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
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.
Ann M. says
Hi,
.
Just came across your recipe for fried rice.
It sounded like a dish my family would enjoy, however, my husband is on a very restricted sodium diet so 3tbs. of soy sauce is out of the question.
I know soy sauce is part of fried rice, but what can I use as a substitute. Probably nothing that would taste like real fried rice, I know. Thanks..
DrDan says
Hi Ann,
Welcome to the blog.
Suggestions to decrease the sodium
1) Use salt free chicken broth
2) unsalted butter
3) low sodium soy sauce and decrease the amount to 2 tablespoons.
Those changes will decrease the sodium by over half and not much change in taste.
Dan
Rachel says
This was super easy and quick. I’ve never seen your site before tonight but will definitely be utilizing it in the future. Hubby is allergic to onions, ( I love onions) so I opted for diced up sweet peppers and minced garlic. I love how tweakable this recipe is, gonna try adding diced up bacon next time! Thanks so much for the starter ideas. Love throwing stuff together from whatever is left in my cupboards!
DrDan says
Hi Rachel,
As you have seen, the core of the recipe is the minute rice, chicken broth and soy sauce. The rest is mix and match what you want.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Kellie Jo Gillett says
I've made this a few times and even my son that HATES rice, loves this. I've changed it up each time to make it my own. Beef with carrots is delicious and so is chicken with sugar snap Peas! Yummy.
DrDan says
Hi Kellie Jo,
Sorry for the late reply. I love adding some flavor to the rice. Plain white rice is just too boring.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jim says
I added a bit of garlic powder (about 1/2 teaspoon per serving) for a more Japanese flavor. Great recipe though.
Theresa Muhvich-Bertuleit says
I made this tonight and it was amazing with the pork roast
Gretchen says
Amazing quick and easy base recipe for a 1st timer making Fried Rice. Loved that I was able to change the serving size. Since I opted for the frozen peas and carrots, prior to adding the eggs I sauteed the onion with an 8 oz. bag of frozen peas and carrots and added a teaspoon of fresh minced garlic. Then added diced ham to the veggies before scrambling the eggs in. Got double thumbs up by the family. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
DrDan says
Hi Gretchen,
It is an easy recipe and it cries for modifications like you noted. A recipe is always "just guidelines" to start creating what you want out of it. I hope you inspire others.
Thanks so much for your note.
Dan
Lauren says
Great recipe! I used leftover brown rice and added some frozen peas and carrots. Kids loved it. Thanks!
Gina says
Yummy. I added leftover diced pork and a handful of frozen peas to the melting butter. Very good, quick, I ate both helpings.
Brad says
Substitute the soy sauce with oyster sauce for a less salty and sweeter flavor. Or use half soy and half oyster to add a sweet flavor kick to the soy sauce.
DrDan says
Thanks for the suggestions.
Dan
Beth says
This is easy and tastes good. I added some shredded carrot and peas in with the onion and sautéed three minutes, made a well then added the egg and scrambled. Once the egg was cooked a bit, I stirred all together. Voila!
Alonah says
It tastes really good!
Autum Clevenger says
I'm pregnant and I was craving fried rice.. I'm not disappointed!! This is really good and simple, which is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for this recipe! I added peas and corn for a little bit of extra veggies and started the onion while the chicken broth was still boiling, since I like mine cooked a little more.. it's great and I have leftovers for tomorrow :)
Eric says
I googled "quick fried rice" needing to get a dinner together in a hurry and knew I was in luck when something from this site popped up. I made a couple changes, garlic for onion since I didn't have onion and I threw in some frozen peas. I also fried some chicken in peanut oil with some tumeric to move it from 'side' to 'dinner.' The recipie worked great, pretty much as good as fried rice from regularly cooked (and refridgerated overnight) rice and it doesn't require leftovers. Will definitely be playing with this for a little while.
DrDan says
All recipes are just guidelines. This is a great one to play with.
Thanks for the note
Dan
DrDan says
Thanks for the note. I think it is very tasty for an easy side
DrDan
Alicia Clinton says
Thank you so much, this has been a wonderful addition to our monthly rotation to sausage, asian vegetables and instant brown rice. We, of course, must nearly double the recipe to feed a family, but it's great. Try the reduced sodium soy sauce plus we sort of fry our onions too. Thanks again!
Melissa McKinney says
This is a great and easy recipe and turned out great! I also added chicken and cooked frozen veggies