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This Chicken Fried Rice recipe is surely the PERFECT weekend fakeaway? Not only is it totally delicious, it’s also quick, cheap AND healthy! Just one pan, loads of flavour and a few hungry mouths to feed. Dinner, done. ✅
The takeaway vibes from this homemade Chicken Fried Rice recipe are unreal, but it’s actually a pretty light dish, with a couple of portions of vegetables, and is obviously much cheaper (and probably quicker).
This is a low-effort one pan meal, which makes it a perfect weekend dinner that’s super quick and zero faff.
Recipe using leftover rice
Got some leftover rice from a previous dinner? That’s what we need for this dish!
Why?
Because cold, dry rice is the secret to good fried rice. It keeps the dish from becoming mushy – it also means it’s super quick.
Of course, you could always cook some rice beforehand and allow it to cool if you don’t have leftover rice. OR you could use microwave rice instead.
I like to keep a batch of cooked rice in the freezer for these eventualities (and doesn’t everyone over estimate quantities when cooking rice?! Don’t throw it away – freeze it and defrost for another day!)
Be sure to follow cooked rice food safety guidelines (i.e. do not leave it hanging about at room temperature, cool it very quickly and then reheat fully until piping hot before serving). If you’re thawing frozen rice, make sure it’s fully defrosted.
Why you’ll love this Easy Chicken Fried Rice recipe
⭐️ Better than takeout fried rice
⭐️ Budget-friendly and healthy
⭐️ So easy to throw together
Chicken Fried Rice Ingredients
- Rice – I use whichever leftover rice I have, usually white basmati, but any will work. The cooked rice quantity for this should be about 900g/2lbs, which is about 300g/11oz of uncooked
- Oil – Go for something light and flavourless like olive oil or sunflower
- Vegetables – Onion and carrots (both chopped), and frozen peas
- For flavour – Garlic and ginger (fresh or frozen), Chinese five spice, dark soy sauce and oyster sauce
- Chicken breasts – I use chicken breast for this as it has a good consistency, but thigh would be fine too. You may just have to slightly adjust your cooking times (cook them a little slower and longer) and be aware that the meat will feel softer. You could always use leftover roast chicken for this too
- Eggs – I use x4 medium, free range to make this into egg fried rice
- To serve – Optional toppings are spring onions and finely chopped red chilli
How to make Chicken Fried Rice
1. Heat the oil in a wok or heavy-bottomed frying pan, then add your onions, chicken, carrots, garlic, ginger and five spice over a high heat.
2. Pour in the cold rice, peas, soy sauce and oyster sauce and fry, as per the recipe below.
3. Make room in the pan and add your whisked eggs, stirring until cooked through.
4. Mix the egg through thoroughly, then sprinkle with spring onion and chillies to serve.
Substitutions
- Microwaveable rice – If you want you can make this recipe with ready-made packet rice if you prefer. It might not have that ultra fresh taste and it won’t be as economical, but it will be delicious and super easy
- Beef – You can make this in a similar way using beef mince too. See how in my Beef Fried Rice recipe
Storing and reheating
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Again, just be sure to follow cooked rice food safety guidelines.
In the freezer You can freeze this, however I wouldn’t if using already frozen rice. Just wait until it’s totally cold and then put it into a freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating in the microwave or or the hob. It may need a little extra water.
Recipe Tip
If you don’t have a pan or wok big enough
If your pan isn’t very big, I would suggest pan frying the eggs BEFORE cooking everything else, because doing them while your rice is also in the pan relies on having space to do so.
So, before you start cooking your chicken and veggies, do the eggs then instead.
Heat the oil, pour in the whisked eggs and let them fry, stirring them a bit, until they are solid. Remove from the pan and then add them back into your fried rice at the same stage as you would have cooked them in the pan.
More Chinese-Style Fakeaways…
Slow Cooker Beef
Chinese Style Beef and Broccoli {Slow Cooker Fakeaways}
Slow Cooker Chicken
Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken {Easy Fakeaway}
Under 15 minutes
Cashew Chicken Stir Fry {15 Minute Meal}
FAQs
To say this tastes so flipping good, rest assured that this is a lighter recipe than a takeaway would usually be. It also includes plenty of fresh veggies and protein. One portion is roughly a little over 500 calories.
I use chicken breast for this as it has a good consistency, but thigh would be fine too. You may just have to slightly adjust your cooking times (cook them a little slower and longer) and be aware that the meat will feel softer.
This fakeaway fried rice is a full meal in itself, so you could have a bowl on its own or with some sides like prawn crackers or Chinese curry sauce.
If you want to stretch it further though, you could serve alongside a salad, or double-carb with Homemade Chips.
You could also dish it up as part of a banquet-style dinner with Slow Cooker Chicken Satay or Sticky Beef Mince Stir Fry.
I would recommend a large wok or one-pan pan. Read my review of the best family-friendly large pans for one pot meals.
This is my interpretation from egg fried rice with chicken recipes I have eaten and loved, bearing in mind convenience, flavour, cost and availability of ingredients.
Chinese Chicken Fried Rice originates all the way back to the 589-618 AD Sui dynasty.
The combination of meat (or seafood), rice, veggies and egg, have evolved into many different styles of dishes, but for this recipe we’re going for the unmistakable Chinese-style flavours, because if it’s the UK’s favourite takeaway (according to YouGov research), why the heck not?!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Chicken Fried Rice {Easy Fakeaway}
Ingredients
- 900 g (2 lb) Cooked rice, Cold | See notes
- 1 tsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion, Finely chopped
- 350 g (12 oz) Chicken breasts, x2 fillets | Cut into small 2cm pieces
- 3 Carrots , Approx 300g | Chopped
- 2 Garlic cloves, Crushed
- 1 tbsp Ginger
- 1 tbsp Chinese five spice
- 200 g (7 oz) Frozen peas
- 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 4 Eggs
To serve (optional):
- Spring onions (scallion) , Sliced
- Red chilli, Finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat your oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan or wok.
- Add onions, chicken, carrots, garlic, ginger and five spice and fry over a HIGH heat for 5 minutes.
- Pour in your cooked rice, peas, soy sauce and oyster sauce fry for a further 5 minutes.
- Whisk your eggs, make a space in the pan, clearing the rice to one side. Add the eggs, leave them to cook in the space for a few minutes, and then keep stirring until cooked (approx 5 minutes).
- Give everything a good stir to mix the egg through.
- Sprinkle with chopped spring onions and chillies.
Did you make this recipe? Click here to let us know how it went and give it a ⭐️ rating! Your feedback helps us to make more recipes you really want.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
(Just a note to say, the video for this recipe was sponsored by a brand but for the sake of clarity, this post is not! Thanks as always for your support.)
This post was originally published on August 9, 2022 and updated later to make improvements.
Family loved it – clean plates all around! And enough for lunch the next day, win win!
Yum yum all family loved it
Afraid this one didn’t work for me. It would probably be better with leftover rice from the day before, as that’s generally how egg fried rice is made. But I went against my instincts and followed the recipe exactly. Too much egg as well, I think.
This was lush…a few tweaks according to what I had in the veg box! I used leeks and baby corn (sliced up) instead of onion and carrots and replaced the chicken with quorn chicken to suit the vegetarian in the family. Clean dishes all round 😋
Aghhh! im such a massive Taming Twins fan but this has been a disaster 😭
The rice is sooo stodgy and there is well too much of it.
Definitely use microwave rice instead!
Can I substitute the oyster sauce with something else as my husband has a fish allergy?
I’ve recently found your socials and this is the second recipe I’ve tried and yet again it was amazing! My teens are fussy and loved it thank you. We didn’t have oyster sauce so I just used a little more soy and a slash of Worcester. Thank you x
Made this for dinner. My twins devoured it in no time. Very quick and tasty. Thanks
Really enjoyed this- quick to do and makes lots. A good recipe for my 17 year old to cook (although I may be slightly frazzled from the experience!). We didn’t have the oyster sauce but I reckon you could add what you want or just more soy. We had some sweet soy in so used that (called something specific but can’t remember!).
Hi, do you know if this would this work with microwaveable rice? X
I was thinking the same, maybe it will, I’ll try it, I’ll microwave the rice first and pop that in, I found the using normal rice it went stodgy, still tasted good , but using the microwave rice could be much better