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!
Randall P.
This was such an amazing recipe! My crew loved it. I didn't have shallots so I chopped a small yellow onion very finely and it worked just fine. This truly was "better than take out" and we just loved it.
christieathome
I am so happy to read this Randall! Thank you so much for making my recipe for your crew! Glad it lives up to its name 🙂
Dale
HI: Can you tell a taste of the 1 tsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine in the recipe?
christieathome
A little bit goes a long way. If you desire, you can always add more to your liking. If you are looking to omit the ingredient because it's hard to find, feel free to.
Linda
This is a great recipe! Will definately make again and again🙂
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe Linda! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Randy Paggi
I have a hard time finding dark soy sauce, should i use oyster sauce in its place , what do you recommend.
christieathome
Feel free to use a bit more regular soy sauce to taste or use oyster sauce 🙂
Crissy
This was soooooo good! I used green onion instead of shallot and added a bit of sesame oil to the eggs before cooking them. Loved the dark soy sauce flavor! Great recipe!
christieathome
I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed this! Thanks for making my recipe Crissy!
Stacie
Best chicken fried rice I've ever made at home!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for leaving a kind review, Stacie! So glad you liked it. Have a great day!
Azalia
Just made it, waiting for the troops to come. Will definitely post reactions, we love Asian food.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe! I hope you and the troops enjoy it 🙂
D.Jay
Made this last night; it was so easy and delicious. I marinated the chicken longer than five minutes for maximum flavour penetration but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. I also prepped the rice in the morning then lined a sheet pan, spread it out and refrigerated it so it was ready and super dry before putting the recipe together. Never did this before but will from now on as the rice was nice and crisp. Will put this recipe on rotation!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe D.Jay! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed it 🙂 Glad that this dish can become part of your rotation!
Joey
Just made your dish Came out wonderful so ummy
Florencia Martinez C.
This was a quick, easy and absolutely delicious meal! I really appreciated the tips on cooking everything within the same pan to avoid dirtying more things. Loved making this on date night at home!
christieathome
Thanks Florencia! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this as well as the cooking tips. I love making everything in one pan to reduce the amount of dishes I have to wash later haha 🙂
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
How delicious... and I love that this only takes 30 minutes to prepare!
Never Ending Journeys
What a tasty chicken dish! It looks so flavorful.
Letscurry
Christie
Just yesterday I posted a chicken curry recipe. Chicken fried rice is something I have never tried before, as I have always grown up eating biryani instead. Hoping to give a try to this one sooner.
I appreciate your efforts in bringing the best.
christieathome
Thanks so much for visiting my blog! I truly appreciate your kind comment! I absolutely love biryani and I will have to give it a try one day.
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
I don't make fried rice nearly enough and this one looks so scrumptious!! I also appreciate your wisdom on thinking in the present. Wonderful advice for the current times ~ thank you!
christieathome
Thanks so much Tasia! I appreciate you taking the time to read and for your kind words on my fried rice. I hope you give it a try!
Elizabeth
Is it okay to marinate your chicken overnight? I'm going to try this recipe tomorrow.
christieathome
Absolutely! It'll make the chicken taste even better. I hope you enjoy my recipe!
Leanne
I'm pretty excited that I have everything I need to make this one! I haven't had chicken fried rice in such a long time. Might be time to make it again! Take care Christie!
christieathome
Yay! That's always a great thing. Thanks so much Leanne and I hope you enjoy it 🙂 Take care Leanne!
Sherri
This would be such a great dish for my kids! I think they would absolutely love homemade fried rice! Thanks Christie! 🙂