Gimme Some Oven

Fried Rice

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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.

The BEST Fried Rice Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

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 Recipe

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 | Sauté onions, carrots and peas

How To Make Fried Rice | Be sure to start with cold rice

How To Make Stir Fried Rice

How To Make Fried Rice

To make this homemade fried rice recipe, simply:

  1. 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.
  2. Sauté veggies and garlic: Return your sauté pan to the heat, and sauté the onions, carrots, peas and garlic until soft and cooked through.
  3. 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.
  4. Remove pan from heat. And stir in your green onions, sesame oil, and scrambled eggs.
  5. Taste and season. Give the rice a taste, and season with salt and pepper, plus any extra soy sauce or sesame oil if needed.
  6. Serve! Then dish it up and serve nice and warm!

The BEST Fried Rice Recipe | Feel free to add chicken, beef, pork, shrimp or extra vegetables

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.
  • Quinoa Fried Rice: Here is my favorite recipe.

What To Serve With Fried Rice:

Looking for inspiration? Some of my favorite recipes to serve with fried rice include:

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The BEST Fried Rice Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

Fried Rice

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 1409 reviews
  • Author: Ali
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 -6 servings 1x

Description

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!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 2 large eggs, whisked
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and black pepper
  • 4 cups cooked and chilled rice (I prefer short-grain white rice)
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 34 tablespoons soy sauce, or more to taste
  • 2 teaspoons oyster sauce (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days.


Notes

*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.

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2,561 comments on “Fried Rice”

  1. This was absolutely Amazing! Made it as follows but added a shallot because I didn’t have enough white onion for double the recipe. My kids loved it which was a shock considering my son is soooo picky. He had two servings
    and ask if I could put some in for his lunch tomorrow. Bravo on this amazing recipe!! TY!!

  2. This is so delicious. I didn’t have any oyster sauce, Soni substituted teriyaki sauce for it. I love this, and will definitely make “too much rice,” now just so I have an excuse to make this recipe.

  3. I made this dish tonight. I made a rookie mistake, and accidentally dumped about 1/4 cup pepper in the veggies. I scooped out as much as I could leaving as much veggies as possible and rolled with it as to not waste my veg mix. The result was a super tasty and spicy, but not set you on fire spicy, fried rice. I added 1/2 cup frozen corn and 2 large celery ribs diced to the veg mix. Hubby grilled some chicken in a sweet Asian marinade, and we diced the grilled chicken and mixed with the rice. The base recipe is fantastic for a starting point to customize your fried rice. This will be a staple in my personal recipe book from now on.

  4. Is it ok if I put chilli jam in my egg fried rice?

  5. This recipe has ruined me for take out as it is WAY better. I make this everytime I make rice now so we pretty much have this at least every other week. I always make extra rice and use it the next day in this and basically clear out my fridge with leftovers and whatever vegetables I have kicking around. This time it was corn, peas (frozen), carrots, bok choi. I have thrown chicken, pork chop and shrimp in before. All so good. Super easy even my daughter will make this.

  6. So good and easy!! We loved this.

  7. Tried it, loved it. Next time I am adding shrimp. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you.

  8. This is my go to fried rice method- the butter makes it so good! Tonight we did the kimchi variation with some mushrooms and it was delicious.

  9. Oh my god .. This is the best fried rice I ever made .. And it’s also picky eating kid approved .. Thank you so much ..

  10. this was good and easy to follow. I used peanut oil vs butter to see if I liked one vs the other, and I liked the peanut oil better. High smoke point, good for frying. If I cut the broccoli and carrots up very very fine, they cooked quickly. Also I did not notice any difference between using cold rice, and rice that I took out of the freezer and defrosted in the microwave first (as I cook and freeze portions of rice always to save time). So maybe freezing has the same effect as using cold rice, but it was actually warm when I used. Adding pre-cooked tofu (which I also fry and keep in the fridge) is a good protein add. My new favorite to eat when I have a late late breakfast. I don’t use garlic, have stopped eating it and now never miss it. Thanks for the step-by-step directions.

  11. Okay . . . But how much sesame and oyster sauce, I have never used these before and have no idea how much of either to add . . . . Like per cup of rice what ratio?

  12. Great recipe!

  13. I love this recipe. I have made it so many times . However as with most recipes the. Idea that this can get completed in 15 minutes has not been my experience. It take a solid 15 minutes to gather the ingredients and prep. Cut your veggies., measure out your rice. Cook your protein of choice. But worth the time.
    I love all your recipes

  14. I like it, easy to make and tasty.

  15. We love this recipe. It’s in our regular rotation. We like to add small shrimp to it. Thanks!

  16. WOW…that sums it up. My family loves this rice…we double the eggs and onions (omit the green onions). Seriously yummy! Thank you for sharing!

  17. Super simple and delicious recipe! Takes no time at all for such a gourmet meal. Sometimes I add extra eggs or meat for some more protein or a bag of frozen broccoli for additional veggies, but recipe is perfect as is. My husband requests it all the time- we’re making it almost weekly now! Highly recommend!

  18. Easy delicious recipe!
    Very flexible
    I also added mushrooms, broccoli and water chestnuts!
    Loved it!

  19. Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have peas so I used green beans and red peppers and it came out beautiful! Popped a fried egg on top with chilli oil… My family loved it!

  20. How many cups of rice are used for the 3x of ingredients? First time making fried rice

  21. I have made this so many times, and it’s always a huge hit with family and friends!! Best fried rice EVER !

  22. Many years ago I took a Chinese Food cooking class and the only thing that finished the rice off was chinese wine but here in Canada I couldn’t find it and the instructor said dry sherry would do the same thing. Just a teaspoon to finish. Maybe now it will taste the same as your well loved restaurant fried rice.

  23. I really enjoyed following this recipe and having a final result of tasty fried rice. I added shrimp. I also froze in portions to eat later which worked without any issues!

  24. Perfect recipe for fried rice. I found that the butter and using chilled rice are what make this recipe stand out, the oyster sauce makes a difference too. I also add in thinly sliced and chopped cabbage, maybe 2 cups, but it cooks down so it’s not overwhelming. An extra egg is added too and 1 or 2 bbq’d pork chops or leftover pork roast. But this is as close to Chinese take out as one can get.

  25. I make this often and it’s a family favorite. I have 4 kids and they all love it! I pair it with grilled or baked honey soy sauce chicken thighs. Thank you for the delicious , easy to follow recipe!

  26. This is on the dinner rotation effective immediately!!

  27. Just asking, when do you use the sesame oil? It is listed on ingredients but not mentioned in the instructions … hmmmmmm

  28. Really great recipe. I used 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and maybe a little more garlic, but the other sauce ratio seemed just right. I think I added white pepper as well. I made mine with shrimp that was already cooked with sesame oil, garlic and ginger, and substituted a bag of frozen peas and carrots. Thanks for this recipe! Definitely bookmarked.

  29. Was a great easy to follow recipe and I added one more egg and removed the salt in the recipe. Enough salt in the soy sauce. Will make it again tonight and add shrimp! Can hardly wait….

  30. This was so easy and delicious! I did not have any soy sauce, so I substituted apricot sauce from our leftover apricot chicken dinner from the night before. Thank you for creating such a delicious and amazing recipe!

  31. I just made this, adding in chicken and it was delicious 😋. Thank you!!

  32. Only thing missing is MSG. A little sprinkle while cooking adds delish savory flavor.

  33. Great tips here! I also add some Chinese 5 spice, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and bean sprouts at the very end to keep them crunchy.

  34. Amazing flavor. My husband said it was great that it tasted like it looked. He liked the Asian flavor with the toasted sesame oil at the end and I added a little chili garlic paste too to kick it up notch. The butter really made a difference. I used leftover rice from a Thai restaurant and it was amazing!

  35. My kids have a shrimp allergy so I use vegetarian oyster sauce and it’s delicious! I find it at our local Asian store. Trying this recipe tonight!

  36. 5 STARS
    My kids loved it and told me to make it again
    Thanks for the recipe

  37. Absolutely delicious as a veggie fried rice. I added a small amount of red bell pepper. Yum! I added left over pork tenderloin the second time I made it, and it was to die for! Can’t wait to make it again. Thank-you!

  38. I have made three times. My husband loves. Thank you!

  39. So good. I know the oyster sauce is optional but it really does make the dish. I also added water chestnuts and ginger. So good.

  40. I goofed somewhere! My fried rice is greasy…. What did I do wrong?

  41. I made this today using leftover coconut rice, it was sooo good!! Thank you for the step by step recipe, and the pictures to go along with.

  42. I just made this today! Your recipe is the best. Plus the butter really made a huge difference😋

  43. Amazing content Guys
    I love the page already… Would want to see your kitchen on YouTube, send a link…

  44. Excellent fried rice! Exactly how I’ve always made it, except I had never used butter, what a great idea. Butter from now on. Also I make fried rice with andouille often, starting with cooking the sausage bits first. Cooks quickly, browns nicely, is economical, and I always have some in the freezer. Easy!

  45. Made this and loved it! We used four eggs for more protein (and it wasn’t too much) and did not have oyster sauce. We used jasmine rice and added broccoli chopped really small. Really enjoyed this fried rice and will definitely be making it again.

  46. SO YUMMY!

  47. Delicious and easy to make! This quickly became a family favorite. I made it according to the recipe except I used frozen diced carrots and left out the oyster sauce because I didn’t have any.

  48. This is by far the best homemade fried rice recipe I have tried. I am gluten free so I use low sodium tamari in place of the soy sauce and, wow! is this delicious!! Thank you so much for this great recipe that I follow pretty much to a T.

  49. I love this recipe. I like to add the frozen peas when I put the eggs back in the pan, at the end. I also add sliced scallions, whites with the diced onion and carrots, and the greens with the peas and eggs. If I’m using Spam for the meat, I brown it off after I scramble the eggs. Then, everyone goes back into the pool! Hubby has actually eaten enough to hurt himself!

  50. Wonderful! QUICK! I used little more butter, frozen vegs, long grain rice. Still perfect!