Looking for fast fried rice with Minute® Rice—no leftover rice needed? This quick version is ready in about 10 minutes using a hot skillet and pantry staples. Make it plain, with egg, or fully loaded with chicken, shrimp, or veggies—it’s completely flexible.
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Featured Comment by Jerri:
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"This dish has made it into our regular meal rotation. My husband loves it!"
🍳 Minute Rice Fried Rice – Recipe Summary
What it is: Fast skillet fried rice made with Minute® Rice—no leftover rice required.
Why you’ll love it: Ready in about 10 minutes and endlessly flexible: add egg, skip egg, no veggies, or load it up.
How to make it: Cook the rice in broth, scramble egg (optional), stir in soy sauce and extras, then fry until lightly browned.
Jump to the Recipe Card or continue to read for details and options.
🍚 Ingredients for Egg Fried Rice with Minute Rice
You only need a handful of simple ingredients—no leftover rice required.
🥚 Main Ingredients
- Instant rice – Minute® Rice or similar. No day-old rice needed.
- Chicken broth – Adds flavor over plain water.
- Eggs – One or two, your choice. Skip for plain fried rice without egg.
- Butter – For cooking the eggs and onion (oil works too).
- Onion – A small one, diced.
- Soy sauce – Classic fried rice flavor.
🥕 Optional Add-Ins
- Frozen peas and carrots – Traditional, but totally optional.
- Sesame oil – Boosts flavor with just a teaspoon.
- Oyster sauce – Swap in if serving with seafood.
- Green onion – Nice on top.
🍗 Optional Proteins & Vegetables (Precooked & 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 perfectly with just egg and rice.
👨🍳 How to Make Fried Rice with Minute Rice
This is a quick overview, not the full recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for complete instructions and exact measurements.
1. Cook the rice
Boil chicken broth, stir in Minute® Rice (slightly less liquid than the box), remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes.
2. Sauté onion & scramble egg
While the rice rests, sauté diced onion in butter, then scramble in the egg just until barely set.
✅ 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 and egg
Fluff the rice and stir it into the onion/egg mixture with soy sauce. Add sesame oil (optional) or other hot, precooked extras if you like.
✅ Pro Tip: Want plain fried rice without vegetables? Just skip the add-ins.
You can also skip the egg for totally plain fried rice.
4. Fry until lightly browned
Stir-fry everything for 3–4 minutes over medium-high heat, letting it sit briefly between stirring to pick up some color.
✅ Pro Tip: A little browning means more flavor—don’t rush the fry.
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😊 Tips for Minute Rice Fried Rice
Minute Rice fried rice is endlessly adaptable—keep it plain, leave out the vegetables, skip the egg, or load it up with extras.
- Minute Rice fried rice is endlessly adaptable—keep it plain, leave out the vegetables, skip the egg, or load it up with extras.
- Use less liquid than the box: For the best stir-fry texture, cook 1 cup of broth with 1⅓ cups of rice so it stays drier and fries better.
- Keep all add-ins hot: Meat or vegetables should be fully cooked and warmed before adding so the pan stays hot.
- Microwave frozen vegetables first: Peas and carrots work great, but heat them before adding—don’t cook them from raw here.
- Make it a meal: Stir in hot, precooked chicken, shrimp, pork, or ham for an easy fried rice dinner.
- Seafood flavor swap: Oyster sauce is a great alternative to sesame oil when serving with shrimp or fish.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This fried rice can stand on its own—just egg and rice as a quick side dish—or you can add chicken, shrimp, or ham. Or serve it with your favorite Chinese-style mains 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
Yes! Just cook Minute® Rice in broth, scramble an egg (or skip it), then stir-fry with soy sauce and any add-ins. No leftover rice needed—this shortcut version is ready in 10 minutes.
Yes. Just leave out the vegetables and continue with the recipe. Minute® Rice fries up well on its own with soy sauce, onion, and egg—or skip the egg for completely plain fried rice.
Yes. Just skip the egg and continue with the recipe as written. Minute® Rice still fries well, and the soy sauce and onion give plenty of flavor. Add chicken, ham, veggies—or keep it totally plain.
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, using 1 cup broth to 1⅓ cups rice gives the best stir-fry texture.
Traditional soy sauce contains gluten from fermented wheat. Use Japanese tamari as a substitute—it’s usually made without wheat, but always check the label. Also check broths and sauces to be sure.
📖The Recipe Card
Egg Fried Rice with Minute Rice (Quick & Easy, 10 Minutes)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup instant rice (Minute® Rice)
- 1–2 eggs
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion (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. Add soy sauce, sesame oil (optional), and any hot, fully cooked extras like 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