Julie Clark
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Easy Chicken Fried Rice
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Curious how to make an easy chicken fried rice recipe? Use our recipe for savory fried rice in less than 30 minutes with simple, pantry ingredients. Don’t forget our secret ingredient!
You’re planning your weeknight menu and have a night that is going to be rushed. A more-than-usual kind of busy. When those nights roll around and you have 30 minutes to make a dinner and you don’t want to get takeout, what do you turn to?
Turn to stir fry: pepper steak recipe, chicken stir fry or this easy Chicken Fried Rice recipe. Plan ahead for it and keep the prep and cook time well under 30 minutes and just one skillet. You can use leftover or day-old rice or leftover chicken, and its completely customizable for what your family prefers. Quicker than take out and naturally gluten-free!
Ingredients
What are the ingredients in fried rice? The list is not as long as you would think.
- Sesame oil. You can use vegetable oil or peanut oil if you’d like, but sesame oil has a high smoke point (410ºF) and will give a more authentic flavor.
- Onions. White or yellow onions are best.
- Carrots. Dice fresh carrots or use a bag of frozen carrots that you’ve thawed out.
- Peas. Use frozen peas in fried rice. Don’t use canned! They are too mushy. Use frozen carrots. You don’t even have to thaw them.
- Eggs. Two large eggs.
- White rice. Long grain rice or medium grain rice work well. Jasmine rice does great in fried rice. Use leftover rice from the fridge if possible!
- Chicken. Cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, boneless skinless chicken thighs or shredded chicken work well.
- Soy sauce. If you’re concerned about salt intake, you can use a low sodium soy sauce. You can also use coconut aminos as a gluten free soy sauce substitute.
- Butter. Our secret ingredient for the ultimate fried rice. At the end of cooking, melt in two tablespoons of salted butter. This gives richness and adds flavor. It’s not 100% necessary, but I highly recommend trying it. It makes the best fried rice.
- Salt & pepper. For flavoring to your enjoyment.
✨ See the recipe card below for full amounts. ✨
Do you have to use cold rice for fried rice?
It’s best to use day old, cold rice for fried rice. Rice dries out as it sits, which will help prevent your fried rice from being mushy.
However, if you need to cook rice right before you make fried rice, you can do that too. Simply cook the rice, then spread it out on a large pan and allow the steam to evaporate as it cools. This will help the moisture to escape the outside of the rice and dry it out slightly.
How to Make Easy Chicken Fried Rice Recipe in 4 Steps
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add the sesame oil, onions minced garlic and carrots; sauté until the carrots and onions are starting to become tender.
- Add the peas to the pan and stir well.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Push the vegetable mixture to one side of the pan, then pour the eggs onto the other side of the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Once the eggs are fully cooked, stir into the vegetables.
- Add the cold rice and chicken; mix well. Add the soy sauce then stir into the fried rice. Add the butter and stir the rice until the butter is melted.
Recipe Variations
- Switch up the protein. Shrimp fried rice is hugely popular, so free free to add cooked shrimp when you add the chicken. Pork is delicious too in this easy fried rice recipe.
- Use brown rice instead of white rice.
- Add chopped broccoli or bell peppers to switch up the veggies.
- Cauliflower rice works perfectly in this recipe too. I’ve even fooled the family by using half white rice and half cauli rice.
- Add a tablespoon of oyster sauce if you want that flavor added in to this easy chicken fried rice.
Try our fried rice with shrimp and chicken or honey sesame chicken next! You’ll also love our butter rice and creamy chicken and rice.
Easy Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
Curious how to make an easy chicken fried rice recipe? Use our recipe for savory fried rice in less than 30 minutes with simple, pantry ingredients. Don't forget our secret ingredient!
Servings 6
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil or vegetable oil
- ½ cup white onion diced
- 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic cloves
- ½ cup carrots diced
- ½ cup frozen peas no need to thaw
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups cooked cold white rice
- 2 cups cooked chicken diced*
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add the sesame oil, onions minced garlic and carrots; sauté until the carrots and onions are starting to become tender. 2 tablespoons sesame oil, ½ cup white onion, 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic cloves, ½ cup carrots
- Add the peas to the pan and stir well. ½ cup frozen peas
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Push the vegetable mixture to one side of the pan, then pour the eggs onto the other side of the pan. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Once the eggs are fully cooked, stir into the vegetables. 2 large eggs
- Add the cold rice and chicken; mix well. Add the soy sauce then stir into the fried rice. Add the butter and stir the rice until the butter is melted. 2 cups cooked chicken, ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons salted butter
- Season the fried rice with salt and pepper if desired before serving. salt and ground black pepper
Notes
- If using fresh chicken: Take one pound of fresh chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. Pour a tablespoon or two of sesame oil in a skillet and set on medium high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the chicken. Saute the chicken until cooked through. The exact time will depend on the size of the chicken pieces. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
- For the rice, cook one day in advance and allow it to cool, then refrigerate until using in the fried rice. OR, you can cook the rice, spread it out on a pan to cool completely, then add it to the skillet. Allowing the rice to steam while cooling will dry the outside of the rice and help the fried rice not be mushy.
- I’ve used half cauliflower rice.
- Garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 1293mg | Potassium: 396mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2100IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 2mg
Made this for Dinner this evening! Our easy go to that everyone loves! #giveaway23
This is my go to for this recipe. I love how simple and easy it is and it tastes really good! Definitely a keeper! #giveaway23
Really easy to try it out thank you so much for putting up this article the recipe really made my day today it had such a delicious taste.Thank you so much for putting all the effort into making it easy to try it out.
My husband will love this! It sounds so easy, too!