Easy Chicken Fried Rice
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This big-batch recipe for healthy, easy chicken fried rice has been tested dozens of times and is absolutely perfect for a nutritious, make-ahead meal. It’s packed full of lean protein, vegetables, and whole grains.
Why I Make This Over and Over
I’ve been making (and tweaking) this healthy Chicken Fried Rice and our Egg Fried Rice for years for a few reasons.
- The Sauce, Baby! Most fried rice recipes just use soy sauce for seasoning, which can be rather one dimensional, IMO. The delicious, complex-tasting sauce in my recipe has salty savoriness in the foreground and a little heat and sweet in the background. You’ll definitely want to use all of it!
- Big Batch: I can use my time wisely in the kitchen, making this for family dinner one night and eating (or freezing) leftovers for lunches for days.
- Make Ahead: It’s easy to make ahead for the week or to freeze in small containers for lunches. My teen son (who’s a cross country runner) takes this for lunch in a thermos many days a month and never tires of it.
- Super Nutritious: It’s packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients from brown rice, chicken, eggs, and variety of vegetables.
Ingredients Needed
Grab these wholesome ingredients to get started.
For the Sauce:
- Low sodium soy sauce – For gluten-free sub: coconut aminos
- Real maple syrup
- Sesame oil
- Sriracha sauce – Cut in half if sensitive to heat! If you don’t have Sriracha, use a pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Dried minced onion
- Garlic powder
For the Fried Rice:
- Large eggs
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts – Diced into bite-sized pieces.
- Salt and ground black pepper
- Oil – I recommend using avocado oil because it has a high smoking point, but you could use olive oil or sesame oil instead.
- Onion – Finely diced.
- Carrot and Broccoli – Finely chopped.
- Minced garlic – use pre-minced garlic for less prep time
- Cooked, refrigerated brown rice – It’s optimal to cook this a day ahead and refrigerate for at least a few hours for best texture. You can also replace all or part of the rice with cooked, drained cauliflower rice.
- Frozen peas
- Thinly sliced green onion – optional for garnish
What Brand of Brown Rice Should I Buy?
I highly recommend Lundberg Organic Brown Rice, as it’s grown in California and is a brand that actively cares about avoiding dangerous arsenic levels in their rice. (Read more about how rice–especially when it’s grown outside California, Pakistan, and India–is contaminated by arsenic here.)
How to Make Chicken Fried Rice
After you chop your ingredients like the chicken and vegetables, this healthy chicken fried rice recipe comes together fast!
Prep
Set out two plates next to the stove. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until beaten well.
Make Sauce
Add all the sauce ingredients to a small pot. Warm over medium-low heat and make sure it doesn’t boil over. Keep warm while moving to next steps.
Saute Chicken
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large (12-inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmery. Stir fry the chicken until no longer pink inside, about 4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper on all sides while it cooks. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Cook Eggs
Wipe out the pan and add a little more oil to coat the pan. Pour in the beaten eggs. Cook for 2 minutes or until set, stirring frequently and breaking up the eggs into small pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Saute Veggies
Wipe pan out again and add 1 tablespoon more of oil to pan. Once the oil is shimmery, add onion and carrots. Saute for about 4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Add in broccoli to the other veggies and saute another 3-4 minutes, seasoning lightly again with salt and pepper, until all veggies are tender. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
Combine
Turn the heat to low. Gently stir in the peas, rice, chicken, and eggs. Drizzle about 3/4ths of the sauce over the rice and toss to combine. Taste and add more, if desired. Stir until everything is warmed through and serve
What to Serve with Fried Rice
Try a salad with the dressing below or another one of these side dish ideas to serve along with this easy chicken fried rice.
Can You Freeze Fried Rice?
Heck ya! I make a double batch of this recipe once a month and freeze a LOT of portions in these 2 cup Pyrex containers for my family. The kids love to warm it in the morning and take it in a thermos in their lunch box.
Here’s how to freeze and rewarm the fried rice:
Freeze For Later: Prepare as directed, fully cool, and then freeze flat in a gallon-sized freezer bag or in individual freezer containers with lids.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or thaw in the microwave using the defrost setting in a microwave-safe bowl. Warm gently in the microwave or over low heat in a skillet, stirring occasionally.
Recipe FAQs
This chicken fried rice recipe is a pretty darn healthy meal, thanks to lean protein from the chicken and eggs, lots of veggies like carrots, onions, broccoli, and peas, and brown rice which adds fiber and nutrients. I also opted to use avocado oil (a healthier cooking oil) and either low-sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos instead of high-sodium soy sauce.
In an air-tight container, leftovers will last 3-5 days in the refrigerator. Follow our freezing instructions if you can’t finish it in that time frame.
Sure! You could use easily sub ground beef or turkey in this dish.
You could absolutely leave the chicken out. We have an Egg Fried Recipe you can follow!
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Easy Chicken Fried Rice
This big-batch recipe for healthy, easy chicken fried rice has been tested dozens of times and is absolutely perfect for a nutritious, make-ahead meal.
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (gluten-free sub: coconut aminos)
- 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce (cut in half if sensitive to heat!)
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
For the Fried Rice:
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces (1/2 inch or smaller)
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil, avocado oil, or sesame oil
- 1/2 large onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup finely chopped carrot
- 2 cups finely chopped broccoli (about 1 small head)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (3 garlic cloves)
- 6 cups of cooked, refrigerated brown rice*
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- Optional: thinly sliced green onion, for garnish
*It’s optimal to cook this a day ahead and refrigerate for at least a few hours for best texture. You can also replace all or part of the rice with cooked, drained cauliflower rice.
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Instructions
Note before beginning: This recipe goes fast once you start cooking. Be sure to cook and cool the rice ahead of time and pre-chop the chicken and veggies. Have them waiting next to the skillet.
- Prep: Set out two plates next to the stove. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until beaten well.
- Make Sauce: Add all the sauce ingredients to a small pot. Warm over medium-low heat and make sure it doesn’t boil over. Keep warm while moving to next steps.
- Saute Chicken: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large (12-inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmery. Stir fry the chicken until no longer pink inside, about 4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper on all sides while it cooks. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Cook Eggs: Wipe out the pan and add a little more oil to coat the pan. Pour in the beaten eggs. Cook for 2 minutes or until set, stirring frequently and breaking up the eggs into small pieces. Remove to a plate and set aside.
- Saute Veggies: Wipe pan out again and add 1 tablespoon more of oil to pan. Once the oil is shimmery, add onion and carrots. Saute for about 4 minutes, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Add in broccoli to the other veggies and saute another 3-4 minutes, seasoning lightly again with salt and pepper, until all veggies are tender. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
- Combine: Turn the heat to low. Gently stir in the peas, rice, chicken, and eggs. Drizzle about 3/4ths of the sauce over the rice and toss to combine. Taste and add more, if desired. Stir until everything is warmed through and serve.
Freeze For Later: Prepare as directed, fully cool, and then freeze flat in a gallon-sized freezer bag or in individual freezer containers with lids.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or thaw in the microwave using the defrost setting in a microwave-safe bowl. Warm gently in the microwave or over low heat in a skillet, stirring occasionally.
Notes/Tips
- Aim for cutting up the vegetables pretty small and in evenly-sized pieces.
- It does have noticeable heat from the Sriracha but not too much. Feel free to cut back on the Sriracha if you have sensitive eaters. You can always add more to individual bowls at the end.
- If you plan to double this recipe, I found it easiest to combine everything in a very large mixing bowl or stock pot at the end. It really does make a lot for freezing or for leftovers, but it’s gone fast around our house.
I have made this with chicken as well as pork sausage, but I’m wondering about making it with beef… Your thoughts on that? Would you recommend ground beef or steak cut into smaller-than-bite-size pieces
Hi Lois. Great question. We haven’t made it with beef. I think either could work. Let us know how it turns out if you do make it. And thanks for letting us know you’ve liked it with both chicken and pork sausage!
I don’t typically love fried rice, but I LOVE this recipe and so does my family. I always have to double it! I error on the side of extra veggies in it and my family still likes it!
This is such a great recipe to use up veggies! Thanks for leaving a review Amber.
I’ve made this one several times now. I love how healthy it is and the little kick of heat in the background. Freezes great!