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This Chinese-inspired fried rice recipe is my absolute fave. It’s quick and easy to make, customizable with any of your favorite mix-ins, and so irresistibly delicious.
Hey friends! I’m digging back into the blog archives today to share one of my all-time favorite recipes.
My favorite homemade fried rice. ♡
Growing up, our family had a tradition of eating lunch every Saturday at our neighborhood’s favorite local Chinese restaurant. And every single Saturday for lunch, I ordered the same thing — egg drop soup and fried rice, my absolute favorites. This restaurant set the bar high for me early when it comes to how amazing fried rice could be. Theirs was always perfectly al dente with slightly crispy edges, full of rich savory flavors, and loaded up with plenty of extra veggies, eggs, and whatever protein sounded good.
After our favorite restaurant sadly closed over a decade ago, I spent years tinkering around with dozens and dozens of batches of fried rice, attempting to recreate a fried recipe that tasted as good as theirs. And while nothing will ever match the original in my book, this fried rice recipe that I’ve landed on is as close as I’ve come and has been my favorite go-to ever since. It’s surprisingly speedy to make, easy to customize with your favorite add-ins, and SO flavorful and comforting. Thousands of our readers have also made and enjoyed it over the years since. So if you’re looking for a good recipe to try, I hope you’ll enjoy it too.
Let’s make some homemade fried rice!
Fried Rice Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Tips For Making The Best Fried Rice:
Ok, let’s get right to it. Here are the important things I have learned over the years about how to make the best fried rice.
1) Use cold rice: You’ve gotta plan ahead and use thoroughly-chilled cooked rice. A fresh batch of warm (or even lukewarm) rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in soggy and sticky clumps — no good. So leftover refrigerated rice is ideal! Or, if you are in a hurry (or have an impulse craving for fried rice, which I completely understand ?), just cook up a fresh batch of rice. Then spread it out on a baking sheet or another large flat pan, drape the rice with a layer of plastic wrap, then pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes) until it is thoroughly chilled (not frozen).
2) Use butter: Yes, butter. I have made many a batch of fried rice using various oils, and I’m now convinced there’s a reason why Japanese steak houses use that big slab of butter when they’re making fried rice. It just tastes so much better, and also makes everything brown up perfectly. (Although by contrast to Japanese steak houses, we only use 3 tablespoons for a large batch of rice in this recipe.)
3) Use veggies: This is one of my big pet peeves with lame take-out fried rice — not enough veggies! In addition to adding some nice spots of color, veggies go a long way in adding some flavor and freshness to fried rice. Our local Chinese restaurant always added both white and green onions, too, which I included in this recipe. But feel free to modernize this recipe with some other delicious stir-fried veggies as well!
4) Use toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce: If you do not eat seafood, you can leave out the oyster sauce and your fried rice will still be great. But this ingredient makes such a difference in good fried rice, and a little goes a long way. So even if you’re not into oysters, don’t be scared of oyster sauce! Toasted sesame oil, on the other hand, is 100% non-negotiable. It is my favorite smelling ingredient in my kitchen, and tastes wonderful in fried rice. (Also note that sesame oil is meant as a finishing oil, not a cooking oil, so remove the pan from the heat and then stir it in.)
5) Use high heat: This will help fry and brown the rice and veggies well, and will also help prevent the rice from steaming in the pan instead of frying.
6) Let the rice brown a bit on the bottom: If you’re like me and love your rice to be a bit crispy, let it rest for a bit in between stirs so that it can brown a bit on the bottom. It also helps greatly to use a non-stick skillet so that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
7) Don’t be afraid to add in some extra soy sauce at the end: I know that everyone has different sensitivities to salt, and different brands of soy sauce also contain pretty dramatically different levels of sodium. So I went a little light on soy sauce in the recipe below. But please add more at the end if this tastes good to you. I almost always stir an extra drizzle into my portion and love it.
Homemade Fried Rice Ingredients:
Alright, so let’s talk ingredients. To make this fried rice recipe, you will need (affiliate links included):
Cooked, chilled rice: Any kind of white or brown rice will do. Just be sure that it is cooked (I always cook mine in this rice cooker, which works like a charm) and thoroughly chilled (in a sealed container in the refrigerator) before adding it to your hot skillet. Again, freshly-cooked rice will not work well in this recipe.
Eggs: Which add great flavor, texture and protein.
Carrots, onions, green onions and peas: This is the base mix of veggies that I always use for fried rice, but feel free to add in other stir-fry veggies you love (see ideas below).
Garlic: Freshly-minced.
Soy sauce: I created this recipe using low-sodium soy sauce. So add less if you’re using traditional soy sauce.
Oyster sauce: This is a major flavor booster in fried rice and (don’t worry) doesn’t taste like oysters. You can find it in the Asian section of grocery stores, or order it on Amazon.
Toasted sesame oil: The finishing touch in this recipe, which is a must. You can also find it in the Asian section of grocery stores, or order it on Amazon.
Butter: My favorite way to stir fry rice.
How To Make Fried Rice:
To make this homemade fried rice recipe, simply:
Scramble eggs: Using a small pat of butter, scramble some eggs in a large sauté pan, breaking them into small pieces as you go. Then transfer the eggs to a separate plate, and set aside.
Sauté veggies and garlic: Return your sauté pan to the heat, and sauté the onions, carrots, peas and garlic until soft and cooked through.
Stir fry rice: Then turn the burner to high heat. Scooch the veggies over to one side of the pan, melt the remaining butter in the other half, and add the chilled rice, soy sauce, and oyster sauce (if using). Then stir to combine with the veggies and continue sautéing the rice, stirring every 15-20 seconds or so for 3 minutes, or until you notice the rice and veggies starting to brown slightly.
Remove pan from heat. And stir in your green onions, sesame oil, and scrambled eggs.
Taste and season. Give the rice a taste, and season with salt and pepper, plus any extra soy sauce or sesame oil if needed.
Serve! Then dish it up and serve nice and warm!
Easy Fried Rice Variations:
The sky’s the limit when it comes to homemade fried rice variations, so feel free to get creative and use up other leftover ingredients you may happen to have on hand. That said, here are some classic add-ins:
Chicken Fried Rice: You can either sauté some chicken in a separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then shred or dice and add to your fried rice. Or for a shortcut, I like to shred a rotisserie chicken. Or even better, shred leftovers from my favorite baked chicken breasts recipe.
Pork Fried Rice: Sauté a boneless pork chop in a separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then dice and add to your rice.
Beef Fried Rice: Sauté steak or brown ground beef in a separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then crumble or dice and add to your rice.
Shrimp Fried Rice: Sauté half a pound of peeled, raw shrimp in separate sauté pan while making your fried rice. Then add the shrimp to your rice.
Vegetable Fried Rice: Any stir-fry friendly veggies would be great in fried rice! Just sauté at the same time that you cook the onions, carrots, peas and garlic. Then stir to combine with the fried rice.
Kimchi Fried Rice: Fresh kimchi adds a major flavor boost to fried rice. Just chop and stir it in to make kimchi fried rice.
Pineapple Fried Rice: Fresh pineapple can be traditional in Chinese or Thai fried rice. Just chop and stir it in to combine.
Also, in lieu of using traditional white rice in this recipe, feel free to make:
Fried Brown Rice: For a healthier twist, feel free to use cooked brown rice in this recipe instead of white rice.
Learn how to make fried rice with this classic recipe. It only takes 15 minutes to make, it’s easy to customize with your favorite add-ins, and it’s SO flavorful and delicious!
Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a large sauté pan* over medium-high heat until melted. Add egg, and cook until scrambled, stirring occasionally. Remove egg, and transfer to a separate plate.
Add an additional 1 tablespoon butter to the pan and heat until melted. Add carrots, onion, peas and garlic, and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until the onion and carrots are soft. Increase heat to high, add in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted. Immediately add the rice, green onions, soy sauce and oyster sauce (if using), and stir until combined. Continue sautéing for an additional 3 minutes to fry the rice, stirring occasionally. (I like to let the rice rest for a bit between stirs so that it can crisp up on the bottom.) Then add in the eggs and stir to combine. Remove from heat, and stir in the sesame oil until combined. Taste and season with extra soy sauce, if needed.
Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
*Sauté pan: If you happen to own a nonstick or cast-iron pan, I would recommend it for this recipe. But that said, any pan that you have can work — you may just have to be a bit more vigilant with stirring so that the rice and eggs don’t stick.
Wow! Best fried rice recipe I’ve ever used. The whole family loved it! I omitted the oyster sauce in order to make the dish vegetarian, but it was awesome nonetheless!
So good. Added pretty much whatever vegetables I had in the fridge, including tofu, ginger, red pepper, zucchini, water chestnuts. So delicious. Skipped the eggs as wanted to make it vegan. This did not disappoint. Will be making again. Thank you
Debbie Manders —
How in the world do you skip eggs from egg fried rice? What is happening here?
This is my go-to fried rice recipe. I like to vary the veggies and throw in whatever I have on-hand. I’ve begun cooking more rice than necessary and freezing the extra portion so I can put this together in a pinch when I don’t have a lot of time.
Cryatal Vadney —
I made this recipe last night & added cabbage & shrimp. It’s the best recipe!!! My boyfriend just kept raving about it! I only added cabbage because I love it. I’m going to make this again & each time that I do I’m going to use a different type of meat. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will be looking at more of yours!
My 6yo son and I made this together for dinner tonight, and it was perfect and much easier than I anticipated. I’ve had disastrous results with fried rice burning/sticking in the past, but not this one.
Delicious! My family loved this recipe. I followed the recipe as written except I added additional soy sauce and oyster sauce. Looking forward to having it again!
Thank you so much for this simple but amazing recipe. My son and I bought a home together
and divide the household tasks. Neither of us being cooks, I drew the short straw on cooking.
Finally I found a recipe where my son asks to make the dish again hahha. Thank you, I now
know the joy of cooking for the first time in my life ha.
Possibly the best fried rice I have eaten, let alone ever made. I had to tweak the recipe some due to dietary requirements and omit oyster sauce and instead of soy sauce we used liquid aminos and coconut aminos (4/1 ratio), but this is a truly excellent recipe due to the techniques of when to cook what and how long to do it. Simply: Egg (cook then remove), add veg till nearly tender, push to side, add rice and cook (I added chicken here too), then add egg back in to combine, remove from heat and add sesame oil. Absolutely use butter as suggested and use cold rice. OMGOODNESS! The best method/technique which produced simply delicious, restaurant quality (if not better!) chicken fried rice for me! Probably even better with oyster and soy sauce…!
Great recipe- we used fresh veggies: broccoli carrots snow peas,red and green bell peppers celery red and green onions and low sodium soy with half orange juice YUM! I wonder if anyone tried it with frozen cauliflower rice.
Omg!!! I have been looking for a good fried rice recipe for quite some time this is one of my new favorites. The only change I would make would be to use a wok instead of a regular pan for a more even heating
Followed the recipe except I did not add any salt or pepper and I still felt like it was too salty and I never think anything is too salty. Otherwise pretty good.
I cook the egg while the rice is frying up, I just crack two eggs into the pan and stir it up. I don’t understand why you would want to pre-cook the eggs when you have a perfectly good frying pan full of ingredients! plus the egg runs all throughout the rice this way, not just clumps.
This is my the same recipe I have been using also, with the exception of 2 steps and it’s still DELICIOUS!!!
1. We don’t use oyster sauce (noted as optional in recipe)
2. Basmati rice eliminates the possibility of mushy rice.
So good! The only things I added were frozen corn, Siracha, and a squeeze of lime at the end! I used your hack of leftover chicken breast too and added it right before the rice. I definitely agree that day old rice is best – I used some leftover rice from Chinese takeout.
OMG, dinner was almost a total bomb fest! I didn’t realize the rice was supposed to chill overnight. Even worse, I made it in my pressure cooker because of time. Big no, no. It was mush! I stuck it in the freezer to no avail. I then threw it into the air fryer and it tasted like tater tots. Lol, smh ?♀️I went ahead and threw it on the stove and went from there. By some miraculous grace from God, I somehow managed for it to come out pretty darn good! ?? I’m serving it with grilled steak, shrimp and vegetables with yum, yum sauce. It’s gonna be killer! Thanks so much!
Made this tonight with some few day old leftover calrose rice and it was great! Made it as written, and I don’t think there is a thing I would change next time. Solid fried rice recipe, thank you!
Oh my goodness, this is absolutely delicious! My family loves it and I will definitely be making this again. This is now my go-to recipe for fried rice!
Yes, this is really the best fried rice!! The measurements are perfect and everyone loved the dish when I made it yesterday…although I didn’t have any oyster sauce and everyone still raved about it, but it is something I definitely want to try next time if I remember to buy it! I have made fried rice in the past, but always guessed at the ingredients… sometimes it was perfect, sometimes I used way too much soy sauce. Will follow these ratios from now on for perfect fried rice every time!
Wow. I had about 3 cups of leftover brown rice taking up space in my fridge and this hit. the. spot! Took all my willpower to put the leftovers away instead of eating them out of the pan. I did take one shortcut and used a generous cup of frozen peas ‘n’ carrots instead of frozen peas + diced raw carrots. I thawed the veggies in a colander under cool running water, let them drain while I got everything else ready, and then patted them dry as best as I could with a paper towel before tossing them into the hot pan. I’ve tried a few fried rice recipes over the years, but this one is the best by far! A+!
Nailed it. Came out fantastic. My husband was skeptical about the oyster sauce but once he tasted the final product he said it was way better than the fried rice we get around here. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Easily my favorite fried rice recipe. I’ve made it so many times I have memorized it but I keep coming back to read it. We have had to switch to coconut aminos after finding out that soy was causing my rashes but it still has outstanding flavor!
Excellent! I hate cooking. This was easy and turned out great and, it’s something I can make with a different ingredient or two for a different taste. The consistency was spot on and it was moist w/o being greasy.
I think the butter was the key. Maybe cold rice was as far as consistency/texture but I think the butter and adding sesame oil AFTER cooking made the real difference. 8t was better than some restaurant versions I’ve had…and I never say that about anything I make. Food is just fuel but this tasted good too.
The recipe was pretty good, but honestly I wasn’t a fan of using butter. The buttery taste just felt out of place for a Chinese restaurant-style fried rice. The rest of the recipe and tips were very helpful but I’m gonna stick with cooking oil next time.
4 cups of rice just feels like so much to make at once and when I made the recipe it all came out super soggy and pretty tasteless I’m confused on how I messed it up when everyone says theirs came out so good?
This is my first occasion sending someone an E-mail as a result of their post. Besides the perfectly articulated steps and ingredients….your love for the perfect fried rice is enough to make me want to marry you……..
Man is this ever good!! Followed the recipe and added cubed chicken thighs which made a complete filling meal. Added to my favorite rotations and can’t wait to make it again. Thanks for sharing!!
I love this recipe and have made it several times both plain and with steak! The first time I made it I didn’t have toasted sesame oil just regular and it was OK but you can really taste a difference with it! I highly recommend this recipe!
Wow! Thank you for this recipe. We all enjoyed it so much. It reminds me of fried rice you would get from a Japanese Steak House. It’s SO GOOD! I will use this again and again!
Delicious!! I have never made fried rice. I would definitely make it again.
Wow! Best fried rice recipe I’ve ever used. The whole family loved it! I omitted the oyster sauce in order to make the dish vegetarian, but it was awesome nonetheless!
Excellent recipe, I made it for breakfast it was Delicious
,so I will add this to my recipe collection
Amazing!
So good. Added pretty much whatever vegetables I had in the fridge, including tofu, ginger, red pepper, zucchini, water chestnuts. So delicious. Skipped the eggs as wanted to make it vegan. This did not disappoint. Will be making again. Thank you
How in the world do you skip eggs from egg fried rice? What is happening here?
This is my go-to fried rice recipe. I like to vary the veggies and throw in whatever I have on-hand. I’ve begun cooking more rice than necessary and freezing the extra portion so I can put this together in a pinch when I don’t have a lot of time.
I made this recipe last night & added cabbage & shrimp. It’s the best recipe!!! My boyfriend just kept raving about it! I only added cabbage because I love it. I’m going to make this again & each time that I do I’m going to use a different type of meat. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I will be looking at more of yours!
Very good and tasty
is the rice ever fried without the liquid sauces so that it can crisp up?
My 6yo son and I made this together for dinner tonight, and it was perfect and much easier than I anticipated. I’ve had disastrous results with fried rice burning/sticking in the past, but not this one.
Delicious! My family loved this recipe. I followed the recipe as written except I added additional soy sauce and oyster sauce. Looking forward to having it again!
Thank you so much for this simple but amazing recipe. My son and I bought a home together
and divide the household tasks. Neither of us being cooks, I drew the short straw on cooking.
Finally I found a recipe where my son asks to make the dish again hahha. Thank you, I now
know the joy of cooking for the first time in my life ha.
Just made this rice OMG it was delicious
Possibly the best fried rice I have eaten, let alone ever made. I had to tweak the recipe some due to dietary requirements and omit oyster sauce and instead of soy sauce we used liquid aminos and coconut aminos (4/1 ratio), but this is a truly excellent recipe due to the techniques of when to cook what and how long to do it. Simply: Egg (cook then remove), add veg till nearly tender, push to side, add rice and cook (I added chicken here too), then add egg back in to combine, remove from heat and add sesame oil. Absolutely use butter as suggested and use cold rice. OMGOODNESS! The best method/technique which produced simply delicious, restaurant quality (if not better!) chicken fried rice for me! Probably even better with oyster and soy sauce…!
Great recipe- we used fresh veggies: broccoli carrots snow peas,red and green bell peppers celery red and green onions and low sodium soy with half orange juice YUM! I wonder if anyone tried it with frozen cauliflower rice.
Great recipe- wonder if anyone ever tried using frozen cauliflower rice?
Isn’t 4 cups of rice alot for these recipes? I am about to make this so exited!
Omg!!! I have been looking for a good fried rice recipe for quite some time this is one of my new favorites. The only change I would make would be to use a wok instead of a regular pan for a more even heating
Was good, not great! Disappointed actually, followed recipe. Was no where near take out quality.
Followed the recipe except I did not add any salt or pepper and I still felt like it was too salty and I never think anything is too salty. Otherwise pretty good.
I cook the egg while the rice is frying up, I just crack two eggs into the pan and stir it up. I don’t understand why you would want to pre-cook the eggs when you have a perfectly good frying pan full of ingredients! plus the egg runs all throughout the rice this way, not just clumps.
Delicious!
This is my the same recipe I have been using also, with the exception of 2 steps and it’s still DELICIOUS!!!
1. We don’t use oyster sauce (noted as optional in recipe)
2. Basmati rice eliminates the possibility of mushy rice.
So good! The only things I added were frozen corn, Siracha, and a squeeze of lime at the end! I used your hack of leftover chicken breast too and added it right before the rice. I definitely agree that day old rice is best – I used some leftover rice from Chinese takeout.
I cooked fried rice for the 1st time ever! Love this recipe, thank you! I added spam, mixed up the veggies. Endless variations!
OMG, dinner was almost a total bomb fest! I didn’t realize the rice was supposed to chill overnight. Even worse, I made it in my pressure cooker because of time. Big no, no. It was mush! I stuck it in the freezer to no avail. I then threw it into the air fryer and it tasted like tater tots. Lol, smh ?♀️I went ahead and threw it on the stove and went from there. By some miraculous grace from God, I somehow managed for it to come out pretty darn good! ?? I’m serving it with grilled steak, shrimp and vegetables with yum, yum sauce. It’s gonna be killer! Thanks so much!
Made this tonight with some few day old leftover calrose rice and it was great! Made it as written, and I don’t think there is a thing I would change next time. Solid fried rice recipe, thank you!
Oh my goodness, this is absolutely delicious! My family loves it and I will definitely be making this again. This is now my go-to recipe for fried rice!
Huge hit. I used broccoli and cauliflower and carrots and green peppers. Great way to incorporate veggies in the meal.
Yes, this is really the best fried rice!! The measurements are perfect and everyone loved the dish when I made it yesterday…although I didn’t have any oyster sauce and everyone still raved about it, but it is something I definitely want to try next time if I remember to buy it! I have made fried rice in the past, but always guessed at the ingredients… sometimes it was perfect, sometimes I used way too much soy sauce. Will follow these ratios from now on for perfect fried rice every time!
Wow. I had about 3 cups of leftover brown rice taking up space in my fridge and this hit. the. spot! Took all my willpower to put the leftovers away instead of eating them out of the pan. I did take one shortcut and used a generous cup of frozen peas ‘n’ carrots instead of frozen peas + diced raw carrots. I thawed the veggies in a colander under cool running water, let them drain while I got everything else ready, and then patted them dry as best as I could with a paper towel before tossing them into the hot pan. I’ve tried a few fried rice recipes over the years, but this one is the best by far! A+!
Nailed it. Came out fantastic. My husband was skeptical about the oyster sauce but once he tasted the final product he said it was way better than the fried rice we get around here. Definitely a keeper recipe!
I only have regular sesame oil. Can I use that or is there a substitute I can use?
Easily my favorite fried rice recipe. I’ve made it so many times I have memorized it but I keep coming back to read it. We have had to switch to coconut aminos after finding out that soy was causing my rashes but it still has outstanding flavor!
I grated my carrots. Made them cook quick.
Excellent! I hate cooking. This was easy and turned out great and, it’s something I can make with a different ingredient or two for a different taste. The consistency was spot on and it was moist w/o being greasy.
I think the butter was the key. Maybe cold rice was as far as consistency/texture but I think the butter and adding sesame oil AFTER cooking made the real difference. 8t was better than some restaurant versions I’ve had…and I never say that about anything I make. Food is just fuel but this tasted good too.
The recipe was pretty good, but honestly I wasn’t a fan of using butter. The buttery taste just felt out of place for a Chinese restaurant-style fried rice. The rest of the recipe and tips were very helpful but I’m gonna stick with cooking oil next time.
I have made this about 5 times now and can’t get enough, better than any fried rice in a restaurant, thanks for the recipe
Super!!!! Many thanks!!!
Turned out very well. First time I’ve tried a fried egg rice. Look forward to having more ingredients to get it closer to recipe.
Unreal! The oyster sauce is an excellent addition. I added mushrooms, celery, shallots, and chicken to this recipe. Everyone enjoyed seconds.
4 cups of rice just feels like so much to make at once and when I made the recipe it all came out super soggy and pretty tasteless I’m confused on how I messed it up when everyone says theirs came out so good?
This is my first occasion sending someone an E-mail as a result of their post. Besides the perfectly articulated steps and ingredients….your love for the perfect fried rice is enough to make me want to marry you……..
Man is this ever good!! Followed the recipe and added cubed chicken thighs which made a complete filling meal. Added to my favorite rotations and can’t wait to make it again. Thanks for sharing!!
Made it for the first time everybody enjoyed it as well as me ??
So, so good!!!!
I love this recipe and have made it several times both plain and with steak! The first time I made it I didn’t have toasted sesame oil just regular and it was OK but you can really taste a difference with it! I highly recommend this recipe!
I sauteed some cabbage and added it to the recipe! Absolutely delish !
Wow! Thank you for this recipe. We all enjoyed it so much. It reminds me of fried rice you would get from a Japanese Steak House. It’s SO GOOD! I will use this again and again!
Very easy, VERY GOOD!! Only one serving left! My family loved it! So did I! ???
I have been making this since end of 2016 – beginning of 2017. I like it better than the Chinese restaurants here! I refuse to try any other recipe.