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Fried Rice is a combination of long grained rice, mixture of warm peas, carrots and onions with scrambled eggs mixed all together! You will not be getting take out any longer! 

Have fried rice as an entree or a side dish when serving it! If you love fried rice try these variations of fried rice: Bacon Fried Rice, Shrimp Fried Rice, Ham Fried Rice or Chicken Fried Rice.

Easy fried rice

Easy Fried Rice

I have always loved fried rice. I could probably eat an entire bowl. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you would like! I have added bacon, chicken, and ham. It is the perfect fried rice base and they say the secret ingredient to get the authentic Chinese taste is sesame oil. Whatever it may be it is fantastic!

I had my entire family over for chinese night. It was a lot of work, but I wanted them to experience my famous sweet and sour chicken. They absolutely loved it and agreed that it tasted straight from a restaurant.

I always serve this amazing fried rice with all of my Chinese dishes. It is easy and goes perfectly as a side!

Ingredients in Fried Rice

  • White long grain rice- Day old and cold rice help to keep it from being mushy.
  • Small white onion  
  • Vegetables- Peas and Carrots.  You can also add in other veggies such as bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas and cabbage.
  • Eggs
  • Sesame Oil 
  • Soy Sauce
  • Green Onions- Garnish with adding in sliced green onions right at the end! 

How to make Fried Rice

Preheat Skillet. Turn your skillet to medium high heat and pour sesame oil into the bottom of your skillet and add the onion, peas and carrots. Fry this until they are tender.

Slide the veggies to the side. Pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Mix them together with the veggies.

Add the rice. Combine it with the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top and stir until it is heated throughout. Garnish with green onions.

Cooking easy fried rice
veggies and egg cooking
rice and veggie mixture
easy fried rice

Tips for making Fried Rice:

My Chinese sister in law gave me these awesome tips and recipe that I feel make it truly authentic. This is a tried and true family recipe that tastes even better than take out. We love have family gatherings and this is always a favorite recipe to use.

Here are some tips that will make this fried rice simple and easy for you to make. The great thing about this fried rice is made all in one pan. Less clean up for you and more time to sit and enjoy your fried rice as a family.

  1. Cold rice or day old rice is best. This helps to prevent and keep the rice from sticking together and getting mushy. It does not have to be cold, but it is best to have day old rice instead of fresh rice.
  2. Scramble the egg in the same pan. To save on dishes you can just slide the veggies to one side and pour the egg in the other side. Scramble the egg with a spatula and then combine with the vegetables.
  3. Use Jasmine or long grain rice. Using a long grain rice will produce the best results and is most commonly used.
  4. Use Sesame oil. For the authentic flavor this is a MUST! Sesame oil has distinctive nutty aroma that brings the flavors together in this dish.
  5. Soy sauce is your best friend. Little to a lot is all up to you. Don’t be afraid to go wild or stay true to the recipe. You will enjoy the extra flavoring soy sauce has to offer mixed with veggies and rice.
  6. Cook the veggies and egg in the same pan. This is my favorite trick to making this recipe all in one pan. As soon as the veggies are tender just slide them over to the side, pour the eggs onto the other side and scramble. It is as easy as that!

Fried Rice is great for leftovers!

  • Can you reheat Fried Rice? Yes! This is an easy fried rice recipe that is great to double to have left overs for the following day. The best way to reheat fried rice is either on the stove top or in the microwave. You don’t want to reheat fried rice more than once for best results.
  • Can you freeze Fried Rice? Yes! It is best to place cooked fried rice in air tight containers or ziplock bags. When ready to reheat, the microwave is the best option.
  • How long does Fried Rice last? After you cook fried rice, it is best to refrigerate in air tight containers. If it is properly stored, fried rice will usually keep between 5-7 days in the refrigerator.

Is it healthy for you?

This Quinoa Fried Rice or even this Cauliflower “Fried Rice” are both healthier ways to make fried rice. Quinoa and cauliflower fried rice are perfect for making the dish low carb. You will get that same authentic and delicious Chinese flavor. Fried rice on average is about 333 calories in 1 cup. You better have 2!

What to serve with Fried Rice

easy fried rice

 

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Easy Fried Rice

4.85 from 146 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
An easy and delicious fried rice that will go perfectly to any chinese dish!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • Preheat a large skillet or wok to medium heat. Add the sesame oil, onion, peas, and carrots. Cook until tender.
  • Slide the onion, peas, and carrots to the side, and pour the beaten eggs onto the other side of the skillet. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs. Once cooked, mix the eggs with the vegetable mix.
  • Add the rice to the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top. Stir and fry the rice and veggie mixture until warmed through and combined.
  • Add chopped green onions if desired.

Video

Notes

*Day old cold rice works best and prevents the rice from being mushy. 
Post Update 8/19

Nutrition

Calories: 142kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 4gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 282mgPotassium: 99mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1736IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg

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

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
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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377 Comments

  1. I made this recipe using all the stated ingredients and serving sizes. It was so good I ate it all in one sitting. Thanks for the great recipe 🙂

  2. I just made this fried rice and is was fantastic! I had everything and it went together so easily. So delicious that my husband had seconds and he is not a rice eater :). For some reason I couldn’t rate the recipe but if I could I would have given it 5 stars.

  3. 5 stars
    This recipe is dead simple and ridiculously easy to add stuff too.. tonight it’s 1 cup of chicken and some water chestnuts.. great base recipe!

  4. Tremendous! I’ll modify it in future by adding water chestnuts and or/bamboo shoots.. love all the veggies. Added 1 chicken breast last night.. seasame oil amount was perfect. I also added a touch of oyster sauce. A real winner.. looking forward to going thru this site. Thanks!

  5. 5 stars
    I’ve been looking for a good fried rice recipe on and off for a while. I get cravings for the stuff, but not being familiar with the Chinese restaurants around here, I’m never sure what kind of veges they’re using (whether it’s big chunky stuff that does not compliment the rice at all, or really sloppy rice). Anyway, I cooked this up tonight and omitted the green onion (also known as Spring onion in some places) because just getting him to eat regular onion can be hard and it turned out perfectly. I’ve now got my own vege fried rice recipe that’s a no-fail.

  6. I used cocunut oil, can peas and corn instead of carrots because i had none on hand i used onion powder and garlic powder And soy sAuce and a dash of two of teriyaki sauce it came out delicious

  7. This is exactly how I make my fried rice. It’s a go-to recipe on nights where we need something quick. I just throw in whatever protein (or not) and veggies we have on hand and make some brown minute rice. It’s the best! We have your baked honey chicken in the oven right now. I will post our review on that recipes link. I love love love to make take out type food at home, and our standard has been the Good Morning America Cashew Chicken from Charlie Gibson (highly recommend).
    Thanks for the recipes!

  8. 5 stars
    You are fantastic and I truely appreciate you and all the wonderful blogs you write to help me be a better and more frugal housewife!

  9. 5 stars
    I made the fried rice tonight for the very first time and it was amazing!!! It taste just like the rice from Panda Express. This is a simple and quick recipe. I had to go to the store to get green onion, white onion and frozen peas and carrots. I had everything else in the cabinets. I used minute rice. The one you cook in the microwave for ten minutes. I let it sit for an hour before cooking. I made teriyaki chicken with the fried rice and it was a big hit!.

  10. hi.i want to make the baked honey sesame chicken, when you say 1 T cornstarch etc is that teaspoon or tablespoon? thank you

  11. I am making this for tomorrow’s school lunch, but I could only find sesame seed oil…. is that the same or do I need to scratch that and try a different oil? Help!!

    1. For sesame oil try looking in specialty stores or Asian food markets. Sesame oil is used in a lot of Asian style foods.