Easy Vegetable Fried Rice

This Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe is a quick and easy dinner recipe to use up all those veggies you have on hand in your fridge and freezer!

“How do I take a recipe and adapt it to the contents of my fridge? This is a question Alex and I get asked a lot. The difficult thing is that there is no simple answer. A list of “rules” such as connect this with doesn’t mean much out of context. Here’s a recipe to practice: this one easy fried vegetable rice! Fried rice is a perfect meal to clean out the fridge that you can customize as needed. The best part? It’s really tasty! The fluffy eggs, fragrant ginger and garlic greens, and savory grains of rice give it the taste of snack food. Ready to start?

do you like fried rice Also try our fried rice (to go!) and shrimp fried rice.

How to make fried rice with vegetables: a tutorial

Almost anything goes with fried rice! It’s an indulgent recipe concept that’s perfect for using whatever veggies you have on hand. That also makes it great for reducing food waste! Here are the basic steps to making veggie fried rice using whatever veggies you have on hand.

Step 1: Start with day-old rice (or dry rice).

The most basic saying for this recipe: use day-old rice. Why do you have to use day-old rice for fried rice? Freshly cooked rice retains a lot of moisture. So if you use fresh rice in fried rice, it will clump together and become mushy. Day-old rice is dried out, allowing it to form the distinct grains that make up that signature fried rice texture. It is therefore easier to prepare this recipe when you have leftover rice or to prepare it the day before. But otherwise…

What if you don’t have a one-day rice? Can you dry rice for fried rice? Indeed, yes! Here’s how you can use freshly cooked rice in your fried rice: Prepare the rice. Then spread out on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the freezer. Freeze for 15-20 minutes until cores are cool to the touch. Some might even be frozen: no big deal! They get hot as soon as they touch the pan.

What is the best rice for fried rice? Medium or long grain rice works best, as short grain rice can get lumpy. You can use brown or white rice. Basmati rice is a good long grain rice: How to cook basmati rice. Or you can use our Instant Pot Brown Rice or Instant Pot White Rice methods.

Step 2: Fry the vegetables.

Once you figure out your rice situation, you’ll skip the veggies! Use a large skillet and drizzle with sesame oil. Then you will sauté the vegetables. Here is the key to the wok: Start with the toughest vegetables because they take the longest to cook. Then gradually add the finest vegetables. If you have fresh ginger root, it brings the characteristic “fried rice” flavor. Here’s what we made for this recipe:

• Start with tougher vegetables like chopped onion and carrot. Fry them for a total of 5 minutes.
• Add softer vegetables like vegetables and cabbage. Brown them for a total of 3 minutes.
• Add flavors like minced garlic and ginger. We like to add them to the greens.

Vegetables for fried rice

There are many different types of vegetables that you can use for vegetable fried rice. Here’s what we used and a few more riffing ideas:

• Onion (red, white, yellow or green)
• Garlic
• Ginger
• carrots
• Peas
• Edamame
• cabbage (green or red)
• spinach
• bok choy
• broccoli

Step 3: Add the egg and stir.

The signature piece of fried rice with vegetables: the egg! Once you’ve quickly sautéed the veggies, stir in the egg and let it stir. Break it up into pieces with your spatula so that it is evenly distributed throughout the rice. For Vegan Veggie Fried Rice scroll down.

Step 4: Add the rice and final flavors.

Then you are ready for the rice! Add the Dried Rice: We also added frozen peas in this step which bring a nice green color. Since they have already been cooked before freezing, they only need to be reheated. At this point we add soy sauce and a little more sesame oil for final flavor.

So! This veggie fried rice is a tried-and-true solution to cleaning out that fridge meal we eat over and over again. Let us know if you try it and what veggies you use in the comments below.

Variant 1: Fried rice with vegetables … without rice!

Even better, you can even make vegetable fried rice without Rice! Here are some options:

Variant 2: Vegan pan-fried rice with vegetables!

The egg is a staple of veggie fried rice… but what if you want it to be totally plant-based? Here’s what you can do:

• Make a tofu scrambled egg! Go to Easy Tofu Scramble. Make sure the pieces are small enough that they blend into the texture like an egg.
• Prepare the fried rice without eggthen stir in the tofu at the end.

This recipe for fried rice with vegetables is …

Vegetarian and gluten free.

Looking for quicker and easier dinner recipes?

Along with this vegetarian fried rice, here are a few more of our favorite quick and easy dinner recipes:

Last update: June 2020