Easy, quick, and packed with a bunch of crazy Asian cuisine flavors. This Chicken Fried Rice skillet will be your new busy weeknight dinner favorite.
Make it as sweet, sour, and spicy as you'd like, don’t be afraid to experiement with the flavors and ingredients here.
I usually like to add extra heat by chopping up some fresh red hot peppers and placing them on top of the final dish or individual plates. Not only it’s incredibly delicious but also makes a beautiful presentation.
This easy chicken fried rice is more like an easy base that you can customize with different veggies, herbs and sauces. Make it with chicken, shrimp, ground beef, or no meat option at all, and stir in plenty of fresh Thai basil and cilantro leaves for a classical Thai Basil Fried Rice dish.
Table Of Contents
If you like Asian-style stir fry or spicy noodles recipes please be sure to check out Soba Noodles Stir Fry, Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodles, Easy Sweet And Sour Chicken Stir Fry, Chicken Lo Mein, or simply type word ''noodles'' or ''stir fry'' into the search bar.
Ingredients
- Chicken - chicken breasts are the easiest here, but feel free to use chicken thighs instead (boneless, skinless).
- Carrot - isn’t essential, but it does add a little pop of color and taste which is perfect fo asian stir fries.
- Bell peppers - use either different types, I like to use red bell peppers as they are the most flavorful and sweet.
- Ginger and garlic - none of the Thai/Asian dishes are the same without these two! Ginger and garlic are the essentials that complete any (Asian-style) dish. For stronger flavor use freshly grated ginger (about 1-2 tsp) or ginger paste in a tube (that is also another way to save up a few $.)
- Fish sauce - adds the salty component. And please, whatever you do, do not smell the fish sauce before use! I am not sure how it works - it smells terrible, but when mixed with other ingredients and added to food, it tastes amazing!
- Sweet and sour sauce - another staple ingredient in Asian-style recipes. Drizzle more directly on top of the rice once plated.
- Chili flakes - for that heat in your plate! Sprinkle extra chili flakes on the final dish. Or use freshly sliced red chili peppers, or .. well both!
- Garnish - sliced scallions, chives, sesame seeds, chopped cilantro leaves, lime wedges are all great options here!
Instructions
Let's learn how to make easy chicken fried rice!
Sauce. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Chicken prep. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat up the wok pan or a large skillet over medium-high heat with vegetable oil, cook chicken on both sides for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from pan and set aside. Wipe the skillet and add carrots, cook for 1-2 minutes and follow with bell peppers, mushrooms. Fry on medium until veggies become almost soft. You want to leave the veggies crunchy and not too soft.
Make space in the middle and throw in onion, garlic, ginger powder.
Stir fry for few minutes until fragrant. Make space in the middle and break two eggs scrambling until just set.
Add the cooked rice, chicken and pour in the sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed with salt, pepper and sauce.
Fry for 1-2 minutes and remove from heat. Garnish with scallions, hot peppers, chili flakes, more sweet and sour sauce and serve immediately. If you are going for the classics, Thai basil fried rice, this is the time when you would stir in the chopped Thai basil leaves (whole or chiffonade). For this quantity of rice, I'd add about 1 - 1 ½ cups of basil leaves.
Tips
- The Sauce - The sauce is enough to cover the chicken fried rice skillet but If you like a more saucy dish, simply double the quantity of the sauce or drizzle a little bit of sweet and sour sauce in individual bowls. Sometimes I add gluten-free soy sauce/tamari a little extra on top too.
- Noodles stir fry - I haven’t tried this with noodles, but I think will taste great with soba noodles or other gluten free noodle variations. You may want to adjust the sauce quantity by doubling and maybe adding some warm water to it as well.
- Marinate the chicken - to make the chicken extra juicy for the fried rice, a great idea is to marinate the chicken beforehand. if you have time, make a double batch of the sauce and divide it between two bowls. Place the chicken strips in one bowl along with the sauce, close with a lid or plastic wrap tightly, and marinate in the fridge for 3-4 hours or best overnight. Proceed as per recipe instructions.
- Make the classical Thai Basil Fried Rice - when you add the rice, chicken, and sauce, stir in 1 - 1 ½ cups of Thai basil leaves and serve immediately. Few leaves of cilantro are optional as well!
- Try this recipe with pork or beef instead. Have you tried my BBQ Pork Fried Rice yet?
FAQ
Frying chicken for stir fry is not difficult. How I usually do, is cook the chicken strips separately and then return them to the skillet once the veggies are cooked. The best practice is to have all the chicken pieces roughly the same size, not very big or small so they can all cook evenly. Fry the chicken on high heat (depends on your stovetop, it may be enough to have a medium-high setting) for no longer than 3-4 minutes on (both sides), once you place the chicken, don’t stir or touch the chicken until 3-4 minutes have passed and then turn it over to the other side. It takes a few trials and errors but once you’ve nailed it, cooking chicken breasts becomes a very quick and relatively easy process. It results in tender and juicy chicken!
The best rice for fried rice would be any long grain type of rice. My go-to is jasmine rice, once cooked it has a fluffy texture, not sticky, and rather soft. Most Chinese restaurants use this for fried rice dishes.
I hope you'll enjoy this Asian style easy chicken fried rice recipe and if you make it, please let me know down below in the comments or by tagging @theyummy_bowl under your picture on Instagram.
Thank you for reading,
Love,
Julia
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Easy Asian Meals
- Chicken Lo Mein Recipe (Gluten-Free)
- Easy Low Carb Keto Lettuce Wraps With Chicken (PF Chang's Copycat Recipe)
- Oriental Coleslaw With Thai Peanut Salad Dressing
- Napa Cabbage Stir Fry with Mushrooms (Vegan)
- Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodles
- Tofu Veggie Stir Fry
For more easy gluten-free Chicken recipes please go to my Chicken category here.
Recipe
Thai-Style Easy Chicken Fried Rice
INGREDIENTS
For Stir Fry
- 2 medium chicken breasts (cut into strips)
- 3 cups about 1 cup raw white or brown rice, cooked
- ½ of medium whole white/brown onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 1 teaspoon ginger powder
- 2 large eggs
- 2 medium carrot (julienned)
- 1 cup bell pepper (any color or mix, medium-thick slices)
- ½ cup mushrooms (white or brown button champignon)
- Vegetable oil for cooking
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Scallions (for garnish)
- Thai basil leaves (for garnish)
For The Sauce
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 heaping tablespoon sweet and sour sauce + more to drizzle on top
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes + more for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sauce. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Chicken prep. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the wok pan or a large skillet over medium-high heat with vegetable oil, cook chicken on both sides for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Stir Fry. Wipe or wash the skillet, add carrots, cook for 1-2 minutes,s and follow with bell pepper and, mushrooms.
- Fry on medium until veggies become almost soft. You want to leave the veggies crunchy and not too soft.
- Make space in the middle and throw in onion, garlic, ginger powder.
- Stir fry for few minutes until fragrant. Make space in the middle and break two eggs scrambling until just set.
- Add the cooked rice, chicken and pour in the sauce.
- Fry for 1-2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Serve. Garnish with scallions, hot peppers, chili flakes, more sweet and sour sauce, and serve immediately.
Video
NOTES
- How do you not overcook chicken for stir fry? How I usually do, is cook the chicken strips separately and then return them to the skillet once the veggies are cooked. The best practice is to have all the chicken pieces roughly the same size, not very big or small so they can all cook evenly. Fry the chicken on high heat (depends on your stovetop, it may be enough to have a medium-high setting) for no longer than 3-4 minutes on (both sides), once you place the chicken, don’t stir or touch the chicken until 3-4 minutes have passed and then turn it over to the other side. It takes a few trials and errors but once you’ve nailed it, cooking chicken breast becomes a very quick and relatively easy process.
- Rice - Any long grain type of rice will work here. My go-to is jasmine rice, once cooked it has a fluffy texture, not sticky, and rather soft. Most Chinese restaurants use this for fried rice dishes.
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Julia
a delicious Thai style fried rice with chicken skillet!
Evan
Very spicy but an amazing recipe to try!
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
I didn't find this dish overly spicy and I just can't eat too spicy food in general. I always recommend adjusting spicy ingredients and addition of salt in every dish according to your personal preferences 🙂 You can always add more later but you can't take it out once it's done.