Chicken fried rice is a super fast and easy one-pot dish that is perfect for a satisfying meal. Especially when you have limited ingredients in your pantry and too little time to cook. All you need is some leftover rice, frozen veggies, chicken pieces and pantry staples. I’ll show you how to get the rice to that crispy fried texture and how to get your chicken nice and juicy, with a savory, slightly sweet sauce.
Chicken fried rice ingredients
Day-old rice
When it comes to fried rice, the older the rice, the better the result. For “day-old” rice, it means leftover rice that has been refrigerated or even frozen (and thawed) for at least a day or longer. When the rice stays in the fridge for days, the grains lose moisture and become drier. So they will separate easily and create a crispier result for fried rice.
Marinate the chicken
Spending five minutes marinating the chicken goes a long way. The soy sauce and the wine give the chicken an extra rich flavor. And the cornstarch keeps the meat tender. It takes no time to put the marinade together, and you can let the chicken marinate while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Mise en place
When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:
- Sliced green onion: It add aroma and a natural sweetness to your rice.
- Mixed sauce: It contains soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper – a simple brown sauce that is rich and fragrant.
- Marinated chicken: The wine and salt add flavor, and the cornstarch keeps the chicken juicy and tender.
- Beaten eggs: Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt, to build flavor.
- Mixed vegetables: I used frozen. You can use fresh or blanched veggies as well.
- Day-old rice: I prefer to use Jasmine rice due to the fragrance. Other long grain rice or medium grain rice works well too.
For the rice, you should use your hand or a fork to gently fluff it while you measuring it, so the grains will separate fully during the cooking.
How to cook
- Spread the chicken in the pan in a single layer, pan fry until golden brown. It’s very important to take out the chicken and add them back later, so they don’t over cook.
- Saute the green onion with a generous amount of oil to release fragrance.
- Add the rice and toast it thoroughly. Add more oil if needed. This is the important step to toast the rice, so they won’t taste soggy later.
- Pour in the sauce and mix well.
- Move the rice to one side of the pan so you can cook the veggies faster.
- Mix everything together and move it to one side of the pan, so you can use the other side to scramble the eggs. When cooking the eggs, I prefer to cook until most of the bottom is set, then mix the rice onto the top. This way, you will have some rice that coat with the eggs, and still have nice bits of eggs for texture.
- Stir together everything and chop the eggs into smaller bits. Add back the chicken and give it a final toss.
What pan to use
You don’t need a wok to make amazing restaurant-quality chicken fried rice, either. I dived into how to set up a stir-fry station in the past. Long story short, it’s totally possible (sometimes even better) to use a large skillet to make your chicken fried rice. The key is to keep your pan hot all the time and toast the rice long enough to crisp it up. You can use a nonstick, cast iron, or carbon steel pan. If you use a cast iron or carbon steel pan, you might need to use more oil to prevent the rice from sticking to the pan.
How to serve chicken fried rice
With my tips, you’ll turn some simple ingredients into a memorable and satisfying dish. Make this chicken fried rice your main dish or serve it as a side along with one of my other tasty Chinese recipes. You can also make a big batch of chicken fried rice and refrigerate or freeze it in smaller portions as meal prep.
Make takeout-at-home with these recipes:
- Egg Drop Soup
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Black Pepper Steak
- 4-Ingredient Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry
- Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Frequently asked questions
How can I make my fried rice darker?
To make your rice dark brown, add 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce into the sauce. If not available, replace the sugar in the sauce with 1 teaspoon molasses.
What other vegetables can I use in my fried rice?
Almost any types of vegetables works well in fried rice, if you chop them into small size (so it’s consistent with the chicken). If using tender greens such as spinach and baby bok choy (diced), cook like indicated in the recipe. If using harder greens such as carrots and onions, cook the vegetables until al dente before adding the rice.
Why my fried rice is soggy?
There are a few factors that can cause soggy rice in fried rice:
- Use short grain rice: short grain rice is starchier than medium and long grain rice. They tend to stick together more even if it’s day-old.
- The rice contain too much water when it’s steamed: if you used too much water when cooking the rice, it will be hard to brown the rice later on.
To avoid soggy rice, you can use slightly less water than usual when you make the steamed rice. Before cooking the fried rice, fluffy it first. If the grains already stick together and hard to separate, then it will be hard to toast the rice during cooking. When cooking the rice, make sure to use a generous amount of oil, and cook them long enough so it’s properly toasted.
More delicious fried rice recipes
- Soy Sauce Fried Rice
- Leftover Ham Fried Rice with Pineapple
- 15-Minute Pork Fried Rice
- Easy Beef Fried Rice
- 3-Ingredient Egg Fried Rice
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Chicken Fried Rice (鸡肉炒饭)
Ingredients
- 8 oz chicken thighs (or chicken breast) , cut into 1/2” (1 cm) pieces
Marinade:
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing Wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (*Footnote 1)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (or black pepper)
Rice:
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil (*Footnote 2)
- 4 green onions , sliced (or 1/2 small onion, diced)
- 4 cups cold day-old rice (*Footnote 3)
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 3 eggs , beaten
Instructions
- Combine the chicken with the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Mix until the chicken is evenly coated. Let marinate while preparing the other ingredients.
- In another bowl, combine the sauce ingredients and mix well.
- Use your fingers or a fork to separate any clumps of rice before cooking.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over high heat in a large skillet until hot. Spread the marinated chicken into a single layer in the pan. Cook without moving until the bottom turns golden, 2 minutes or so. Flip to cook the other side until golden, another 2 minutes. Stir a few times, then transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil and the green onions. Cook and stir to release the fragrance, 30 seconds or so. (*Footnote 4)
- Add the rice and turn to medium-high heat. Stir to separate the grains and coat the grains evenly with the oil. Let the rice toast, stirring occasionally, until the rice appears dried and crispy, 5 minutes or so. Turn to medium heat if the pan gets too hot.
- Pour in the sauce. Stir and cook until the rice is evenly coated.
- Move the rice to one side of the pan. Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the other side and then the frozen vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are fully thawed and the excess moisture is cooked off, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir everything together and move everything to one side of the pan again.
- Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the empty side of the pan and pour in the beaten eggs. Cook until the bottom is set. Stir a few times to scramble it, then stir it together with the rice.
- Add the cooked chicken back into the pan. Stir everything together.
- Serve hot as a main or side dish.
Notes
- You can add 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce to add color to the rice.
- If your chicken has excess fat you can trim it off and render the fat over very low heat. You can use this rendered fat to replace some, or even all, of the cooking oil in this recipe (depending on how much you get) for some added chicken flavor and richness.
- Rice that has been stored in the fridge or in the freezer works best. It will be less sticky and the grains will separate more easily, which creates better fried rice.
- If you use onion instead of green onion, cook until the onion softens and the edge is lightly caramelized, 3 to 4 minutes.
- To make this dish gluten-free: use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine, and use tamari to replace soy sauce. Make sure to pick an oyster sauce that is gluten-free.
Nutrition
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Serafina
Great recipe. I used fresh veggies cut small or sliced thin (cabbage, celery, and carrots) in addition to frozen peas. Otherwise followed recipe to a t. My entire family, including my picky daughter, enjoyed it.
Novellian
Excellent recipe!
Brian F
This is my wife’s favorite fried rice. I augment it a little bit by reducing the amount of white pepper. 1/4 tsp overpowers some of the other flavors. I also add some white onions with the green onions. I also add broccoli flowerets.
One thing to note – don’t mix the eggs into the rice too soon, otherwise it’ll become an emulsifier, and the rice gets sticky and gives an inconsistent texture.
Don’t skip the tip about using extra chicken fat in place of the peanut oil. I actually go out of my way to buy fattier thighs and render it down and then pick out the pieces that “cook”. It makes this an even more succulent Chinese meal.
Jill
Easy to follow recipe. Just added some hot sauce and it was really good
Miss Tanya
This is a wonderful and tasty recipe. We absolutely love all the flavors. I made this a few time and have also added salmon and shrimp to the recipe. It’s so much fun to make in my large wok. Thank you very much, I appreciate you sharing this recipe with others!
Gauri
This recipe was authentic and easy to make. My family loved it! Thank you!