This delicious Chicken Fried Rice is an authentic recipe I learned to make when I lived in Japan. It can be made with almost any meat or shrimp, or you can add more vegetables for a vegetarian version.
Fried rice is a great way to use planned leftovers. Whenever you make rice, you can double the rice recipe and use the leftover rice to make fried rice the next day. This is strategic beyond planing leftovers—the best fried rice is made with day-old rice that has been refrigerated loosely packed. Fried rice made with freshly prepared rice or that which has been tightly packed in a container tends to come out mushy.
⏲️ Time needed
🥘 Ingredients
- leftover cooked rice
- egg
- onion
- frozen peas and carrots, thawed
- cooked chicken
- soy sauce
- oil for frying
🍲 Adaptations for dietary restrictions
Vegetarian:
Simply omit the chicken and substitute more vegetables.
Gluten-free:
Omit the soy sauce or use a certified gluten-free soy sauce.
📋 Instructions
Set one cup of frozen peas and carrots out to thaw. Chop your onion, and the chicken if necessary. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wok or on a large flat griddle surface and quickly scramble the egg in it. Remove the egg and set aside.
Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat. Sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes, then add thawed peas and carrots and cooked chopped chicken and mix gently. When the onions are tender, add the rice and stir. Add soy sauce to taste and continue to stir and mix rice so all grains are exposed to the heated pan surface.
Add the cooked egg—chopping to break it up—near the end of the cooking time, and stir well. When the rice is heated through and a bit crispy, it's ready to serve.
💭 Tips
I usually use Calrose rice, which is a medium-grain variety that releases more starch during cooking than long-grain white rice, but it isn't necessary. Calrose rice is shorter and fatter and the extra starch released makes it stick together better, which is nice if you like to use chopsticks. That said, I've made fried rice with long-grain white rice, jasmine rice, and basmati rice and my family has been happy to eat it all.
If you want to add flavor (and calories), add a splash of Yum Yum sauce about halfway through cooking.
The secret to good fried rice is to rinse your rice before cooking it and to separate or crumble the clumps of day-old/leftover rice before putting it into the hot pan with oil.
📖 Recipe
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups cold leftover cooked rice (preferably Calrose), broken apart
- 1 egg
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
- 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp. soy sauce to taste
- 3-4 Tbsp. oil for frying, divided
Instructions
- Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in wok or on a large flat griddle surface and quickly scramble 1 egg in it.
- Remove egg and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and heat.
- Add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add thawed peas and carrots and cooked chopped chicken and mix gently.
- When the onions are tender, add the rice and stir. Add soy sauce to taste and continue to stir and mix rice so all grains are exposed to the heated pan surface.
- Add the cooked egg, chopping to break it up, near the end of cooking time and stir well.
- When the rice is heated through and a bit crispy, it is ready to serve.
Notes
- You can use just about any meat in this recipe or add more vegetables and make it vegetarian.
- If you want to add flavor (and calories), add a splash of Yum Yum sauce about halfway through cooking.
- The secret to good fried rice is to rinse your rice before cooking it, and to separate or crumble the clumps of day old/leftover rice before putting it into the hot pan with oil.
- Make it vegetarian:
Simply omit the chicken and substitute more vegetables. - Make it gluten-free:
Omit the soy sauce or use a certified gluten-free soy sauce.
Nutrition per serving
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