This Egg Fried Rice Recipe is a quick, spicy take on the classic Chinese takeaway side dish. It's ready in about 15 minutes with just a handful of pantry ingredients. Scrambled eggs, veggies, and fresh chili get fried up with a spicy soy-chili sauce for real heat in every bite.
I love a fried rice with real heat, and most takeout just doesn't have it. This one does. I make it on nights when there's rice leftover from dinner, and it's better than takeout, honestly.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Ready in about 15 minutes from start to finish, with step-by-step photos to guide you the whole way.
- It's one of the best ways to use up leftover rice instead of letting it go to waste.
- This recipe is easy to customize, and vegetarian if you use a vegetarian oyster sauce. Stir in shrimp, chicken, or whatever vegetables you have on hand to turn it into a full meal.
- A mix of soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and sesame oil gives it real depth of flavor, closer to takeout than a quick stovetop side dish.
Ingredients You'll Need
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.
- Rice - The best results come when using a long-grain type for this dish, ideally jasmine or basmati rice. Skip short-grain or medium-grain rice, like sushi rice, since it's too sticky and will clump instead of frying into separate grains.
- Eggs - They add great flavor, texture, and protein to this rice dish.
- Carrots and peas - I love the texture and color they add, as well as the flavor. You can choose any other vegetables you have in hand. Other vegetables you can use are mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, mangetout, cabbage, or green beans.
- Spring onions - You can also use Chinese chives if you have them in hand.
- Garlic - I use finely sliced fresh garlic, no need to finely chop it. Adjust the amount if you think this is too much or not enough garlic for you.
- Butter - Although butter is not a common ingredient in Chinese cooking, I prefer using it for cooking eggs as it adds lots of flavor to the dish and browns everything perfectly.
- Sesame oil - It adds a distinctively nutty taste to the rice. You can substitute it with walnut oil or leave it out. You can buy it from Asian shops or large supermarkets as well as from Amazon.
- Sweet chili sauce - I love the sweetness it adds to this spicy rice. I buy it from Asian shops or Amazon.
- Soy Sauce - I use Kikkoman all-purpose soy sauce for this recipe. Increase the amount if you want to use a low-sodium version or add extra salt.
- Mirin - Same as sesame oil, you can buy it from Asian shops or large supermarkets as well as from Amazon. You can substitute mirin with dry sherry or sweet marsala wine.
- Oyster sauce - This adds a deep, savory flavor that's key to good fried rice. Look for it in the Asian foods aisle, or use a vegetarian oyster sauce if you prefer.
How to Make Egg Fried Rice
Prepare the Rice
If you don't have leftover rice or you forgot to cook it a day ahead, use freshly cooked rice. Wash the rice with running cold water, until the water from the rice runs clear.
Put the rice in a pan with plenty of cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the rice using a fine sieve, cool it down under running cold water, and let it drain for 5 minutes.
Spread the rice on a large tray and put it in the fridge uncovered for an hour or in the freezer for 20 minutes. This will help the rice to dry a bit.
The rice clamps up when cooled so fluff it up and break it apart using a fork or do it with your lightly damp fingertips before using.
Do Your mise-en-place in Advance
Egg Fried Rice is a very quick dish to prepare, so have all your ingredients ready before you start. Make sure you measure the sauce ingredients and then mix them in a bowl, slice the vegetables, and beat the eggs. Have your rice on a plate, fluffed up.
Get Ready for Action
When you have your rice cooled and your mise en place ready, grab a large wok or skillet and put it on high heat. A wok works best for egg-fried rice as it spreads the heat evenly and adds smokiness to the dish. When the wok is hot enough, add the butter and then let it slightly brown before adding the beaten eggs.
Quickly scramble the eggs and then set them aside on a plate.
Turn the heat down to medium and add vegetable oil or peanut oil to the same wok/pan. Add the carrots and stir fry for 2 minutes until slightly softened but still crunchy.
Add the frozen peas, garlic, spring onions, and red chili and stir fry for 2 more minutes.
Turn the heat up again and add half of the fluffed-up rice. Stir fry for a minute then add the other half of the rice and stir fry for two more minutes.
Add sesame oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper or white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, oyster sauce, and mirin. Give it a quick stir and add the scrambled eggs.
Stir fry for another minute and garnish with some chopped chives and spring onion before serving.
Recipe Tips From the Chef
- Use cold, day-old rice if you can. Freshly cooked rice holds too much moisture and turns the dish soggy and clumped together instead of fried.
- If you're cooking the rice from scratch for this recipe, wash it under cold running water until the water runs clear first. This rinses off extra starch so the grains stay separate.
- Spread the cooked rice on a tray and chill it in the fridge for at least an hour, or in the freezer for about 20 minutes, so it dries out before frying. Fluff it apart with a fork or damp fingertips before it goes in the pan.
- Add the rice in two or three batches rather than all at once, letting each batch fry for a minute before adding more. This keeps the pan hot enough to fry the rice instead of steaming it.
- Use a wok if you have one. It heats more evenly than a flat pan and gives the rice a bit of that smoky flavor you get from restaurant fried rice.
- Once the rice hits the pan, spread it into an even layer and let it sit undisturbed for about 30 seconds before tossing again. This lightly toasts the grains and builds extra flavor, even without a wok.
- When breaking up clumps, scoop all the way down to the bottom and along the sides of the pan, not just the center. Scooping only from the middle tends to make everything stick together instead of separating.
- For extra flavor, pour the soy sauce around the hot edges of the pan instead of directly over the rice, and let it sizzle for a few seconds before tossing it through. This caramelizes the sauce slightly instead of just steaming it in.
Recipe Variations
- Add protein: Stir in cooked shrimp, diced leftover chicken, or thin strips of pork along with the vegetables to turn this into a heartier main.
- Dairy-free: Use vegetable oil in place of the butter for cooking the eggs. The rest of the recipe is naturally dairy-free.
- Gluten-free: Swap the soy sauce and oyster sauce for tamari or gluten-free versions of each.
- Swap the vegetables: Mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, or green beans all work well in place of the carrots and peas.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this as a side with your favorite Asian mains, or eat it on its own since it already has protein and vegetables built in.
For a full spread, start with Thai Fish Cakes - Tod Mun Pla or Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, add Honey Sesame Chicken or Salt and Pepper Chicken as the main, and finish with a Spicy Thai Mango Salad or Asian Din Tai Fung Cucumber Salad for something fresh and crunchy on the side.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Let the rice cool before storing, but don't leave it sitting out at room temperature for more than an hour or so. Cooked rice can grow bacteria quickly if it cools too slowly, so get it into the fridge as soon as it's cooled down. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen rice in the fridge overnight before reheating.
To reheat, stir-fry in a hot wok or pan with a small splash of oil until warmed through, about 3 to 5 minutes. You can also microwave it in a covered dish for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Recipe FAQs
I prefer using vegetable oil or peanut oil for sautéing the vegetables and butter for scrambled eggs. Toasted sesame oil adds a rich and nutty flavor but it's not ideal for cooking and needs to be added in at the end of the cooking process.
This usually happens when the rice is too fresh or too wet. Rice straight off the stove holds a lot of moisture, so it steams instead of frying and turns clumpy. Use rice that's been chilled in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight if you have it, and break up any clumps before it goes into the pan.
Yes, a large nonstick skillet or a wide, deep frying pan works fine. Just make sure it's big enough that the rice isn't piled too deep, since overcrowding causes it to steam rather than fry.
You can if you like. A small pinch stirred in with the soy sauce adds a savory, restaurant-style depth some people love in fried rice. It's entirely optional, since the soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and oyster sauce already give this dish plenty of flavor without it.
Yes, just stick to the same ingredient ratios. If you double it, use a large wok or pan and fry the rice in more batches than usual, since overcrowding the pan will make it steam instead of fry.
Related Recipes
For other great rice dishes why not try:
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I hope you enjoy the process of making this Spicy Egg Fried Rice as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
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Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups jasmine rice or basmati rice (or 4 cups cooked and cooled rice)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 eggs (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or peanut oil
- 1 medium carrot (small diced)
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas
- 4 spring onions (sliced)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 red chili (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or white pepper
- 2 tablespoon all purpose soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- ½ tablespoon mirin
- chopped chives, sliced spring onion, or red chili for garnish
Instructions
- Wash the rice with running cold water until the water from the rice runs clear.
- Put the rice in a pan with plenty of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Drain the rice using a fine sieve, cool it down under running cold water, and let it drain for 5 minutes.
- Spread the rice on a tray and leave it in the fridge for one hour or 20 minutes in the freezer until it's thoroughly chilled.
- Fluff up the rice and break it apart using a fork or do it with your lightly damped fingertips.
- Heat a large wok on high heat and add butter.
- When the butter is slightly browned, add the eggs and quickly scramble, set aside on a plate.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add vegetable oil or peanut oil to the pan then add the carrots, and stir fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the frozen peas, garlic, spring onions, and red chili, and stir fry for another minute.
- Turn the heat to high again and add half of the rice, stir fry for a minute then add the rest of the rice, and stir fry for two more minutes.
- Add sesame oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper or white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, oyster sauce, and mirin, give it a quick stir before adding the scrambled eggs.
- Stir fry for another minute and garnish with some chopped chives and spring onion before serving.
Notes
- This dish is vegetarian if you use a vegetarian oyster sauce (regular oyster sauce contains fish). Leave out the butter, or use oil instead, to make it dairy-free. Swap the soy sauce and oyster sauce for tamari or gluten-free versions to make it gluten-free.
- No oyster sauce on hand? Swap in an extra tablespoon of soy sauce or a spoonful of hoisin sauce instead. No fresh chili on hand? A pinch of chili flakes or a dash of hot sauce works as a substitute, and you can leave it out entirely for a mild version or add extra for more heat.
- Turn this into a full meal by stir-frying in cooked shrimp, diced leftover chicken, or thin strips of pork along with the vegetables.
- For the best texture, use cold, day-old rice, or spread freshly cooked rice on a tray and chill it in the fridge for at least an hour (or the freezer for about 20 minutes) before frying. Rinse rice under cold water first if cooking from scratch, to wash off extra starch. Stick to a long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati; short or medium-grain rice is too sticky.
- Fry the rice in two or three batches instead of all at once, and use a wok if you have one. Let the rice sit undisturbed in the pan for about 30 seconds at a time to lightly toast it, and scoop from the bottom and sides rather than just the center when tossing, so everything separates instead of sticking together.
- Let the rice cool before storing, but don't leave it sitting out at room temperature for more than an hour or so, since cooked rice can grow bacteria quickly if it cools too slowly. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat in a hot pan or wok with a splash of oil until warmed through, or microwave in a covered dish, stirring halfway.
- Serve immediately while hot for the best texture. Fried rice firms up and loses some of its texture as it cools.
Heather says
Just made this. It tastes incredible and was so easy to make!! Thank you for this recipe.
Ayla says
Amazing
Marina says
Tried this recipe and it was absolutely delicious. Ideal for quick lunch/meal planning as it was so easy to prepare.
Ayla Clulee says
Hi Marina,
So happy you tried my recipe and glad you liked it.
Best wishes
Ayla
emilia says
I prepared this recipe and it was very easy and really delicious.
Ayla Clulee says
Dear Emilia
I am very pleased you liked my recipe and thank you for letting me know 🙂
Best wishes
Ayla