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. 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 for years for a few reasons.

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Super Nutritious: It’s packed with protein, fiber, and nutrients from brown rice, chicken, eggs, and variety of vegetables.

Grab these supplies 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

How to Make Easy Chicken Fried Rice

After you chop your ingredients like the chicken and vegetables, this healthy chicken fried rice recipe comes together fast!

Set out two plates next to the stove. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk until beaten well. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.