Easy Fried Rice
This Easy Fried Rice is a great reason to skip the take out! It’s full of veggies and is WAY better than what you’d get at a restaurant!
EASY FRIED RICE
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I admit, there are days when I’d rather pick up the phone and order take out instead of cooking dinner. Now that I’ve learned how to make some of my take-out favorites at home, I’m much more motivated to cook it myself – it’s healthier, less expensive and tastes better! This easy fried rice tastes like something you’d get at a Chinese restaurant. It makes for a versatile side dish or add in some protein to make it a main course. I sometimes add shrimp, chicken or pork, there are so many delicious flavor combinations to try.
The main component of this dish is the rice. You can use your favorite variety of rice – brown, long grain, jasmine, basmati, they all work great. The key is that the rice needs to be pre-cooked and is preferably chilled or left over. When the rice is chilled, the grains stay more separate and stand up better to the stir-frying. You can use freshly cooked rice, but the final product may be softer than the fried rice you get from a restaurant.
I used a basic combo of veggies here – onions, carrots, and peas. You can substitute a bag of frozen mixed veggies if you want to save a little time and skip the chopping, or add more finely diced vegetables like bell pepper or broccoli. The veggies get cooked in the pan first, then the eggs are cooked and scrambled. Next, comes the rice which is seasoned with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. Add a sprinkling of green onions and enjoy! My whole family loves this easy fried rice, it’s a staple on our dinner menu and will sure to become a regular on your menu too.
Easy Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups of cooked rice chilled or leftover rice is preferred
- 1 tablespoon butter divided use
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
Instructions
- In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the butter over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion and carrot to the pan, cook 4-5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the vegetables from the pan, set aside and cover to keep warm.
- Melt the remaining teaspoon of butter the pan; add the eggs and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up with a spatula until the eggs are scrambled and cooked through, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Add the rice, reserved cooked veggies and frozen peas to the eggs in the pan. Stir in the soy sauce and sesame oil and cook until ingredients are all combined and warmed through, 3-4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle with sliced green onions and serve.
Nutrition
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Finally a method for perfect fried rice. Ive always added uncooked eggs to my hot rice and veggies stirring until egg cooks but it never turns out the way I imagine it. This method adds cold rice to a pan of scrambled egg. It’s perfection. Thank you.
Thanks so much Kerry!
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Cool! I love cooking fried rice too! But I have different way to cook it faster. Normally I will boil the carrot and beans first while the rice is frying. So after 3-4 minutes, I add veggies into the rice and mix them together 😉
Interesting! Thanks for a tip.
Hi Sarah,
I totally love fried rice! And yours looks absolutely delicious! I will definitely try it and use some more veggies instead of the eggs and no butter to make it vegan. Thank you for the recipe!
Sina
looks so tasty and makes me hungry for sure 🙁
Then you’ll have to try it and turn that 🙁 into 🙂