This quick and easy egg fried rice uses instant rice (such as Minute Rice), so there’s no need for leftover rice—just the basics for plain fried rice with egg. You can prepare it with or without vegetables or add chicken for chicken fried rice—there are many options for this simple, versatile recipe.
🍚Ingredients
Instant rice—like Minute® Rice
Chicken broth
Egg
Butter
Soy sauce
Peas and carrots—frozen and recommended
Sesame oil—optional or oyster sauce (if used as a seafood side dish)
Optional vegetables—precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, cabbage, or bell pepper. Green onion for serving.
Optional meat—Chicken, shrimp, ham, or fried pork
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Featured Comment by Jerri:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. My husband loves it!""
I often rush to make side dishes because I "forgot to plan," so I make this delicious, freshly cooked fried rice at home for my homemade Chinese dishes. Since I use instant rice cooked with less fluid, there is no need for day-old leftover rice.
I can quickly prepare this basic plain fried rice recipe by frying an egg or two while the instant rice cooks in chicken broth. It all comes together in about 10 minutes. We usually make it without vegetables, but adding the meats or vegetables you love to make it your own is easy.
Perfect to serve with General Tso Chicken, Chinese Boneless Ribs, or Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken.
👨🍳How to Make Egg Fried Rice—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Boil chicken broth and add instant rice. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes. Chop a small onion and start the next step during the 5 minutes.
2. Scramble 1 to 2 eggs in butter with the chopped onion—about 3 minutes.
3. Fluff the rice and add the rice to the egg/onion.
4. Add any optional ingredients and "Fry" for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat.
5. Done in 10 minutes.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
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😊Tips and options to make it perfect every time
Chicken broth is used instead of water to add chicken flavor to the rice. Use the amount in the recipe, not on the box.
For quick and easy chicken fried rice, add 1 cup of precooked chicken (such as rotisserie chicken) and 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.
Typically, with instant rice, the water-to-rice ratio is 1:1. This recipe uses 3:4 to make dryer rice, which was just what we needed here.
Peas and carrots are commonly added, and the frozen ones cook rapidly in boiling broth. Add them to the broth before the rice, and make sure it is back to boiling before adding the rice. If they are raw, they should be precooked.
Sesame oil adds a nice flavor but is optional if you don't have it. If you use this rice in a seafood meal, substitute oyster sauce. Add 1 teaspoon along with the soy sauce.
Additional vegetables and meat can be added, but they must be cooked hot before being added with the soy sauce, as there is no time for them to cook.
🍽️When to serve fried rice
This makes a great side dish for Chicken Stir Fry or Cashew Chicken. If you want to cook long-grain white rice, try Oven Baked Rice.
❄️How to store fried rice?
Good stored inairtight in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. You may freeze for 2 months, but there may be a texture deterioration.
❓FAQs
Instant rice has been precooked and dehydrated to cook more rapidly. Minute® Rice is a brand of instant rice.
Typically, the ratio of water to rice in instant rice is 1:1. I use a 3:4 ratio of chicken broth to instant rice, which makes dryer rice, which was just what we needed here.
One of the main ingredients, soy sauce, is made with soy and crushed wheat. So, it is loaded with gluten.
Japanese tamari is a perfect substitute for soy sauce. It is usually made with only fermented soy, but some traditional versions may have a small amount of wheat, so check the label.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Easy Egg Fried Rice in 10 Minutes
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup instant rice (Minute® Rice)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 or 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion - small diced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
Optional and recommended
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce - to replace sesame oil if used with seafood
- sliced green onion - for topping
Other optional additions—fully cooked and hot added with the soy sauce
- precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, cabbage, or bell pepper - hot
- Shrimp, ham, fried pork, or chicken - hot
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. If using frozen veggies, add them now and bring the broth back to a boil. Add the instant rice, remove it from heat, and cover for 5 minutes.
- Chop a small onion while heating 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat in a large nonstick pan. Add 1 to 2 eggs, breaking up to scramble, and add the chopped onion. Cook until the egg is done and the onion is clearing some—about 3 minutes.
- Add the rice to the egg/onion, soy sauce, and optional sesame oil. Other fully cooked hot options may be added at this point
- Cook for another 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- If your veggies are frozen, add them to the boiling broth, then bring it back to a boil and add the rice.
- All additions need to be fully cooked and added hot. A microwave can be used.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen in an airtight container for several months. If frozen, there will be some decrease in the texture of the rice.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Editor's Note: Originally Published May 14, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Amber Smith says
Made this egg fried rice tonight with your recipe for boneless Chinese spare ribs. Oh my goodness, it was delicious, we absolutely loved it! I look forward to adding a bit of shrimp or chicken to the fried rice and making it the main course. So glad I found your recipe blog. I have a small family (2 adults and a 7 year old) and your recipes are the perfect size for the 3 of us. I've made a few dishes from your blog and my family has loved them all . Looking forward to trying more of them in the future. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious, quick dinner recipes.
Thea says
This dish should not be labeled as gluten free on pinterest by the way because it is not. There is wheat in regular soy sauce. Other than that great recipe.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Thea,
Welcome to the blog. That labeling is entirely on Pinterest and bloggers have nothing to do with it.
As you probably already know, soy sauce is made with soy and crushed wheat—so it is loaded with gluten.
Japanese tamari is a perfect substitute for soy sauce. It is usually made with only fermented soy, but some traditional versions may have a small amount of wheat, so check the label.
I just added this into the recipe post.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Dan
Jerri says
This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. My husband loves it!
Sandi says
Could this be made with cauliflower rice or would it be too soggy?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Sandi,
I see a couple of issues with the cauliflower but I will start by saying I have never used cauliflower rice for anything, this is based on my understanding of what it is.
First, you don't rehydrate it like rice so the first part with the chicken broth is out. So you lost that taste.
Next, I understand that the longer you cook it, the softer it becomes, so the second part where we "fry" the dish to firm up the rice for the texture we want, it would seem to soften cauliflower rice instead.
Just my thoughts but I would say not a good choice.
Dan
Tabitha Surowiec says
So easy and so delicious! Will make many many more times! Thank you!!
Hailey says
Best fried rice recipe EVER!!!!!
Rich says
I really liked this and will certainly be making again. Didn't have broth or veggies on hand so I used water and some minced onion flakes. I used to much soy sauce (~1/4 cup)
and then I added some teriyaki sauce so it was a bit on the salty side. I will probably use low sodium soy sauce next time. It went quite well with fried chicken chunks and sweet Thai chile sauce.
Alisha Ross says
Ok, you have just made my day. I was just talking to my husband about wanting to make more things from scratch. This is awesome.
Regards
Ariel says
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!! I have crohns and love fried rice but with my diet I can't eat much fried in oil but this is amazing!! It works with my diet and actually doesn't make my stomach hurt thank you!!
Yukti Arora says
so tasty rice recipe i loved it, so keep posting.
Lina Di Marco says
Our bermese dog passed away not long ago so your dogs are lovely to look at...TY! Must one use minute rice; not a fan but did notice someone used reg rice.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Lina,
Welcome to the blog.
So sorry to hear about your Bernese. We are a "dog" house and were planning to wait a year or two after our previous golden died. But we couldn't take it more than 6 months and the doubled down with two. But they are cute.
Back to the recipe. I'm sure this recipe will work with some adjustments with regular long-grain rice. Just cook it a little dry and proceed.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Im says
When you say 1 1/2 cups minute rice are you saying 1/2 cup or 1 and 1/2?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Im,
Welcome to the blog.
This is 1 and 1/3 cup. I just changed the format of the number. I got a new recipe plugins and it has a better font so I update the look a bit.
Dan
Elizabeth Sandoval says
Great base recipe. Thanks.... I added a little of all the "scraps" I had on hand to go along with pork chops... So delicious.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Elizabeth,
Welcome to the blog and sorry for the delayed reply.
Glad is it is working well for you. When I look at this recipe, I always hope people will take it further but if I specify how, they will feel restrained. I hope people will see your comment.
Thanks for the note and rating. And again, sorry for the delayed response.
Dan
Nicole S says
Tried this tonight- thanks for sharing!!!
DrDan says
Hi Nicole,
Welcome to the blog. Thanks for the note and Happy Holidays.
Dan