Egg fried rice

Egg fried rice recipe

Whether part of a Chinese banquet, or as a flavourful and filling main dish, egg fried rice is a classic part of any Chinese inspired meal. Fried rice is believed to date back as far as China’s Han dynasty, but the egg fried rice recipe we enjoy today is more closely linked to the peasant food of the Sui dynasty. Sui peasants created fried rice as a way to use up stale leftovers that were too good for feeding to livestock. Fried rice recipes spread across the globe in the 1900s, and you can now find fried rice everywhere from high-end restaurants to street hawkers in Asia.  

There are many variations of fried rice from different areas of China, but fried rice with egg has become a favourite. Typically, egg fried rice uses day-old rice, fresh spring onion, garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce and, of course, egg. 

How to make egg fried rice

The good news is, egg fried rice is easy to re-create at home and only takes a few ingredients, making it a simple and economical choice to feed the whole family. The key to a good egg fried rice is to use day-old rice, which makes it super quick and easy to throw together when you’re ready to eat. 

Simply cook your rice the day before and refrigerate overnight, or make use of leftover rice from another meal. With your hero ingredient pre-prepared, your easy egg fried rice will take less than half an hour to bring together. 

This fried rice recipe with egg is a little different to a traditional Chinese egg fried rice, but it’s packed with nutrition. 

Best egg fried rice recipe variations

Simple egg fried rice is an endlessly versatile dish that you can easily adjust to suit your taste, or customise with the ingredients in your kitchen. There’s no one way to cook egg fried rice, and switching up the cooking of your egg can be a simple way to change up your dish. Try topping your rice with a crispy fried egg for added crunch, or a soft poached egg with runny yolk to add richness. 

Take a page from the Sui peasants book and switch up the protein in your fried rice to incorporate leftovers and give your dish a different flavour palette. Chicken egg fried rice is a common choice, and can be done by dicing any leftover chicken you have, or by chopping the meat from a cooked rotisserie chicken. Another popular protein option in fried rice is prawns, which can be simply seasoned, grilled and laid on top of your fried rice, or for a vegetarian option try tofu. 

Less traditional Chinese egg fried rice recipes

While the key fried rice ingredients should be kept consistent, the dish is open to interpretation and experimentation. If a prawn and pork fried rice, with all the convenience of a slow cooker meal, is up your alley try this slow cooker “fried rice”, or check out Curtis Stone’s flavourful take on fried rice with barbecue chicken and vegetables. For rice dishes from other cuisines, try an easy one-pan Spanish-style chicken and rice, topped with parsley and toasted almonds, or a Mediterranean-style fried rice with salami, topped with olives and tzatziki.