Chicken Fried Rice

I will teach you how to make it right at home with simple ingredients, in just a few minutes, and it will take 100 times better than takeout! If you don’t feel like having chicken, make it with shrimp, pork, extra vegetables, or serve it as a side dish, it’s completely customizable. 

Why This Is The Best

I have been making fried rice at home for the last 20 years because it was always our go-to takeout dish and when you’re a poor college student, you have to cook as much as you can at home. So I made, and remade this dish so many times, trying many different ingredients until I found those that make it the best.

It’s all about the flavor and ingredients, neither is something takeout gives you the best. Most quick takeout places just use soy sauce, a quick sauté of broccoli and onion, and leave it at that.

I take is a lot further, giving you incredibly flavor incorporated into protein, into veggies, into eggs, and sauce. You can even use any leftover rice, whether you make it at home or have some leftover from another takeout.

All you need is a few simple ingredients, 30 minutes of your time, and don’t forget the leftover rice. Your family will thank you!

Tips For Ingredient Before Cooking

Chicken – you can use boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken thigh meat. Chicken breast meat is more lean but chicken thigh meat is juicier and more flavorful.

Soy Sauce – use a low sodium soy sauce because regular soy is quite overwhelmingly salty.

Gluten Free Substitutions – to make this fried rice gluten free, you need to substitute soy sauce and oyster sauce. Use gluten free soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos if you need to and gluten free oyster sauce.

Garlic – Fresh garlic will yield the most flavorful results. Don’t use pre-minced garlic from the store, as the flavor is quite different.

Best Rice To Use To Make Fried Rice – long grain rice is THE best recommended for fried rice dishes. It’s also good to use leftover cold rice. You can always make rice the day before and then store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Cool Rice Fast – If you don’t have any leftover fried rice and forgot to make some the day before, I do have a trick. Cook the rice fist and then spread it on a large plate or a rimmed baking sheet. Pop it into the refrigerator and let it chill for 15-20 minutes.

More Vegetable Options – You can also add corn, bell peppers, green onion, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans. Any dense and hearty vegetables would be nice, just make sure to finely dice it so there are no large chunks. 

How To Make Chicken Fried Rice

• First, brown the chicken until done and take it out of the pan.
• Next, cook onions and carrots and then pea until softened.
• Add garlic and ginger, sauté until fragrant, and mix.
• Move the veggies over, and pour in whisked egg and let it cook for a couple minutes.
• Add cold rice into the pan and quickly stir it together.
• Finally add back the chicken and stir it all together.
• Pour in sauce mixture and stir to coat everything with sauce. Let it cook and then take off heat.

Make It A Little Healthier

Substitute the oil. Peanut oil is not the lightest option and if you want to lighten your dish, use avocado oil or even avocado oil.

Substitute white rice for brown rice is another way to make it a little healthier. 

You can also try Cauliflower Fried Rice.

Use low sodium soy sauce to minimize sodium amount in the recipe. 

Throw it extra vegetables even when making chicken fried rice or shrimp fried rice and use less rice. 

Use chicken breast meat because it’s leaner. 

How To Reheat Fried Rice

You can easily reheat fried rice but you need to add a little moisture. Rice is like a sponge that soaks in any moisture around it so it gets pretty dry after sitting in the fridge overnight. When reheating fried rice, I like to use a either a combination of water and a little soy sauce OR some low sodium chicken broth to introduce some of the moisture back into the rice. 

Depending on how much rice I need to reheat, I add about a tablespoon of liquid. A tablespoon per serving is usually enough to get it moist. 

You can reheat it in the microwave but make sure to cover with a microwave-safe lid. Best way to reheat it though is to pan-fry it with a little oil, water, and soy sauce (or chicken broth). 

PIN THE RECIPE FOR LATER

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Try More Fried Rice Variations

If you don’t like chicken or simply don’t have any, there are many variations of fried rice you can try (I have a lot! Like I said, we’re big fried rice enthusiasts):

Shrimp Fried Rice

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Khao Pad – Thai Fried Rice 

Thai Basil Fried Rice

Crab Fried Rice

More Chinses Cuisine Inspired Recipes

Shrimp Stir Fry

Chicken Teriyaki

Sweet and Sour Chicken