Today we’re going to teach you how to make fried rice just like Chinese restaurants, with an easy fried rice formula! You can make restaurant-style fried rice out of almost anything if you use the right ratios of rice, protein, vegetables, and seasonings.
We’ve posted over 30 fried rice recipes across The Woks of Life, showing just how versatile this dish is. In this post, we’ve distilled the formula, tips, and restaurant secrets you need to whip up any fried rice you want.
A Formula for Restaurant-Quality Fried Rice
Making restaurant-quality fried rice can be challenging in a home kitchen without the right know-how. From preventing sticking to cooking the rice just right so you end up with individual grains instead of soggy clumps, a lot can go wrong!
But fried rice is easy if you have the right technique and everything prepared before you fire up your wok. Chopping and placing each item within easy reach is very important. Prepping your rice and pre-mixing your sauces also makes the process smooth and easy.
With this recipe, we’ll walk you through the key components: the rice, proteins, vegetables, and seasonings! And you’ll be equipped to turn anything in your fridge into delicious fried rice.
Our Fried Rice Formula
Our basic formula for cooking fried rice (enough for 2-4 people, depending on appetites and anything else you’re serving) in a 14-inch wok or large skillet is:
- 4 ½ – 5 cups cooked rice
- 3-4 cups of vegetables
- Aromatics: ½ cup onion, an optional 2 cloves chopped garlic, and 1 chopped scallion
- 6-8 oz. cooked protein (or 10-12 oz. raw protein, which should be pre-cooked)
- 2 eggs
The Rice: Jasmine is Ideal
Long grain white rice is what Chinese restaurants use. It is less starchy than short- or medium-grain rice, which means the grains don’t stick together as much. We think jasmine rice is ideal for fried rice. Higher quality jasmine rice also has fewer broken grains, yielding a fried rice with better texture, taste, and appearance.
The Vegetables: Choosing the Right Mix
You can use virtually any kind of vegetable, in any combination. Just remember that it’s optimal in our fried rice formula to have about 3-4 cups (4 cups maximum). Chop your vegetables into smaller pieces than you would for a stir-fry. A small dice is a safe bet.
Cooking times for vegetables vary, so you’ll add them to the wok in a particular order. For example, add carrots, mushrooms, peppers, or broccoli first, since they take longer to cook!
Then there are quicker cooking vegetables like frozen vegetables and snap peas. Then there are the vegetables that need very little time in the wok, like mung bean sprouts, which are best when still slightly crisp and shredded lettuce, which should just barely wilt down. (Lettuce is a surprisingly enjoyable and refreshing addition to fried rice!)
Ultimately, personal preferences will also determine when you add each vegetable and how long you cook them for. Some like their vegetables crunchy and some like them more tender. You are the cook; you make the decisions!
We prepared a handy chart below for how to prepare different vegetables and when to add them:
Vegetable Chart for Fried Rice
| When to Add | Vegetables |
| Hard vegetables with longest cooking time: add with raw onion | Bell Peppers (small dice) Raw Carrot (small dice) Mushrooms, such as button, baby portabella, oyster, shiitake (trimmed and diced) Broccoli or cauliflower (small florets) |
| Frozen/pre-blanched vegetables: add after mixing in the rice | Frozen peas, carrots, corn (still frozen) Pre-blanched broccoli, cauliflower, lotus root, etc. |
| Quick-cooking vegetables: add with the scrambled egg | Snow peas/sugar snap peas, diced Thawed frozen vegetables |
| Vegetables that need very little cooking: add at the end with the scallion | Bean Sprouts Chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce |
The Protein: Cooked vs. Uncooked
You’ll need 6-8 ounces of cooked protein. Having leftover cooked meats—whether it’s char siu, steak, prime rib, or roast chicken—is a strong case to make some fried rice.
If you are starting with raw protein, you’ll need about 10-12 ounces (it will become lighter after cooking), velveted and pre-seared.
We’ve put together a chart below on how to handle proteins in fried rice:
Protein Chart for Fried Rice
| Protein | Should I velvet & marinate it? | Preparation (pre-cooking, etc.) | |
| Cooked | Char Siu Roast Pork or Ham | Not required | Dice into ½-inch (1cm) cubes. Add earlier in the recipe, just after stir-frying harder vegetables. |
| Chinese sausage | Not required | Steam for 10 minutes and slice into discs. Add earlier in the recipe, just after stir-frying harder vegetables. | |
| Rotisserie chicken or roast turkey | Not required | Shred or dice. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. | |
| Tofu | Not required | For cubed pressed tofu or soy puffs, stir-fry in oil until lightly crisp. For firm tofu, pan-fry it first, then cube it. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. | |
| Raw | Beef (flank steak, sirloin—most cuts will do), boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, or boneless pork shoulder | YES – See our posts on How to Velvet Beef, Chicken, or Pork | Sear marinated meat until 90% done and set aside. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. |
| Bacon | Not required | Fry in the wok over medium heat, pour off excess fat, chop, and set aside. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. | |
| Shrimp (peeled, de-veined, small to large) | Not required | Sear or blanch in boiling water just until opaque and set aside. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. | |
| Bay or sea scallops | Not required | Sear or blanch in boiling water just until opaque and set aside. Add along with scrambled eggs in the recipe. |
The Eggs
The easiest way to add eggs to fried rice is to scramble them separately, set them aside, and add them back when the rice is almost done.
Adding raw scrambled eggs on top of the rice to coat the eggs or pre-mixing the cooked rice in raw egg is a more recent technique some restaurants use to make “golden fried rice.” The downside of this method is that the egg effectively disappears into the rice and you don’t get nice chunks of scrambled egg.
Classic fried rice recipes/formulations:
- Young Chow Fried Rice: roast pork, ham, shrimp, eggs, peas
- Pineapple Fried Rice: shrimp, ham, eggs, carrots, peas, pineapple
- Chicken Fried Rice: chicken, eggs, mung bean sprouts
- Beef Fried Rice: beef, eggs, peas
- Shrimp Fried Rice: shrimp, eggs, snow peas
- Pork Fried Rice: roast pork, eggs, mung bean sprouts
Seasoning Your Fried Rice
There are fried rice dishes of all shades in Chinese cuisine—from white, to yellow, to that supreme rich brown hue. We’ve got recipes for just about every variation!
Don’t shortchange yourself by using just soy sauce and sesame oil. A full-bodied fried rice comes from a few extra ingredients that really take it to the next level. For example, soy sauce may be salty, but salt and sugar each go a long way toward bringing all the flavors to life.
This fried rice is a classic restaurant-style supreme brown fried rice, so let’s break down what seasonings go into it:
Chinese light soy sauce is of course a key ingredient. Light soy sauce is basically “regular” soy sauce. The term “light” distinguishes it from Chinese dark soy sauce, which is thicker and darker in color.
For color, we have two secret weapons—turmeric and dark soy sauce! They create that “supreme” fried rice color that your favorite Chinese restaurants are serving up.
If you’re sensitive to the flavor of turmeric, you can skip it, but don’t skip the dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is slightly sweeter, with a thicker texture, and a deeper, more caramelized flavor. Just a tiny drizzle can stain a wok full of rice!
Sesame oil, salt, sugar, and white pepper round out the flavors, and a small glug of Shaoxing wine poured around the perimeter of the wok kicks up some smoky wok hei. It gives your fried rice that extra something that previous attempts might have been missing.
As for MSG, we could go with or without it in this recipe, so go by your own preferences. If you want to use it, we’ve included a measurement in the recipe card.
Fried Rice Recipe Instructions
Prepare the rice:
If using leftover rice: Take your rice out of the refrigerator, and gently break up any clumps with damp hands. Let the rice sit out at room temperature while you prep your other ingredients.
If making fresh rice: You’ll need about 1⅓ cups raw rice to make 5 cups of cooked rice. Rinse the rice 2-3 times to remove excess starch, draining off the starchy water each time. Cook the rice with slightly less water than you normally would (about 10% less), whether it’s in a rice cooker or in a pot (see How to Cook Jasmine Rice). It should still be cooked through, but a bit drier than usual. Spread the cooked rice out on a sheet pan to cool while you prep your other ingredients.
Make the Seasoning Mixture:
Mix the turmeric, salt, sugar, white pepper, MSG (if using), light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sesame in a small bowl and set aside.
An alternative method for seasoning your rice!
In this recipe, we use the conventional way to season fried rice—adding the seasonings directly to it. There is another method from the days of the family Chinese restaurant. Back in the day, there just wasn’t enough day-old rice to meet the demand for all our orders, so we’d cook rice specifically for fried rice.
As a shortcut, we seasoned the rice directly in the rice cooker! Simply mix the soy sauces and other seasonings right in and press the button. We use this method in our Vegetable Fried Rice recipe. Spread the cooked rice out on a sheet pan to cool, and proceed from there. It was a great way to season large volumes of rice more evenly and quickly than tossing it in the wok!
Prepare the vegetables:
Next, prepare your onions, scallion, garlic (if using), and desired vegetables, keeping them separated in small piles. It’s best to keep the “longer cooking” vegetables together and the quick cooking vegetables separate, so you can add them in the right sequence to ensure everything ends up perfectly cooked at the end.
Prepare the protein & eggs:
Next, prepare your protein. If using cooked meat, cut it into ½-inch (1cm) chunks. Leftover beef/steak, rotisserie chicken, roast pork or ham, and shrimp (we’ve peeled shrimp from a previous meal and chopped it up for fried rice, for example) all work great.
If using raw meats, follow our guidelines for velveting beef, pork, and chicken for stir-fry, then pre-sear to 90% doneness and set aside. A basic velveting formula: mix raw protein with ½ teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon neutral oil, 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, and 2 teaspoons water. Marinate for 20 minutes. Beat your eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
WATCH Bill make fried rice!
Cook your fried rice:
You can do this in a wok or skillet.
Just remember to heat thoroughly before adding oil to avoid sticking. Read more about that here and check out our Youtube video for Bill’s pointers.
Heat your pan over medium-high heat until smoking, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Using your wok spatula, scramble the seasoned eggs until just barely cooked. Turn off the heat. Break the egg up into small bits with your spatula, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
If using raw protein, blanch or sear it and set aside. (You’ll need additional oil if searing!) To sear, heat the wok until just smoking and spread 1 tablespoon of oil around the perimeter of the wok. Sear both sides of the protein in one layer until 90% cooked through.
Set your wok or skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the onion and garlic (if using), as well as any longer cooking vegetables (e.g., carrots, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli). Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add any cold cooked proteins that are on the fattier side (roast pork, ham, Chinese sausage). Turn the heat to its highest setting and stir-fry everything for 30-60 seconds.
Add the rice and stir-fry the rice for 3 minutes, or until the rice is warmed through.
Use your metal spatula to flatten the rice and break up any large clumps. Use a scooping motion, scraping from the bottom of the wok to prevent sticking and keep the rice moving. At this point, stir in any frozen or pre-blanched vegetables.
Pour the pre-mixed sauce over the rice and use your scooping motion to distribute. After 2-3 minutes, or when steam begins to rise from the rice, give it a taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Add any pre-seared or pre-blanched protein or leaner cold cooked proteins like shrimp, rotisserie chicken, or tofu, along with the scrambled eggs and any quick cooking vegetables (e.g. snow peas/snap peas or frozen vegetables that have thawed), and continue stir-frying for another 30 seconds.
Next, add the chopped scallions (and bean sprouts or lettuce if using), and gather the rice into the middle of the wok to let the sides of the wok heat up.
After about 20 seconds, pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, and immediately break up the rice from the center, stir-frying so it hits the hot outer perimeter of the wok—another 20-30 seconds. Serve!
Additional Tips for Perfect Fried Rice
- If you’re having trouble breaking up clumps of rice while stir-frying, sprinkle a couple teaspoons of water over the clumps. This will help them break up more easily.
- If multiplying this recipe, cook the fried rice in smaller batches.
- If your rice looks a little dry at the end, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of hot water or chicken stock, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
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Recipe
How to Make Fried Rice: An Easy Formula
Ingredients
- 4½-5 cups cooked jasmine rice
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric （for color)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon MSG (optional)
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ cup white or yellow onion (diced)
- 1 scallion (chopped—white and green parts)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped; optional)
- 3-4 cups vegetables (diced/cut small, such as carrot, bell pepper, mushroom, broccoli, frozen peas, snow peas, bean sprouts, or shredded lettuce)
- 6-8 ounces cooked protein (or to 10 to 12 ounces of raw protein)
- 2 large eggs (beaten with a pinch each of salt and white pepper)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (such as canola, vegetable, or avocado oil)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
Instructions
Prepare the rice:
- If using leftover rice: Take your rice out of the refrigerator, and gently break up any clumps with damp hands. Let the rice sit out at room temperature while you prep your other ingredients.
- If making fresh rice: You’ll need about 1½ cups raw rice to make 5 cups of cooked rice. Rinse the rice 2-3 times to remove excess starch, draining off the starchy water each time. Cook the rice with slightly less water than you normally would (about 10% less), whether it’s in a rice cooker or in a pot (see How to Cook Jasmine Rice). It should still be cooked through, but a bit drier than usual. Spread the cooked rice out on a sheet pan to cool while you prep your other ingredients.
Other prep:
- The seasoning mixture: Mix the turmeric, salt, sugar, white pepper, MSG (if using), light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and sesame in a small bowl and set aside.
- The vegetables: Prepare your onions, scallion, garlic (if using), and desired vegetables, keeping them separated in small piles. It’s best to keep the “longer cooking” vegetables together and the quick cooking vegetables separate, so you can add them in the right sequence.
- The protein & eggs: If using cooked meat, cut it into ½-inch (1cm) chunks. Leftover beef/steak, rotisserie chicken, roast pork or ham, and shrimp (we’ve peeled shrimp from a previous meal and chopped it up for fried rice, for example) all work great. If using raw meats, follow our guidelines for velveting beef, pork, and chicken for stir-fry, then pre-sear to 90% doneness and set aside. A basic velveting formula: mix raw protein with ½ teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon neutral oil, 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, and 2 teaspoons water. Marinate for 20 minutes. Beat your eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
Cook your fried rice:
- Heat your pan over medium-high heat until smoking, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Using your wok spatula, scramble the seasoned eggs until just barely cooked. Turn off the heat. Break the egg up into small bits with your spatula, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
- If using raw protein, blanch or sear it and set aside. (You’ll need additional oil if searing!) To sear, heat the wok until just smoking and spread 1 tablespoon of oil around the perimeter of the wok. Sear both sides of the protein in one layer until 90% cooked through.
- Set your wok or skillet over medium high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the onion and garlic (if using), as well as any longer cooking vegetables (e.g., carrots, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli). Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add any cold cooked proteins that are on the fattier side (roast pork, ham, Chinese sausage). Turn the heat to its highest setting and stir-fry everything for 30-60 seconds.
- Add the rice and stir-fry the rice for 3 minutes, or until the rice is warmed through. Use your metal spatula to flatten the rice and break up any large clumps. Use a scooping motion, scraping from the bottom of the wok to prevent sticking and keep the rice moving. At this point, stir in any frozen or pre-blanched vegetables.
- Pour the pre-mixed sauce over the rice and use your scooping motion to distribute. After 2-3 minutes, or when steam begins to rise from the rice, give it a taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Add any pre-seared or pre-blanched protein or leaner cold cooked proteins like shrimp, rotisserie chicken, or tofu, along with the scrambled eggs and any quick cooking vegetables (e.g. snow peas/snap peas or frozen vegetables that have thawed), and continue stir-frying for another 30 seconds.
- Next, add the chopped scallions (and bean sprouts or lettuce if using), and gather the rice into the middle of the wok to let the sides of the wok heat up. After about 20 seconds, pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, and immediately break up the rice from the center, stir-frying so it hits the hot outer perimeter of the wok—another 20-30 seconds. Serve!
