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My go-to when I don’t feel like cooking? This easy chicken fried rice! I grab leftover rice and chicken, toss it all in a pan, and boom, dinner is ready in minutes. The best part? My kids devour it!
A Reader’s Review
Such a perfect recipe! I use leftover chicken AND rice, so with the frozen mixed veggies this comes together incredibly quickly! My husband and one daughter have both said they could eat this 3x a week – and thats a glowing compliment…believe me!
– Carrie
All the Reasons This Never Fails Me
- Meal Prep Magic: Tastes just as good the next day, making leftovers something to look forward to.
- One-Pan Wonder: Everything cooks in a single skillet, so there’s less mess, and cleanup is a breeze!
- Protein-Packed Upgrade: While I love my classic fried rice recipe, this one gets a protein boost from juicy chicken that makes it even more satisfying.
- Family Favorite: Even picky eaters can’t resist the savory combo of chicken, veggies, and rice.
Ingredients Needed
- Protein: Mix up your protein with ham, shrimp, or bacon.
- Low Carb: For a low-carb version of fried rice, try using cauliflower.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add other favorite vegetables to enhance this recipe. Broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, or water chestnuts work great.
- Soy Sauce: Regular or low-sodium soy sauce both work. You can add more at the end if you want a bolder flavor.
How To Make Chicken Fried Rice
You only need one pan and a few basic ingredients. This chicken fried rice comes together fast and makes the best use of leftovers. Want to try something quicker? Make this air fryer fried rice!
- Cook the Chicken: Add vegetable oil and soy sauce to a large skillet or wok and heat over medium heat. Add chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces, and cook until lightly browned and cooked throughout, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add the Vegetables: Add sesame oil, diced white onion, and thawed frozen peas and carrots to the pan and fry until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Scramble the Egg: Slide the vegetables to the sides and then add the lightly beaten eggs to the other side of the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetables.
- Add the Rice and Serve: Add cooked white rice and the cooked chicken to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Add soy sauce and stir until combined and heated throughout. Top with sliced green onions, and fresh cracked black pepper if desired, and serve warm.
Alyssa’s Pro Tip
High Heat: Cooking chicken fried rice over high heat is best for fried rice. It helps brown the rice and vegetables evenly. Avoid letting the rice steam or clump together by stirring frequently.
Tips For the Best Fried Rice
- Use Cold Rice: Leftover white, long grain or brown rice from the fridge is ideal, firmer grains = better texture for your chicken fried rice.
- Too Fresh? Chill It: You can cook rice fresh, then spread it on a sheet pan and refrigerate for 30–45 minutes, or pop it in the freezer for 10–15 minutes to cool it down fast.
- Shortcut: Use pre-cooked, ready rice to save even more time.
How to Store Leftover Chicken Fried Rice
- How long does fried rice last? Stored right in an airtight container, it stays fresh for 5–7 days in the fridge.
- Can you freeze it? Absolutely! Seal it up in an airtight container or ziplock, throw it in the freezer, and you’re good to go!
- Can you reheat it? Yep! Stovetop or microwave works best—just don’t reheat it more than once.
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Equipment
- Large Skillet or Wok
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 pound chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 cup diced white onion about 1 small onion
- 1 cup thawed frozen peas and carrots
- 2 lightly beaten large eggs
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce more or less to taste
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions optional garnish
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon soy sauce to a large skillet or wok and heat over medium heat. Add 1 pound chicken cut into bite-sized pieces and cook until lightly browned and cooked throughout, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1 cup diced white onion, and 1 cup thawed frozen peas and carrots to the pan and fry until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Slide the vegetables to the sides and add 2 lightly beaten large eggs to the other side of the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetables.
- Add 3 cups cooked rice and the cooked chicken to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Add 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce and stir until combined and heated throughout. Top with 2 tablespoons sliced green onions, if desired, and serve warm.
Video
Notes
Updated May 28, 2025
Leftover Instructions: Fried rice lasts 5–7 days in the fridge when stored in an airtight container, and it freezes great, too—just seal it up and toss it in the freezer. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, but only once.
Nutrition
Calories: 225kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 17gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 474mgPotassium: 327mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1754IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!
That chicken fried rice looked so delicious i ended up nearly eating my laptop.
I think I can wait until tomorrow though for the real thing.
I love this recipe and make it all the time! I tend to use a lot more soy sauce because I LOVE soy sauce. I precook my chicken in large batches and even have it cut it up into small cubes before I freeze it. So all I have do is defrost the chicken and throw it in. This is a really easy recipe to double/triple and it’s great as leftovers.
My 12 yo and I loved it! I didn’t have peas. I used a small green pepper instead. My daughter doesn’t like peas anyways and she didn’t pick out the peppers. She normally prefers peppers raw. I diced them small. I used shredded rotisserie chicken that I had left over. It was super quick. I’ll be making this again!!!
Great recipe! found broccoli to be a great addition to it!!0
I added some peanut oil to the sesame oil and then a touch of vinegar at the end. It’s delicious! It truly is better than takeout!
I already had cooked rice, a baked chicken breast…so fried 1/2 an onion,added peas, chopped celery, chopped red bell pepper, some slivered carrots and almonds to your recipe. I actually cleaned out the refrig. crisper and it was delicious. I stir-fried in the sesame oil as the recipe called for, and Soy Sauce at the end. So tasty.
🙂 This is how I make my fried rice too!! Only difference is I use any leftover meat I have in fridge, especially my bbq meats, like ribs and chicken!!! Delish!!!!
I have made this twice and it’s very good. I was wondering if you used garlic in this recipe? I noticed there was garlic in the picture of the ingredients but I didn’t see any garlic in the recipe. Thanks!
I have made this several times. One time I had a left over pork tenderloin and cooked it in the slow cooker instead of chicken. Equally as good. I save the sauce from cooking the chicken/pork and then don’t use extra soy.
We make this often and its so good, but i cheat a little I stop by my Fujis japanese steakhouse and get what they call sexi sauce (ie: shrimp sauce) i get a huge container for about 5 dollars and serve it on the chicken fried rice and my fmaily gobbles it up it is so good. just thought id share its wonderful!
OH my gosh! Have you heard of Yum Yum sauce? I wonder if it is the same!! I put it all over my fried rice!
i actually made this right now and it truned out to be wonderful, i am amazed at how well it turned out because this is the first time ive ever made fried rice
This is so simple, thanks for sharing this recipe with pictures which make it easy to know.
I have never made Fried Rice before because I thought nothing can beat a good take out Fried Rice at the local fish and Chip shop but this is amazing and it definitely is better than any takeout, plus you know whats going into it!! I will 100% be making this again, so easy and so delicious. thank you so much.
This is going to sound really silly but how do you measure your cooked cups of rice? I don’t seem to trust the idea of just packing it into a measuring cup and I don’t know how to measure it without initially knowing how much I put in my rice cooker. I’m using some leftover rice (and I don’t recall how much rice I cooked in the first place) but I don’t really know how to measure it on my food scale other than with grams/oz and something tells me that 8oz of cooked rice does not equal a cup. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
I just scoop it up in a measuring cup and level it out as much as possible.
I love fried rice and I lost my original recipe so I used yours as a brief reminder. I didn’t have the frozen veggies so I used yellow and orange peppers. I also used evoo instead of sesame oil. I cooked the chicken up in a pan instead of a crockpot and used garlic powder and my secret spices. And I added bacon. It was good. I bet if I did the whole thing your way it would’ve turned out great too.
I made this tonight with your teryiaki chicken. It was such a huge hit! My husband had THREE plates full, and even our normally picky little girls ate it up. 🙂 I normally don’t like takeout Chinese food because I am super picky about my chicken, so this was perfect! I didn’t use the slow cooker; I just cooked the chicken and let it simmer in the teryiaki sauce while I made the rice. I found this recipe around 4:30 and had everything on the table ready to eat by 6pm. Thank you again, SO good!!