This super simple recipe for chicken fried rice is the perfect family friendly meal to get on the table quickly with minimal fuss on those busy weeknights. With simple ingredients, this dish is sure to be a frequent addition to your menu. Thanks to the chicken, this fried rice is perfect to serve on it’s own as a main meal.
Let me start by saying that this is not an authentic, replicate your favourite Chinese takeaway dish at home kind of recipe. This is a, I need an easy but still tasty meal on the table that my family will love, kind of recipe.
The flavours we are using are simple. The ingredients should be common to most households and you should feel really confident to give this recipe a go no matter how confident you are in the kitchen.
This chicken fried rice is a staple recipe in my house. While I do make everything you see on my site, this recipe has probably been made close to the most times. I started making it back when I was at uni and needed recipes that stretched cheaper ingredients further and over time I’ve refined the recipe to what you have here today.
I first published this recipe back in 2017, but thought it was time the post got a facelift with new photos but the recipe itself hasn’t changed a bit. It’s simple but still so good.
Honestly I love it every single time I make it.
By adding chicken, this fried rice recipe becomes a perfect main meal on it’s own but you can certainly serve it as a side if you wanted. I also think this would be a great option to take to a potluck dinner or family gathering over the holidays.
Ingredients for chicken fried rice
You’ll only need 7 ingredients to make this easy fried rice for dinner, most of which shouldn’t require a special trip to the grocery store.
- White rice – I simply use regular long grain white rice.
- Chicken – I always use thigh for this recipe as it’s so tender and has a lot more flavour.
- Garlic – To flavour the chicken and give our dish a strong flavour base.
- Soy sauce – This is going to flavour our rice.
- Eggs – To make our omelette. There is a lot going on with this fried rice so I recommend cooking the egg separately first as written in this recipe, that way you get nice pieces of egg in each bite.
- Bacon – I like to use good quality streaky bacon for maximum flavour and crispness to add texture to the rice. Just be careful of spitting when frying it off! You can also substitute ham here as well.
- Vegetables – I use a combination of frozen carrots, corn and peas which you can buy in the freezer section of the supermarket saving prep time. But this recipe is pretty forgiving so use whatever vegetables you have.
How to make fried rice
To make this recipe you’ll ideally need a ricer cooker (this will save time cooking the rice but you can just use any method you prefer for this step), a medium sized frying pan and a wok if you have one.
The key to make this recipe really simple is to prep and organise all of the ingredients before you start cooking.
For the best results, you should cook your rice the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight to dry out, however I don’t usually have this foresight so I make it the same day. The result is just a bit softer fried rice which to be honest, I have no issues with.
So the first thing you need to do is put on your rice. I use my rice cooker and I usually do this as early in the evening as possible so it’s cooked and ready to go by the time I want to make dinner.
Chop up your chicken and bacon. Set the bacon aside and add the chicken to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and the crushed garlic. Mix together and set aside while you do the next couple of steps. This is going to make sure we have really tender, flavourful chicken in this rice.
Start by making your omelette. Whisk together the eggs with a little bit of water and add to a hot frying pan that’s been lightly sprayed with cooking oil (you want the flat bottom to make this easier otherwise we’d just use the wok). Spread the egg out so it evenly covers the base of the pan and reduce the heat. Let the omelette cook until the top has set and then gently place an egg flipper under the middle of the omelette and flip over. This may take some practise to not break but the good news is that it honestly doesn’t matter if you break the omelette as we’re going to cut it up anyway.
Cook for another minute on that side before removing from the pan onto a chopping board and slicing up.
In the pan you just cooked the omelette, add the diced bacon. Cook until crispy and then remove the bacon from the pan and let the excess fat drain from the pan. You can see how much fat comes out of the streaky bacon I use in my photo so we want to make sure we drain it otherwise our fried rice will taste oily.
Now, you can continue to use a large frying pan here, otherwise heat the wok on high with some canola oil. Add the chicken that’s been marinating and cook through. Add in your frozen vegetables and cook for another minute or two until they are soft.
Add the sliced omelette, cooked bacon and cooked rice to the wok with the remaining soy sauce and start to mix through. You want to toss the rice, bringing the bottom to the top to ensure that all rice is evenly mixed through and you don’t get any burned bits on the bottom.
The rice will be done when it’s starting to look brown from the soy sauce and the pan (you don’t want any white grains left).
Recipe FAQs
Yes! I love this recipe to make and then reheat later. It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t change the flavour or texture at all by doing so. If I’m serving it on the same day, I’ll keep it in the wok and then just put it back on the stove and give it another mix up to heat through.
You could simply leave out the chicken and bacon for a vegetarian option and increase the amount of vegetables, however to make vegan you’ll also need to omit the egg which will leave this recipe a bit plain. Instead, I’d suggest making my turmeric fried rice.
Yes! This chicken fried rice stores really well in both the fridge and the freezer making it a great option for meal prep. In an airtight container it will last up to 3 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer. Just make sure to reheat only once and do so until steaming due to the chicken and the rice.
More easy dinner ideas:
Easy Pressure Cooker Mushroom Risotto
Honey Soy Chicken
15 Minute Garlic Prawn Noodles
Dairy-Free Butter Chicken
Vegan Mac and Cheese
Creamy Salmon Tagliatelle (Dairy-Free)
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 cups white rice
- 500 grams chicken thigh
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 eggs
- 200 grams streaky bacon
- 2 cups frozen vegetables ,diced peas carrot corn
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
Instructions
- Cook rice in rice cooker according to instructions.
- While the rice is cooking, dice chicken and mix with 2 tablespoons soy sauce and crushed garlic. Set aside.
- Make the omelette. Heat a non-stick frying pan on high and spray with oil. Whisk 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of water. Add to hot pan and ensure egg mixture spreads evenly to the edges. Turn down heat slightly and cook for a few minutes until the top is set. Carefully turn omelette over to ensure all egg is cooked. Remove from pan and slice into small pieces. Set aside.
- Dice bacon and add to same frying pan that you just cooked the omelette in. Cook until crispy then remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
- In a large wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil and stir fry chicken until cooked through. Add frozen vegetables.
- Once the veggies are soft, add cooked bacon, egg and rice into the wok. Add remaining soy sauce and mix for another 5 minutes until rice starts to colour and everything is combined.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
sherry
looks delicious. I have been watching a youtuber channel called Uncle Roger lately. He is a comedian who pretends to be an old Chinese man. he talks about fried rice all the time. so funny! so it was funny to see your recipe…