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    Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

    Updated April 17, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    Our ham fried rice recipe is one the entire family loves. It’s salty. It’s sweet. And perhaps best of all—it’s easy.

    Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice in a bowl with chop sticks

    A Tastebud Trip to the Tropics
     

    Our Hawaiian fried rice recipe is like sunshine on your dinner table in the best of ways. Hawaiian pineapple fried rice’s bright, savory-sweet flavors are like little forkfuls of awesome, and the recipe itself is simple and entirely doable even in the midst of midweek mayhem. And there are a million more reasons to make our Hawaiian pineapple rice recipe, like:

    • Hawaiian fried rice is our favorite use for leftover ham. Split pea soup is awesome, but ham fried rice is next-level leftovers.
    • Speaking of leftovers, leftover ham fried rice is also really good for breakfast (and even cold)! Add a runny fried egg and a squeeze of Sriracha and you’re off to a great start.
    • The finished fried rice is topped with a delicious homemade sweet and sour honey sauce using the juice from the canned pineapple (genius, right?) that you’ll want to put on absolutely everything. Double the sauce recipe and save it for drizzling and dunking all week long. Want something more basic? Our Homemade Fried Rice or Ham Fried Rice are also delicious. 
    Flame crafted Ham in a baking dish
    ingredients laid out for Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice, eggs, onions, day old rice, bell peppers and green onions

    Ingredients to Make Hawaiian Fried Rice

    Our ham fried rice recipe is one the entire family loves. It’s salty. It’s sweet. And perhaps best of all—it’s easy. Got ham and rice? You’re nearly halfway there.

    • Chopped ham. Got holiday ham leftovers laying around? This Hawaiian fried rice recipe is perfect for them.
    • Canned pineapple. We went and made it way easy for you, okay? No need to peel and chop a fresh one. Plus—you’ll need the juice from the canned pineapple to make the sweet-sour sauce.
    • Cooked white rice. Got leftovers in the fridge? Use em.
    • Eggs. In our opinion, fried rice is not fried rice if it doesn’t have ribbons of cooked egg scattered throughout it. Though you can omit if you must.
    • Yellow onion + red bell pepper. Serving of veggies, coming up!
    • Vegetable oil + sesame oil. The vegetable is for frying and the sesame for flavor.
    • Rice vinegar + soy sauce. To season.
    • Honey, pineapple juice, more soy sauce + rice vinegar, fresh ginger, and cornstarch. To make the tastiest sweet and sour honey sauce, basically, ever.
    • Cilantro + green onions + sesame seeds. To garnish.
    a bowl of Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice with chopsticks
    3 bowls of Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice with chili sauce and cilantro

    Tools to Make Ham Fried Rice

    This is one of those recipes where you can really use the kitchen tools you already have on hand. That said, we still have some favorites:

    • Small saucepan. To make the sauce. Don’t skip the sauce—it’s SO good!
    • Large frying pan (or wok). This is one of those random wedding gifts and you know what? We use it all. the. time.
    • Spatula or wooden spoon. We adore this flat-edged wooden turner for making fried rice.

    How to Make Hawaiian Fried Rice

    If you’ve never made fried rice before, don’t be intimidated! It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. That said, we do a decent amount of cooking with hot oil here, so it’s not the best one to make with the super-little kids.

    • Get everything chopped and ready ahead of time. Once your cooking oil gets hot things move fast, so having your ham, onion, and bell pepper prepped and ready is key.
    • Make the homemade sweet and sour sauce ahead of time, so it’s also ready to go. In fact, you can even make it a day or so ahead of time and simply reheat when you’re ready.
    • Fry ingredients in batches. Frying in stages allows everything to cook evenly, and only for the amount of time it needs—no accidental over-cooking!
    • Garnish generously. We love topping our homemade fried rice with chopped cilantro, green onion, and sesame seeds. And lots and lots of homemade pineapple sweet and sour sauce!
    3 bowls of Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

    Want More Tasty Family Favorites?

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    How’d your Hawaiian fried rice turn out? Tag us @themodernproper and #themodernproper and let us know!

    This is a sponsored post written by TMP on behalf of Fred Meyer/Kroger. The opinions and text are all ours.

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    Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice Recipe

    Updated April 17, 2025

    By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

    • Serves:  6
    • Prep Time:  20 min
    • Cook Time:  40 min
    • Calories:  601
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    Description

    Our ham fried rice recipe is one the entire family loves. It’s salty. It’s sweet. And perhaps best of all—it’s easy.

    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup honey
    • 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks or slices, juice reserved
    • ⅓ cup + ¼ teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
    • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
    • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
    • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
    • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, divided
    • 1 tablespoon + 1¼ teaspoon sesame oil, divided
    • 1 small yellow onion, diced
    • 1 red bell pepper, diced
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 cups chopped oven roasted ham (see Note)
    • 3 cups cooked rice (preferably day old rice)
    • 2 green onions, chopped, for serving
    • ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)
    • Sesame seeds, for serving (optional)

    Method

    1. To a small saucepan, add the honey, ⅓ cup of the reserved pineapple juice, ⅓ cup soy sauce, ginger, and rice vinegar. Whisk until fully combined, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of water with the cornstarch. Once the sauce is boiling, add the slurry and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes more. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool.

    2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Transfer to a medium bowl.

    3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat the eggs with ¼ teaspoon soy sauce and ¼ teaspoon sesame oil. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon vegetable oil to the skillet and swirl to coat. Reduce the heat to medium, pour in the egg mixture and cook, scrambling, until just set, about 3 minutes. Add the ham and pineapple and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to the bowl with the onion and bell pepper.

    4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil to the skillet. Once the oil is glistening, add the rice and toss to coat. Spread the rice out in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Cook, undisturbed, until the rice begins to crisp on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the rice once, then continue to cook, undisturbed, until slightly crispy, another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the onion mixture and the sweet and sour sauce; toss until fully combined and warmed through.

    5. To serve, divide between bowls and garnish with the green onions as well as the cilantro and sesame seeds, if using.


    Note: This recipe is a great way to use up leftover ham. Alternatively you can ask for ¾ pound oven roasted ham at the deli counter at your local grocery store. We like to ask for ½-inch thick slices!

    Nutrition Info

    • Per Serving
    • Amount
    • Calories 601
    • Protein 17 g
    • Carbohydrates 108 g
    • Total Fat 10 g
    • Dietary Fiber 4 g
    • Cholesterol 80 mg
    • Sodium 922 mg
    • Total Sugars 25 g

    Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

    Questions & Reviews

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    • Karen

      I was too tired to stop by the store and pick up some pineapple, so I used orange juice and increased the amount of ginger used. It was wonderful.

      Thanks Karen, so glad you liked it and glad the orange juice worked!

    • Mark

      After reading through the recipe a few times, I wasn't sure where to add the pineapple slices.... I ended up frying them up before the ham and tossed them in with everything else at the end.It tasted great thanks!

      Yes! That is perfect. Glad you enjoyed it!