With every bite, you get that perfect mix of textures - crisp-tender vegetables, fluffy rice, and soft scrambled egg, all coated in simple, savory flavors that just work. It's quick, satisfying, and perfect for busy weeknights when you need something fast but still homemade.
Serve this Vegetable Fried Rice as an easy side, or add your favorite protein to turn it into a complete, no-fuss meal.
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Why It's Yummy
- Quick and easy.
- It is low-calorie and suitable for kids as a meal on its own, with or without protein addition.
- Make it a full dinner. Add your protein of choice: chicken strips or cubes, ground beef, pork, tofu, white fish, or shrimp. Cook these separately and add them to the dish.
- Perfect side dish for whatever.
Ingredients
- Vegetables - I like to cut carrots, bell peppers, and bok choy into small bite-sized cubes. And lots of sliced scallions instead of regular onion.
- Plain Rice - Short or Long Grain Rice? Most restaurants use long grain Jasmine rice (or another type of long grain rice). Basmati rice is rarer but also common. Short grain rice is okay to use but is more starchy than long grain rice.
- Soy Sauce - we used gluten-free soy sauce aka tamari which is a Japanese soy sauce made by fermenting soybeans and is gluten-free. Compared to regular soy sauce, it's darker and has less salt.
- Egg - large eggs but for more fluffy yellow eggs, use egg yolks instead.
📋 You can find the full ingredient list in the Recipe Card below the article.
JULIA'S TIP: if you can't find gluten-free soy sauce (tamari), use one of these alternatives: coconut aminos, fish sauce, or Worcestershire sauce.
Vegetable Fried Rice - My Version
- What this recipe is: my own version of something between Chinese fried rice and vegetable rice pilaf. This recipe uses simple ingredients, just veggies, rice and soy sauce.
- What this recipe isn't: an authentic Chinese Egg Fried Rice or traditional Pilauf.
- Feel free to add your spin with more Asian cuisine-inspired sauces or make it pilaf style by cooking the rice in meat or vegetable broth and adding your favorite herbs and seasonings.
How To Make Vegetable Fried Rice
Whisk together the eggs in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat up a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add cooking oil.
Fry the vegetables (carrots, scallions, bell pepper, bok choy), until just softened (just 1-2 minutes), and season with black pepper and a little salt.
Push the veggies on one side of the pan and pour in the beaten eggs. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs into small pieces.
Once cooked, stir everything together.
Stir in the rice, and soy sauce, and toss until it's hot and fully coated in sauce and mixed with the veggies and eggs.
Taste for seasoning and add extra soy sauce, salt or black pepper if needed. Serve with more scallions on top. Enjoy!
Feel free to spice up the dish with sauces, similar to my teriyaki chicken fried rice.
What Rice To Use For Egg Fried Rice
In short, any short or long-grain rice that has been cooked, either in a rice cooker or multicooker, boiled or steamed to ''al dente,'' which means a little drier and not sticky.
- A day-old rice (leftover rice): best results
- Freshly cooked rice: If cooled and dried correctly, will give great results too. Just don't overcook it and you'll be fine.
- Pre-cooked packaged rice: as a backup option, but I highly recommend cooking the rice yourself,or reheating leftover rice as it is fresh and healthy this way without any preservatives.
Once the rice is cooled and stored, it is easier to work with as it is dryer, less starchy, and shouldn't become clumpy once fried again with veggies.
Day-old rice will absorb the sauce and moisture from the veggies better without becoming overly sticky.
Tips For The Best Vegetable Fried Rice
- A day-old rice is preferred but not essential. Use same-day freshly cooked rice that has been cooled and refrigerated.
- For this recipe, you don't need to soak the rice, however, you need to wash/rinse it until the water runs clear. Not properly washed rice will be clumpy and is simply not healthy as it contains bacteria that can survive cooking. Washed rice will result in a fluffy and al dente texture.
- Keep it healthy by adding plenty of fresh seasonal veggies from the local market (or frozen veggies, which can have an even higher nutritional profile than fresh).
- Cook the dish over medium-high or high heat. Similar to wok-style cooking, cook it on high just until veggies become softened and egg fluffy. Lower heat will only make your rice and veggies stick to each other and the pan. I prefer a nonstick skillet but if you cook the fried rice in a large wok pan then I highly recommend using the highest heat. This is a very quick stir fry that takes you only 3-5 minutes to cook.
- Let the rice sit a bit on the bottom of the pan between the stirs. This will create more texture and make the recipe crispy, like takeaway.
- Keep it light - use low-sodium soy sauce and add more salt if necessary towards the end of cooking.
What To Serve With Fried Rice
Egg-fried rice makes a perfect traditional Asian-style breakfast on its own. Serve with more sauces or toppings. I mentioned a couple in this paragraph: Variations.
Serve it as:
- A Side Dish: with pork chops, napa cabbage, tuna, eggplant.
- As a Main: add some protein of choice, either meat or make it all vegetarian (add beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh or seitan (not GF))
- Pickled daikon
Freezing And Storing Instructions
- To Store. For the best flavor, consume within 3-4 days. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- To Freeze: Freeze up to 1-2 months in an airtight container/sealable bag in the freezer. Make sure to squeeze out any air from the bag. Thaw in the fridge and cook immediately.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the pan until piping hot. For health and safety reasons, avoid reheating rice meals more than once.
What Are Some Good Egg Fried Rice Vegetables?
- Peas, snap peas, frozen peas
- Carrots
- Green beans (any type)
- Fresh or frozen Corn or baby corn
- Cauliflower or Broccoli florets
- Bean sprouts, mung beans or any sprouts really
- Chili peppers
- Fresh spinach, basil or kale
- Zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkin
- Celery
- Kimchi - stir in some kimchi towards the end of cooking. Delicious!
Variations
- Tasty additions: crispy onions, sesame seeds, toasted nuts, especially Peanuts. or dried fruit if you going for pilaf style.
- Vegan: scrambled tofu and tempeh are my favorite, I like to use these instead of ground chicken when making my popular Thai Basil.
- Other Protein choices: fish (we love shrimp), beef, ham, pork, and sausage, or for leaner options try turkey or chicken breast. I like to use ground meat for this kind of dish as I did in my Chicken Cabbage Skillet recipe.
- Salted or unsalted Butter or Ghee: makes everything taste simply better but for a healthy option, use good virgin olive oil.
- Sesame oil: as a finishing touch add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil to your fried rice. You can make your own or order through Amazon.
- Fruit: add grilled or fresh pineapple cubes to make it Thai style rice.
- Hot sauce: Valentina, Sriracha or flavored oils such as Chili Oil.
- Asian inspired flavors: Oyster sauce, Teriyaki sauce, Fish sauce, Mirin, White rice vinegar.
- You can make the same rice with rice noodles and add more soy sauce; it is delicious!
- Low calorie: skip the rice and use cauliflower rice or cooked quinoa instead
By Cuisine
You can easily adjust this recipe to make your own homemade version of a traditional takeaway inspired from around the world:
- Indian fried rice, otherwise known as Indian pilaf, is a popular combination of ghee, mustard seeds, lots of fresh garlic and chilis, cumin, coriander, curry, and turmeric powder, which makes the rice turn a beautiful yellow color. It can be served with or without veggies.
- Indonesian fried rice: traditional Nasi Goreng is often made with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shrimp paste, chilis, chicken, or seafood and served with cucumbers, tomatoes, prawn crackers or satay skewers.
- Chinese fried rice: combine garlic, onion, veggies, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and toasted sesame oil.
- Japanese fried rice: aka Yakimeshi is very similar to Chinese but Japanese fried rice is made using with short-grain rice, such as sushi rice, yielding a chewy texture. Popular recipes include the addition of ham, veggies, and kewpie mayo.
- Korean fried rice: or Bokkeumbap is often made with kimchi, bacon, eggs, veggies, gochujang, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.
- Filipino: aka Sinangag, is simple rice with lots of garlic and eggs.
- Jamaican-style rice: Scotch bonnet pepper, dried kidney beans, ginger, coconut, and lots of seasonings.
Favorite Rice Recipes
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Recipe Card
Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk together the eggs in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Heat up a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add cooking oil.
- Fry the vegetables (carrots, scallions, bell pepper, bok choy), until just softened (just 1-2 minutes), and season with black pepper and a little salt (or leave as is and season later once soy sauce is added).
- Push the veggies on one side of the pan and pour in the beaten eggs. Use a spatula to scramble them into small pieces. Once cooked, stir everything together.
- Stir in the rice, soy sauce, and toss until it's hot and fully coated in sauce and mixed with the veggies and eggs.
- Taste for seasoning and add extra soy sauce, salt or black pepper if needed. Serve with more scallions on top. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
- To Store. For the best flavor, consume within 3-4 days. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- A day old rice is preferred but not essential. Using same-day freshly cooked rice is totally fine if the rice has been cooled and refrigerated.
- For this recipe, you don't need to soak the rice, however, you need to wash/rinse it until the water runs clear. Not properly washed rice will be clumpy and is simply not healthy as it contains bacteria that can survive cooking. Washed rice will result in a fluffy and al dente texture.
- Cook the dish over medium-high or high heat. Similar to wok-style cooking, cook it on high just until veggies become softened and egg fluffy. Lower heat will only make your rice and veggies stick to each other and the pan. I prefer a nonstick skillet instead of a wok. If you do use a wok, make sure you are using the highest heat. This is a very quick stir fry that takes you only 3-5 minutes to cook.
- Does rice have to be cold for fried rice? Yes, for best results it is better to use cooked and cooled rice. Cook the rice using steaming, boiling or rice cooker method. Cool it first and then refrigerate it until cold. When frying, use medium-high heat and a non-stick pan. If you are worried that rice clumps together it is best to avoid wok, especially if you are a beginner.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on the products used.
Full Nutrition Disclaimer can be found here.
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Sj
Cauliflower is NOT good for IBS
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Delicious egg fried rice with plenty good for you veggies!