Dinner in 30 · Chinese

Speedy Egg Fried Rice

Name: Speedy Egg Fried Rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: chinese
Ingredients: 4 cups (600 g) cold cooked white rice, day old, clumps broken apart; 3 large eggs; 2 tbsp neutral oil, like vegetable or canola; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1.5 cups (210 g) frozen peas and carrots; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tsp sesame oil; 3 green onions, thinly sliced

Fried rice is the fastest dinner in my rotation, 15 minutes from cold fridge to hot bowl, but it has one rule that cannot be broken: use cold, cooked rice. Day old rice from the fridge fries up into distinct grains. Fresh hot rice steams into one sad clump.

So the 15 minute clock starts with cold rice in hand. If you have leftover rice from last night, perfect, you are already there. If you do not, cook a batch ahead and chill it: spread the hot rice on a tray, get it into the fridge, and give it at least 1 hour. If you must cook rice from scratch tonight, that cooking and chilling is extra time on top of the 15 minutes, so plan for it.

It is vegetarian as written: eggs for protein and color, frozen peas and carrots straight from the bag, soy sauce, sesame oil, and green onions. Around 380 calories a serving, and cheaper than anything that arrives in a delivery box.

Jump to recipe

By the TasteBoard team. Timed in a home kitchen, with total time added up and safe temperatures checked.

Photo: @Geoffreyrabbit / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

30 min promise: 15 min total
Prep: 5 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 15 min
Servings: 4
Course: Dinner in 30
Calories, about: 380 per serving

Ready in 15 min, honestly. No hidden waiting.

Instructions

1Beat the eggs in a cup with a fork until they are uniform, and break any big clumps in the cold rice apart with your fingers.
2Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, about 1 minute.
3Pour in the eggs and scramble 45 to 60 seconds, until just set but still glossy. Slide them onto a plate.
4Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil and the garlic to the pan and stir 30 seconds, until it smells fragrant.
5Add the frozen peas and carrots straight from the freezer and stir fry 2 minutes, until they are bright and steaming.
6Add the cold rice and stir fry 3 to 4 minutes, breaking any remaining clumps with your spatula, until every grain is hot and some grains crackle against the pan.
7Pour the soy sauce and sesame oil around the edge of the pan and stir 1 minute, scraping up anything stuck.
8Return the eggs, break them into small bits with the spatula, add the green onions, and stir 30 seconds. Serve hot.

Tap a step to mark it done, saved on this device only. Timer buttons count down right here and beep when time is up.

Why you will love it

15 minutes once the cold rice is waiting in the fridge.
Cheaper than takeout and done before the delivery guy would show up.
Vegetarian, with the eggs doing the protein work, about 11 grams a serving.
One pan, and it turns leftovers into something nobody complains about.
Kid friendly: soft, salty, no heat, nothing to pick around.

Tips

Cool leftover rice fast: spread it thin on a tray and get it in the fridge within 1 hour. Rice left sitting out overnight is not safe to fry, no matter how good the story sounds.
Break the rice clumps apart before the pan, not in it. Wet fingers make this a 10 second job.
Keep the heat at medium high or higher. A shy pan steams rice instead of frying it.
Add the soy sauce at the end, after the rice toasts. Sauce too early means soggy grains.

Swaps and variations

Gluten free: swap the soy sauce for the same amount of tamari. What changes: nothing you can taste in the final bowl, and the dish becomes gluten free.
Not a vegetarian night: add 8 oz (225 g) of raw peeled shrimp in step 5 and cook until they turn opaque and curl, about 2 minutes, before adding the rice. What changes: it stops being vegetarian, obviously, and becomes a heartier dinner.
Brown rice instead of white: use the same 4 cups, day old. What changes: a nuttier, chewier bowl and slightly more fiber.
Extra veg: add 1 cup of corn or diced carrot with the frozen mix. What changes: sweeter bites and another minute in step 5.

What to serve

It is honestly a whole meal on its own, which is half the point.
A cold cucumber salad with vinegar and a pinch of sugar, five minutes of work, fresh against the salty rice.
Hot sauce or chili crisp on the table, so everyone seasons their own bowl.

Storage and reheating

Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, cooled within an hour of cooking. Reheat in a hot skillet for 2 to 3 minutes with a tiny splash of water and a lid for the first minute, until the rice is steaming hot and reaches 165 F (74 C). You can freeze it flat in a bag up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the fridge. Honest note: reheated fried rice comes back softer than fresh, so try to cook what you will eat the same day.

Calories shown are an estimate from standard ingredients, not medical advice. Brands and amounts change the number.

Questions cooks actually ask

Can I use freshly cooked rice?

Honest answer: no, not straight from the pot. Hot rice steams and clumps instead of frying. If you are desperate, spread hot rice on a sheet pan and chill it in the freezer for 20 minutes, then finish it in the fridge, and it will be workable, but still slightly softer than true day old rice.

Is this gluten free?

Not as written, because soy sauce contains wheat. Swap in tamari, same amount, and it is gluten free, that swap is in the variations too.

Why is my fried rice soggy?

Three usual reasons: the rice was warm, the pan was crowded so everything steamed, or the sauce went in before the rice had time to toast. Cold rice, a hot pan, and soy sauce at the end fix all three.

Can I add more vegetables?

Yes, if they cook fast and do not flood the pan. Corn, mushrooms, and snap peas all work. Zucchini is a watery no, it weeps into the rice and you end up back at soggy.

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Speedy Egg Fried Rice

Instructions

Why you will love it

Tips

Swaps and variations

What to serve

Storage and reheating

Questions cooks actually ask

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