Fried rice is a take-out classic because it’s fast, easy, filling, delicious, and inexpensive, which is everything I want from a meal made at home, too! I love making vegetable fried rice at home because it’s an easy way to use up odds and ends in my fridge, it’s always satisfying, and it’s FAST. Plus, I can always add some meat or seafood if I’m feeling it!
What is Fried Rice?
Fried rice is a Chinese dish made with cooked rice that is then stir-fried in a wok with other ingredients, like meat, seafood, vegetables, and eggs, and then seasoned with a savory sauce. It’s extremely flexible and budget-friendly, which is why we love this dish! The recipe below is an American adaptation, using a skillet instead of a wok and ingredients that are easily sourced in most American grocery stores. If you’d like to try an authentic Chinese Fried Rice recipe, be sure to check out Chinese Fried Rice from Rasa Malaysia, Egg Fried Rice from Red House Spice, or Classic Chicken Fried Rice from The Woks of Life.
Use Leftover Rice for Best Results
To avoid clumpy or gummy fried rice, use rice that has been previously cooked and completely cooled, preferably overnight. The slightly drier, less starchy rice is perfect for stir-frying because it can absorb moisture from the sauce and vegetables without becoming overly sticky. If you don’t have leftover rice from the day before, simply cook some rice, spread it out thin on a baking sheet or wide baking dish for faster cooling, then refrigerate until completely cool before using in the stir fry.
Do I Need a Wok?
Woks are wonderful for stir fry because the large surface area makes it possible to add a lot of ingredients without overcrowding. While using a frying pan doesn’t work quite as well, we can make up for the crowding issue by cooking the ingredients separately, then combining them at the very end.
What Else Can I Add to Vegetable Stir Fry?
Here’s my favorite part. A simple Vegetable Stir Fry is a blank slate for all sorts of add ins, whether it’s more vegetables, a meat or seafood, a different sauce, or even a crunchy topping! Here are some other fun add-ins for your stir fry:
- Other vegetables like beansprouts, mushrooms, green beans, corn, broccoli, red chiles, or kimchi
- Meat or seafood like chicken fried rice, beef, shrimp, pork, or sausage
- Other sauces like oyster sauce, sriracha, or chili crisp
- Crunchy toppers like cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, crushed ramen noodles
Vegetable Fried Rice
Servings 4 about 1.25 cups eachIngredients
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger ($0.10)
- 1 carrot, diced ($0.16)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced ($1.50)
- 4 green onions, sliced ($0.40)
- 2 large eggs ($0.46)
- 1 cup frozen peas ($0.50)
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil, divided ($0.12)
- 3 cups cooked and cooled rice ($0.62)
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.18)
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil ($0.30)
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables before hand so they're ready to go when needed. Mince the garlic, grate the ginger, dice the carrot and bell pepper, slice the green onions (separate the green ends from the white ends), and measure the frozen peas.
- Lightly whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp of cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface. Add the eggs and gently scramble until cooked through. Transfer the cooked eggs to a clean bowl or plate.
- There should be a good amount of oil left in the skillet. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the diced carrots and stir and cook for about two minutes. Next add the bell pepper and the white firm ends of the green onions. Cook and stir for one minute more. Finally, add the frozen peas and stir and cook until heated through. Transfer the vegetables to a clean bowl or plate.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp cooking oil to the skillet and swirl to coat the surface. Add the garlic, ginger, and cooked and cooled rice to the skillet. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the rice is heated through.
- Pour the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil over the rice. Stir the rice and sauce together until evenly combined. Turn the heat off.
- Add the eggs and vegetables back to the skillet with the rice and stir to combine. Allow the residual heat to heat everything through. Top with the remaining green ends of the sliced green onions. Taste and adjust the soy sauce or sesame oil to your liking.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
How to Make Fried Rice – Step By Step Photos
Prep the vegetables before you begin cooking because once you start, it will go fast! Mince two cloves of garlic and mince or grate about 1 tsp fresh ginger. Peel and dice one large carrot and one red bell pepper. Slice four green onions, separating the tender green top half from the firm lower half, and measure out one cup of frozen peas.
Lightly whisk two large eggs. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface. Add the eggs to the skillet and gently scramble until cooked through. Remove the scrambled eggs to a clean bowl or plate.
There should be quite a bit of oil left in the skillet after removing the eggs. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the diced carrot to the skillet and stir fry for about two minutes. Next, add the bell pepper and the firm white ends of the sliced green onion. Stir fry for about a minute more. Lastly, add the frozen peas and stir fry just until heated through. Remove the vegetables to a clean bowl or plate.
Add another tablespoon of cooking oil to the skillet and swirl to coat the surface again. Add the minced garlic, ginger, and three cups of cooked and cooled rice to the hot skillet. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. Don’t worry if the rice sticks a bit to the bottom. It will loosen after the sauce is added.
Add 3 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil to the rice. Fold the rice and sauce together until the rice is evenly coated in the sauce.
Add the vegetables and eggs back to the skillet. Turn the heat off and stir to combine, allowing the residual heat to reheat everything through.
Top with the sliced green ends of the green onions and you’re done! Give it a taste and add extra soy sauce or sesame oil to fit your taste buds.
What do you like to put in your fried rice?
This turned out great! Easy and satisfied my fried rice craving without the greasiness. I’ll definitely make it again.
I just made this (with a few changes based on what I had) with your recipe for seasoned rice. Oh, man, this was delicious! I couldn’t stop eating and am so pleased it’s so easy, in sure I will be making this often. Thank you!
Thank you so much for all these delicious, cheap and easy recipes! I added a touch of fish sauce, a sprinkle of curry powder and some celery to this dish and it was amazing!
Made this tonight using short grain brown rice because that’s what I had on hand and it came out great. Thanks!
Hi Beth,
I’m planning on making this tonight. You said that brown rice would not work but it looks like you used it in your recipe (or does it have to be half brown half white?)
Ha! I made this so long ago that I didn’t realize that I had used brown rice. Okay, so let me explain. :) These days I personally like the texture of white rice a LOT better than brown in recipes like this, but back when I made this (2010), I was a lot less discriminating. If I were to make it today I would not use brown rice, but it looks like I did back then and enjoyed it, so maybe you would too! :) *SMH*
I love fried rice but also wanted a healthier version. How well do you think brown rice would work in this?
Personally, I don’t think it would work well. It just has such a different texture.
Hey Beth! The idea behind the wok is a large surface area. These days, even gas ovens can’t evenly heat that surface. An electric skillet is closer to that idea than a large wok at home you can’t really heat.
Because tofu doesn’t run all over the place you can just cook it with the vegetables at the same time. The only reason you need to remove the veggies before you cook the egg is so that it doesn’t coat the vegetables in the pan/wok :)
Also Im not going to use egg going to use tofu, should I still remove the vegetables to first fry the rice and tofu and then add the veggies back in?
does the garlic make your breath smell bad for the whole day or does it get sort of mellowed out in the cooking?
This was delicious! :)
is the cool one, thanks i have read a lot here .. hehe
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/06/equipment-how-to-buy-a-wok-which-wok-is-the-best.html
I would recommend using day old (or several days old) rice instead of freshly cooked rice. Day old rice doesn’t stick as much, is drier and absorbs more flavor and has better texture when cooked.
This is fantastic — I adore your blog. Keep up the great work.