Healthy Vegetarian Egg Fried Rice

When I was a kid, we would go two ways if there was leftover rice. Either we would pour hot water over it and make it a rice soup (泡饭） or we'd put in a little bit of effort and make egg fried rice. Egg fried rice is an easy and wallet-friendly dish. It requires day old rice, eggs, and frozen vegetables, meaning it'll only cost you a couple cents per serving.

Is egg fried rice healthy?

If you're ordering fried rice at restaurants, I'd likely answer the negative. Fried rice at restaurants may be rich with flavor, but they are typically coated in oil-- a necessary ingredient to keep the wok at a nice smoky temperature.

That's why I love cooking at home, you can still achieve great flavors, but you have more control over your ingredients. You can play this up by adding other vegetables such as bell peppers and onions, but I wanted to keep it extremely simple so you can make this as a weekday lunch while working from home! This dish has healthy carbs, protein (from the eggs), and vegetables-- seems pretty balanced to me.

The most important step to making successful egg fried rice

The rice! I understand sometimes you just want to eat egg fried rice the day of without pre-planning, but this dish just doesn't work with freshly made rice (we've tried). Freshly cooked rice retains a lot of moisture. Then, if you try to stir-fry it in hot oil, it transforms into mush.

This is perfect for the leftover rice you made the night before or from takeout. Rice that has been left in the fridge will have dried out. Once the rice is hit with hot oil and seasoning, it'll bounce right back.

Instructions on how to make egg fried rice

Beat 4 eggs in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of water (to help fluff it up), a pinch of salt and black pepper. Heat up your wok with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and add in the beaten eggs. Scramble then set aside.

In the same wok, add in 1 cup of frozen vegetables (I use peas, carrots, corn and green beans). I like to run the vegetables under some water to help with the defrosting before I add it in the hot wok. Stir fry for 2 minutes

Add in 2 cups of cooked rice. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Use your spatula to break up the rice as it will be clumpy coming straight out of the fridge

Beat the last egg and coat it over the rice. Stir-fry for another minute so all the rice is coated with the egg

Flavor with 2 tablespoon of light soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. Ensure that rice is evenly coated with seasoning. Crack in a pinch of salt and black pepper.

Add in your scallions, stir-fry for another minute.

Add in your eggs and let it heat up with the rice.

You're done! Eat on its own, but if you're like me, I like to add a bit of sriracha. If you're like 6 year old me, add in some ketchup.

Want more easy vegetarian meals?