This quick, easy and delicious Chicken Fried Rice recipe is set to become your new favourite weeknight dinner! It’s ready in just 20 minutes and it only uses 1 pan – perfect for when you are short on time but still want to eat well. (Plus it’s only 430 calories and it packs a whopping 35 grams of protein!)
The best fried rice?
I love fried rice variations!
Why? Because fried rice is quick, easy, delicious, healthy and budget-friendly – my top 5 criteria for a truly good recipe.
Most of my recipes hit 3 or 4 of these, but fried rice hits all 5!
Over the years I have shared many fried rice variations with you, for example:
- Plain Egg Fried Rice
- Turkey Mince Fried Rice
- Beef Mince Fried Rice
- Bacon And Egg Fried Rice
- Special Fried Rice
- Singapore Fried Rice
But there has – until now – been a glaring omission: Chicken Fried Rice!
I am sorry it has taken me so long to share this recipe with you, but truly it is one of my all-time easy peasy midweek favourites, so hopefully well worth the wait.
How to make chicken fried rice
Chicken fried rice is so easy to make and takes just 20 minutes to make!
All you need to do is coat diced chicken in soy sauce and sesame oil, then fry in a hot wok for a couple of minutes. Add the cooked rice (see below for my sneaky trick) and continue stir-frying for 2 minutes.
Next, add the beaten egg in the middle and part cook/scramble the egg, then stir the part-cooked eggs into the rice/chicken mix.
Add the frozen peas and stir fry until hot, then add soy sauce, sesame oil and spring onions.
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
A sneaky shortcut…
To make this dish super quick and easy, I have a sneaky shortcut – I use microwavable pouches of rice! If you just get the plain ones, all you are buying is cooked rice, but it saves the faff of having to cook and cool rice (because you should always use cold rice to make fried rice).
**TOP TIP: break up the microwave rice by massaging it while it is still in the closed packet. This will ensure the cooked rice is beautifully separated and not in one big clump!**
However, if you prefer to cook and cool the rice yourself, that’s totally fine too! See the recipe card for instructions for both microwave rice and raw rice.
What to serve with Chicken Fried Rice?
For me, Chicken Fried Rice is a complete meal in its own right and so I don’t usually serve it with any sides.
However, if you wanted to turn this into a bigger meal, together with some of your other Chinese fakeaway favourites, you absolutely can!
Good options include:
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Special Chow Mein
- Beef Chow Mein
- Crispy Sweet Chilli Chicken
- Sesame Chicken
Crispy Sweet Chilli Chicken
What to drink with Chicken Fried Rice?
Chicken Fried Rice is very wine friendly and will go well with most white wines. Anything from Chardonnay, to Sauvignon Blanc, to more aromatic whites like Riesling.
Alternatively, this dish also works well with dry, fruity rosés.
At a push it would even work with lighter, fruitier reds too. But white wine would definitely be my first choice!
Make it your own!
This is such a flexible recipe, you can easily adapt it to what you have available in the fridge and cupboards. For example, you can…
- Use brown rice instead of white rice
- Add extra veggies, such as sweetcorn, peppers, carrots or mushrooms (instead of, or as well as, the peas)
- Use Worcestershire sauce instead of soy sauce
- Use diced chicken thigh instead of breast meat
- Throw in some bacon as well as, or instead of, the chicken pieces
- Use chicken, pork, beef or turkey mince instead of the chicken pieces
- Use cooked roast chicken, instead of raw chicken pieces – see this recipe: Leftover Chicken Fried Rice
- Add some cooked prawns in with the frozen peas
- Add some roasted peanuts or cashew nuts in at the end
(I’d love to hear about how you have adapted my recipe… Let me know in the comments section below!)
What to do with leftover Chicken Fried Rice
I don’t recommend reheating this dish, as it is not advisable to reheat rice that has already been reheated once before.
And besides, it’s so delicious, you are very unlikely to have any leftovers!
Can you freeze Chicken Fried Rice?
No, this recipe is not suitable for freezing.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Homemade Chow Mein Sauce
- Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken
- Easy Sesame Chicken
- Crispy Sweet Chilli Chicken
Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken breast chopped into bite-sized chunks (roughly 1.5cm/½inch cubes)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 500 g cooked white long grain rice (I use 2 x 250g packs microwave rice – see Note 1)
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 100 g frozen peas
- 2 spring onions (AKA scallions) sliced finely (plus extra for garnish)
Instructions
- Place the diced chicken breast, plus 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a bowl. Mix thoroughly to ensure the chicken is evenly coated.
- Heat a wok over a high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken and fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. The chicken should be nicely browned on the outside but not yet fully cooked in the middle.
- Add the cooked rice (See Note 1) and continue stir-frying for 2 minutes.
- Make a well (hole) in the centre of the rice/chicken mix and tip in the beaten eggs. Leave for 45 seconds and then stir the part-cooked eggs into the rice/chicken mix.
- Add the frozen peas and continue stir-frying for 2 more minutes or until the peas are cooked, and you are starting to get lots of lovely crispy bits!
- Stir through the remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and the sliced spring onions and turn off the heat.
- Serve scattered with more sliced spring onions.
Notes
- I use pouches of microwave rice to speed up the cooking process and make this recipe even simpler. But, if you prefer, you can use ordinary uncooked long grain white rice instead. You will need to use approximately 167g (6oz/¾ cup)
uncooked rice. Cook according to packet instructions then cool the hot rice in a sieve under cold water until it’s properly cold, and drain thoroughly. **TOP TIP: break up the microwave rice by massaging it while it is still in the closed packet. This will ensure the cooked rice is beautifully separated and not in one big clump!** - Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Chris Flavelle says
I have made fried rice previously, and though the microwave packs of rice are convenient, they also up the sodium content drastically. I also use a mix of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce
Eb Gargano says
You make a good point about microwave rice containing sodium, but the one I use does not include much salt. I tend to use either the white or the brown long grain rice from Tesco, which are 5% and 2% respectively of recommended daily sodium intake, so not too bad. Though, admittedly once you add soy and/or Worcestershire the salt content will be more like 1/3 of daily recommended level. But given most people eat 3 meals a day, that seems reasonable, so long as the rest of the meals that day don’t contain loads of salt!