This is the best Chicken Fried Rice made with leftover rice! It features seasoned fluffy rice fried with juicy chicken, eggs, vegetables, aromatics. This quick and easy fried rice recipe serves well as a main course, side dish for meal prep for the whole family. It'll also save you money from buying Chinese takeout!
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My version of chicken fried rice features jasmine rice, marinated chicken, fluffy eggs, peas, carrots, shallots, garlic tossed in a savory sauce!
It's very similar to the kind that you'll find at the Chinese restaurant and if you own a steel wok, this is to your advantage as it'll create that smoky flavor! But if you don't own one, don't worry, a large pan will work too.
I’m a huge fan of fried rice as it's such a comforting dish that brings a lot of childhood nostalgia for me. Whenever my parents didn’t know what to cook for us on busy weeknights, it would be this because we'd use up any leftover ingredients and it was a fast meal to feed a large family.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Cold Day-old Jasmine Rice: Or substitute with any cooked leftover rice like long grain white rice or brown rice. Day-old rice is the key to making a great fried rice. If you've made fresh rice for this recipe, read below on how to dry it out.
How to dry out hot rice for this recipe?
Lay it out on a sheet pan in a single layer, pop it into the freezer exposed for 60 minutes to dry out the moisture. Then break up the cold rice with clean hands with a bit of neutral oil on them to prevent sticking.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: or substitute with chicken breasts.
- Shallot: or substitute with onions
- Garlic
- Carrot
- Frozen Peas
- Eggs
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils.
Chicken marinade
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Shaoxing Cooking Wine: or sub with Dry Sherry Wine if you can't find Chinese cooking wine. If you're looking for a non-alcoholic version, feel free to omit completely.
- Cornstarch: this helps lock in the moisture in the chicken.
- Neutral oil: This adds moisture to your chicken and also makes them slippery so when they fall into your hot pan, they won't stick together.
Sauce
- Regular soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Toasted sesame oil: or substitute with sesame seeds. Omit if you're allergic.
- Chicken bouillon powder: it gives extra depth of flavor as it contains some msg.
- White pepper: or sub with black pepper
Expert Tips
Here are some expert tips and tricks to restaurant-quality fried rice:
- Use a carbon steel wok for optional smoky flavor. When you use a steel wok, you can create “wok hei” or in Chinese translation “breathe of wok" which is the smoke you see when the oil hits a hot wok. This smoky taste is the "secret ingredient" in most Chinese takeout. Don't worry a normal pan will work but you just won't get that "smoky" taste but this recipe is just as delicious without it!
- Use cold day-old rice and avoid using hot rice. Day-old cold rice will ensure a fluffier fried rice with separated grains. If you use hot or warm rice, it will create a soggy fried rice due to the excess moisture. I share a hack to drying out freshly-made rice under "Ingredients".
- Break up the rice. This exposes the surface area of each grain allowing it to be seasoned and toasted better in the wok.
- Pour the sauce mixture along the edges of the pan. When the soy sauce mixture hits the hot steel work, it "toasts" the sauce creating extra umami flavor!
- Marinate the chicken. By marinating the chicken you'll have tender chicken that will stay moist.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make chicken fried rice:
Marinate Chicken
Marinate your sliced chicken with Chicken Marinate ingredients as listed above for 5 minutes. Set aside.
Make Sauce
In a small bowl, pre-mix sauce ingredients as listed. Set aside.
Fry & Remove Chicken
In a hot wok or large skillet on medium-high heat, add 1 teaspoon oil. Once oil is hot, fry chicken until fully cooked. Remove and set aside.
Sauté Aromatics & Vegetables
Add 1 teaspoon of oil and stir fry garlic and shallots for 10 seconds or until softened. Quickly add peas and carrots and fry for another 10 seconds or until softened. Sweep everything to the side of the wok.
Scramble Eggs
Add 1 teaspoon of oil into empty space of wok. Pour in eggs and scramble them into bite-sized pieces before mixing with ingredients in wok. Push everything to the side of the pan.
Toss in Rice & Chicken
Add remaining oil along with cooked rice into empty space. Then toss with ingredients. Toss back in chicken.
Add Sauce & Toss!
Pour sauce around your rice along the edges of the wok (the heat + sauce creates more flavor on the bottom of the pan vs. pouring on top of rice). Mix until all rice granules are colored brown. Remove off heat. Serve and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot.
- Freezer friendly? I wouldn't recommend freezing chicken fried rice for prolonged periods because the freezer air changes the texture of the rice to become very hard.
FAQ
Yes, feel free to substitute or add any veggies with low water content, such as bell peppers, broccoli, snap or snow peas, cauliflower, or edamame.
I recommend serving chicken fried rice with Chinese takeout dishes such as Mongolian Chicken, Honey Sesame Chicken, Chinese garlic green beans, or Garlic Bok Choy.
This recipe is pretty versatile and you can substitute the chicken with shrimp, pork, beef or even tofu.
Other Fried Rice recipes you may like!
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Chinese Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups cooked jasmine rice day old, see Notes for amount of uncooked rice
- ½ lb skinless boneless chicken thighs thinly sliced
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup carrot finely diced
- ½ cup peas frozen
- 3 eggs beaten
- 4 teaspoon vegetable oil or any neutral tasting oil
Chicken marinade:
- 1 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing Cooking Wine or sub with Dry Sherry Wine
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (aka chicken stock powder)
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper or sub with black pepper
Instructions
- Marinate your sliced chicken with Chicken Marinate ingredients as listed above for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, pre-mix Sauce ingredients as listed above. Set aside.
- In a hot wok set on medium high heat, add 1 teaspoon oil. Once oil is hot, fry chicken until fully cooked. Remove and set aside.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil and fry garlic and shallots for 10 seconds or until softened. Quickly add peas and carrots and fry for another 10 seconds or until softened. Push everything to the side of the wok.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil into empty space of wok. Pour in eggs and scramble before mixing with ingredients in wok.
- Add remaining oil along with rice and toss with ingredients. Toss back in chicken.
- Pour sauce around your rice along the edges of the wok (the heat + sauce creates more flavour vs. pouring on top of rice). Mix until all rice granules are coloured brown. Remove off heat. Serve and enjoy!
GraceD
Excellent recipe … Did not have dark soy so I used extra regular soy.
Christie Lai
Amazing! Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing your positive experience here! Glad the regular soy sauce worked out for you, Grace 🙂
Dawn Brewster
Cannot wait to try this
Can you do a list on the various seasonings and spices one can use , I absolutely want to be able to make a variety of dishes, I purchased a wok and am in the process of getting the seasonings and spices I will need, Oils and soy sauces
Christie Lai
Enjoy! I will consider creating an Asian pantry list blog post in the future.
Ashley
I make this a few times a month, it my favorite!!
Christie Lai
Woo hoo! That's awesome to hear. Thanks so much for making it often and for posting a positive review!
Jordan
Absolutely delicious!!!
Christie Lai
Woo hoo! Happy you enjoyed it Jordan and thanks for making my recipes! Appreciate the support.
Monica
Hi! Can I use the frozen cube carrots they have at the store instead of the fresh carrot?
Christie Lai
Hi Monica, yes that will work fine!
Bill
Very good recipe. I make it all the time.
Christie Lai
So glad you liked it! Thank you so much for making it.
Jen
This was so good that my family finished it all and this never happens with my cooking.
Christie Lai
Haha so glad you all liked it! Thank you so much for making it.
Bob Ko
I have made this at least 5 times. It is easy, it is delicious. I do not make any other recipe when I want chicken fried rice. Everyone likes it.
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for the very kind review, Bob! Very happy to read this and glad it's your favorite chicken fried rice recipe! Have a wonderful day!
Jill
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it turned out great both times. The chicken bouillon makes the dish so flavorful. I do add a bit extra soy sauce and sriracha for heat.
Christie Lai
Amazing! Thank you so much for making my recipe, Jill! I'm so glad you enjoyed it both times with the extra seasoning and heat 🙂
Barbara
Delicious recipe!
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making it!
Amelia
This recipe is the only 1 use, family loves it.
Christie Lai
I am so thrilled to read this, thank you so much for making it Amelia! Glad the family loves it!
sofia
hello!! im making this tonigjt and yesterday i went to three stores and couldnt find dark soy sauce 🙁 can i just use more of the regular? thank you!!
Christie Lai
Hi Sofia, sorry for the delayed reply. Yes, feel free to add more regular soy sauce to taste. Avoid substituting 1:1 for the dark soy sauce.
Jd
Everything seems so easy for u when u cook, I really enjoy watching u when u cook
Steven Steinbrecher
EXCELLENT flavor and pretty easy to make!!!!!
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Steven! So happy you enjoyed it and found it easy to make!
Merlene Beckford
Excellent recipes. Specifically love the Chinese chicken fried rice 🍚
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for sharing this kind review!!
Raj
Easy to follow, delicious results.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Raj! So happy that you enjoyed it 🙂