If you’ve got Minute® Rice and 10 minutes, you’ve got fried rice. No takeout, no day-old rice—just a hot skillet, a scrambled egg, and a shortcut to a fast dinner.
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Featured Comment by Jerri:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. My husband loves it!"
😊 Why You’ll Love This Minute Rice Fried Rice Recipe
- No leftovers needed: Uses Minute® Rice—no day-old rice or pre-cooked ingredients required.
- Quick and easy: Ready in 10 minutes, all in one pan.
- Actually fried: Real stir-fry flavor, not a microwave shortcut.
- Pantry-friendly: Made with broth, eggs, soy sauce, and optional frozen veggies.
- Customizable: Great plain with no vegetables, or add chicken, shrimp, or other precooked extras.
🍚 Ingredients for Minute Rice Fried Rice
You only need a handful of basic ingredients for this quick fried rice recipe—and no leftover rice or vegetables are required.
✅ What You Need
- Instant rice – Minute® Rice or similar. No chilling, no day-old rice.
- Chicken broth – More flavor than water.
- Eggs – One or two, your call.
- Butter – For the eggs and onion. Oil works too.
- Onion – A small one, diced.
- Soy sauce – Classic flavor.
🥕 Optional Add-Ins
- Frozen peas and carrots – Traditional, but totally optional.
- Sesame oil – Adds great flavor with just a teaspoon.
- Oyster sauce – Swap in if serving with seafood.
- Green onion – Nice on top.
🍗 Optional Proteins and Vegetables (Precooked and Hot)
- Chicken, shrimp, ham, or diced pork
- Bell pepper, broccoli, cabbage, snow peas, etc.
✅ Pro Tip: Want plain fried rice without vegetables? Skip the peas and carrots—this recipe works great without them.
👨🍳Quick Overview: Minute Rice Fried Rice
1. Cook the rice in broth
Boil chicken broth, stir in Minute® Rice, remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes. The broth adds flavor and keeps things simple—no leftover rice needed.
2. Sauté the onion and scramble the eggs
While the rice rests, chop the onion. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for a minute or two, then add the eggs and scramble until just set—about 3 minutes total.
✅ Pro Tip: If you're using frozen or fresh vegetables, microwave them so they’re hot when added—this isn’t the time to cook them from raw.
3. Combine rice, eggs, and add-ins
Fluff the rice and stir it into the egg/onion mixture. Add sesame oil (optional) or any hot, fully cooked extras like chicken, shrimp, or vegetables.
4. Fry the rice until slightly browned
Keep everything moving as you stir-fry for 3–4 minutes over medium-high heat. Let it sit briefly between stirs to get some browning—it adds flavor.
✅ Pro Tip: A little color means better flavor. Don’t rush the fry.
👇For complete step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card or keep reading for tips, flavor options, and serving ideas.
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😊 Tips for Perfect Minute Rice Fried Rice
- Use less broth than the box says. A 3:4 ratio of broth to rice (instead of 1:1) makes a drier, more stir-fry-friendly rice.
- All add-ins must be hot and ready. Any meat or vegetables should be fully cooked and warmed before mixing in. This is fried rice, not a stew—it moves fast.
- Microwave your veggies. Frozen peas and carrots are great here, but make sure they’re hot before adding—no time to cook them in the pan.
- Add precooked chicken for a full meal. Stir in 1 cup of hot, shredded rotisserie chicken and 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil for easy chicken fried rice.
- Oyster sauce works great with seafood. Sub in 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce for sesame oil if serving with shrimp or other seafood.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This fried rice can stand on its own—just add precooked chicken, shrimp, or ham. Or serve it as a quick side with your favorite Chinese-style main dishes like:
❄️ Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container for 3–4 days.
- Freeze: Freeze for up to 2 months, but the texture may soften when thawed.
- Reheat: Microwave in short bursts or reheat in a skillet with a splash of water or broth to loosen it up.
❓FAQs
Instant rice (like Minute® Rice) has been fully cooked and then dehydrated, so it cooks much faster at home. You just add hot liquid and let it sit. For this recipe, a 3:4 ratio of chicken broth to rice creates a slightly drier texture that works better for stir-frying.
Traditional soy sauce contains gluten from fermented wheat. Use Japanese tamari as a substitute—it's usually made without wheat, but check the label to be sure. Always check labels on all ingredients, especially broths and sauces.
📖The Recipe Card with Step-by-Step Instructions
Minute Rice Fried Rice (Quick & Easy)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup instant rice (Minute® Rice)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 or 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion - small diced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 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
- precooked bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, snow peas, or cabbage - hot
- Precooked Shrimp, ham, fried pork, or chicken - hot
Step-by-Step Instructions
Cook the rice in broth
- Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the instant rice, remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes. If using frozen vegetables, microwave them now.
Sauté the onion and scramble the eggs
- While the rice rests, chop the onion. In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for 1–2 minutes, then add eggs and scramble until just set—about 3 minutes total.
Combine rice, eggs, and add-ins
- Fluff the rice and stir it into the egg/onion mixture, soy sauce, and sesame oil (optional). Also add any hot, fully cooked extras, such as chicken, shrimp, or vegetables.
Fry the rice until slightly browned
- Stir and fry over medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes. Let it sit briefly between stirs to get a little browning—it adds flavor.
Recipe Notes
Tips
- Microwave frozen veggies so they’re hot before adding—no time to cook them in the pan.
- All add-ins must be fully cooked and hot when added.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
- Freeze for up to 2 months, but the texture may soften.
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