An easy, quick and family friendly meal, Leftover Chicken and Egg Fried Rice is perfect for a busy weeknight and a great way to use up your roast chicken leftovers…No leftover chicken? No problem. Read on to find out how to ‘create’ some leftovers…
Hands up who loves a good chicken roast dinner? Me, me, me!! It’s definitely one of my favourites…especially my latest favourite Greek Roast Chicken or my ever popular Classic Roast Chicken with Homemade Gravy.
But inevitably with a roast chicken there’s always some leftovers (especially if you are like me and deliberately create some leftovers!) and then there’s the dilemma of what to make with it.
Of course you could make chicken sandwiches or have cold meat and salad…but if you want to try something a bit more interesting, why not give my Leftover Chicken and Egg Fried Rice a go?
This recipe makes good use of leftovers, turning them into a really easy, family friendly weeknight dinner.
What’s more, by using a pack of ready prepared rice and easy veggies (hardly any chopping!), it’s quick too – this recipe takes just 15 minutes from start to finish – perfect for when time is tight, but you still want to eat well.
No leftover chicken? No problem – simply pan fry two chicken breasts for about 6-7 minutes on each side on a medium heat, leave to rest for 5 minutes, shred using a couple of forks and then continue with the recipe below.
To make this meal a little healthier I have used brown rice, but it will work just as well if you use white rice.
I have used pre-cooked rice to make this dish really quick and easy, but if you prefer to cook your own rice, do that first – you will need about 170g uncooked rice to produce 500g cooked rice.
When you have cooked your rice, you must cool it down first before starting this recipe – warm rice will not work as well! I find the quickest way to do this is to drain my cooked rice in a sieve and then run the cold tap over it until it is cool.
Finally I leave it to sit over the pan it cooked in until it has dried out a little bit. Alternatively leave your rice to cool to room temperature, then put it in a plastic box in the fridge until you need it.
This recipe will also work really well with leftover pork, ham, bacon or pre-cooked prawns. Alternatively, to make a vegetarian version, you could use tofu or Quorn chicken pieces. This recipe is naturally dairy free and if you make sure you use gluten free soy sauce (tamari), it is gluten free too.
Or, if you fancy a more unusual twist, why not try my Chinese Style Lamb Fried Rice?
Need more ideas for your roast chicken leftovers?
Need more inspiration? Check out my collection of easy leftover chicken recipes >>
Leftover Chicken and Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive, rapeseed or coconut oil
- 300-500 g leftover chicken shredded
- 500 g pre-cooked brown rice
- 100 g frozen peas
- 100 g frozen sweetcorn
- 1 red pepper diced
- 4 spring onions sliced finely (plus 2 extra for garnish)
- 3 cloves garlic crushed or grated
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or GF tamari)
Instructions
- Put 2 tablespoons olive, rapeseed or coconut oil in a large frying pan or wok and heat over a medium-high heat for 1 minute.
- Add the cooked rice, shredded chicken, frozen peas, frozen sweetcorn, red pepper and spring onions. Stir fry 3-4 minutes, until everything is warmed through and the frozen veg is no longer frozen.
- Add the garlic and stir fry for 1 more minute.
- Meanwhile crack the eggs into a large mug or small jug and whisk together lightly with a fork. Make a well in the middle of the rice mixture and pour in the eggs – cook for 30 seconds, then mix the rice mixture and eggs together.
- Continue frying for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, until you start to get some nice crispy brown bits. Pour in the soy sauce and sesame oil and fry for 1 more minute.
- Serve scattered with a few extra spring onions. Put the bottles of soy sauce and sesame oil on the table for everyone to help themselves to extra, if needed.
Video
Notes
Need more ideas? Check out these 12 Easy Leftover Roast Chicken Recipes
Love chicken? Check out my collection of Easy Chicken Dinners…
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I love fried rice and this tastes absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jhuls – me too! Such delicious flavours…and so easy! Eb x
This looks so colourful and tasty. I’m always looking for new ways to use up leftover chicken and this looks great x
Thanks Cat – I have quite a few on my site and another coming on Thursday. You are definitely not the only one…my chicken leftovers recipes are always super popular! Eb x
I love fried rice. It’s so versatile, you can change it up and use whichever veggies and protein you have. I was actually planning to make fried rice tonight for dinner. Love that you added sesame oil. I always add it to mine too, it makes such a difference.
It’s so good, isn’t it? One of my favourites for busy evenings. And yes, I always add sesame oil – you only need a little bit, but it makes such a difference! Thanks for your kind words. Eb x
Hi, Eb! I saw this recipe over on #CookBlogShare and just HAD to check it out. Leftover chicken is a frequent commodity in my house. I’m especially fond of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery: I can turn them into four—and sometimes five—meals! I also frequently have leftover rice, which lends itself very well to fried rice dishes. However, I love your idea of using the little packets of rice that you can just pop into the microwave to save time. These flavors sound so fresh and delicious together!
Thanks Michelle! I’m impressed with your chicken stretching skills…yes this is a great meal if you also happen to have some leftover cooked rice, but I don’t often, so those little packets are brilliant for cutting down the cutting time. If you keep a couple in your cupboards and have eggs in your fridge, egg fried rice is never far away…perfect when your dinner plans fall through or you need to get something on the table fast!! Eb x
I haven’t made my own egg fried rice for ages! This is definitely something I need to try out on Master Spice for lunch one day. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Oh it’s so good…and goes down so well with the kids too – you definitely need to try it out on Master Spice! Eb x
perfect mid week fast dinner for a night when we have had a club after school. I love how few ingredients it contains and how easy it is to make. To be honest with you, I could go one step easier and use the Uncle Ben’s egg fried rice LOL! BUT making your own egg friend rice is much tastier of course xx
Thanks Jenny – yes, it’s the perfect after clubs recipe, isn’t it? I have a have a stock of this kind of recipe as my kids do loads of clubs!! Well yes you could use the pre-made egg fried rice…but I am the sort of girl who likes to cook from scratch…I love little cheats like pre-cooked grains…but prefer the taste and ingredients list of my own egg fried rice…and it hardly takes any more time or effort!! Eb x
How Easy Peasy is that? 😉 Great recipe Eb and fantastic option for those hectic mid-week evenings when we need something on the table pronto. I love egg fried rice and knowing exactly what you put in it is great. Love it! x
Very!! I try to make all my recipes easy, but this one is especially so! Yes I agree, this is such a fab option for busy weeknights…and a fab one if your dinner plans fall through too! Eb x
Like you I always make sure i have left over chicken to make another meal out of. Often its risotto but this would make a lovely change next time. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare
Oooh, yes risotto is another fab leftover chicken meal…and also for leftover ham! Yummy!! I try very hard when I am making a roast to ensure there is lots left over…and a leftovers meal planned the next day. Leftovers meals are the best! Eb x
This looks so tasty Eb.A wonderful mid week meal if only my son would eat a few veggies!!Right up my street xx
Thanks Jenny – these veggies are very small and inoffensive…could you not just sneak a few in??? I am so lucky my kids are actually quite good with veggies…I think it’s having a slightly maverick food blogger as a mum…they are just grateful it’s peas and sweetcorn not romanesco and kholrabi!! Eb x
I love a good leftovers meal and this looks delicious xx
Thanks Kirsty – me too! 😀 Eb x
Egg fried rice reminds me of my childhood so much. During the summer holidays, my mum would take me to work with her and most days, we’d have Vietnamese food for lunch, egg fried rice always one of the things we’d eat. I do love your idea of adding leftover chicken and making it a one pot dish, you clever lady! Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
Haha – you know me, on my days off from being the Traybake Queen and the 30 Minute Meals Queen I like to be the One Pot Queen 😉 I love that your mum gave you Vietnamese food for lunch! Jealous much!! A typical lunch for me growing up was a marmite sandwich and a piece of fruit. Needless to say, my lunches these days are somewhat different! Eb x
I’m making a version of this tonight with a few spices! Thanks for the inspiration Eb 🙂
Yay! I love the idea of adding in spices too. I hope you loved it as much as we do 😀 Eb x
I made this last night, and it was delicious, but I would make a few changes. The already cooked chicken and already cooked rice had the most time on the heat, and therefore came out over cooked and a bit dry (chicken was moist when we first had it). I would sauté and heat through the frozen veggies first, then add the chicken and rice. Warm that through then continue with the egg, etc. as in your recipe.
Hi Gina, Thanks so much for your comment – I’m really pleased you found it delicious 🙂 And I am sorry you found the rice and chicken a little overdone. 🙁 I must confess with rice and chicken my first priority is to ensure nobody gets food poisoning! So perhaps when I write recipes I am a little over cautious in that regard. And also I like my rice really crispy when I make egg fried rice which is why I tend to cook it a little longer and over a reasonably high heat – I just love those little crispy bits!! But we all have different tastes, hey? I’m glad you’ve come up with a good solution on how to improve it for your tastes (and quite probably a bunch of other people too)…I’d love to know how that works out! Thanks again for taking the time to comment and let me know how it went…it really means a lot. Eb 🙂
Thanks EB, thank you for the cooking guidance. Even though I am a Horticulturist, I’m not the best cook in the world. I can just grow the stuff, and I think that’s good enough!
I had left overs from a Costco chicken, followed the basic rules of your recipe and and had a wonderful, flavorful dinner tonight and plenty for tomorrow.
Thank you for giving me direction.
Cynthia
Thanks so much for this lovely comment Cynthia! I am delighted to be able to help you out. I am the opposite. I am good at cooking, but HOPELESS at growing things. I kill everything I try to grow. I’m so bad I’ve given up – lucky we have shops or I’d starve!! Eb 🙂
CAN YOU PLEASE say HOW MANY CUPS of COOKED RICE in the USA IS EQUIVALENT to the “500 GRAMS” you list in the Ingredients?! SO FRUSTRATING! Sorry! PLEASE CLARIFY!
Hi there – the answer is 2½ cups! If you notice just below the ingredient list I include an easy toggle between the UK/European metric system and the US customary measurements – all you need to do is click ‘US customary’ and you’ll get all the measurements in the system you prefer. I’m still working through my recipes to get the all done, but I’ve done over half my recipes now! Hope you like the feature. Eb 🙂
My friend has just come back from touring Asia for 6 months where she got to love chicken fried rice, even having it for breakfast. I could see she was missing it so googled for recipes and came across yours. I liked the fact that this recipe contains some lovely colourful vegetables, soy sauce and sesame oil to add to the flavour.
It was excellent and she loved it. I did too and will definitely be keeping the recipe and making it again. Thank you.
Thanks for this lovely comment, Mike. I’m so pleased you and your friend liked this so much! Eb 🙂
Another great new recipe. A hit with my boys, who hate rice dishes but loved this meal, as did my hubby. I pre-cooked the rice first, whizzed up a mix of veggies and added grilled salmon instead of chicken. Leftovers for lunch tomorrow too! Thanks again
Yay – oh that’s fab. I love it when my recipes go down so well with kids who don’t normally like one of the ingredients. That’s a big WIN! Love the sound of your adaptations too. Eb 🙂
I don’t buy precooked packet rice. Would you suggest that I cook my own rice. Firstly how much dried rice should I cook and secondly should I chill it for the recipe or use it hot freshly cooked ?
Hi Susan, yes you can absolutely cook your own rice for this recipe. You will need 200g (7oz / 1 cup) uncooked rice. Cook according to packet instructions and then, yes – you will need to chill the rice until it is completely cold (which is why I suggest precooked rice in the recipe – I normally cook my own rice too, but in this recipe it means you need to think ahead a bit). Once cold, you can follow the recipe as written. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂