Fried rice is the perfect quick and easy meal.
And not only is it quick and easy, it is an inexpensive meal to make because it contains basic ingredients that almost everyone keeps in their kitchen.
It is also a healthy meal and can be made even healthier by using more vegetables and brown rice instead of white rice.
One of the things I love about fried rice is that you can vary it so much. I like to use ground pork or bacon, but you could easily use chicken for this.
We like carrots in ours, but you can add peas or other vegetables.
If I have fresh ginger I add it, if not I just use ground ginger, or leave it out all together. If you want to go meatless, add more vegetables and leave the meat out.
Really, this is a basic recipe that you can change up every time you make it.
How do you make your fried rice?
Pork Fried Rice
Fried Rice is a great way to use up leftovers.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce ( I use gluten free soy sauce)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ lb of ground pork, or ½ lb bacon chopped
- 2 carrots, shredded
- ½ cup frozen peas (optional, I do not like peas so I usually leave them out )
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Instructions
- Mix together 2 tablespoons of soy sauce with the eggs and beat well.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok.
- Add egg to pan. Swirl and scrape egg to cook, basically, you are scrambling this, but do not over cook it. You want this to error on the side of not done because you will be adding this back to the pan later on.
- Remove egg from pan and set aside.
- Return pan to stove. Add the meat and crumble and brown until meat is done. You want the pieces of meat pretty fine for this
- Drain off all but a few tablespoons of fat. If you are using a lean mean you will not have any fat to drain off.
- Add garlic, carrots, peas, and rice and cook for 3-4 or until vegetables are tender and rice is starting to brown.
- Add the egg back to the pan along with the remaining soy sauce and the rice vinegar. Let cook for 2-3 minutes more.
- Add more soy sauce to taste.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 446Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 1291mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 28g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
looks good! i’ve never made my own fried rice but have wanted to!
Remember, the biggest fried rice tip is to use old rice that has been sitting in the fridge for a day or two. Works really well, and is a great way to use up leftovers!
@Rebecca C, Yes, leftover cold rice is the best.
I found the “secret ingredient” is a few drops of sesame oil. This makes it takes just like it came from the Chinese restaurant. We like chicken breast meat in ours; I love it when I have some leftover meat I can use. My dh and I like fresh mushrooms and onions too. I’ve added broccoli before too. You are right, you can use whatever leftovers you have.
@Michele, I used to add that all the time and you are right it adds tons of flavor, but my daughter is allergic to sesame, so I no longer use it. Thank you for mentioning it though, because you are right it is a great addition and adds a lot of flavor.
We love fried rice at our house! Just made some yesterday with leftovers! I load it up with veggies-carrots, peas, red onion, garlic, cabbage, mushrooms, and celery. If I have more veggies in the fridge I add them too. We like sesame oil in ours too! If I have leftover meat, I throw it in, but usually we keep it vegetarian. Its my “clean out the fridge” dish!
@Morgan, That is one of the best things about fried rice isn’t it, you can just add basically whatever you have or want to it.
Do you buy gluten-free soy sauce? So far we haven’t been able to locate GF soy sauce. The recipe sounds really tasty tho. Any suggestions for substitutions? Thanks! Your recipes have been a great help as we discover the GF world.
@Melanie, I use either San J brand or Braggs. I miss soy sauce 🙂 neither of those are quite the same, but they do work pretty well in things like fried rice. Not all San J stuff is gluten free, so read labels but it is my favorite to use. I can find it at one local store, but I have also bought it on amazon. https://www.san-j.com here is the Braggs link also https://www.bragg.com/products/la.html I hope that helps.
Sorry I know this is late to post this but wal marts brand of soy sauce is gluten free or at least it used to be and doesn’t taste much different than kikomans especially when you are cooking with it.
This was really tasty! I wasn’t sure what my family would think since they typically don’t care for this type of food. My 1 year old wouldn’t stop eating (I used as little salt as I could) and my husband had 2 bowls. Very addicting. Will make again! Thanks for a great recipe!
La Choy Soy Sauce is gluten free.
Fried rice is one of my go to meals when my hubby has to work out of town and is staying in motels weeks at a time. Using this I can make sure he is getting his veggies with a balanced meal. I also use seasame oil and find that it gives a more authentic flavor. I take a jar and freeze the leftover veggies even if its just a spoonful it all adds up but drain the juice first for the few weeks prior then just thaw and dump in so I end up with everything from carrots to green beans sometimes even green pepper or zuchini. I also put 8-12 eggs in ours (we eat it for a week) but do like six as the scrambled eggs and then dump the rest of the egg mixture over the rice and veggies.
hi, what kind of rice you use for this recipe????!
thanks!!
I like long grain rice for fried rice.
I use any kind of meat we have leftover, bits of ham are delicious; I’ve used lamb, beef, you name it!
I don’t like peas either. I use broccoli slaw in my pork fried rice, I also use thin pork roast instead of ground. I like brown rice or Jasmine best but my family is more partial to regular white, but I do always try to make it the day before so I’m using cold rice instead of freshly made. Thank you for all the work you put into your site and my family appreciates your recipes very much.
I can’t believe I haven’t posted on here yet! This has been my go to fried rice recipe for the last few years. As per someone’s recommendation, I added some sesame sauce and we love it. Thank you for a great recipe.
I tried this recipe tonight and it was delicious! I had some boneless pork chop that I diced and used a bag of frozen mixed veggies. I had to make rice from scratch….I didn’t have any leftover. It still worked well.
Thank you for all the work you do on your site. It’s my “go to” when I don’t know what to make.
Blessings, Rhonda
I am so glad enjoyed it and I love that you used what you had to change it up!
Such a great, easy dinner! I made it the other night not expecting my teenage son to be too impressed but he had several servings and asked me to make another batch! Edamame would be a great alternative to peas. I might try that next time. I also had a bag of shredded carrots and used those and skipped the egg – we loved it!
I am so glad that you enjoyed it! That is exactly why I love fried rice. It is so easy to change it up and add what you want or have or leave out what you don’t. I love the idea of adding Edamame to it! I am going to have to try that since I am not a huge pea fan.
If u are using ground ginger when do u add it?
I would add the ginger when you add the garlic. And I think ginger would be great in this. Sorry it took so long for me to answer your question. I hope it helps.
Wow – I never do my eggs first – I need to try that next time.
I usually sautee onions and then mushrooms first and then put them aside to add back in later.
But then I always officially start with bacon (or even recipe style bacon bits) to flavor the rice. And I like to use leftover smoked pork chops (my hubs makes really good ones). I sometimes add in cooked and shelled edamame, along with the reserved cooked veggies, with some soy sauce and sesame oil – making a well, in the middle, and cooking the eggs last.
And I usually have a separate pan of cauliflower rice going for the hubs (using a special fine grated attachment for my cuisinart – that makes the texture almost like snow).