Easy, Heathy Fried Rice

This super simple recipe is healthy and so easy to customize to your personal taste. You can add, subtract, or substitute any of the ingredients. There are simply tips to making sure that your fried rice comes out tasting good though. As long as you follow these basic instructions, you’ll have a delicious meal that everyone will want seconds and possibly even thirds!I’ve been making fried rice for years. It is such an easy dish to prep ahead, and cooks up really fast. Plus, we usually have leftovers which is always a bonus! Anytime I can cook a large amount and have enough for lunch another day of the week, that’s a win for me. Every time I cook this meal, I am always switching ingredients to keep it interesting. The basic ingredients that you need are a meat (or not if you want vegetarian), vegetables (including onion and garlic), jasmine rice, high heat oil (I use avocado oil), soy sauce, and eggs.

I cook this dish in a wok, although if you want, you could use a cast iron skillet. It comes out a lot better in the wok though. The reason is that you need to use high heat. Also, the more you cook in the work, the more it takes on the flavors of the food. Then that flavor gets added into the food every time you use it.

Here I prepared this with steak and with a bag of stir fry vegetables that included snap peas, carrots, and broccoli. Usually I’ll prepare my own vegetables, but I didn’t have time, so I bought a prepared bag. I always have onion and garlic. It contributes a lot to the flavor of the dish. My favorite vegetables to include are broccoli, carrots, and string beans (in any combination).

When I first started making it, I used to use brown rice. It always came out really mushy. So, I started experimenting with different types of rice and this is what I learned. Short grains, no matter what, come out mushy. Longer grains are definitely better. The best rice I found was Jasmine. You use a little less water so it cooks a little drier and it prevents that mushy consistency. If possible, you can even cook the rice the day before and keep it in the fridge overnight.

After cutting all the vegetables and meat, it’s time to start cooking. Start by heating the wok over high heat. Once it starts heating up, add your oil. You will continue to add oil at each step. This prevents sticking. If you don’t like oil, unfortunately this is not the recipe for you as it won’t cook well without enough oil.

Once the oil is hot, add your onion and garlic and stir fry for a couple minutes until fragrant.

Next, you add your vegetables. Stir it together, and don’t forget to add a little more oil if things start to stick. Cover your wok and allow it to start steaming up, this helps cook the vegetables. While it steams, I’ll scramble the eggs so they are ready to add later.

It’s important to stir often so that nothing burns or sticks. After cooking the vegetables for about 10 minutes, add the meat and soy sauce. I have cooked this with other types of sauce as well. This is another ingredient that you can easily switch up to fit your personal taste. There are some really good stir fry sauces out there, feel free to experiment.

You want to cook the meat until it is almost fully cooked, stirring constantly and adding oil as needed to prevent sticking. Again, don’t be shy with the oil! It will come out a lot better. Once the meat is almost done, stir in your rice.

Continue stirring and cooking this mixture for another 5 minutes or so. Then, push it all to one side of the wok. Keeping that half of the wok off of the heat, put a little oil on the empty side and pour your egg in. I like to let it start to solidify before starting to scrape it. This gives you a few bigger chunks of egg in the fried rice. Once it’s cooking well, mix the rest in with the rice, vegetables, and meat. Continue cooking and stirring for another few minutes until all the egg is cooked and mixed into the rice fully.

There you go! Finished fried rice that isn’t mushy, has nutritional value, and is delicious! Serve it up and enjoy. Save leftovers for lunch throughout the week. I spent a while perfecting this, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it right on the first try. If you have any questions feel free to contact me! Let me know what your favorite ingredients end up being? Do you prefer chicken? Maybe chicken AND steak? Have fun and experiment!