Easy Fried Rice

One thing that serves every home cook well is knowing how to make good fried rice. I have a quick and easy homemade fried rice that’s fast and simple and is a great recipe. Most importantly, it tastes terrific. This recipe for easy fried rice uses simple ingredients and a very simple 8 step process you can do in your sleep.

Wok or Skillet?

Fried rice is, of course, traditionally cooked in a wok. However, woks are not super easy to store in the kitchen and you may not have one at your disposal. That’s perfectly fine because a regular skillet will be fine to cook in as well. The important thing is that it is sturdy and hot.

Stir fry is made in woks with very high heat. This informs the method of cooking as well as the style. For starters, you have to keep the ingredients moving in the pan. Woks are naturally designed for this and flat bottom skillets will take more effort on your part. 

Woks are also very large and if you plan to make fried rice in a skillet, you should make sure it’s big enough to take a lot of stirring action and to keep some ingredients separate when the recipe calls for it.

Make sure the skillet or wok is plenty hot before you start cooking. You can check that it’s ready by dropping water on the surface. If it immediately begins to dance and sizzle, you are ready to start cooking.

How to Stir Fry

Fried rice is an example of stir fry which has certain principles and guidelines for executing the perfect dish. You can make stir fry independent of fried rice, or incorporate it into fried rice later.

The dish can be as light or as hearty as you want it to be. To have the range to make whatever you want out of this easy fried rice recipe follow these basic steps and you can make any stir fry to serve with (or in) your fried rice.

The first thing you need is a hot wok or a large enough pan. Add just a little bit of oil, not too much. If you are stir-frying meat, it needs to be sliced very thin. There are two reasons for this.

The constant motion of the stir fry method works best when the ingredients are a manageable size. The second reason is that the high temperature quickly sears the meat so thin slices help each piece to cook properly.

As with the recipe below you want to begin by sauteing the aromatics. If you are cooking a wide range of vegetables, start with the hard ones first to cook them down before adding the soft ones.

Cooking Cooked Rice

The thing I love about fried rice is that you can have it any time. You can decide on making fried rice on a whim, or you can make use out of an already cooked rice dish. The trick to fried rice is that you start with already cooked rice to make it. That makes it an ideal dish for repurposing leftovers.

As for the rice you can use whatever you’re storing in the refrigerator, or you can make some rice on the spot. Minute Rice, 90-second rice, basmati rice, or jasmine rice– it doesn’t matter. However, if you do cook up a batch of rice just for frying, you should let it cool down before moving on with the recipe. Fried rice tastes best when you start out with cold rice from the refrigerator.

Repurposing old rice is one of the best things about fried rice other than the flavor. To cook it right make sure you add it as the last ingredient. remember you don’t need too much added flavor from the sauce. If you get heavy-handed with your flavorings it may overpower the rice, so take it easy and taste the rice before adding more.

Building the Flavors

As with traditional stir fry making easy fried rice is all about layering. You want to build this recipe from the ground up starting with a strong foundation. Here, that’s the garlic butter that starts everything on the path to success.

Next, you saute the garlic and onions to set the stage for the remaining ingredients. You do this only after the garlic butter has melted, leaving a slick surface to lightly coat the ingredients you add to the pan.

Once you have the sautéed aromatics, add your veggies and allow them to cook for a couple of minutes before pushing them aside to separately cook the egg and scramble it in with the other ingredients. Once it all blends together it’s time to add your cooked rice along with a little sauce and other seasonings.

It needs to cook just long enough to warm up to the other ingredients. The process of building the flavors goes quick and it’s a super-easy way to produce great quality fried rice on the fly!

A Haven for Leftovers

This dish can save a number of leftovers. You can bulk it up as much or as little as you want. You can add any protein you have in your refrigerator.

Fried rice tastes great with chicken, seafood, beef, or pork. You can’t go wrong. You can also toss in virtually any vegetable you have stored as well. Everything just needs to be cut to size before you add it to the pan.

In addition to sprucing up any old dish, fried rice itself makes a good leftover side dish or entrée (depending on what’s in it). You can store it in an air-tight container for up to five days and it will reheat nicely on the stovetop or microwave.

Ingredients to make Fried Rice

• Garlic butter
• Onion
• Garlic
• Carrots
• Peas
• Corn
• Eggs
• Cooked rice
• Salt
• Pepper
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

(Actual measurements are listed in the recipe card below.)

How to make Easy Fried Rice

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1 – Prep

Cook rice according to package and set aside. Add garlic butter to a large skillet and let melt. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Mix in carrots, peas, and corn and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until carrots get tender. Push veggies to the side of the skillet and add the eggs. Scramble the eggs until cooked and mix with the vegetable.

Step 2 – Mixing it Together

Add cooked rice to the skillet along with the salt, pepper, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir to combine and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

Try this delicious recipe today.

Here are a few more recipes that you might enjoy:

• Potatoes and Green Beans with Sausage
• Bang Bang Chicken Recipe with Creamy Spicy Sauce
• Delicious Butter Chicken

And here is a delicious Homemade Chow Mein from Great Grub, Delicious Treats that you might enjoy as well.

Here are a few pics that are the perfect size for pinning to Pinterest.