In 10 minutes, you can have this easy Plain Fried Rice with Minute Rice customized to your needs and tastes to make the perfect side dish for your Chinese dinner.
No need to plan for leftover rice; use Minute Rice (instant rice) instead. It uses pantry ingredients you probably already have on hand. Add the vegetables, meats, and other ingredients you love to make it your own.
🍚Ingredients
Minute Rice
Chicken broth
Egg
Butter
Soy sauce
Peas and carrots—frozen and recommended
Optional vegetables—precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, cabbage, or bell pepper
Optional meat—Shrimp, ham, fried pork, or chicken
Optional ingredients—toasted sesame oil or oyster sauce if used as a seafood side dish
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Featured Comment from Jerri:
"5 stars—This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. My husband loves it!"
A tasty, freshly-made Chinese side dish at home. This is a basic plain fried rice recipe without vegetables, but adding the meats or vegetables you love to make it your own is easy.
👨‍🍳How to Make Plain Fried Rice
Simple everyday ingredients. Optional ingredients in the recipe card.
In a saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. If using frozen veggies, add them now and get them back to boil. Add the Minute Rice™, remove 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 the egg, break it up to scramble it, and add the onion. Cook until the egg is done and the onion is clearing—about 3 minutes.
Add the rice to the egg/onion along with soy sauce.
Add any optional ingredients and "Fry" for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat. The optional additions need to be fully cooked and added hot.
Done in 10 minutes.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
✔️Tips and Options to make it perfect for you every time
- Chicken broth is used instead of water to add some chicken flavor to the rice. Add precooked chicken and a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil for a reasonable chicken fried rice.
- Typically, with Minute 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 almost mandatory, and the frozen ones cook rapidly in boiling broth. If raw, they should be precooked.
- Additional vegetables and meats can be added but must be cooked and hot before adding since there is no time for them to cook.
- If using with seafood, add oyster sauce.
When to serve fried rice
This makes a great side dish for General Tso Chicken, Chicken Stir Fry, or Cashew Chicken. And if you want plain cooked rice, try How to Cook Rice in the Oven.
How to store fried rice?
Good stored airtight in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. You may freeze for 2 months, but there may be a texture deterioration.
How to store fried rice?
Good stored airtight in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. You may freeze for 2 months, but there may be a texture deterioration.
âť“FAQs
Minute Rice™ is a brand of instant rice that has been precooked and dehydrated to cook more rapidly.
Typically, with instant rice, the ratio of water to rice is 1:1. The model recipe was 3:4, making 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.Â
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.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
đź“– Recipe
Plain Fried Rice in 10 Minutes—Customize to Your Taste
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup Minute Rice™
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion - small diced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots - recommended
Optional additions
- precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, cabbage, or bell pepper - hot
- Shrimp, ham, fried pork, or chicken - hot
- toasted sesame oil
- oyster sauce - if used as a seafood side dish
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. If using frozen veggies, add now and get back to boil. Add the Minute Rice™, remove 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 the egg, break it up to scramble it, and add the onion. Cook until the egg is done and the onion is clearing—about 3 minutes.
- Add the rice to the egg/onion along with soy sauce.
- Add any optional ingredients and "Fry" for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat. The optional additions need to be fully cooked and added hot.
Your Own Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Â
- Optional vegetables—precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, cabbage, or bell pepper
- Optional meat—Shrimp, ham, fried pork, or chicken
- All optional vegetables and meat must be fully cooked and hot.
- Optional ingredients—toasted sesame oil or oyster sauce if used as a seafood side dish.
Pro Tips
- If your veggies are frozen, add to the broth when boiling, then bring it back to a boil and add the rice.
- 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.
- All additions need to be fully cooked and added hot. A microwave can be used.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and can be frozen in an airtight container for several months. If frozen, there will be some decrease in the texture of the rice.
- A microwave is my usual reheating method. A splash of water and a short time covered to prevent drying in the microwave. Or add to a pan and "fry" to reheat.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Inspired by Food.com Quick Chinese Fried Rice. I simplified it to make a basic recipe, added an expanded explanation, and added many optional ingredients.
Editor's Note: Originally Published May 14, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Thea
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
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