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Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice: $4/Serving Whole Foods Meals

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A recipe for fragrant and spicy Thai basil beef served over rich coconut rice all for under $4 a serving.
Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com

The door swings open, the screen door behind it creaking on its hinges, the winter wind whistling as the sounds of my children’s voices cut through the calm of the house. Chaos has come.

The three of them barrel through the small opening all puffy jackets and gloves, one backpack, one lunch box, one bag for snow pants and boots each. Clomp, stomp, clomp. They pound their feet off on the rug, leaving white snowy imprints across the small entry that trail behind them as they cross the living room.

Bags are shrugged off their shoulders. Coats are flung, finding their resting place across chairs and couch arms. Voices are raised, requesting food be produced for hungry stomachs. Homework is done while snacks are consumed. Dinner is started as spelling words are read.

My nightly to-do lists beyond dinner and homework always include sports practices on various nights, but lately they’ve also required stops at Target and Michael’s and bookstores on the way home, trying to smash every bit of holiday cheer into one evening. Most nights I feel like I’m gasping for breath, running a marathon where I can’t seem to keep pace. The dark descends early these days, and the cold always feels a bit more unbearable once the sun is gone.
Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com
The feeling of too little time for all that needs to be done is one not unique to me. Too many families deal with the same, the stretching of minutes so thin you wonder how to make moments in the middle of them. Whole Foods invited me to share a quick and easy meal for those too-busy weeknights that also came in on the budget-friendly scale, and I laughed heartily in the midst of the chaos that was consuming me.

The produce section in Whole Foods is one I always find inspirational. Standing in front of a wall of green and rainbow-colored vegetables, I often have to restrain myself from purchasing more than we’d ever eat before they withered and wilted. As I made my way through root vegetables and greens thinking of what to make for $4 a serving, I realized that I didn’t want to do the things that were predictable. Red beans and rice, anything made with flour (you can make a lovely leaning tower of pancakes and eggs for $4 a serving), lentils, grits. Some of my favorite ways to stretch a budget, but expected. Instead, I wanted to make a meal that more accurately reflected the ideal way we eat. My husband had pulled a recipe for Thai Basil Beef from the November issue of Bon Appetit and was insisting we make it for dinner one night, and I was inclined to make that be the meal to share. Vibrant colors, bold flavors, green to chase away winter’s grey.

The Breakdown

  • Eye of Round Beef $7.99/lb (1.5 lbs): $11.98
  • 13.5-ounce can Coconut Milk: $2.19
  • 32 ounces Jasmine Rice: $2.99
  • Thai Basil (whole plant): $4
  • 4-5 Scallions: $1
  • 2 Whole Carrots: $0.50
  • 2 Thai Chiles: $0.20
  • 1 Lime: $0.25
  • Olive Oil: $0.25
  • Soy Sauce: $0.15
  • Fish Sauce: $0.10
  • Honey: $0.20
  • 4 Garlic Cloves: $0.15

Total Cost: $23.96
Cost Per Serving: $3.99
Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com

Adjusting a Recipe to Fit the Budget

The first time we made this we followed the recipe exactly aside from using beef strips instead of ground beef (chicken stock to simmer the beef, fewer green onions, brown sugar in the sauce). Using steak, however, there is no need to simmer the beef in chicken stock. It doesn’t add anything, and the beef cooks better without it. Instead, allowing some of the finishing sauce to be added to the pan to help wilt the basil imparts a bit of that briny and acrid taste to penetrate the beef, which makes the final product take on a bit more bold characteristic.

Round steak is not necessary, but it was a decent price for a good cut of meat. You could easily go back to ground beef for this recipe and end up with a lower cost per serving. I’d still pour a bit of the sauce over at the end of cooking when you add the basil to get a bit more of that flavor soaked into the beef. To save even more, you can serve over regular white or brown rice, no coconut needed. However, you won’t want to do that.

The coconut rice is a cheater rice, substituting coconut milk for some of the water in cooking rice. It’s easiest in the rice cooker, where the coconut flavor ends up a bit more pronounced, but it works on the stove as well. The end result is a bit of a luxurious rice, richer than plain white rice and with a slight coconut flavor. You’ll notice the recipe gives you extra rice servings. This is because I like leftovers, but also because my kids eat it like candy, so having extra doesn’t really meal there will be any to save.

Oh basil. Basil can get expensive. One little container is about $2.99, but that gives you nearly enough to make this recipe. You could do it with that without losing much flavor or hindering the experience. (Meals as experience, brought to you by the Olmanson Family.) Much to my delight, Whole Foods has 4″ pots of organic herbs in the produce department. Everything from Thai basil to rosemary to cilantro was available. This was more than enough basil, plus I set the plant in my windowsill to add to my winter herb garden.

Do It Ahead

  • Make the coconut rice ahead of time. In a rice cooker it can be made earlier in the day and kept on the warm setting, but you can make this a day ahead of time and reheat it with the meal. The coconut milk in the rice ends up making this reheat softer and fluffier than if you just had leftover white rice hanging out in the refrigerator.
  • The sauce can be mixed ahead and has no problem sitting around waiting for you to mix it up.
  • The basil salad that goes on top is also well suited to hanging in the fridge. Don’t dress it with the lime juice and oil just yet, but slicing the vegetables wont’ harm them.
  • {or} Don’t do anything ahead. Once the rice is cooking, the rest of this meal comes together quickly. From start to finish you can easily get it done in 30-35 minutes, which passes the test for weeknight meals in my house.
Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com

Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds round steak or other beef cut, thinly sliced against the grain
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 small red chiles, finely sliced (seeds optional)
  • kosher salt
  • black pepper
  • 2 cups fresh basil leaves
  • 1 large or 2 medium carrots, julienned
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • Coconut rice for serving (below)

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, and half the lime juice. Set aside.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large wok. Add in the beef, garlic, and the chiles. Cook until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes. Add in 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture and 1 cup of basil leaves. Cook just until the basil wilts.
  • Combine the remaining 1 cup of basil leaves, julienned carrots, and the green onions. Whisk the remaining olive oil into the remaining lime juice and drizzle over the top of the fresh basil. Toss to coat.
  • Serve the beef over coconut rice, topped with the fresh basil salad, and drizzled with the remaining sauce.
  • Makes 6 servings.
    • © Shaina Olmanson
    Cuisine: Thai / Category: Main
    Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com

    Coconut Rice

    Yield: 8
    Prep Time: 5 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes

    Fragrant and rich coconut rice.

    Ingredients

    • 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
    • 6 1/4 cups water
    • pinch of salt
    • 4 cups jasmine or basmati rice, rinsed

    Instructions

  • Mix together the coconut milk, water, and the salt in a large saucepan with a lid. Bring to a boil, and then stir in the rice.
  • Cover and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is firm but tender.
  • Makes 8 servings.

    • Notes

    In a rice cooker add 4 cups jasmine or basmati rice, rinsed, 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk, and a pinch of salt. Mix together the rice, coconut milk, and the salt. Add the water to the fill line. Place in the rice cooker and cook until finished. Enjoy.

    © Shaina Olmanson
    Category: Side

    Thai Basil Beef with Coconut Rice #recipe via FoodforMyFamily.com
    Disclaimer: Whole Foods is providing the gift card for the giveaway, and they provided me with the same gift card to help cover recipe development costs. All opinions, meandering thought processes, recipe rewrites, lamenting, and singsong niceties are my own.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    4. I have to say this looks wonderful and the recipe is not too hard. And knowing I can get these ingredients at Whole Foods is great. I’ve never made Thai food, and now I really want to and this is perfect.

      • Melanie Phillips doesn't seem to be outraged when Palestinian families are annihilated by Israeli bombs and missiles–why? Phillips is a Zionist propagandist with a despicable double standard.Israel is fighting its colonial war for its own reasons that have nothing to do with resistance to Islamization.

    60. Oh my gosh this sure does look delicious! I have been trying to incorporate more rice in my diet lately so this recipe will be great for my family to try! I have never heard of Coconut Rice before, is it good? Anyway, thank you for sharing your recipe with us!

    72. I like the coconut rice recipe and i would take this thai basil without the beef instead use something else as I’m vegetarian. I like the whole foods healthy concept recipes!

    114. Oh wow, this looks so delicious! I love dishes that have basil in it and I have never had coconut rice before! I would love to win so I can pick up everything to make this recipe. Thank you for having such a nice giveaway!

    143. What a gorgeous and delicious-looking post! I must say you show us how affordable this recipe really is, even though it is exotic and so special. I’ve never made Thai before, but this recipe gives me the confidence I can do it and it will come out great!!! Thanks!

    144. This looks like a reciepe I have but I use less Basil because of the flavor taken away by it . Basil is very stong for me so I use just a pinch. Your Pictures look so Good.

    165. This would be perfect for the family I am staying with, lol. They eat nothing but organic, and shop at places like these (Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Sprouts etc.) Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂

    190. People always say how expensive it is to shop at Whole Foods! I sho there 90% of the time and always find delicious meals for cheap! You didn’t need coupons for your recipe, but I like to go online and print manufacturer’s coupons when available to lower my cost even more. I get better deals on REAL FOOD than most peole do on junk from Walmart. Thank you for the recipe and for supporting fresh produce.

      When you shop at Whole Foods you don’t have to worry (as much) that you are eating slave food. Vegetables and especially fruit in this country are all slavery-based and I don’t want to eat food grown on the backs of dead children. I am conscious of my meat intake and where my meat comes from….a $12 ribeye should be the “norm.” Cheap meat makes me cringe! My dog food is all handmade and also mostly from Whole Foods and my local Fresh Market.

      I grow three types of basil and have never tried thai basil! Thanks again for the recie; I will definitely be making this!!!

    222. This looks simply delicious! I could eat this type of food everyday and never grow tired of it. And to think that it’s healthy as well!!! Thumbs up!

    231. My husband would love this (me too) and it looks so easy to make! Good thing too that we have TWO Whole Foods Stores’ within walking distance so we can enjoy Asian recipes without having to travel to far away Chinatown (which is fun – but not convenient!) to find the ingredients! Thanks

    240. I do alot of Asian cooking – mostly Japanese, with some Chinese thrown in. I’ve been wanting to try cooking some Tai recipes and this might be the perfect first one for me to make.

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