If you’ve never made your own Fried Rice at home, this recipe will show you how easy, and versatile it is! This fried rice is inspired from the same restaurant as our Sweet and Spicy Honey-Grilled Shrimp. It’s not your typical Chinese restaurant-type fried rice; it’s a bit milder and has a little more Polynesian flair. It goes great with Teriyaki Chicken or it’s slightly naughtier cousin, Bacon-Wrapped Teriyaki Chicken Bites. Or try it with Asian BBQ Chicken or the ever-popular Spicy Honey Chicken. Or toss in some leftover Fauxtisserie Chicken or ham or shrimp (or hey, live on the wild side and add all three) and it can be a meal in and of itself.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe. The veggies listed here are just suggestions. You can add whatever you have in your fridge that needs to be used up!
- Cold rice – Fried rice is best when you use rice that has been cooked and cooled. This results in separated grains of rice with less moisture. If you use freshly cooked rice, it will still taste good, but it will likely clump together and tends to turn kind of mushy. Leftover rice from another meal works really well here or, just plan ahead and cook your rice a day or two in advance.
- Butter
- Red onion
- Chopped green onions
- Minced garlic
- Chopped carrots
- Chopped mushrooms
- Coleslaw mix – Just the veggie mix, no dressing. Cabbage is an important part of fried rice and using a bag of shredded coleslaw (either green or the kind with bits of purple cabbage and shredded carrots) just simplifies things. You want the big shreds, not fine angel hair shreds. And you can always chop up a head of cabbage yourself if you prefer!
- Soy Sauce
- Seasonings
- celery salt
- dehydrated onion
- black pepper
- kosher salt
- granulated sugar
- granulated garlic
- Optional add-ins – Scrambled egg or cooked chicken, beef, ham, or pork add protein and make this a well-rounded one-dish meal.
How to Make Fried Rice
- Have everything ready, because this goes fast! First you’ll give your veggies a quick sauté to soften.
- Next you’ll add your cold rice, then the best part of this recipe: the seasoning mix. You’ll just mix up a quick spice blend and then use as much of it as you like for flavor.
- Toss in some protein, if desired, and you’ve got a great one-dish dinner. It also makes a great side for lots of things and it’s a great way to get your kids to eat some veggies!
Storing and Other Tips
- Fried rice reheats really well! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- This is a great “clean out the veggie drawer” meal. Feel free to add whatever veggies your family likes!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! Use whatever variety you enjoy.
Nope. Any skillet will do. You just want to make sure you use a large enough pan and keep your heat medium-high so the ingredients fry instead of steam.
You can, but I find they get kind of lost that way. I like to scramble them separately and then add them in. If you’d like to avoid dirtying another pan, you can always push some of the rice out of the way and scramble your egg in the same pan. Try it out and see which way you prefer!
Fried Rice
Ingredients
Seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon dehydrated onion
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
Fried Rice
- 4 cups cold leftover rice
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup minced red onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- ¼ cups chopped carrots
- ½ cup chopped mushrooms
- 8 oz. 1/2 bag coleslaw mix
- 3-4 generous tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
Seasoning Mix
- Combine all seasoning mix ingredients. This can be made ahead of time and/or saved for later. You'll just use some of and to season to taste!
Fried Rice
- Heat butter over medium heat and sauté onions, carrots, mushrooms and cabbage until carrots are tender. Add the garlic and green onions and sauté briefly.
- Add cooked rice, soy sauce, and season with the seasoning mix to taste. (You will not come close to using all of it. Store the rest for later use!) Serve immediately.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- Feel free to add scrambled egg or cooked chicken, beef, or ham.
Questions & Reviews
I hate to say the same thing everyone above has said…but this recipe is fabulous! I made this for supper tonight and can't get over how tasty it was! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your great recipes and for sharing with us!
I heart Sara and Kate (but not in a weird, creepy way :). We had this for dinner last night and it was the best stir fry I've ever made! My mission is to make every single one of your recipes. So far, I've made about 15, all of which were spectacular (except for the tortillas, which I've tried 3 times and CAN NOT get them right…maybe if you're ever in Arkansas you can stop by for a demonstration??). Thank you! You girls rock!
Thanks Kate. I need all the help I can get in the kitchen!
I just wanted to let you know that you have the MOST AMAZING recipes. I love, love, love them! I made this rice last night and it was DELICIOUS! I even ate some cold for lunch. 🙂 Thanks for sharing. This is seriously my "go-to" site when I want something tasty and new and different! Thanks again!
Disneyland recipe, wow … impressive!! They always have such fun foods, this is a must-try!! Soon 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Janice–Did you use all the seasoning at once? Because that would definitely be too salty. 🙂 You just want to add a few sprinkles of the seasoning until it's salty enough. If that's what happened, that might be what made it too salty. Otherwise, you can cut down on the salt in the seasoning if you just find the seasoning too salty.
I made this last night and my family and I think that this is the best made at home fried rice that we have ever eaten. And I've tried a few recipes. My only problem was that it was way to salty and I only used half of what your recipe called for. Is the 1 Tablespoon a typo and should it be one tsp.
I have a totally different recipe than this one. I guess you could call it more traditional asian? I like the items you've added to yours. I will have to try it but am pretty sure we'll probably want ours too. Thanks so much!
Oh my gosh my family loved this!!! We made it with your Teriyaki Chicken recipe- Yummm O!
Seriously, thank you for the awesome recipes!
Sydney–That's awesome!! Now just get some Chinese takeout boxes from the store and no one will ever know! 🙂
As far as green onions go, I usually chop until it's not firm and white anymore (unless I'm using the green tops for something specific). It also depends on how far I need to stretch the green onions, you know? The tops are very, very mild and don't have much flavor or texture once they're cooked, so I generally don't bother too much with them.
For mushrooms, if you buy them wrapped, leave 'em that way and then wipe them with a wet paper towel to get the dirt off. If you buy them loose, it's best to wipe them off first and then store them in a paper bag so they can breathe and don't get slimy like they tend to do in plastic bags.
For salt, if you're using a larger-grained salt like Kosher or some sea salt in place of regular salt, you actually want to use a bit more because those salts don't taste as salty. If you're using regular table salt in place of Kosher salt, you'll use a bit less. But really, most of the time, I'd keep it just the same and adjust things if you need to once you've seasoned it, you know?
Hope that helps! 🙂