Name: Chinese Fried Rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter, (divided); 2 eggs, (beaten); 1 yellow onion, (diced); 2 medium carrots, (diced); 1/2 cup frozen peas; 2 cloves garlic, (minced); 1 teaspoon minced ginger; 3 cups cold cooked rice; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 teaspoons Sriracha; 2 green onions, (thinly sliced)

This restaurant-style Chinese Fried Rice recipe is the best ever! It tastes even better than takeout and is ready to eat in just 15 minutes! Keep reading to learn how to make homemade fried rice with this easy, classic recipe.

You will want to add this easy fried rice recipe to your regular dinner rotation, because it is super flavorful and is ready to eat in mere minutes. It is a fast meal because it not only cooks quickly, but it also requires a very minimal amount of prep. You probably already have most of the ingredients on-hand in your kitchen too.

I bet you could make this dish in less time than it would take to get takeout. Plus, with such fantastic flavor and the fact that you know exactly what’s going into it, who needs takeout anyway? Now you can toss those takeout menus and make perfect fried rice in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Tips for Making Fried Rice

Here are a few important things I have learned over the years about how to make the best fried rice:

Use cold, cooked rice: The key to making perfect Chinese fried rice is using leftover, refrigerated rice. This is because chilled (preferably day-old) rice will separate nicely and won’t clump together in the pan. A freshly-cooked batch of warm rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in mushy clumps.
Use long-grain, white rice: It cooks up fluffy and not sticky, with individual grains remaining distinct and firm. I find that Jasmine or Basmati rice gives the best consistency, fragrance, and flavor.
Use butter: Japanese steakhouses use a big pat of butter when they’re making fried rice for good reason. Using butter (rather than oil) makes the rice brown up perfectly and just makes everything taste so much better.
Use a wok or large skillet: You want to use a pan that seems large for the amount of rice and other ingredients you are using. This allows the ingredients in the pan to heat up quickly and evenly. It also gives you plenty of room to toss everything together without anything falling out of the pan.

Chinese Fried Rice Ingredients

Okay, let’s talk ingredients. To make this homemade fried rice recipe, you will need:

Cooked, chilled rice: Make sure your rice has been cooked in advance and thoroughly chilled in the fridge in a sealed container. As I said before, freshly-cooked rice will not work well in this recipe.
Onions, carrots, peas, and green onions: This is the base mix of vegetables that I always use for fried rice, but feel free to substitute any other stir-fry vegetables you have on hand.
Garlic and ginger: Always use freshly-minced/grated for the best flavor.
Eggs: Which add a good dose of protein, as well as flavor and texture.
Soy sauce: I created this recipe using traditional soy sauce, but you can use tamari if you want this recipe to be entirely gluten-free.
Sriracha: It adds a good amount of heat without overpowering the rest of the flavors in the dish.
Butter: Again, butter just makes everything better.

How to Make Homemade Fried Rice

This recipe is prepared in stages so that everything gets cooked perfectly. To make homemade fried rice recipe, simply:

Cook the eggs: Start by scrambling up the eggs in some butter and then set them aside once they are cooked through. This is done so that they don’t overcook while the rest of the ingredients are in the pan.
Saute the veggies: Next, cook the vegetables and aromatics in the last bit of butter until tender.
Stir-fry the rice & sauces: Then add the rice, soy sauce and Sriracha and stir-fry the mixture for a couple minutes to pull all the flavors together.
Add the eggs & garnish: Finally, add back your eggs, sprinkle with some sliced green onions and you’re done!

Chinese Fried Rice Variations

There are so different ways to make fried rice, so I encourage you to experiment with other ingredients you have on hand. Here are some ideas:

Tofu Fried Rice: Drain a package of firm tofu and dice into cubes. Pan-fry and then mix it into your rice.
Pineapple Fried Rice: Canned or fresh pineapple can be traditional in Chinese or Thai fried rice. Just dice and stir it in to combine.
Kimchi Fried Rice: Kimchi adds an incredible flavor boost to fried rice. Just chop and mix it in your fried rice.
Chicken Fried Rice: Cook a couple of chicken breasts in a pan. Then shred or dice and add it to your fried rice. For a shortcut, use leftover or rotisserie chicken.
Shrimp Fried Rice: Pan-fry a pound of peeled, raw shrimp and then stir it into your fried rice.
Pork Fried Rice: Cook a boneless pork chop in a pan, then dice and add to your rice.
Beef Fried Rice: Sauté steak or brown ground beef in a pan, then crumble or dice and add to your fried rice.

More Takeout-Style Recipes to Try

Here are a few of my favorite takeout-inspired recipes on the blog:

For this Chinese Fried Rice Recipe, I recommend:

Finally, here are some tools that will make prepping the ingredients in this recipe an absolute breeze:

Ultra Chef Express Food Chopper – This is one of my most-used kitchen tools. I use mine all the time to quickly chop up vegetables. I especially love using it to dice onions, because it saves me from all the tears!
OXO Stainless Steel Scraper – I purchased a bench scraper after seeing them being used on my favorite cooking shows. It is SUCH a handy tool for scraping up and transferring chopped food from the cutting board into the pan.

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If you make this easy Chinese Fried Rice recipe, let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating ★ below, because I love hearing from you! ♡