This homemade chicken fried rice is a real crowd pleaser, and it’s so easy to make. When you make this easy chicken fried rice, it goes fast!
This homemade chicken fried rice is just like take out – but at home! Packed with all the delicious flavors that we love from our favorite Chinese food joint, this easy chicken fried rice recipe is overflowing with flavor, and it’s a simple dish without a ton of ingredients or steps. It doesn’t get better than that!
I love this authentic chicken fried rice recipe. It’s one of those meals that once I start eating it, I literally can’t stop. (We all know that feeling, right?) The combination of rice and chicken pairs just about as perfect as peanut butter and caramel and it’s just such a filling and hearty meal.
I used to always order this fried rice recipe for takeout and delivery but then one day I realized I could easily make it at home. And dare I say that I like the flavor and taste of this one better?!
The ease of this recipe makes it fun and delicious to make. It’s easy to do. It’s not stressful at all, and it literally tastes just like it came from the restaurant. You can have a delicious meal for a fraction of the cost AND have enough left over for leftovers as well.
Get ready to make this all the time – because you will!
The History of Fried Rice
I’ve always loved food, and now I’m fascinated by the history of it. One day, when I was eating, I thought, “I wonder who thought this up?” And that’s when I started to become interested in the history of the foods I was eating. That’s why I want to share a brief history of fried rice with all of you today.
The earliest record of fried comes from the Sui Dynasty from 589-618 CE. Although the earliest record of fried rice is from that time period, the stir-fry technique used to fry rice only became widely popular later in the late Ming Dynasty from 1368-1644 CE.
Like so many foods that we all enjoy today, fried rice is believed by food historians to have started out as a way to use up leftover food. The southern Chinese usually prefer their rice plain and used as a base eaten with meat and vegetables. To conserve food from the day before that was still good but not very fresh, vegetables, meat, and rice were used to make a hot meal of fried rice.
This method of cooking allowed people to use up food that was past its prime but not so bad that it would have to be fed to the animals. To achieve better flavor while cooking with less than fresh ingredients, soy sauce, lard, and garlic were used to help both add flavor and mask the fact that the individual ingredients were at the end of their lifespan.
Like so many other recipes, fried rice has undergone many changes since its early days. Although traditional fried rice is still served up in almost every Chinese restaurant, there are many variations that can be purchased. Today, you can find American, Japanese, Indonesian, and even Latina American versions of fried rice.
Homemade Chicken Fried Rice
This delicious easy chicken fried rice recipe is simple to make, which means it stays true to the tradition of the original simple fried rice.
It’s packed with all the ingredients we know and love in our fried rice like chicken, peas, carrots, eggs, and soy sauce, and it comes together quickly and easily.
Ingredients
As you can see from the list of needed ingredients, this chicken fried rice recipe isn’t hard to make at all. In fact, you can easily find all of the ingredients below at your grocery store. Just gather them up and get started and you’ll be eating good in no time at all.
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 cups small diced boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup matchstick carrots
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 scallions or green onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 cups cooked and cooled brown or white rice, leftover rice works too
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, optional
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Options
- 1 cup frozen vegetables may substitute if needed for carrots and peas
- season with salt and pepper to taste
How To Make Chicken Fried Rice
The steps to make this simple chicken and rice recipe can be found below! I promise you it’s a breeze! As you’ll see in the following steps, I’m not kidding when I say this is an easy recipe. It takes next to no time at all, and it’s very straightforward. It’s one of the easiest Chinese dishes to make at home that you’ll ever try.
Heat up the skillet
Place a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ¼th of the oil and once hot, add the chicken and brown it until cooked through about 5 minutes. Place the cooked chicken on a plate and set it aside.
Add in the veggies
In the same skillet, add another ¼ of the oil. Once hot, add the carrots, peas, and scallions and sauté until slightly softened and stir fried, 1-2 minutes, place them onto the plate with the cooked chicken.
Cook and scramble the eggs
Add another ¼th of the oil to the skillet and add eggs to the pan and scramble until just cooked through about 1-2 minutes. Place the eggs on the plate with the cooked chicken and veggies.
Finish up the rice in the skillet
Place the skillet back onto the hot burner. Add the remaining oil. Add the cooked rice to the skillet and press it down with the back of a spatula. Let the rice slightly crisp and char for about 1 minute, then toss it to mix and fluff the rice. Add the cooked chicken, veggies, and egg back to the pan and toss to combine.
Add in the extra sauces as desired
Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce if using, and sesame oil. Mix until everything is coated in the sauce. Taste and add more soy sauce if needed.
That’s all there is to it! This entire recipe is basically just a matter of adding ingredients one at a time and cooking them until you achieve that classic fried rice flavor we love.
You’re going to love this recipe!
Tips for Making Homemade Chicken Fried Rice
While you’ll find this chicken fried rice recipe super simple, there are a few tips that can change up things easily if you want! With just a few tweaks, you’ll be able to put a little twist on the recipe to keep things from getting stale. Of course, this recipe is so good, you’ll have to eat a lot of it before that happens!
- This rice is made more in the traditional way, using soy sauce as the salt and no pepper. If you want to add salt and pepper on your own, go for it! It’s really up to you how you get that salty added flavor. Some people also like to use Liquid Aminos as it’s a great way to add a salty taste without going overboard on the sodium.
- Dark soy sauce gives a lovely depth of flavor to the rice plus a pretty darker color than other fried rice recipes. You can normally find it at your local Asian grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can substitute more soy sauce in the same amount.
Can you add other ingredients to this easy chicken fried rice recipe?
You bet! This great recipe is the perfect base to add in any and all veggies that you want. You can even add leftover veggies from the night before to give them a new life. I love adding in onions, water chestnuts, and fresh cilantro, too.
Plus, you can easily change up the meat to be beef or pork as well. The options for this rice recipe are really, really easy!
Storing and Reheating Homemade Chicken Fried Rice
This easy chicken fried rice will keep will in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s just as good on the first day as it is the last if you know how to reheat it.
Isn’t it amazing how fast rice “dries” out and becomes hard? So many people think that it means it’s no good and they just throw it in the trash. This is so wrong – stop doing that! You can easily reheat it in the microwave or put it back in the skillet to bring it back to life. I would also suggest adding in a bit of stock or water to give it a bit of moisture.
Ways to Spice up Your Rice
The great thing about this simpler rice recipe is that you can easily add in more spices and tastes. The more that you can increase the flavor, the more that you can make it just how you want.
I highly recommend that you make the recipe as directed and then have each person “doctor” it up in their own bowl. That way it’s perfect for everyone to eat and then change up their own individual portion.
If you like this simple fried rice recipe with chicken, check out some of my other favorite easy dinners as well!
Try This Homemade Chicken Fried Rice for Yourself
If you love take out as much as my family does, you need to give this homemade chicken fried rice a try. This easy chicken fried rice only takes a few ingredients, and it comes together so quickly. And the best part is that it’s not salty or full of MSG, so people on restricted diets or who get migraines from MSG can enjoy it, as well.
With a recipe this delicious and this easy, there’s no reason not to give it a try. Whip up a batch and watch your family devour it. It’s that good!
More Simple Rice Dinner Recipes
If all of this rice talk has you hungry for even more rice recipes check out the links below. They’re all so delicious.
- Instant Pot Cheesy Broccoli Rice
- Best Greek Rice Salad
- Red Red Rice
- Easy Sausage, Pepper and Rice Skillet
- Easy Slow Cooker Taco Chicken and Rice
Homemade Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 2 cups small diced boneless skinless chicken breast
- ½ cup matchstick carrots
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 cups cooked and cooled rice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, optional
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Get out and measure your ingredients.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ¼th of the oil and once hot, add the chicken and brown it until cooked through about 5 minutes. Place the cooked chicken on a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet, add another ¼th of the oil. Once hot, add the carrots, peas, and scallions and saute until slightly softened, 1-2 minutes, place them onto the plate with the cooked chicken.
- Add another ¼th of the oil to the skillet and add the eggs to the pan and scramble until just cooked through about 1-2 minutes.
- Place the eggs on the plate with the cooked chicken and veggies.
- Place the skillet back onto the hot burner. Add the remaining oil. Add the cooked rice to the skillet and press it down with the back of a spatula. Let the rice slightly crisp and char for about 1 minute, then toss it to mix and fluff the rice.
- Add the cooked chicken, veggies, and egg back to the pan and toss to combine.
- Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce if using, and sesame oil.
- Mix until everything is coated in the sauce. Taste and add more soy sauce if needed.
- Serve.
- Enjoy every bite.
Notes
- This rice is made more in the traditional way, using soy sauce as the salt and no pepper. If you want to add salt and pepper on your own, go for it!
- Dark soy sauce gives a lovely depth of flavor to the rice plus the pretty darker color than other fried rice recipes. You can normally find it at your local Asian grocery store. If you can’t find it, you can substitute more soy sauce in the same amount.
- This is a fantastic base recipe to add whatever leftover veggies or protein you have on hand.
- To reheat, you can do so in the microwave or add it back to a skillet. I suggest adding a little stock while reheating as the rice can tend to dry out in the fridge.
Leave a Reply