Chicken Larb

Whip up a zesty Thai Chicken Larb in under 30 minutes! This delicious blend of ground chicken, garlic, ginger, and lime, bursting with fresh herbs, is a nutritious dish. Serve it atop fragrant coconut lime rice or tuck into crisp lettuce wraps for an instant family favorite!

What is Chicken Larb? 

Larb Gai is a traditional dish from Thailand and Laos that is basically a meat salad. It’s featured on Thai restaurant menus and is a popular street food dish. Larb is made with ground chicken or pork and flavored with lime, garlic, chili peppers, palm sugar, fish sauce, and rice powder. It’s an explosion of flavor with spicy, sour, sweet, and salty notes in every bite. Larb is usually served with sticky rice, lettuce, and lots of fresh herbs. 

This Chicken Larb I’m sharing today is not an authentic version, but rather a quick, 30-minute, weeknight meal that still has all the great flavors and textures you love. While authentic larb can be a time consuming labor of love, and not a weeknight-type recipe, now you can have Chicken Larb whenever the cravings strike!

To make this recipe more accessible and easy, I’ve replaced the fish sauce with soy sauce (a more readily available ingredient in most kitchens), replaced the typical ground chilies with chili sauce, and left out the toasted rice powder. 

Ingredients In Chicken Larb

Larb:

• Coconut or Olive Oil: Used to cook the chicken and veggies.
• Garlic and Ginger: They give the dish a strong and zingy taste.
• Green Onions: They add a bit of a crunch and a light onion flavor.
• Ground Chicken: The main part of the dish that soaks up all the other flavors.

Sauce:

• Soy Sauce: Makes the sauce taste deep and rich.
• Lime Juice and Zest: Make the sauce taste fresh and tangy.
• Sambal Oelek: Makes the sauce spicy.
• Brown Sugar: Makes the sauce a little sweet to balance the spice.
• Salt and Pepper: Make everything taste better.

Toppings:

• Mint, Cilantro, Basil: These are fresh greens that make the dish taste really fresh.
• Cucumbers: They are cool and crunchy, nice to eat with the spicy chicken larb.
• Rice Vinegar, Olive Oil, Lime Juice (for cucumbers): These mix with the cucumbers to make them tangy and tasty.

How To Make Chicken Larb

1. Cook Rice (if you’re making it): Mix basmati rice with coconut milk, water, and a little salt. Boil, then simmer until the water is gone. Let it sit, then fluff it up and mix in lime zest and juice.
2. Make the Sauce: In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, lime zest and juice, chili paste, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.
3. Prepare Toppings: Slice cucumbers and mix with rice vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
4. Cook the Larb: Heat oil and cook garlic, ginger, and green onions until they smell nice. Add the ground chicken and break it apart while it cooks. Once it’s cooked, add the sauce and cook a little more.
5. Serve: Put rice on plates, top with the chicken, sprinkle with herbs, and add some cucumbers on the side. You can also wrap the chicken larb in lettuce leaves if you like.

QUICK TIP

Aim to use dark meat ground chicken. Most of the fat in chicken is in the dark meat; the lighter the color of the ground chicken, the lower the fat content. Lower fat meat means it will dry out quicker and faster and taste drier when cooked.

Chicken Larb FAQs

More 30-Minute Dinner Recipes

• Chicken Ramen
• Banh Mi Bowls
• Chicken Chow Mein
• Coconut Curry Chicken
• Taco Lettuce Wraps

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Chicken Larb

5 from 9 votes

- Review this recipe

Whip up a zesty Thai Chicken Larb in under 30 minutes! This delicious blend of ground chicken, garlic, ginger, and lime, bursting with fresh herbs, is a nutritious dish. Serve it atop fragrant coconut lime rice or tuck into crisp lettuce wraps for an instant family favorite!

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Chicken Larb

5 from 9 votes

- Review this recipe

SAVE TO RECIPE BOX

Print Recipe

Whip up a zesty Thai Chicken Larb in under 30 minutes! This delicious blend of ground chicken, garlic, ginger, and lime, bursting with fresh herbs, is a nutritious dish. Serve it atop fragrant coconut lime rice or tuck into crisp lettuce wraps for an instant family favorite!

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine American, Thai

Keyword chicken larb, larb gai

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Chelsea Lords

Calories 230kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $6.37

Ingredients

Chicken Larb

• ▢ 1 and 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil (can use olive oil)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (~2 cloves)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced ginger (~1 inch piece)
• ▢ 1 cup thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts) (~4-6 onions)
• ▢ 1 pound ground chicken (darker meat will be more tender and flavorful)

Quick Sauce

• ▢ 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce (all-purpose, not light)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons lime juice and 1 teaspoon zest zest (~1 large lime)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek (ground chili paste) (See Note 1)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, not packed
• ▢ Fine sea salt and pepper

Toppings

• ▢ 1/4 cup EACH: chopped mint, chopped cilantro, chopped basil (See Note 2)
• ▢ 3 Persian cucumbers (or 1 English cucumber)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon EACH: rice vinegar, olive oil, lime juice

Coconut Lime Rice (optional)

• ▢ 1 cup basmati rice
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk
• ▢ 1/2 cup water
• ▢ 1 large lime (~1 teaspoon zest and 2 tablespoons juice)
• ▢ For serving (optional): Lettuce leaves, additional lime wedges

US - Metric

USMetric

Instructions

• COCONUT BASMATI RICE: Get the rice started first (if making). Combine 1 cup basmati rice, 1 and 1/2 cups full-fat coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste). Stir and place over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the rice. Allow to simmer for 13-18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, keep covered, and let stand for 10-15 minutes; don't rush or it will be sticky! Fluff the rice with a fork and then add in the zest and juice of one lime. Stir and evenly divide onto plates.
• SAUCE: In a small bowl, whip together the sauce ingredients: add the 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon lime zest, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek (See Note 1), 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste; it will depend on the saltiness of the soy sauce, but note that ground chicken does need a good amount of seasoning). Stir to combine.
• TOPPINGS: Prep the toppings next: thinly slice the Persian cucumbers and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add the 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the cucumbers. Stir and give the mixture a few more stirs while cooking the ground chicken. Give the herbs a quick coarse chop and place in a bowl (See Note 2).
• LARB MEAT: Finally, prepare the meat portion. Add 1 and 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil to a large cast-iron skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add in the 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, and 1 cup of thinly sliced green onions. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until fragrant and tender. Add in the ground chicken. Make sure to really break up the ground chicken with a wooden spoon so there are no large clumps. Sauté for 7-9 minutes (breaking up/stirring almost constantly) or until mostly cooked through and white all over. Drain off any accumulated liquid and return the skillet to medium-high heat. Pour the prepared sauce over the chicken and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked (no pink remains) and the sauce coats everything. Remove from heat.
• SERVE: Serve appetizer style with lettuce leaves, larb meat, coconut lime rice, a bowl with the herbs, and cucumbers. Either layer everything in a bowl or on a plate (coconut lime rice, larb meat, chopped herbs, cucumbers) or fill up lettuce wraps. Enjoy immediately.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Sambal Oelek: The Sambal Oelek adds a lot of flavor and is fairly spicy. If you're sensitive to heat, start with 1 teaspoon of the sauce and increase from there. You can also try Sriracha sauce in place of the chili sauce. (Note that a lot of the flavor in this dish does come from the Sambal Oelek, so if you leave it out, the flavor will reflect that.)

Note 2: Herbs: The mint, cilantro, and basil add so much to this dish, but if you prefer, use a combination of two of the herbs instead. I like serving the herbs on the side so everyone can add as much as they want.

Note 3: Recipe adapted from "Cooking without Recipes" from BonAppetit. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 4servings | Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 11.3g | Protein: 27.3g | Fat: 8.2g | Cholesterol: 82.7mg | Sodium: 355.2mg | Fiber: 1.2g | Sugar: 6.5g

We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.

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