Chicken Fried Rice - quick and easy veggie and a chicken packed meal for the busy weeknights! Plus my favorite tip on saving time with easy rice prep!
This dish is better than takeout! It's always a hit, like my Shrimp Fried Rice or Kimchi Fried Rice.
If you make meal plans, this recipe is for you because you will need some prep ahead of time. But it's super easy and you will love it. Follow my tips for the best Chicken Fried Rice made right in your own kitchen, yet it will taste so much better than takeout!
I hope you will also love this rice packed with veggies and chicken. Absolutely delicious and satisfying. My addition of sweet corn and celery adds a pop of color and bright flavors.
Ingredients:
- rice
- chicken breast
- peas and carrots (frozen pack)
- whole kernel corn
- celery
- garlic
- red onion
- butter
- olive oil
- sesame oil
- 2 large eggs
- low-sodium soy sauce
How to make Chicken Fried Rice?
- First, make sure you have cooked and chilled rice on hand. Day-old rice is the best for making fried rice. Do not use freshly cooked rice.
- Heat up sesame oil and butter in a pan and cook the chicken on all sides. Remove from pan.
- Saute garlic and onion in the same skillet. Add carrots and peas. Make space in the center of your pan. Add beaten eggs and cook until scrambled.
- Add rice and chicken back into skillet. Season with soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together and heat through.
Variations:
- seafood: use shrimp (or even salmon) in place of chicken.
- low-carb: use cauliflower rice in place or grain rice.
- meatless: skip the chicken and double the veggies. Add water chestnuts, green onions, edamame beans, etc.
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Best tips:
- cook rice ahead of time: fried rice should be made with at least a day old rice. Freshly cooked rice will turn into a gloppy mess. To learn how to cook the best and perfectly fluffy rice (without a rice cooker!!), check out my post -->> Perfect Fluffy Rice or if you have the Instant Pot, my Instant Pot Fluffy Rice is fail-proof.
- sesame oil: cooking chicken in sesame oil adds that restaurant-style flavor to this fried rice. I highly recommend it! Just remember, sesame oil is potent so just a little bit goes a long way.
- frozen vegetable mix: to save time, use peas and carrots mix from the freezer section. You can also use fresh carrots and frozen peas.
Save time with this rice prep tip!
Every time I make a dish that requires freshly cooked rice, I make a double batch and save half of it for another meal. I simply let it cool completely, then place it into a Ziploc bag and freeze until I need it. It's my favorite time-saving tip and you will always find a bag of cooked rice in my freezer. I use it for our taco rice skillet or this Chicken Fried Rice. It is absolutely delicious and my whole family loves it!
Storing:
Cook rice and the chicken a day before and store in the fridge. Or better yet, cook, cool and store in the freezer. It saves even more time and pretty much turns this meal into a 15-minute dinner. You can make this fried rice, portion it out into meal prep containers and store it in your fridge for up to 4 days. It's awesome for a quick lunch or dinner.
More Asian recipes:
For more takeout recipes, feel free to browse our Asian category.
If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀
Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked rice chilled, see notes
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 and ½ tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup whole kernel corn
- 2 cup sweet peas and carrots mix
- ½ medium red onion chopped
- 3 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces, cooked (see notes)
Instructions
- Heat up sesame oil in pan. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until no longer pink. Remove onto plate and set aside.
- Add olive oil to the same skillet. Add ½ tablespoon butter and let melt. Add garlic and onion and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes. Add celery and cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes.
- Make space int he center of the skillet, by pushing the ingredients to the side. Add remaining butter and oil to the pan. Add eggs and cook scrambled style until done. Stir everything together.
- Add rice, corn, sweet peas and chicken. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until heated through. Garnish with chopped green onions or parsley.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on January 9th, 2017 and updated on June 3rd, 2019.
Maicol says
Loved how easy it was to throw together — the tip about prepping the rice ahead saved so much time. Definitely making this again!
Roksana says
A quick dinner. Delicious and healthy.
Sabrina says
I love chicken fried rice! I'll definitely have to give this recipe a try!
Cathy says
I love all the veggies in this...one of our favorites!
Sues says
I'm always in the mood for fried rice and this one looks perfect!! Great for a make-after-work-and-still-have-time-to-relax meal 🙂
Kimberly says
One of my all-time favorites, I never get tired of fried rice!
Patricia says
Ahhh! This looks so great! I can't believe it can come together so quickly -- just love it!
Des says
One of my all time favorite comfort foods!
Julie says
My family will love this fried rice! Can't wait to try it this week!
Stephanie says
I can see making this over and over again! Yum!