• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • All Recipes
    • RECIPES BY CATEGORY
    • RECIPES BY DIET
    • RECIPES BY INGREDIENT
  • PANTRY
  • Contact

Cooking with Nart logo

menu icon
go to homepage
  • ABOUT
  • RECIPES
  • PANTRY
  • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • ABOUT
    • RECIPES
    • PANTRY
    • CONTACT
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes by Category » Main Dishes

    Published: Aug 22, 2019 · Modified: Mar 26, 2021 by Nart · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Thai Omelette (Kai Jeow)

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    This simple Thai-style omelette is one of the easiest and most satisfying Thai dishes you can ever make! It requires only a few basic ingredients and can be whipped up in 5 minutes! Perfect with rice for any meal of the day!

    Thai omelette or kai jeow on top of rice

    ONE OF THE EASIEST THAI DISHES TO MAKE

    The Thai-style omelette or kai jeow (ไข่เจียว) is one of the most popular street foods in Thailand. It’s quick to make, satisfying and filling with rice. And it can be as cheap as 20 baht if you buy it from a street cart in Bangkok (that’s less than a dollar and with rice). There is NOTHING like the smell of the Thai omelette! It’s so recognizable and inviting that it can make you hungry even when you’re full. 😂

    And because it’s so good, many of you who have had it might want to recreate it at home. Some of you may have already been checking out recipes but aren’t quite sure about trying. Well, let me tell you this, the Thai omelette is one of the easiest Thai dishes you could ever make. In fact, along with instant noodles (hey, they count!), fried rice and Thai pork toast, it’s one of the first things Thai kids learn to cook with their families.

    chopped green onion

    WHAT’S IN THE THAI OMELETTE / KAI JEOW

    The Thai omelette calls for very few basic ingredients that we normally already have in our kitchen. You can make it REALLY good with just eggs and fish sauce. For those of you who aren’t a fan of fish sauce, you can use soy sauce. The taste won’t be noticeably different but personally, I always go for fish sauce.

    I also love adding chopped green onions to my Thai omelette. They make what’s already really good even better. When you add enough of them, their flavor really does come out in your omelette. Actually, there’s another ingredient that I like to add as well, and that’s sliced shallots. If I happen to have both green onions and shallots on hand, I just use both. Though, I didn’t use shallots in this particular recipe. That’s not to say that these are the only things you can add to your Thai omelette.

    Here are some of the other common variations you can try:

    • Minced pork
    • Minced shrimp
    • Crabmeat
    • Diced onion and tomato
    • Chopped Thai chilies and minced garlic
    • Chopped Thai chilis and basil leaves

    raw egg mixed with chopped green onion

    HOW TO MAKE THAI OMELETTE WITH GREEN ONIONS

    1. Take one green onion and remove the root. Then, finely chop the rest and set aside.

    2. Heat ¼ cup of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.

    3. Crack an egg into a bowl. Add the chopped green onion, ½ teaspoon of fish sauce and beat together with a fork.

    4. Check if the oil is hot enough. It should be lightly smoking hot. You could test by dipping a chopstick into the egg mixture and then into the oil. If it sizzles, that means it’s ready. You can then pour the egg mixture into the center of the pan and fry for about 1 minute or until golden. If you’re not sure, use a spatula to lift one edge up to see.

    5. Once one side is golden and the egg mixture holds together, flip the egg with a spatula and fry the other side for another minute or until golden. Then, turn off the heat and serve.

    Thai omelette or kai jeow on top of rice

    PRO TIPS

    1. Use enough oil. You can fry more than one egg at a time. I’ve done 1, 2, 3 and 4 eggs and they have turned out well. There is no set rule about how much oil you should use for this or that many eggs, we just kind of use our sense. But generally you want to use more than enough to just coat the pan. Yes, it’s going to be quite a bit, but if you want to achieve a great kai jeow texture, then you need that much. Of course, using less oil will cook the eggs too, but I promise you, any Thai person who isn’t on a diet will call a Thai omelette fried in too little oil a disgrace! If you’re really worried about the oil, you can line your serving plate with a paper towel. 😉

    2. Only fry the egg mixture when the oil is lightly smoking hot. I know I’ve talked about it in the section above but this is really important as it’s going to help you achieve a nice, delicious kao jeow texture. Again, nice is subjective but if you fry the egg when it oil isn’t hot enough, you will definitely end up with a pretty dull texture. Plus, it’s going to soak in so much oil, making it very oily.

    Thai omelette or kai jeow on top of rice

    WHAT TO SERVE THIS DISH WITH

    We like to serve the Thai omelette on a bed of warm steamed rice. Sometimes it’s also eaten as a side to rice and pad krapao (Thai holy basil stir-fry) or moo gratiem (Thai garlic pork). Many of us also enjoy it with Sriracha sauce and ketchup.

    Apart from steamed rice, we also eat kai jeow with plain rice porridge, which is basically cooked rice and a lot of water brought to a boil with no seasoning added. When we have rice porridge, we usually have it with a lot of other condiments. Though, you can definitely just do porridge and omelette.

    OTHER RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS THAI OMELETTE WITH:

    Thai Green Beef Curry

    Thai Green Papaya Sour Curry with Shrimp | Kaeng Som

    Tom Yum Goong (Thai Hot & Sour Soup)

    Eggplant Stir-Fried with Thai Basil Leaves & Salted Soy Beans

    Thai Stir Fried Stink Beans with Pork and Shrimp

    📖 Recipe

    Thai omelette or kai jeow on top of rice

    Thai Omelette (Kai Jeow) Recipe

    This simple Thai-style omelette is one of the easiest and most satisfying Thai dishes you can ever make! It requires only a few basic ingredients and can be whipped up in 5 minutes! Perfect with rice for any meal of the day!
    5 from 32 votes
    Print Rate
    Course: Main Dishes
    Cuisine: Thai
    Prep Time: 3 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 2 minutes minutes
    Servings: 1 serving
    Author: Nart

    Ingredients

    • 1 green onion optional
    • ¼ cup vegetable oil for frying
    • 1 egg
    • ½ teaspoon fish sauce

    To serve

    • Steamed rice
    • Sriracha sauce or ketchup

    Instructions

    • Take the green onion and remove the root. Finely chop the rest and set aside.
    • Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
    • Crack an egg into a bowl. Add the chopped green onions, fish sauce and beat together with a fork.
    • Check if the oil is lightly smoking hot. You should be able to see a bit of smoke coming up from it. Or you could test by dipping a chopstick into the egg mixture and then into the oil. If it sizzles, that means it's ready. You can then pour the egg mixture into the center of the pan and fry for about 1 minute or until golden. If unsure, use a spatula to lift one edge up to
    • Once one side golden and the egg mixture holds together, flip the egg with a spatula and fry the other side for another minute or until golden.
    •  Turn off the heat and serve the Thai omelette on a bed of warm steamed rice with Sriracha sauce or ketchup and enjoy!
    Tried this recipe?Mention @cookingwithnart or tag #cookingwithnart!
    « Chicken Panang Curry | Panang Gai
    Cashew Basil Pesto With Thai Red Curry Paste »

    Sharing is caring!

    • Share
    • Tweet

    Newsletter

    Never Miss a Recipe!

    Sign up and receive the latest recipes via email

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Judith says

      March 27, 2023 at 1:57 am

      I lived in Thailand for one year and still desperately miss the food so trying to cook Thai dishes as often as I can. Tried this today and it brought me right back to life in Trat Province. Aroi mak mak! So simple yet so tasty. Even our 15 month old kept asking for more and he normally hates anything green but he was super happy eating the spring onions in the omelette. Will definitely make again and again and again.

      Reply
      • Nart says

        April 08, 2023 at 8:00 pm

        Awwww, that is so great that your child was eating the greens! So happy you guys enjoyed this super easy recipe <3

        Reply
    2. Michelle says

      August 12, 2022 at 9:04 pm

      5 stars
      No idea how I stumbled across your website and this recipe last night…but SO glad I did!! Made this for breakfast this morning and it was beyond delicious. Welcome to the rotation, Thai omelette…<3

      Reply
      • Nart says

        August 30, 2022 at 12:02 pm

        So happy to hear you liked it!

        Reply
    3. Erin Gierhart says

      September 06, 2021 at 11:33 pm

      5 stars
      So easy! And really tasty!

      Reply
      • Nart says

        October 13, 2021 at 10:50 am

        Thanks!

        Reply
    4. adnan says

      June 30, 2021 at 6:32 pm

      Thanks for your tip. Actually I tried making omelette but I use salt that is why my omelette is out. So I Google and it brings me to you.Thanks for your tip.
      Another querry of mine is Imet this Thai manager at cooking restaurant Thai Muslim in Penang. He told me that there is a special salt that makes thai dishes different and tasty.
      He told me there have it in Bangkok. Until today I dont know the name of the salt. Any advice from you ?
      Thanks
      Adnan

      Reply
      • Nart says

        July 03, 2021 at 9:18 am

        Hello Adnan!

        Very nice to hear from you. I’m glad you find my tips helpful. 🙂 As for the salt, I don’t believe there’s such a thing? I mean, I use any salt I can find. I’m gonna guess he meant some kind of seasoning powder?

        Reply
      • Idu says

        May 02, 2022 at 7:02 am

        Hello, I think he might be referring to MSG. I know it is a rather late reply but hopefully you will find it useful.

        Reply
        • Nart says

          May 10, 2022 at 9:22 am

          Ohhhh, thank you!

    5. Beth says

      November 03, 2020 at 10:30 pm

      5 stars
      This is so delicious and I love how incredibly easy it is. I will making this often!

      Reply
    6. Beth says

      November 03, 2020 at 9:30 pm

      5 stars
      My husband is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try! So excited!

      Reply
    7. Jess says

      November 03, 2020 at 9:18 pm

      5 stars
      This takes a boring omelet to a whole new level!

      Reply
      • Nart says

        December 03, 2020 at 11:07 am

        Thank you! Doesn’t it just? 🙂

        Reply
    8. Dannii says

      November 03, 2020 at 9:06 pm

      5 stars
      I had this when I was in Bangkok and I really need to make it myself at home. This looks amazing.

      Reply
    9. Amanda Wren-Grimwood says

      November 03, 2020 at 8:18 pm

      5 stars
      I love how quick this recipe is. Perfect for busy evenings!

      Reply
    10. Anjali says

      October 19, 2020 at 3:21 pm

      5 stars
      I didn’t know it was so easy to make a thai style omelet! This recipe was the perfect way to mix up my weekly breakfasts – it turned out great!

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Nart!

    I'm Thai born and bred and I love cooking for my family, friends and myself. I'm here to share with you my Thai and other Asian recipes with a bit of baking and Western recipes thrown in here and there. More about me →

    CONNECT WITH ME!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

    SEASONAL RECIPES

    • crispy deep fried butterfly pea flowers in a dish served with sweet chili sauce
      Crispy Fried Butterfly Pea Flowers
    • Thai sweet chili sauce in a ceramic bowl
      Thai Sweet Chili Sauce | Nam Jim Gai
    • steamed pumpkin cake | khanom fak thong | ขนมฟักทอง
      Steamed Pumpkin Cake (Thai Dessert) | Khanom Fak Thong
    • Thai sweet potato balls or khanom mantip
      Sweet Potato Balls

    POPULAR RECIPES

    • crispy deep fried butterfly pea flowers in a dish served with sweet chili sauce
      Crispy Fried Butterfly Pea Flowers
    • Thai mango sticky rice dessert with pandan leaves on a black plate
      Thai Mango Sticky Rice
    • 3 bottles of butterfly pea lemon soda
      Butterfly Pea Tea Lemonade
    • a bowl of Thai chili dipping sauce or nam jim jaew
      Thai Chili Dipping Sauce – Nam Jim Jaew
    • a pile of grilled pork neck
      Thai Grilled Pork Neck (Kor Moo Yang)
    • three bottles of iced Thai pink milk
      Nom Yen (Thai Pink Milk)
    • a bowl of tom yum goong | tom yum gung | ต้มยำกุ้ง
      Tom Yum Goong | Thai Lemongrass Soup | ต้มยำกุ้ง
    • 2 glasses of raspberry lime vodka cocktail
      Raspberry Lime Vodka Cocktail
    • a close up Thai cashew chicken in a white bowl
      Thai Cashew Chicken | Gai Pad Med Mamuang
    • two glasses of butterfly pea milk
      Butterfly Pea Milk
    Amazon Disclosure

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Contact

    Follow

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

    BROWSE

    • Recipes
    • Pantry
    • How-to Guides

    COPYRIGHT © 2021 COOKINGWITHNART.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED