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This chicken fried rice has moist and tender chicken with flavorful peas and carrots and long rice cooked together. Make this unique and your own with this favorite Chinese rice!

So many varieties of fried rice can be made. These better than takeout fried rice recipes are a collage of all my favorites!

Chicken fried rice in a skillet.

Chicken Fried Rice

I mean really. Who doesn’t like fried rice? Ok maybe my six year old doesn’t because of the veggies inside, but I am pretty sure he is the only one out there. 🙂 For my birthday dinner with my family I chose to go to our favorite little chinese restaurant. And it was the bomb. But their fried rice was excellent. But I kept thinking, I can make this just as good at home and I have been craving it ever since!

Since I learned a few awesome tricks on how to get the perfect fried rice in my recipe here, I wanted to make a big old batch for myself for lunch. The baby was craving it that day. But I thought, why don’t I add in some protein and make a meal out of it. You guys. The chicken gave it such amazing flavor! I really couldn’t believe how good it turned out. I promise that you can stay at home and have this better than take out chicken fried rice. You will really be impressed with yourself.

Get Ready to Make Some Rice:

  • Vegetable Oil: This helps with cooking the chicken and adding flavoring at the same time.
  • Soy Sauce: Chinese favorite sauce that is authentic and brings rich flavoring.
  • Chicken: Cut into small pieces and add into the skillet or wok.
  • Cooked Rice: It is best to have already cooked rice that has been cooled in a refrigerator.
  • Sesame OilBrings in a subtle and rich flavoring.
  • Onion: Small white onion chopped up.
  • Peas and Carrots: Frozen vegetables work best then leave them overnight to be thawed.
  • Soy Sauce: More of this delicious sauce! 
  • Eggs: Lightly beaten and added in the wok.
  • Green Onions: Chopped and sprinkle in for added texture, color and flavoring!

Cooking Fried Rice:

  1. Cook in a skillet: In a large skillet or wok, add vegetable oil and soy sauce. Add in the chicken and cook until lightly brown and cooked throughout. Remove and set aside.
  2. Add oil and vegetables: Pour sesame oil in the bottom. Add white onion and peas and carrots and fry until tender.
  3. Pour egg mixture: Slide the onion, peas and carrots to the side, and pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetable mix.
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients: Add the rice and chicken to the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top. Stir and fry the rice and veggie mixture until heated through and combined. Add chopped green onions if desired.

The Recipe Critic Pro Tip:

I cooked my chicken in this teriyaki sauce recipe here. It added amazing flavor to the chicken and it just shredded apart. Other wise, you can boil your chicken, or even cook it in a medium skillet until no longer pink.

The process of making chicken in a wok. First cooking the chicken, then cook peas and carrots next add eggs and rice then mix together.

Tips for Making the Best Fried Rice:

Enjoy making the this fried rice using these tips to help accomplish the authentic Chinese taste. It is simple to make and comes together quickly and easily. Once you make it you will be making it over and over again!

  • Cold Rice: To make the best rice you have to plan a little bit ahead of time. Chilled cooked rice is the best way to use up left over rice as well as fried rice. Rice that is cooked and still warm does not cook well when making fried rice. It tends to turn out mushy and very sticky.
  • Make Cold Rice: If you are on a time crunch and craving fried rice simply place the warm rice on a sheet pan and stick it in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes or until cold. For an even quicker remedy, place the rice in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes long. Just enough for it to chill but not be frozen.
  • High Heat: It is best to cook on high heat to help fry and brown the rice and veggies throughly. Try not to have the rice steam in the pan or stick together too much. Stir frequently.
  • Soy Sauce: Add in extra soy sauce towards the end as you are trying the fried rice as you are cooking it. A light soy sauce is what I prefer for flavor.
Chicken fried rice in a skillet with a spoon scooping up some to show a zoom in.

Variations:

Try new things and mix it up with all these new and fun variations when making the best fried rice recipe. The best part is using up the leftover rice. Find more left overs that can be added into this chicken fried rice recipe to make it easier. Mix and match ingredients and create more delicious flavors of rice.

  • Protein: Mix up your protein with ham, shrimp, bacon or enjoy it with vegetables.
  • Oil: Instead of adding in all the oils, butter is just as great! Add in butter to create a rich, flavorful taste.
  • Rice: It is best to have cold or chilled rice for this recipe. Quinoa or long grain rice are great ways to enjoy a variety.
  • Vegetables: Create a combination of a few to several of your favorite vegetables to enhance this recipe. Broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas or water chestnuts are great vegetables to add in.
Chicken fried rice in a bowl.

More better than take out recipes!

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Better than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice

4.74 from 45 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
Amazing chicken fried rice that is better than take out! This chicken fried rice has moist and tender chicken with flavorful peas and carrots and long rice cooked together. Make this unique and your own with this favorite Chinese rice!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 8 Servings

Equipment

  • Large Skillet or Wok
  • Spatula

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a large skillet or wok, add vegetable oil and soy sauce. Add in the chicken and cook until lightly brown and cooked throughout. Remove and set aside.
  • Pour sesame oil in the bottom. Add white onion and peas and carrots and fry until tender.
  • Slide the onion, peas and carrots to the side, and pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetable mix.
  • Add the rice and chicken to the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top. Stir and fry the rice and veggie mixture until heated through and combined. Add chopped green onions if desired.

Video

Notes

Updated on April 10, 2020
Originally Posted on March 21, 2014

Nutrition

Calories: 200kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 9gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 301mgPotassium: 151mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1774IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 23mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Asian American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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267 Comments

  1. I never made fried rice before. I used canned peas, fresh carrots diced and it came out delicious. I will make this again and soon!

  2. I love love love fried rice. However in the last couple of years my family has discovered we are Celiacs and/or gluten intolerant. So I can no longer order my combination fried rice from Chinese restaurants. What’s good about this easy recipe is I can use gluten free soy sauce!! Yea!!

  3. I made, , I am a harsh critic and very picky this for dinner tonight it was unbelievable!!

    i simmered the chicken on the stove top in teriyaki sauce on low for about 30 minutes…

    I followed the recipe exactly as it was written, I will give it a perfect 10.

    Btw, I am a harsh critic and very picky…

    thank you for sharing a phenomenal recipe…

  4. I made this recipe and it was extremely tasty. My hubby and my 10 month baby both loved it, and both had seconds too.

    To the people who are complaining about having to cook the chicken, FYI, fried rice was invented as a way to use up leftover chicken and day old rice. So, you can be strategic about it and make a chicken and rice dinner earlier in the week, with intentional leftovers, and then make this recipe later in the week.

    This is a versatile recipe for using up other miscellaneous veggies that may be hanging around in your fridge, I threw in some edamame I had.

  5. I made this last night. Boiled the chicken instead of slow cooked it. This was delicious!!! Especially with sriracha hot sauce 😀 Thanks! will be making this more

  6. This rice was so good. My husband and I made it tonight.

    We didn’t marinate our chicken, but the dish still turned out amazing. We used brown rice cooked in a rice cooker.

    This recipe makes a lot too so we both have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

    Thanks so much for the recipe.

  7. I like it! Redmond 4502 multicooker helps me to cook this unusual meal! It was enough for me just to understand your recipe and I can do it without problems now. I’m going to try it on multicooker grill I believe it would be fantastic!

  8. I made this last night and it was a hit! I added broccoli to it to make even more vegetabley. Everyone loved it. I am definitely making this again.