We eat a lot of rice — our kids absolutely LOVE it!
I use my handy rice cooker to make rice on a very regular basis and simply refrigerate or freeze the leftovers for use in stews, casseroles, or to pair with other leftovers.
One of my favorite ways to use leftover rice (especially from Chinese restaurants) is to make this super easy homemade fried rice.
Of course, if you don’t have leftover rice, you can easily just make your own rice and then turn it into fried rice. Either way, the results should be quite tasty!
If you’ve ever been intimidated by making your own fried rice, I hope today’s recipe will give you the guts to give it a try!
Recipe for Easy Fried Rice
Serves 6 as a side dish
INGREDIENTS:
- oil or butter
- 3 eggs
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 T. minced garlic
- 1 c. peas (frozen or canned work)
- 3 c. COOKED rice (white or brown rice both work well)
- 3 T. soy sauce
- 2 T fish sauce
- 1 T. sesame oil
- sliced green onions for garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Scramble and cook eggs in a large frying pan (using oil or butter as needed). Set cooked eggs aside.
In the same frying pan, heat more oil or butter and cook carrots, onion, and garlic until softened (roughly 5 minutes).
Add in peas and cooked rice, sauté until rice browns a bit (another 3-5 minutes).
Add in cooked eggs, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil. Stir to combine.
Garnish with green onions and serve hot!
NOTE: Sometimes, I put the finished rice back in my rice cooker on the “keep warm” setting until we’re ready to eat.
This rice tastes fabulous with bits of leftover chicken, shrimp, or even pork mixed in with it — and of course, it can easily be a hearty vegetarian meal all on it’s own.
In regards to the fish sauce and sesame oil, I know those might not be pantry staples for everyone, but they really do add a TON of flavor to this dish. I’ve kept them on hand for years now — ever since our exchange students lived with us before Nora was born. It’s amazing how often I use a little fish sauce or sesame oil… and they have a REALLY LONG shelf life!
As with all of my recipes, feel free to use whatever veggies, leftover meats, or whatever else you have in your fridge that you feel would pair well with fried rice. This recipe is VERY forgiving and versatile!
What are your favorite fried rice add-ins?
And as always, visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly recipes!
Gabriela says
Andrea…you’re killing me….! You’re recipes are so easy to do. I didn’t even finish reading this post and I already made it. I am eating my bowl of fried rice as I am writing this. I had the rice already done with peas and I just added the egg and seasoning. It’s very good like this but I want to try the whole recipe next time. 😉
Thank you….thank you!!!
Andrea says
haha — glad you liked it! If you add a bit of chicken or shrimp, it’s a complete meal in a bowl!
Rabecka says
I’ve never tried it with fish sauce, but otherwise my recipe has all the same ingredients. The only thing different is that I add ginger. Fresh or powdered is fine, but I gotta have it! For me, the ginger gives it just the perfect flavor!
Andrea says
ah yes, I should add ginger too — I even have it in a nice little squeeze tube! We started using Fish Sauce many years ago when our international students lived with us. A little goes a LONG way!
Michelle says
I love rice too! BUT I recently tried skipping the rice and using a package of finely chopped mixed veggies I found at Target. I think it had carrots and broccoli and cauliflower. I just sautéed it with a little soy sauce and added the scrambled egg. I didn’t even miss the rice which shocked me!
Andrea says
Oh yum! We’ve been swapping cauliflower rice for rice in many of our favorite meals and casseroles — but I never thought to actually swap it for fried rice. not sure my kids would go for it, but they unknowingly eat cauliflower rice in casseroles, soups, and stews just fine 🙂
Jenny says
This idea (riced cauliflower) is definitely worth a try! I would not have thought of that, either!
Andrea says
it’s shockingly similar to regular rice. My kids never know when I’m using ‘real rice” or cauliflower rice!
Melinda says
My recipe is very close to yours, but I never thought to make it ahead of time and keep it warm. My rice cooker doesn’t have this setting, but I have a “warm” setting on my crockpot. Thanks!
Andrea says
yes, keeping it warm is a game-changer for me! No more rushed last-minute food preparations for me to make. Just pop in the oven and it’s ready to go whenever we are!
DeeDee says
Wow, that sounds so delicious. I am currently on Weight Watchers and I just did a recipe on Shrimp & Broccoli in Garlic Sauce. I love it AND I love fried rice. I will have to give this one a try too.
Linda says
The link isn’t working for the rice cooker. I don’t think that brand is available through Amazon any longer. You might want to link another one for people to use.
Tara says
Hi Linda! Amazon does still sell that brand of rice cooker. Search for Tiger rice cookers. Some of the smaller sizes have updated to a newer style, but they are still there. I’ve purchased them multiple times from Amazon, often at better prices than local Asian markets. They are great cookers.
Annie says
Agreed on fish sauce and sesame oil. Makes a huge difference.
However, when the veggies are done and the rice is warm, I push everything to the side and scramble the eggs right in the pan. They cook quickly from the heat of all the ingredients and I think it makes for a better flavor to both eggs and rice. And they are less rubbery!
Jenny says
My Chinese friend does the same, except she doesn’t scramble the egg beforehand- she breaks it into the hot pan (with the rice and stuff pushed to the side) and fries it for a minute, then uses the utensil to kind of slice and flip and chop it up as it cooks for another minutes or so. At the end she shakes soy sauce onto everything. It’s good!
Andrea says
Good idea — I guess there really isn’t a good reason why I have to do the egg first!
Andrea says
Good tip! I’m not sure why I’ve always done the egg first — your way makes sense too 🙂