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easy egg fried rice

Our easy egg fried rice recipe is quick to make but packed full of flavour. A great side dish to accompany any Chinese meal, or on it’s own for a light, simple meal.

Our easy egg fried rice recipe is a quick and simple dish to prepare. It makes a tasty change to a bowl plain steamed or boiled rice. Packed full of flavour this is a dish that everyone in the family with enjoy.

A good egg fried rice dish should have a nice mix of egg through the rice, together with the right amount of vegetables for much needed crunch and to pack flavour into the dish.

There is nothing worse than a soggy bowl of fried rice, the emphasis is on soft, not soggy!

It’s also important to balance the flavours. I like to add freshly grated ginger towards the end of the cook.

Some recipes add garlic at this point, however, I think the rawness of garlic can overpower all the other flavours in the dish, which is why I don’t add it. Instead, I add some chopped spring onions right at the end of the cook, for a burst of freshness.

A large black bowl sat on a dark grey linen napkin filled with egg fried rice.

Easy egg fried rice recipe – cooking the egg!

I’ve tried various ways of cooking the egg in egg fried rice. Some recipes require you to cook the egg with some of the other ingredients, however this results in everything being too soggy and the egg too broken up.

  • You want to have bites of cooked egg throughout the rice.
  • First soften any vegetables that need more cooking, like the leek and celery in this recipe. Then remove those vegetables into a separate bowl.
  • Now add the beaten egg to the wok on its own. Scramble the egg, stirring constantly to break the egg up and cooking it until it is a nice golden brown colour.
  • At this point you can then add back in the rest of the ingredients.

How to make Easy Egg Fried Rice:

Ingredients laid out for egg fried rice including diced onions, spring onions, eggs, peas, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce and oil
Have all your ingredients ready to go as this is a quick cook!
Stir frying onions and leeks in a pan
Stir fry the leek and celery and saute for 3 minutes until soft, remove from wok
Eggs being scrambled in a pan to make egg fried rice
Now add the beaten egg and using a spoon move it around the wok really quickly
scrambling eggs in a frying pan
You want to end up with scrambled egg that has a bit of colour on it!
Egg fried rice and adding frozen peas and tossing.
First add the rice, then the vegetables back into the pan and give a good stir to combine
Adding oyster sauce to egg fried rice and tossing in a frying pan.
Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce to the rice and mix thoroughly
Egg fried rice adding spring onions to finish
Finally add the spring onion, stir quickly through and serve immediately

Serving as a side dish:

Chinese egg fried rice is a delicious addition to any Chinese meal. It is great served alongside meat, fish, seafood, tofu, or vegetable based dishes.

Try this egg fried rice with other Chinese dishes as part of a Chinese banquet style meal. I love the informality of a Chinese banquet, it’s sociable eating.

All the individual dishes get placed in the middle of the table then everyone helps themselves to a little of everything.

Easy egg fried rice recipe variations:

Egg fried rice is delicious served alongside other dishes. However, with a little extra thought it can make a delicious meal on it’s own.

  • Prawns are a great addition to egg fried rice. Add 150g of uncooked, de-veined prawns to the wok and cook along with the celery and leek for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and add back in with the vegetables just before serving.
  • Leftover roast meat from the weekend’s roast dinner work great in this dish. I frequently stir leftover shredded roast ham, pork or chicken into this dish.As the leftover meat has already been cooked just stir it through with the rice as all you want to do is heat the meat up a bit. You don’t need a huge amount of meat either 150-200g of leftover meat will quite easily feed a family of 4 for a main meal.
  • Tofu is a great option and I often like to add in extra vegetables when making this recipe with tofu. Tender stem broccoli, asparagus, baby sweetcorn, mange tout or french beans would all work in this dish. Note: Just ensure that if serving to vegetarian diners, that you omit the oyster sauce!
  • Chilli can be added to spice up the dish. However, don’t be too heavy handed as you don’t want to overpower the rest of the ingredients in the wok. You can either add the chilli with the leek and celery at the beginning of the cook. Or towards the end with the spring onion. It depends on how raw you want the chilli.
A large black bowl filled with simple egg fried rice, chopsticks sitting on the bowl on a dark grey linen napkin and some pickled ginger behind.

Gluten free egg fried rice:

With very little adaptation our easy egg fried rice recipe can be adapted to suit anyone following a gluten free diet. Simply ensure that the soy sauce and oyster sauce that you use is a gluten free variety.

Can you make this rice dish in advance?

The rice can be steamed and allowed to cool and the vegetables can all be prepared in advance and set in the fridge until you are ready to cook.

However, as with most stir fried dishes, this egg fried rice is best enjoyed when it has been freshly made. The joy in eating stir fried food is that it is fresh tasting and should be eaten once ready.

By re-heating any stir fried food you loose the vibrancy and freshness of flavour, and the egg in this dish can taste a bit rubbery and overcooked.

However, if you do have leftovers, allow them to cool and cover before placing in the fridge overnight. When you want to reheat get the pan nice and hot and ensure that you reheat the rice thoroughly. Do not keep the rice more than a day.

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Additional recipe suggestions:

Our easy egg fried rice works great as part of a larger Chinese style banquet meal served alongside some of our other dishes:

A large black bowl sat on a dark grey linen napkin filled with egg fried rice.

Easy Egg Fried Rice

Easy egg fried rice is quick to make but packed full of flavour. A great side dish to accompany any Chinese meal, or on it's own for a light, simple meal.
5 from 9 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 portions
Calories: 378kcal

Equipment

  • Non-stick wok or frying pan

Ingredients

  • 300 g white long grain or white basmati rice
  • salt
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 medium leek (trimmed, and finely chopped)
  • 2 sticks celery (finely chopped)
  • 3 medium eggs (beaten)
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 150 g frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 4 spring onions (finely sliced)

Instructions

  • Cook the rice in a large saucepan of salted water for approximately 12-15 minute. Once cooked, drain and set aside.
  • Heat the sunflower oil in a large wok and add the celery and leek. Stir fry for 3 minutes then remove from the wok into a bowl and set aside.
  • Add the beaten egg to the wok and scramble them until they are golden brown in colour. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to ensure the egg is broken up.
  • Add the cooked rice to the wok and stir fry for 1 minute. Now add back in the leeks and celery, give it a good stir and add the peas and grated ginger. Stir fry for a further minute.
  • Now add the oyster sauce to the wok along with the soy sauce. Stir thoroughly through the rice to ensure it is all coated.
  • Finally stir through the spring onions and serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe is really adaptable. To make it a meal on its own add in some prawns, or leftover roast chicken or roast ham.
You can also add in more vegetables. Add the vegetables you enjoy eating, broccoli or green beans can be added along with the peas.
For a vegetarian option try adding in some tofu, but if serving to vegetarians leave out the oyster sauce.
Nutrition Facts
Easy Egg Fried Rice
Amount Per Serving
Calories 378 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 123mg41%
Sodium 558mg24%
Potassium 306mg9%
Carbohydrates 71g24%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 956IU19%
Vitamin C 20mg24%
Calcium 74mg7%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •

Course : Canape, Starter, Side, Side Dish
Cuisine : Chinese
Keyword : Easy, Quick, Simple, vegetarian
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Recipe Rating




Russ

Monday 18th of March 2024

Looks good. The best fried rice I ever had was in a Chinese Restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown back in the 1980's, it was called the Ming, no longer in business. It was a chicken fried rice with egg and probably green onions. The chicken was shredded into long strings and the egg also was in long strings. I don't think there was any soya or oyster sauce, it seemed to just have a light salty flavor, maybe some chicken stock. The rice was probably a Thai jasmine long grain rice. It's flavour was light and simple so that you tasted the flavours of the foods more than any seasoning, the long stringy eggs was what was different than any other I have tried, probably cooked in the round part of the wok with lots of oil and swirled around to form the strings. That chef had perfected his craft.

Lesley

Tuesday 19th of March 2024

I love a good chicken fried rice, the best one I tasted was in Singapore, it was Hainanese Chicken Rice and was a simple dish of poached chicken with the most delicious rice. It wasn't in a fancy restaurant either, but in a hawker stall in a market. Easily the best I've ever tried.

Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie

Monday 3rd of August 2020

It's a classic for a reason! I just LOVE egg fried rice and make it most weeks... the perfect side for stir fries! Eb x

Lesley

Monday 3rd of August 2020

Thank you Eb, it's one of my favourite cooks, like you make almost weekly. Sometimes I have it as a side, at other times I like to bulk up the veg and protein and make it a meal on its own. Lesley x

Nic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes

Saturday 1st of August 2020

Thanks for sharing, this looks easy and yummy :)

Nic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes

Lesley

Monday 3rd of August 2020

Thank you Nic, it is such a simple dish and so much tastier when you make it fresh yourselves. Lesley x

Cat | Curly's Cooking

Wednesday 29th of July 2020

I love egg fried rice and your version sounds absolutely delicious!

Lesley

Thursday 30th of July 2020

Thank you Cat, it's a great quick and simple dish, packed full of flavour. Lesley x