’t like coriander, just leave it out.
- It is naturally gluten and dairy-free, but it is best to always check labels.
Recipe Inspiration: this recipe was inspired by travels to Thailand and cooking classes that were attended. Although hugely popular in Thailand, the dish originated in Laos. Click to read more about the history of the dish. This dish can spelt several different ways – larb, larp, or laap.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
- Chicken mince/ground chicken – this is a versatile ingredient, high in protein. We use lean chicken breast mince.
- Water – in many recipes the chicken is cooked in oil, but in this recipe, it is poached in water, which keeps it tender and moist.
- Thai fish sauce - it has a powerful aroma but don’t be deterred. It is an essential element and when used judiciously adds salty, umami flavour. It will not make a dish taste “fishy” unless too much is used. The flavour of the fish sauce is balanced by the lime juice, sugar, and fresh herbs.
- Lime juice - freshly squeezed juice adds a bright, citrus note.
- Caster/superfine sugar – dissolves easily and balances the flavours.
- Coriander/cilantro – we use the fresh herb, stems, and leaves.
- Mint leaves – add fresh, bright flavour.
- Spring/green onion – we used the white bulb and some of the green.
- Chilli powder – adds some spice. Use as much or as little as you like.
- Ground rice powder (Khao Khua) – We use toasted and ground glutinous rice powder. It adds a nutty flavour, texture and sightly thickens the liquid in the salad. You can buy roasted and ground rice powder, but the flavour of the one you make yourself is superior.
- Red cayenne chilli – the cayenne chilli is often mild, but not always. You can adjust the heat according to your preference.
Variations:
Chicken mince/ground chicken – if you wish, you can make Larb using another protein if you prefer such as lean pork, beef or turkey. But it won’t be Larb Gai, as Gai means chicken.
Herbs – the mixed herbs are an essential part of the salad, but if you don’t like coriander, leave it out, just have a little extra mint and basil.
Peanuts – for additional crunch and flavour, add some chopped peanuts to the finished dish.
Rice – traditionally, the dish contains ground sticky/glutinous rice as well as being served with sticky rice on the side. If you prefer, you can use jasmine rice for both applications.
How To Make Thai Chicken Larb:
Please see the recipe card further along in the post for exact quantities of ingredients and the full method.
1 – Toast the rice:
First, make the ground rice powder. Toast the glutinous/sticky rice in a frying pan over low heat, until fragrant and golden.
2 – Grind the rice into a powder:
Cool rice before grinding to a powder in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
3 – Cook the chicken:
Place the water and chicken mince in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir the chicken until it is cooked, gently breaking it up.
4 – Assemble the dish:
Turn the chicken, and the liquid which remains, into a bowl. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and stir through.
Add remaining ingredients and mix.
Serve the salad in a bowl, alongside lettuce leaves, cucumber and lime wedges.
Tips for Success, Storage and FAQs:
You can partially prepare the dish a day ahead. For the best flavour and appearance, it is best to add the herbs, onion, chilli and rice powder shortly before serving.
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You may want to add some fresh herbs before serving to brighten up the salad. However, if you have had the Larb at room temperature for two hours, it should be discarded.
You can eat it warm or at room temperature.
Top Tip:
For the best result, always use good quality ingredients and have all the ingredients prepared before starting.
Serving Suggestions:
Thai Chicken Larb can be served warm or at room temperature. Some suggestions to enjoy it are below:
- It can be served as an appetiser on crispy, fried wonton wrappers.
- Serve it as a light meal for lunch or dinner.
- Enjoy it wrapped in lettuce as a light meal served with crunchy vegetables and sticky rice. Iceberg or Cos/Romaine lettuces are ideal for wrapping the Chicken Larb.
- It is perfect as part of a selection of shared plates such as with our Vermicelli Noodle Salad and Thai Style Prawn Salad.
Thai Chicken Larb (Larb Gai) is such a great, light, flavoursome meal that it is certain to become a part of your regular menu rotation.
Alex xx
More Delicious Recipes for you to try:
Stay in touch!
Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard and Instagram and subscribe to my newsletter.
Thai Chicken Larb (Larb Gai)
Please note:
For accuracy, when weights are provided, we recommend weighing your ingredients. This will produce the best results. All oven temperatures listed are for fan forced.
Ingredients
For the Larb Gai:
- 500 g (17.5 oz) ground chicken mince
- ¼ cup (60 ml) water
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Thai fish sauce
- ¼ cup (60 ml) lime juice - freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoon caster/superfine sugar
- 2 tablespoon coriander/cilantro - stem and leaves, roughly chopped See Note 1
- 2 tablespoon mint leaves - finely sliced
- 2 spring/green onion - white and some of the green, finely sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground chilli powder - or to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoon toasted ground rice powder - made from glutinous rice See Note 2
- 1 long red cayenne chilli - sliced thinly - optional
Serving Suggestions:
- long red cayenne chilli - sliced thinly and sprinkled on top
- cos lettuce leaves - for wrapping
- lime wedges
- cucumber wedges
- fresh herbs: mint, coriander, Thai basil
Instructions
- Place the rice in a medium-sized frying pan and dry fry over low heat, until fragrant and golden. This will take 6-10 minutes and will vary depending on the type of pan you are using.
- Cool the rice before grinding it to a powder in a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle.
- Place the water and chicken mince in a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat. Stir the chicken until it is cooked, gently breaking it up.
- Remove from the heat and turn the chicken and the liquid which remains, into a bowl.Add the fish sauce and lime juice and stir through. Allow the mixture to cool down slightly.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix them together. Check that the seasoning is well-balanced and to your taste.
- Serve the salad in a bowl, sprinkled with additional fresh chilli and herbs.Serve alongside lettuce leaves for wrapping, cucumber and lime wedges.
Notes
- Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons).
- Toasted Rice Powder: this is frequently made from glutinous rice, but I have also used Jasmine rice in the past. You can buy commercial toasted rice powder, however, it is very easy to make your own and the flavour is superior.
- Seasoning: ensure the dish is seasoned to your liking before serving - add more fish sauce, lime juice, chilli etc to your taste.
- Make-ahead: you can partially prepare the dish a day ahead. For the best flavour and appearance, it is best to add the herbs, onion, chilli and rice powder shortly before serving.
- Storage: store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You may want to add some fresh herbs before serving to brighten up the salad. However, if you have had the Larb Gari at room temperature for two hours, it should be discarded.
Nutrition Estimate:
Nutritional Disclaimer:
The nutritional information is an estimate only, and is derived from online calculators. For accurate results, we recommend calculating the nutritional information based on the ingredients and brands you use.
This post was originally published in February 2019. It has been updated with more information and new photos. The recipe remains the same.
Keri says
This larb was sooooo good. I followed your recipe exactly, except I didn't have any sugar on hand, so I used 2 teaspoons of mable syrup, and it tasted amazing. Thanks for the great recipe. I'll definitely make this one again!
Alexandra Cook says
Hi Keri,
I am so pleased that you enjoyed this recipe!
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, Alex xo
Cathy says
Delicious accompaniment to my fresh thai salad
Alexandra says
Hi Cathy, I am delighted to hear that our Thai Chicken Larb was a good accompaniment to your Thai salad. Thank you for taking the time to let me know. 🙂
Lisa Ermgodts says
I am have a hard time finding Palm Sugar. I found some on Amazon but it is called Coconut Palm Sugar and it looks like brown sugar. DO you know if this would work?
Alexandra says
Hi Lisa!
Regular brown sugar will work fine as a substitute, but coconut palm sugar should be fine too!
Hope you'll enjoy the larb.
Kind regards, Alex
Tracy says
This is the perfect summer dish. Light and delicious!
Alexandra says
Thank you so much, Tracy!
Samantha says
This was delicious and fresh - so easy to prepare.
Alexandra says
Thank you so much, Samantha!