This Chicken Fried Rice is filled with protein and vegetables making it perfect to enjoy as an impressive side dish or as a whole meal. It is nutritious and delicious!
Why we love this Chicken fried rice
Chicken fried rice is one of my favorite dishes. It has protein, veggies, carbs, and everything you need to make a full meal. I was used to buying this 1 specific packet of seasoning to make my fried rice, it was my tried and true. One day my grocery stores stopped carrying it, I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t make my fried rice without it! That day I decided I would use the ingredients listed on the back of the packet to make my own. It was the first time I had done this; I was so proud of the results.
This fried rice recipe is super kid-friendly, the onions are even diced really small, and it is just filled with delicious flavors that almost any palette will enjoy. This is a dish I have made when having company over and even when attending a potluck. It travels well and always gets completely eaten up.
Picking Chicken for the fried rice
Chicken thighs are my new favorite love. They are always juicy and so tender.
Cooking with chicken breasts is easier when it comes to cutting them up in my opinion. If you are kind of picky like my husband and I, you stand there in the kitchen cutting all the ick off the chicken thigh before cutting it up. But…absolutely, 100% worth it.
Chicken thighs have such superior flavor.
Other Ingredients
The rest of this recipe is pretty simple, substitute things as you see fit and make this your own!
Rice: The pictures in this post were made with long-grain rice, but Jasmine Rice is my favorite kind of rice to make this recipe with as the fragrance gives it something special, and the granules just seem to hold together better.
Eggs: The recommendation for eggs is always just ‘use high-quality eggs’ Homegrown eggs are by far the best, but if that is not an option, I suggest just purchasing some good ones from the store. The large yellow yolks add color and flavor to the dish.
Speaking of eggs, learn how to make the best-scrambled eggs for breakfast right here!
Soy Sauce: A great way to make this dish totally gluten-free is to substitute Soy Sauce for Coco Aminos. They have a similar taste, and the chicken fried rice quickly turns gluten-free!
Ginger & Garlic: In this recipe, I stated powder for both of these. If you have the time, will, and energy, please feel free to add fresh instead! Fresh is ALWAYS better. My preference is to keep prepackaged minced ginger in the fridge; easy and fresher than powder.
My favorite Wok for cooking this dish!
Cooking Tips
- Cook the chicken thoroughly, I like the edges to just start to get a little crispy.
- Cold rice into the pan, oil, and heat til hot.
- Scoot rice to the side and reduce heat a bit to add scrambled eggs (try not to burn the eggs).
- Make sure your veggies are cooked to your liking before adding to your chicken fried rice.
- Always take a chef’s taste test before serving, sometimes it needs a little extra soy sauce.
Chicken Fried Rice
This dish is great with a side of egg rolls or pot stickers, not that it needs it. A wok is the best pan to make this dish with but if you don’t own one a large non-stick pan or even a large non-stick pot works fine. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: About 4 full meal servings 1x
- Category: Family Dinners
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
1 lb Chicken Thighs, skinless & boneless
3 cups Cooked Rice, cold
1/2 cup Diced Onions, white or yellow
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup Frozen Vegetables, cooked
2 tbsp Soy Sauce or Coco Aminos
1 1/2 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Paprika
4 tbsp Cooking Oil (I use Avacado oil)
Instructions
- Cut chicken thighs into bit size pieces
- Heat oil in wok or large non-stick pan over medium heat. Cook chicken thighs for a few minutes and then add onions. Continue to cook til chicken is fully cooked and onions are soft. Then remove chicken and onions from pan and set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in pan and add 3 cups of cold rice. Break up and saute for 3-4 mins.
- Add Soy Sauce, Sesame Oil and all seasonings (garlic, ginger, sugar, pepper, salt & paprika) and stir til coated evenly.
- Push rice to the side and add the beaten eggs, let cook then add to rice
- Add chicken and cooked veggies. Continue to cook for another min or 2 til everything is thoroughly heated. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken breasts would be fine for this recipe, the great thing about thighs is how juicy they are.
- Rice should be cold, I usually make a batch of rice earlier in the day or the day before and just toss it in the fridge til it’s time to make dinner. If you don’t have time for this Minute Rice is a great alternative and just let it cool a bit before using, for some reason it works great.
- Jasmine Rice is my favorite for this although Long Grain rice is totally fine
- The frozen bag of veggies I usually buy for this is the peas, carrots and green beans, so yummy!
Keywords: Chicken Fried Rice, Easy Meals, Gluten Free Meals
