After living in Southeast Asia for eight years, our family has come to love and think of chicken fried rice as an essential to life.
And yes, this recipe is better than take-out chicken fried rice!
Since life is busy as a WAHM of six kiddos, I love to find ways to make our family favorite meals with some time-saving hacks here and there.
And chicken fried rice? It’s an easy-peasy, time-saving recipe!
And here’s 15 MORE timesaving recipes you can check out too!
If you’ve ever tried making fried rice at home and failed, I have a secret to share with you.
Why am I sharing these top-secret secrets?
Because your family deserves an awesome bowl of chicken fried rice, without having to run to the closest Asian restaurant to grab one!
Ready for the biggest fried rice secret most home cooks don’t know?
Do not use freshly cooked rice for your fried rice recipe.
If you do, you’ll end up with a mushy concoction that appears to be chicken fried rice, but it’s really chicken, veggie, rice mush.
That was pretty heartless, I know.
But, I’m trying to save you the frustration I repeatedly faced my first two years in Cambodia.
Don’t make the same yucky food mistakes I did!
Must Know Tips for making Better than Take Out Chicken Fried Rice
Once you learn the proper method and secrets to perfect friend rice, whipping up this recipe will be a cinch!
First, make your rice.
Most of the time our family uses Jasmine rice, (like when we pair it up with these stuffed tomatoes) but today, we went with brown because we wanted to be wild and crazy and change things up a bit!
You can choose either one, but the traditional way is to use Jasmine rice.
After you make your rice, place your rice in the fridge, uncovered for at least four hours.
I know it seems weird to place uncovered food in the fridge, but do it this time…ha!
For best results, shoot for 12 hours.
Why refrigerate rice for fried rice recipes?
This fridge time lets the rice crunch up a bit (which is perfect for frying purposes.)
This one simple step will help you create the perfect texture to chicken fried rice.
This is the secret you have been missing.
And now, you can move on and add all the amazing, fresh ingredients that will give your better than take-out fried rice a BIG punch!
Did you know September is National Rice Month?
Rice is such a great staple to have year round, but it can be fun to celebrate what an important staple rice is in your family’s diet by trying new rice recipes throughout the month.
And, there are rice recipes for any time of the day from breakfast to dessert!
Just ask my kids.
I’ve served them rice pudding for breakfast, then fried rice for lunch and the grand finale was chicken and rice soup for dinner.
Scouts honor.
What better month to try your hand again at whipping up an amazing fried rice recipe once again!
Don’t worry, friend!
If you’ve failed before, it was probably because you didn’t start out frying with crunchy rice.
Oh, and when you start tossing your rice in the wok or skillet, make sure you crumble the rice up with your hands or a spatula before you start cooking.
You want the crunchy texture, but you also want all the grains of rice separated from each other.
And if you’re a frugal mom, you’ll love how fried rice uses very little meat, but lots of veggies.
It’s a wholesome choice that’s simple, easy and one of our “go to” options during the busy school year!
Ready to dig in?
Grab the recipe below!
| Servings |
| 2-3 people |
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Better than takeout chicken fried rice is packed full of flavor and has the perfect texture of the authentic Asian fried rice recipe. The one true secret to getting perfect fried rice is included to help you become a fried rice guru!
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- 3 cups Jasmine rice (or brown rice if you want to change things up a bit)
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- 3 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced
- 1 large yellow onion peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup broccoli florets diced
- 1 spring onion diced
- Heat wok or large skillet to medium-high heat.
- Saute onions and veggies until veggies are crisp tender.
- Add garlic cloves and salute until tender.
- Stir in all seasonings, sauces and beaten egg, except the spring onion.
- Stir fried rice mixture with spatula continuously.
- Once flavors are all combined, and egg is scrambled, remove from heat and stir in spring onion.
- Optional: If you want to be wild and crazy, add a few dashes of hot sauce at the very end to spice things up!
