Did you even order Chinese take out if you didn’t order fried rice? Savory and delicious, with eggs and veggies, it’s a must have. But it’s also a great recipe to try at home because it’s fast and inexpensive, and everyone loves it. With this easy fried rice recipe, we’ve finally perfected a homemade riff on the simplest, most classic Chinese restaurant-style fried rice. We’ll walk you through all the tips and tricks you need to make the very best fried rice your family has ever tasted, and you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page. Once you’ve mastered this recipe, check out our Ham Fried Rice, Coconut Fried Rice, Thai Fried Rice, or classic, hearty Chicken Fried Rice, too!
Key Ingredients For Fried Rice
- Leftover rice: Fried rice is a classic way to breathe new life into old rice. However, if you’ve got a hankering for fried rice and don’t have leftover rice you can use fresh rice. Just cook the rice (our White Rice recipe only takes about 20 minutes) and once it is cooked, spread it out on a baking sheet to cool and dry out for a few hours.
- Eggs: Lightly scrambled eggs are key for making homemade fried rice taste just like the real deal.
- Sesame Oil: Toasty and nutty, sesame oil is a core ingredient here.
- Soy sauce: If you’re watching your salt, use low-sodium soy space, or if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, gluten-free tamari in place of the soy sauce. Your fried rice will still be delicious!
- Veggies: carrots, peas, and green onions
- Coconut aminos: This slightly unusual pantry ingredient is one of our favorite non-traditional additions to fried rice! We love the subtle hint of sweetness they lend to this fried rice recipe. However, if you don’t have them on-hand, it’s fine to leave them out.
How To Make The Best Fried Rice
Find more detailed instructions in the full recipe at the bottom of this post.
- Cook the veggies: Everything should be diced, so the veggies should cook quickly. Once they’re tender, set them aside.
- Scramble the eggs: Use the same skillet (yet another thing to love about fried rice: It’s a one-pan meal!) scramble the eggs until they’re just set. Set them aside. (TIP: You can even put them in the same bowl as the veggies, because they will both be returned to the pan at the same time)
- Fry the rice: Heat some more oil and spread the rice out in the skillet. Now the hard part: leave the rice alone until it begins to crisp slightly on the bottom (about 3 minutes). Stir the rice once, then continue to cook, undisturbed, until slightly crispy, another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add it all together + season! Add everything to the pan, and season to taste.
Variations
- Add more veggies! Fried rice is made for playing around with! This is a really basic fried rice recipe and it will happily roll with almost anything you’d like to add in. If you have leftover veggies, chop them up and stir them in in the last few minutes of cooking time to warm them through. Diced Roasted Asparagus or Roasted Broccoli would be especially delicious.
- Add protein: You can of course add any protein you’d like, too, to make this dish heartier and more of a main-dish. Shrimp would be delicious, as would chicken, pork or even baked tofu.
- Make your fried rice spicy: There are many ways to make this dish spicy! You can add a little chili crisp at the end, top it with sriracha, or use a chili-tinged sesame oil in place of the regular sesame oil for a built-in kick.
What To Serve With Fried Rice
How To Store + Tips For This Easy Fried Rice Recipe
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Don’t try to freeze fried rice, it just doesn’t freeze well. The rice will become crumbly.
- Use a large skillet, so that you can really spread out the rice when you fry it. You want it to get really nice crispy bits.
- About frying the rice: It can be nerve wracking to let the rice fry, undisturbed. But try to resist the urge to fuss with it, so that it can get a bit crisp. If you’re really worried it’s burning, give the rice a little stir. You want some of those crispy rice bits to develop and letting it fry undisturbed is the key.
More Homemade Chinese Takeout Favorites
Today, A Fried Rice Recipe; Tomorrow, The World!
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