Vegetable Fried Rice is a quick and easy meal that you can make with just a handful of simple ingredients. It’s a great way to use leftover rice.
Ever had it where you make too much rice and nobody wants to eat it up? Maybe it was a little dry and overcooked. Maybe you just made way too much. Maybe you don’t have anything great to go with it.
I get that. I’ve been there. Plenty of times.
Nowadays, though? I look forward to leftover rice. I even make extra rice just so we can have leftovers. Not because I want to eat dry, day-old rice, but because I can make fried rice. This Vegetable Fried Rice, to be specific.
Fried rice is just one of those gifts to the home cook. Like French toast and croutons, it comes from humble beginnings, but it tastes amazing. And has you wishing you had more leftovers to use up.
Ingredients for fried rice
- Leftover rice – This is key! You need rice that’s cold, otherwise it will just clump together as it cooks and get mushy.
- Vegetables – We used frozen stir fry veggies so this came together quickly.
- Soy sauce – This is what gives fried rice its flavor.
- Sesame oil – This can be a bit pricey but a little goes a long way!
- Water – This is used in making the fried rice sauce.
- Sugar – You are going to add a little to the “sauce”, but you could also use honey if you want or another sweetener of choice.
- Egg – We love adding a little scrambled egg to our fried rice.
How to make fried rice the right way
This Vegetable Fried Rice comes together in about 20 minutes. Since you’ve cooked and chilled the rice the night before, all you need to do is add some oil, seasonings, frozen vegetables, and an egg or two.
Now that you can buy cooked rice in the freezer section of the store (yes, really!) you can keep the fixings for this dish on hand all the time. You can also freeze extra cooked rice until you’re ready to make Fried Rice.
Use frozen veggies to make this come together quickly!
For these pictures I used a Kroger “stir-fry starter package” that contained broccoli, sugar snap peans, green beans, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, and red peppers. You can use whatever vegetables you like, just make sure they don’t have any sauce.
It doesn’t hurt to have a bag of frozen potstickers on hand, too. Make your own dipping sauce, and you’re golden.
Can I add chicken?
You definitely can! Use cooked chicken and simply toss it in for a quick hearty weeknight meal. Or use other protein as well, like leftover turkey
Vegetable Fried Rice comes together so quickly and easily, it could easily be a regular meal in your rotation or a simple side dish.
Storing leftovers
Promptly store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
To make as a freezer meal kit: Place the cold rice in a ziptop freezer bag. Combine the water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in a small ziptop bag. Place the two bags in a larger, labeled bag along with the bag of vegetables. Store in the freezer. When ready to serve, allow the sauce packet to thaw before assembling according to the recipe directions.
Tools I use to make this EASY
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Vegetable Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon neutral oil
- 3 cup cold, cooked rice
- 1 12-ounce package frozen stir-fry vegetables no need to thaw
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- pinch granulated sugar
- 2 egg beaten
Instructions
- In a large skillet over high heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the rice and cook, stirring, breaking up any clumps. You want to “fry” each grain in the oil so that it’s its own separate entity, about five minutes.
- Add the vegetables and cook, stirring for another 10 minutes, until the vegetables are hot.
- In a small bowl combine the water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Add this mixture to the pan. Cook, stirring for 1 more minute.
- In the same bowl, beat the eggs. Push the rice mixture to the side of the pan and cook the eggs, stirring to scramble. Once scrambled, fold the eggs into the rice. Serve hot.
Becky
The is the best fried rice recipe ever and I’ve tried a lot of different recipes! I didn’t have any leftover cooked rice so I cooked some jasmine rice, and then spread out the cooked rice on a tray and put the tray in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool it quickly. That worked perfectly. Your instructions were spot on, and our fried rice wasn’t soggy for the first time, thanks!!
Pat
I made this yesterday with all leftovers and peas from the freezer. It turned out amazing. I used some sesame oil with the rice and it turned out really well.
Jessica Fisher
Good to know. This is definitely a great recipe for leftovers.
Julia
I made this tonight along with your teriyaki chicken, not skewered but on my griddle in high and it was so great! My daughter is on an elimination diet and her taste buds have changed since, causing her to not like much meat. So, since this was great lean protein and she loved it, it’s being added into our rotation! Woo!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! It’s so hard to be on different diets. I’m so glad it was a WIN for you!
Mary
I’d love to make this but I can’t cook rice. Everytime I try, my rice is either burned or crunchy. Do you have any how to videos?
Jessica Fisher
I do in one of my courses. I’ll have to see about writing a post about this. Do you have my first GCE cookbook? I list my favorite stovetop recipe in there.
michael
Use carolina basmati,cooks easy
Mary J
This sounds so easy to make and I love fried rice but I am kind of confused as far as the rice goes. On the recipe it says 3 cups COOKED rice then per direction you said to make sure all the grains are cooked in the oil. Do we use a fully cooked rice OR do we use the one that is not cooked yet? Please advise. Thank you and thanks for the easy recipe.
Jessica Fisher
I mean fried in the oil. Sorry for the confusion. The rice is already cooked and cooled, and you will fry/reheat in the oil.
Katie C.
I also meant to say that you can freeze cooked rice too. Just look at the stuff Trader Joe’s sells. It microwaves up fine.
Jessica Fisher
Yes! I do this all the time when I want to buy myself some time.
Katie C.
You are right. It’s SO easy. I thought it was one of those best kept secrets when I first made it. Also, I like to add a hit of the garlic hot sauce. It adds a little zing!
Jessica Fisher
Not everyone in my house likes spicy, so add sriracha after the fact. 😉
Connie
I love fried rice! I always looked forward to it when my mom would make it to use up the odds and ends from leftovers dinners, especially since my dad liked his rice every meal to be cooked fresh but my family couldn’t afford to be throwing away any food. Fried rice was the go-to dish!
Kirstin
I love fried rice. Do you mean sesame seeds or sesame oil? When is it used in the recipe?
Jessica Fisher
Thank you so much for asking! I typed this up first thing this am from my scribbled notes and obviously wasn’t fully awake. I’ve edited it to show the corrections.