Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice — 🥕🥡🫛 One-skillet, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll never want takeout again after tasting how good homemade is! Way more flavor, not greasy, with loads of juicy chicken nestled in seasoned rice along with peas, carrots, and green onions. A true FAVORITE dish!
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Easiest Fried Rice Recipe with Chicken
If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to make fried rice, this recipe will help you in no time!
- It’s an easy, one-skillet recipe that’s ready in 20 minutes and better than takeout. You’ll never be tempted again to eat rice from a white takeout container after trying homemade.
- The chicken is moist and juicy and there are green onions, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce for layers of flavor.
- My favorites are the bits of scrambled eggs. Fried rice just isn’t fried rice without those coveted bits of eggs that I go searching for and devour those little treasures first.
- I also love the bits of sweet juicy peas, carrots, and optional corn which balance the saltiness from the soy sauce.
- It’s such an easy and healthy weeknight dinner you can whip up in no time and the leftovers are great for lunches!
What Readers Are Saying
It’s not just my family who’s raving about this fried rice recipe that I originally published in 2016. With nearly 800 5-star reviews, this Chinese chicken fried is an ultimate favorite! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This was so delish! It was easy to make, which is a huge bonus for this pregnant mama with 3 other littles. Even my 1 year old really liked this, and she can be so picky! Thank you for this recipe!
Leah
Definitely as good as takeout. I subbed onion and garlic powders and still tasted great!
Kate
This recipe is amazing! Very easy and it actually is better than take out! Thank you so much for sharing it!
Lisa P.
Fun Fact: These are my original photos from 2016 that have inspired thousands of people to make this recipe and I am so proud of that!
Chicken Fried Rice Ingredients
For this straightforward chicken fried rice recipe, you’ll need:
- Vegetable oil – Or another neutral oil like canola oil. I’ve even used olive oil and it’s fine.
- Sesame oil – This helps give the rice an authentic Chinese rice taste. Look for toasted sesame oil which is how most sesame oil tends to be sold.
- Chicken breasts – I like boneless skinless chicken breasts but if you prefer boneless skinless chicken thighs they will work. See the Flavor Variations section below for more info.
- Frozen peas and carrots – I also like to add some frozen corn like I do in my Shrimp Fried Rice, but it’s optional.
- Green onions
- Garlic
- Eggs – Scrambled eggs are a key element of fried rice and shouldn’t be missed.
- Cooked white rice – For optimal results, use cold rice that’s leftover. To save time, use pre-cooked rice packets if you’re in a rush.
- Soy sauce – I use low-sodium soy sauce and recommend it so the dish doesn’t get too salty.
- Salt and pepper to taste, optional
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Chicken Fried Rice
This truly is the BEST fried rice. It’s a straightforward recipe that uses simple ingredients and is easy to customize depending on what you have on hand – more on that below!
Here are the basic recipe steps:
- Add the oils and diced chicken to a large nonstick skillet (or wok, if you’re lucky enough to own one!). Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove the chicken to a plate while you stir-fry the veggies.
- To the same skillet, add the peas, carrots, and green onions. Once softened, add the garlic.
- Push the veggies to one side of the skillet, and scramble the eggs on the other side.
- Add the chicken back to the pan, followed by the cooked rice.
- Drizzle everything with soy sauce and cook until everything is heated through. Taste, add to a bowl, and serve!
Recipe Tips
To save time if you don’t have leftover rice on hand or don’t want to cook a batch, use two pouches of ready-to-serve rice. Works like a charm.
If cooking the rice yourself, I highly recommend making it the day before or adding slightly less water than you normally would. You want the rice to be a little dry so it soaks up the soy sauce (but not crunchy, though!). That’s why day-old rice works perfectly for stir-frying!
I don’t even bother thawing the frozen veggies that are mixed into the rice. You can add them straight from the freezer. They’re small and take mere minutes to thaw and soften.
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or is the freezer for up to 3-4 months. Reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as needed.
Recipe Variations to Try
Chicken stir-fried rice is a great clean out the fridge meal. Here are some fried rice variations you can try:
- Swap the chicken: Use leftover teriyaki chicken, chicken thighs, ground chicken, or ground turkey instead. Or, use a different protein entirely like diced pieces of ham or crumbled bacon. See the related recipes linked below the recipe card for all of my fried rice recipes! My Beef Fried Rice always hits the spot.
- Use different vegetables: I used a frozen vegetable blend for ease, but you can also shred fresh carrots yourself, finely chop onions, saute mushrooms, add bean sprouts, and more. Chop fresh veggies into bite-sized pieces, and remember that different veggies have different cook times, so adjust the recipe as needed.
- Use a different rice or grain: I use a white long-grain rice to keep this recipe as close to the takeout version as possible, but brown rice or another grain like quinoa would also work. I have a fantastic recipe for Cauliflower Chicken Fried “Rice”.
- Make it vegetarian: Omit the chicken entirely or replace with firm tofu, or smoked tofu would be great here!
- Make it gluten-free: Swap the soy sauce for a gluten-free soy sauce or use tamari sauce or liquid aminos instead.
Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Rice
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, (I've used olive oil too)
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas and diced carrots blend, (I don’t thaw and use straight from the freezer; optionally add 1/2 cup frozen corn as well)
- 3 green onions, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups cooked rice, (I use white long-grain rice, brown may be substituted. To save time use two 8.8-ounce pouches cooked and ready-to-serve rice)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- salt and pepper, optional and to taste
Instructions
- To a large non-stick skillet or wok, add the oils, chicken, and cook over medium-high heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, flipping intermittently so all sides cook evenly. Cooking time will vary based on thickness of chicken breasts and sizes of pieces.
- Remove chicken with a slotted spoon (allow oils and cooking juices from chicken to remain in skillet) and place chicken on a plate; set aside.
- Add the peas, carrots, optional corn, green onions, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften, stir intermittently.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stir intermittently. Tip – If you like the flavor of ginger, add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger or freshly grated ginger along with the garlic.
- Push vegetables to one side of the skillet, add the eggs to the other side, and cook to scramble, stirring as necessary.
- Add the chicken back in, add the rice, evenly drizzle with soy sauce, and stir to combine, making sure toss and flip the rice so it evenly absorbs the soy sauce. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until chicken and rice are through. Taste, check for seasoning balance, and if desired add the optional salt and pepper to taste, and serve. Flavoring Tips– If the rice is dry, add more soy sauce as desired or until the rice is nicely coated and flavored since rice varies in how dry it is. Cold rice will absorb more soy sauce than freshly made rice. If you want it to have a slight spiciness, add a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Homemade Fried Rice Recipes:
15-Minute Sheet Pan Chicken Fried Rice – Easy HEALTHIER “fried rice” that’s actually baked and not fried!! Full of authentic flavor and ready faster than you can call for takeout!!
Pineapple Fried Rice – A Hawaiian-inspired shrimp fried rice recipe that’s EASY, ready in minutes, and has so much authentic flavor!! A family favorite that’s better-than-takeout!!
Shrimp Fried Rice — There’s garlic, ginger, green onions, sesame oil, and soy sauce for layers of flavor while peas, carrots, corn, and bits of egg add texture!
Skinny Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Stir-Fry — Even people who don’t like cauliflower will be amazed at how authentic and DELICIOUS this SKINNY version of chicken fried rice tastes!
Beef Fried Rice — This better-than-takeout beef fried rice is EASY, ready in 20 MINUTES, and made in ONE skillet! Everyone loves the big juicy strips of steak and perfectly fried rice that’s speckled with bits of onions, peas, carrots, and scrambled eggs.
It was excellent. I had chick already made. I put my cooked chicken with all its flavor in the hot oilforless than a minute each sid to get the flavor in the pan. Also cooked some red and yellow peppers for color. these vegs were added when the veg were according to the directions
Thanks for the 5 star review Jan and it’s Great that you were able to use your previously cooked chicken and also incorporate some bell peppers for color, and glad this turned out excellent for you!
Easy and good. Just what we needed tonight. Thank You
Thanks so much and glad this was easy and good and great for what you needed tonight!
So yummy! I didn’t add some Chinese 5 spice to it.
Glad it turned out great and yummy for you!