Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

Chicken Fried Rice, most popular and loved rice dish in and around the world. Every parts of the world has their own way of making chicken fried rice. This is a quick version of chicken fried rice made with chicken and vegetables very similar to take out fried rice. It is best to use day old rice for making fried rice just like my egg fried rice and prawn fried rice. Learn how to make chicken fried rice with step by step pictures and video.

Chicken Fried Rice

This is one dish which i made few days back and loved it to the core. This is very similar to chicken fried rice, but instead to adding the eggs into the rice. Made it as fried egg and topped the rice. It not only looked pretty but tasted so delicious as well.

About Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken fried rice is one of the most popular and loved rice dish in and around the world. Every parts of the world has their own way of making chicken fried rice. Starting from the rice of choice to the aromatics and flavourings.

In Asian countries like Korea, China, Japan, jasmine rice or long grain rice is used for making fried rice. Fried rice made in India is usually Indo-Chinese way with lots of sauces, MSG, vegetables and basmati rice.

A quick stir fry of vegetables, aromatics, onions, chicken and rice makes a delicious chicken fried rice. It can be adapted as per your taste and preference.

If you have some cooked rice in your fridge then this can be made in a jiffy. if you are vegetarian, you can skip the chicken add add more veggies like cabbage and different peppers, peas and even tofu. Some of the most popular combination in a chicken fried rice is using shrimp. Season shrimp with your favorite seasoning and stir fry separately in a wok. You can add cooked prawns into the fried rice once it is almost done.

For a variation you can use kimchi in your chicken fried which is so popular in Korea. Chopped kimchi can be added in the wok and stir fried before adding protein and vegetables. Kimchi along with kimchi brine adds a tangy taste to your fried rice which takes it to a whole new level. If you love kimchi, you have to check my kimchi grilled cheese.

Chicken fried rice is one of the healthy meals you can include in your diet. One serving of chicken fried rice contains roughly 400 calories with 15 grams of protein and 55 gram of carbs.

Similar Recipes,

Veg Fried Rice

Prawn Fried Rice

Mushroom Fried Rice

Schezwan Fried Rice

Singapore Fried Rice

Egg Fried Rice

Video for Chicken Fried Rice Recipe

Chicken Fried Rice Ingredients

Boneless Chicken - Use boneless chicken breast or chicken thighs which are cut into small pieces. Chicken thigh stays moist and juicy so i prefer those.

Vegetables - I like to add a mix of carrots, cabbage, bell peppers. mushrooms, baby corn and sweet corn can be used.

Rice - Cooked and cooled day old leftover rice should be used for best fried rice. Basmati or jasmine rice can be used.

Sauces - I like to add soy sauce and vinegar. You can use chilli sauce in your fried rice too.

Seasoning - salt, pepper and sugar are the main seasonings in any fried rice.

Best Rice for Making Fried Rice

There are many varieties of rice available in the market, it is important to choose the correct rice for making fried rice. Long grain rice is the best choice sine it has less starch content than short grain rice. Starch content makes the stir fry rice sticky and mushy so it is best to avoid them. 

Sticky rice or sushi rice has more starch in them so it cannot be used for making fried rice. In my opinion it is best to use jasmine rice, long grain rice or basmati rice. Jasmine rice has a nice chewy texture to the rice which I really liked in my nasi goreng recipe. But most of the Indo-Chinese restaurants use basmati rice in their fried rice. 

Cooking the rice a day in advance and storing it in fridge is important for making fluffy fried rice just like take out. Cold rice makes the best fried rice. Every time I want to make fried rice, I like to cook my rice a day in advance and store in fridge. Fresh rice won’t work for fried rice since the rice grains may break when stir frying.

Leftover cooked rice from the previous day can be stored in an air tight container in fridge for upto 3 to 4 days and turned into fried rice whenever you need. In many Asian convenience store, cooked rice is sold in separate containers specially for making fried rice. 

How to Cook Rice for Fried Rice

For fried rice you have to take great care when cooking rice. Traditionally in Asian household rice cooker is used to cook rice which is easy, convenient and timesaving. But if you don’t own a rice cooker, you can cook rice in just a sauce pot. There are two method in which you can cook rice for fried rice. Draining method and absorption method. Any which way you choose, cooking rice is quite easy. Make sure you check my blog post “how to basmati rice”for detailed instructions. 

Absorption Method

Cooking rice using absorption method is by far the easy way to cook rice. All you have to remember is to follow few steps and the correct ratio of water to rice. Rice cooked using absorption method needs to sit in the fridge and get cold before making fried rice. 

Ratio for Cooking Rice using Absorption method

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1.5 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

How to Cook Rice

1. Take rice in a bowl and wash it really well with different changes of water. Now take it in a bowl and cover with water. Let it soak for a minimum of 15 mins, you can soak it up to 1 hour max.
2. Now strain the rice, take it in a sauce pan. Cover with 1.5 cup of water, add some salt and mix well. Bring this to a boil, cover the pot and simmer to the lowest flame. Cook this for 12 to 15 mins by which time the rice must have absorbed all the water.
3. Now turn off the heat, open the lid and fluff it with a fork. Cover the pot again and leave to sit for 15 minute. Use as required.

Draining Method

The key point you have to remember when cooking basmati rice by draining method is, you have to always stand near it and also keep on tasting the rice, so you never end up in mushy sticky rice.

Ratio for Cooking Rice using draining method

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 5 to 6 cups water
• 2 tsp salt

How to cook Rice using draining method

1. Take rice in a bowl and wash it really well with different changes of water. Now take it in a bowl and cover with water. Let it soak for a minimum of 15 mins, you can soak it up to 1 hour max.
2. Take water and salt in a sauce pan. Bring it to a full boil. Once it starts to boil, strain the soaked rice in a colander and add it into the water. Cook until rice is tender which will take around 6 to 7 minutes. 
3. Once rice is cooked, strain the rice in a sieve and cover with a lid for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you can spread the rice in a plate and use as required.

Chicken Fried Rice Preparation (3 Steps)

Marination of Chicken

Take chicken in a bowl, add in salt, pepper and soy sauce. Mix well and set aside.

Making Fried Rice

Heat oil in a kadai. Add in ginger, garlic and chillies. Saute for a couple of min. Now add in chicken and toss well. Cook this for 4 to 5 mins. Add in carrots and cook this for 3 more mins. Add in capsicum and cook for 2 mins or so.Season with salt, pepper and sugar, in goes soy sauce and toss well. Now add in cooked rice and keep tossing on high heat for 5 mins or so.

Fried Egg Topping

Now heat a tawa, drizzle some oil over it, crack open an egg and cook till the egg white is set. Scoop the rice onto a plate and top with fried egg. Garnish with spring onion and serve.

How to Make Chicken Fried Rice (Stepwise Pictures)

Marinating Chicken

1)Take boneless chicken, you can use chicken breast or chicken thigh as per your choice. I am using chicken breast, I cubed a chicken breast into small pieces. Take the cubed chicken in a bowl.

2)You can use any flavouring you like in your chicken. Add a splash of soy sauce.

3)Sprinkle some salt and black pepper powder to season the chicken.

4)Mix this really well and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare your vegetables.

Aromatics for Fried Rice

5)Heat oil in a wok or a large kadai. I used neutral oil like refined oil or vegetable oil. You can add sesame oil as well.

7)Add in a good amount of chopped ginger, garlic and chillies. Make sure you chop the aromatics finely so it distributes evenly across the fried rice.

8)Saute this for 2 minutes till the aromatics releases the flavour in the oil.

Cooking Chicken

9)Once the garlic gets slightly golden, add in cubed chicken into the oil.

10)Saute the chicken with the garlic, chillies and ginger for 1 to 2 minute.

Adding vegetables

11)Now add in vegetables. I sliced carrots thinly and then juliened into match sticks.

12)Stir fry on high for 30 seconds.

13)Add sliced bell peppers. Bell peppers takes very less time to cook.

14)Stir fry the capsicum on high heat for 1 minute.

17)now add in some salt, sugar and pepper.

18)Add in soy sauce.

19)mix well.

Adding Rice

20)add in cooked cooled rice. Make sure you use cooled rice or leftover day old rice which you have kept in fridge.

21)Toss well on high heat so the rice gets coated with the sauce and vegetables.

22)You can taste and adjust the seasoning at this point.

23)Fry some eggs to put on top of the rice.

24)Serve

Expert Tips

• Use day old or leftover cold rice for making fried rice this will make the fried rice fluffy.
• You can skip using vegetables in your fried rice.
• Frozen green peas, green beans can be used in fried rice.
• For restaurant style or Take out fried rice taste, a small pinch of MSG or Ajinomoto is used. 
• Leftover cooked chicken can be used instead of chicken cubes.
• If you like eggs in your fried, you can scramble few eggs in a pan and add into the fried rice. 

FAQ

Is chicken fried rice healthy?

Fried rice is a healthy dish to consume on a regular basis. it has high amount of protein and carbs which is quite filling and nutritious too.

How make chicken fried rice?

How many calories chicken fried rice?

Chicken fried rice is one of the healthy meals you can include in your diet. One serving of chicken fried rice contains roughly 400 calories with 15 grams of protein and 55 gram of carbs.

How to make chicken fried rice with egg?

Eggs are a great addition to any fried rice as an added protein in your meal. You can include eggs in fried rice two ways. Scramble egg in a wok and combine with the rice in the end. Or you can top the cooked fried rice with a fried egg in the end while serving.

How to reheat chicken fried rice?

Fried rice can be reheated in m icrowave in a covered container for a minute or toss straight into a wok with 2 tbsp of water and stir fry for few minutes till it is heated through.

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