Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (2024)

Chicken Larb Bowls from cookbook #2 is happening today. GET PUMPED. This was hands down the most popular recipe from that cookbook! The first time I had Chicken Larb (Larb Gai) I was at Night + Market in West Hollywood. The moment I tried this amazing dish I knew that I had to try and make it at home.

Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (1)

Table of Contents

If you haven't snagged a copy of my 2nd cookbook yet, you're totally missing out! It's packed to the brim of California inspired recipes that are easy to make and even easier to eat. It's been so fun watching everyone make their favorite recipes over the last 4ish years and 1 recipe that keeps popping up again and again on social media is the larb bowl!!

Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (2)

What is Chicken Larb?


It's incredibly flavorful, kids of all ages will love it, adults will devour it and it's easy. I make it at least once a week for Thomas and I and neither of us can get enough.

If you've never heard of Larb before - it's a meat dish and is a staple dish of both Laos and Thailand. The Laotian version of Larb uses fish sauce and the Thai version omits the fish sauce and relies more on spices. The version below is by no means super traditional - but it's incredibly flavorful and after seeing you guys make it for years on end, I know we're all obsessed.

Where does Chicken Larb come from?

Chicken larb (also spelled laab or laap) is a popular dish in the cuisine of Laos and northeastern Thailand.

Larb is believed to have originated in Laos, and it has since become a popular dish throughout the region, particularly in the northeastern provinces of Thailand, where it is known as "larb gai" (chicken larb). It is often served with sticky rice and fresh vegetables, and can be found in local markets, street food stalls, and restaurants.

Larb has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in North America, Europe, and Australia, where it is often featured on Thai restaurant menus.

And if you love a chicken-rice bowl situation, I hope you have already made the ginger scallion chicken bowls, and if not, that is a great one to have on rotation as well!

Ingredients

Traditional Chicken Larb is a type of salad made with minced chicken, lime juice, fish sauce, chili peppers, roasted rice powder, and fresh herbs such as mint, cilantro, and scallions.

My iteration of this recipe calls for the following ingredients

For the quick pickles

  • Persian Cucumbers
  • Red Onion
  • Rice Vinegar

For the chicken

  • Vegetable Oil
  • Kale
  • Ground Chicken
  • Garlic
  • Scallions
  • Soy Sauce
  • Sambal Oelek
  • Brown Sugar

For the rice

  • Water
  • Coconut Milk
  • Sugar
  • Kosher Salt
  • Jasmine Rice
  • Lime

To garnish:

  • Mint leaves
  • Basil leaves
  • Cilantro leaves
Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (3)

Other Great Recipes:

  • Ginger Scallion Chicken Bowls
  • Skillet Chipotle Chicken Enchilada Bake
  • Grilled Lemonade Chicken
  • Lebanese Chicken Meatballs
  • Chicken Parmesan
  • Chicken Schnitzel
  • Homemade Orange Chicken

Stuck in a dinner rut? Looking for new delicious dinner ideas? Check out my roundup of 50+ easy dinner ideas here.

Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (4)

Chicken Larb Bowls

Author: Gaby Dalkin

5 from 65 votes

Chicken Larb over coconut lime rice is truly a match made in heaven. I promise your family will be obsessed!!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai, Laotian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For the quick pickles:

  • 2 Persian cucumbers thinly sliced
  • ½ red onion thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

For the chicken:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 5 ounces kale deveined and chopped
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 6 scallions white and light green parts, thinly sliced
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons sambal oelek
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

For the rice:

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups jasmine rice
  • zest and juice of 1 lime

To garnish:

  • fresh mint leaves
  • fresh basil leaves
  • fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions

To make the quick pickles:

  • In a small bowl, toss the cucumbers, red onion, and vinegar. Set aside to marinate while you cook the chicken.

To make the chicken:

  • In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the kale and cook until wilted, 5 to 6 minutes. Season with salt and carefully transfer to a medium bowl.

  • Add the ground chicken to the same skillet and cook, breaking it apart with the back of a wooden spoon and stirring frequently until no pink remains, 8 to 10 minutes.

  • Add the garlic and scallions and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, sambal oelek, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Return the cooked kale to the skillet and stir to combine. Season with salt and reduce the heat to low until ready to serve.

To make the rice:

  • Combine the water, coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until the mixture starts to simmer. Add the rice and bring back to a low simmer. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and cook undisturbed for about 15 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed.

  • Turn off the heat and let the rice steam for another 5 to 10 minutes, until fully cooked and soft. Uncover, fluff, and toss in the lime zest and juice.

To assemble:

  • Divide the rice among 4 bowls, followed by the chicken and kale, pickles, and plenty of fresh mint, basil, and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Notes

If you've never heard of Larb before - it's a meat dish and is a staple dish of both Laos and Thailand. The Laotian version of Larb uses fish sauce and the Thai version omits the fish sauce and relies more on spices. The version below is by no means super traditional - but it's incredibly flavorful and after seeing you guys make it for years on end, I know we're all obsessed.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 693kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 1194mg | Potassium: 1086mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3749IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 165mg | Iron: 5mg

Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @WhatsGabyCookin or tag #whatsgabycooking!

Photo byMatt Armendariz/ Food Styling byAdam Pearson

Chicken Larb Bowls - The Most Popular Recipe From My 2nd Book (2024)

FAQs

How to eat chicken larb? ›

Serve the larb with rice, Bibb or butter lettuce leaves, lime wedges, quick-pickled onions, more sambal oelek, and torn herbs like cilantro, basil, and mint.

Where did chicken larb come from? ›

While typically perceived as Thai, larb actually originated in Laos — where it is largely considered the national dish! Over time, the dish migrated and became popular in Thailand. Today, the dish is regional to both Laos and Isan, the northeastern region of Thailand.

How many calories are in larb? ›

Larb gai (Thai chicken) salad (1 cup) contains 10.9g total carbs, 9.7g net carbs, 7.1g fat, 49g protein, and 314 calories.

Is chicken larb good for you? ›

Best: Chicken Larb

It's made with protein-packed minced chicken with cilantro, mint, onions, and chili peppers. And all that's tossed in a lime juice dressing. Larb is often served with sticky white rice and lettuce. Use the lettuce leaves as salad cups, and you'll get extra heart-healthy vitamin K.

Is larb eaten cold or hot? ›

Larb is typically served warm with lettuce, an assortment of crisp veggies, and/or steamed rice, though it's also wonderful at room temperature or even cold. Here, we forgo the rice and enjoy the pork larb wrapped in Boston lettuce leaves along with a dipping sauce made from lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chiles.

What does larb mean in English? ›

Meaning of larb in English

a meat salad often made with ground pork (= the meat from a pig) and common in southeast Asian cooking: I was served larb, a spicy minced pork salad, with mint and cilantro on radicchio lettuce leaves. In certain parts of Thailand the leaf is eaten with raw beef larb.

What does larb mean in Thai? ›

Larb means that the dish is chopped. Chopped to the max. And how you add flavor to these chopped creations varies vastly from region to region. The larb spice mix that we have just received comes from Northern Thailand. Laap Muang.

What is the flavor of larb? ›

Beef larb tends to have spicy heat followed by salty and sour flavours. Bitter larb gets its signature taste from the animal's digestive juices. Back to the fish version, that distinctive tartness adds a brightness to the dish's texture,” explained Saehu.

Is it larb or laab? ›

"Larb" is the most popular way Thai restaurants write out the dish on menus because when Thai people speak Thai-accented English, we don't pronounce the R (we pronounce "car" as "ka," for example). Anyway, LAAB is a ground meat salad that hails from the northeast region of Thailand known as Isaan.

How to eat laab? ›

It's often served with pickled onions, steamed white rice, and fresh herbs, along with crisp leaves of lettuce for wrapping it all up. There are a lot of ways to make the dish super simple (crisp some meat, eat it with lettuce) or super complex (that whole toasted, ground rice thing).

What animal is larb? ›

Larb is most often made with chicken, beef, duck, fish, pork, tofu or mushrooms, flavored with fish sauce, lime juice, toasted ground rice (khao khoua) and fresh herbs. The meat can be either raw or cooked; it is minced and mixed with chilies, mint and optionally, assorted vegetables.

Is larb low in calories? ›

Chicken larb is a refreshing meat salad with a tangy dressing and it's perfect for lunch, dinner, and meal prep! It's low carb, low-calorie, and full of lean protein.

Does Yum Yum sauce have calories? ›

Terry Ho's The Original Yum Yum Sauce (2 tbsp) contains 5g total carbs, 5g net carbs, 17g fat, 0g protein, and 170 calories.

How much protein is in Larb? ›

Calories in Larb gai
Calories171.0
Total Carbohydrate6.6 g
Dietary Fiber0.0 g
Sugars0.0 g
Protein27.8 g
7 more rows

What do people eat larb with? ›

Larb should be served warm or at room temperature with a mixture of crunchy fresh vegetables (lettuce leaves, cucumber sticks, raw beans or cabbage) and steamed sticky rice.

How do you eat larb salad? ›

How to serve Larb? Larb is typically intensely seasoned -spicy, tangy, salty, all the flavors, so to help “mellow” this out, I like to serve it with rice and cool crunchy veggies – cucumber, radish, jicama, lettuce, etc. Serve larb over sticky rice or jasmine rice, with cucumber and radishes for a heartier meal.

What is the proper way to eat chicken? ›

Eat chicken with utensils.

If you're eating chicken with bones in it, use the knife to hold the chicken in place while you pull the meat off with the fork. Americans usually hold their knife in their right hand and fork in the left while cutting food. To eat it, they move the fork to their right hand.

What is the best way to eat chicken nuggets? ›

One of the best ways to enjoy chicken nuggets is by pairing them with a delicious dipping sauce. Whether you prefer classic ketchup, tangy barbecue sauce, or creamy ranch dressing, the right sauce can take your nugget-eating experience to new heights. Experiment with different flavors to find your perfect match.

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