Chicken Fried Rice Recipe is a perfect weeknight dinner idea! Simple to make and trust me, homemade fried rice tastes SO much better.  Instructions for how to make fried rice using simple ingredients.

Want to know my secret for best-ever homemade fried rice? You can probably guess it. BUTTER. Yep, butter. You’ve got to try it. Making fried rice is really simple and I love how I can adjust the recipe to suit our family’s tastes. We love more eggs and less soy sauce. It’s incredibly versatile- taste it and adjust as you’d like.

This is one of my favorite quick & easy dinners and the good news is- the rest of my family enjoys it too! It’s one of my “leftovers” dinners because I usually make it with chicken and rice leftover from another meal. The rice can even be stored in the freezer until you’re ready to use it! Just defrost it and it’s ready to go. A couple of the ingredients are flexible- I like it with more egg and less soy sauce. Taste it though and adjust to your family’s liking! I usually serve this with store bought egg rolls or pot stickers on the side.

What kind of rice to use for Fried Rice recipe?

I prefer making fried rice with regular long-grain rice. You can also use Jasmine rice or even brown rice, just make sure it’s cooked the day before you plan to make your fried rice. Just FYI too, I’ve used sushi rice, or short-grain rice (our popular brand is Calrose or Botan rice) to make fried rice. It tastes just as good, you just have to cook it quicker- over higher heat for less time, so it doesn’t turn soggy.

Fried Rice with Day-Old Rice

Fried Rice requires rice with a lower amount of moisture, so it’s best to use day-old rice (or 2-4 day old rice!) I often make a big batch of rice for dinner one night (to serve with Mongolian Beef or Easy Chicken Curry) and then freeze the rest in 6 cup increments, so it’s ready to be made into fried rice. Just thaw out frozen rice and use it to make fried rice cold- no need to reheat!

Fried Rice with Warm Rice

If you don’t have day old rice to use and you want to make fried rice, spread it out on a cookie sheet and bake it in a 250 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, cool it for 10 minutes and then place it in the freezer for 20 minutes. You can then use the cold rice in this fried rice recipe.

Ingredients needed to make Fried Rice:

Assemble the following ingredients together to prepare to make easy fried rice:

–3 TBSP butter

–1/2 cup diced onion

–3-4 eggs

–1 cup diced cooked chicken

–6 cups cooked, cold white rice

–1 12-oz bag frozen peas & carrot vegetable mix, cooked

–3-4 TBSP soy sauce

–1 TBSP sesame oil

How to make Fried Rice:

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once butter is melted, add in onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until translucent. Add in eggs, one at a time, stirring before adding another one.

Once egg is pretty much cooked, add in chicken and stir often for another 2-3 minutes. Add in rice and stir to combine. Add in vegetables. Cook, stirring often for another 5-6 minutes, until rice is hot. Add in soy sauce and stir to combine, cooking an additional 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Drizzle sesame oil over rice and stir once more. Serve hot!

Time Saving Tips for Making Homemade Fried Rice

Here’s how you can make our recipe for fried rice even faster.

The trick for making fried rice even quicker is to have several steps going on at once. Here are a few ideas:

1. Use pre-diced onions. You can purchased them in the produce section of most large grocery stores, or by the frozen vegetables. No need to thaw, just add them frozen directly to the hot butter.
2. Get the frozen bag of peas & carrots that can steam directly in the bag. Microwave it while you’re cooking the onions.
3. Use store-bought rotisserie chicken, diced into smaller pieces.

EASY CHICKEN FRIED RICE RECIPE

Chicken Fried Rice Recipe is a perfect weeknight dinner idea! Simple to make and trust me, homemade fried rice tastes SO much better.  Instructions for how to make fried rice using simple ingredients.

Print Pin Rate

Course: chicken, Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: chicken fried rice, fried rice recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 8

Calories: 630kcal

Author: Butter With A Side of Bread

Ingredients

• 3 TBSP butter
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3-4 eggs large
• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• 6 cups cold white rice cooked, day old
• 12 oz bag frozen peas & carrot vegetable mix cooked
• 3-4 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 TBSP sesame oil

Instructions

• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once butter is melted, add in onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until translucent. 

• Add in eggs, one at a time, stirring before adding another one. I always add 4 eggs- I like ours with a lot of egg! 

• Once egg is pretty much cooked, add in chicken and cook, stirring often, for another 2-3 minutes.

• Add in rice and stir to combine. Add in vegetables. Cook, stirring often for another 5-6 minutes, until rice is hot. 

• Add in soy sauce and stir to combine, cooking an additional 5 minutes.

• Remove from heat. Drizzle sesame oil over rice and stir once more. Serve hot!

Nutrition

Calories: 630kcal | Carbohydrates: 117g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 486mg | Potassium: 313mg | Fiber: 3g | Vitamin A: 92.1% | Vitamin C: 7.3% | Calcium: 6.5% | Iron: 11.8%

Can Chicken Fried Rice be reheated?

Chicken fried rice can be reheated, that’s what makes this recipe so nice and convenient! The best way to reheat it is to just use the microwave to reheat the portion you want to eat. It tastes just as good when it’s been reheated!

Is Chicken Fried Rice healthy? 

How healthy your fried rice is depends on what you put in it. Preparing your chicken fried rice with loads of vegetables and lean chicken makes it much healthier. If you want to make your Chicken Fried Rice healthier you can always decrease the amount of soy sauce you use, and increase the amount of veggies. The more veggies in it the better!

How To Store Cooked Rice

When you end up with extra rice in your rice cooker after a meal, you have several options to store it.

Option A: Keep in your rice cooker with “keep warm” function on.
Option B: Keep at room temperature.
Option C: Store in your refrigerator.
Option D: Store in your freezer.

From my experience, freezing the rice is the best way to store cooked rice, and I freeze cooked rice even if I plan to use it the next day.

How do you freeze cooked white rice?

Packaged in freezer containers or heavy-duty resealable plastic bags, cooked rice will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. To reheat, add 2 tablespoons of liquid for each cup of rice; microwave or cook in a saucepan until heated through.

Easy Chicken Fried Rice is the most convenient, easy dinner recipe for a week day possible! This fried rice recipe is tasty, easy, and is good during any time of year.

Easy Chicken Fried Rice is a perfect weeknight dinner idea! Simple to make and trust me, homemade fried rice tastes SO much better.  Easy instructions for how to make fried rice using simple ingredients.

Want to know my secret for best-ever homemade fried rice? You can probably guess it. BUTTER. You’ve got to try it. Making fried rice is really simple and I love how I can adjust the recipe to suit our family’s tastes.

Related