Vegetable Fried Rice

Vegetable Fried Rice is filled with so many great flavors and textures, from crunchy sweet corn to tender-crisp broccoli, green beans, zucchini, and more.

House rule: always double your rice so you have leftovers to make fried rice the next day. My favorite meal planning hack.

Fried Rice with Vegetables

Fried Rice is a terrific way to use up leftover vegetables. You’ll use 4 cups of cooked vegetables in this recipe. Roasted, steamed, boiled, sauteed, grilled, or even air-fried vegetables will work.

Most of the time fried rice has onions, peas, and carrots in it. However, any vegetables will work for this and I try to cook extra vegetables every time I grill or roast zucchini, bell pepper, or corn.

That combination is a favorite for this recipe. Just choose your favorite vegetables and have fun with it!

How To Make Vegetable Fried Rice

The rice for this recipe needs to be completely chilled so that it can be easily broken apart into individual grains without any clumping or sticking.

I suggest making the rice a day or two (even as much as 4-5 days) before you want to use it. The key to great fried rice is using rice that is as dry as possible so that the resulting fried rice won’t be mushy or soft.

I also like to fry my egg before I start. This allows it to cook nicely and not get that overcooked dried-out taste that can sometimes happen when the eggs are on the heat for too long.

After cooking the eggs transfer them to a cutting board and use a pizza cutter to cut them into ribbons and then small pieces. I always add my eggs back in last.

Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe

1. Warm a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. (This skillet gets near daily use in our kitchen!) Swirl the oil to coat the surface of the pan. Pour the eggs into the pan and tilt as needed to spread across the skillet. Let the eggs cook for 2-3 minutes and then flip. Cook one more minute. Slide the egg out of the skillet onto a cutting board and allow it to cool. Cut into 1/2-inch wide strips and then cut into small pieces.
2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, to the skillet and increase heat to medium-high. Add the rice and stir to coat. Continue cooking, while stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes until the rice begins to crisp a bit.
3. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir well, to distribute the sauce throughout the rice. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the rice is heated through.
4. Add the cooked vegetables and eggs and continue cooking for an additional minute until everything has warmed through. Sprinkle with pepper and green onions. Taste the rice and add salt, only if needed.

If you don’t happen to have leftover cooked vegetables in the house, you can quickly chop some vegetables bite-size and saute them in just a few minutes. Or just grab a bag of mixed vegetables from the freezer and you’ll be set.

While all you really need for this recipe are vegetables and rice, this dish is a great way to use up a bit of bacon, ham, grilled chicken, or ground beef.

You couldn’t go wrong adding a bit of taco beef or smoked sausage to this rice either. Just about any leftover cooked meat would be a tasty addition here too.