Best Fried Rice Recipe Restaurant

This Chinese-inspired fried rice recipe is my absolute fave. It’s quick and easy to make, customizable with any of your favorite mix-ins, and so irresistibly delicious.

Growing up, our family had a tradition of eating lunch every Saturday at our neighborhood’s favorite local Chinese restaurant. And every single Saturday for lunch, I ordered the same thing — egg drop soup and fried rice, my absolute favorites. This restaurant set the bar

For me early when it comes to how amazing fried rice could be. Theirs was always perfectly al dente with slightly crispy edges, full of rich savory flavors, and loaded up with plenty of extra veggies, eggs, and whatever protein sounded good.

Best Fried Rice Recipe (homemade)

After our favorite restaurant sadly closed over a decade ago, I spent years tinkering around with dozens and dozens of batches of fried rice, attempting to recreate a fried recipe that tasted as good as theirs. And while nothing will ever match the original in my book, this fried rice recipe that I’ve landed on is as close as I’ve come and has been my favorite go-to ever since. It’s surprisingly speedy to make, easy to customize with your favorite add-ins, and SO flavorful and comforting. Thousands of our readers have also made and enjoyed it over the years since. So if you’re looking for a good recipe to try, I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

Ok, let’s get right to it. Here are the important things I have learned over the years about how to make the best fried rice.

1) Use cold rice: You’ve gotta plan ahead and use thoroughly-chilled cooked rice. A fresh batch of warm (or even lukewarm) rice will not fry well when it hits the hot pan, and will result in soggy and sticky clumps — no good. So leftover refrigerated rice is ideal! Or, if you 

How To Make Fried Rice

In a hurry (or have an impulse craving for fried rice, which I completely understand ?), just cook up a fresh batch of rice. Then spread it out on a baking sheet or another large flat pan, drape the rice with a layer of plastic wrap, then pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes (or in the freezer for 10-15 minutes) until it is thoroughly chilled (not frozen).

2) Use butter: Yes, butter. I have made many a batch of fried rice using various oils, and I’m now convinced there’s a reason why Japanese steak houses use that big slab of butter when they’re making fried rice. It just tastes

Better, and also makes everything brown up perfectly. (Although by contrast to Japanese steak houses, we only use 3 tablespoons for a large batch of rice in this recipe.)

Chicken Fried Rice

3) Use veggies: This is one of my big pet peeves with lame take-out fried rice — not enough veggies! In addition to adding some nice spots of color, veggies go a

Way in adding some flavor and freshness to fried rice. Our local Chinese restaurant always added both white and green onions, too, which I included in this recipe. But feel free to modernize this recipe with some other delicious stir-fried veggies as well!

4)  Use toasted sesame oil and oyster sauce: If you do not eat seafood, you can leave out the oyster sauce and your fried rice will still be great. But this ingredient makes

Indian Chicken Fried Rice

A difference in good fried rice, and a little goes a long way. So even if you’re not into oysters, don’t be scared of oyster sauce! Toasted sesame oil, on the other hand, is 100% non-negotiable. It is my favorite smelling ingredient in my kitchen, and tastes wonderful in fried rice. (Also note that sesame oil is meant as a finishing oil, not a cooking oil, so remove the pan from the heat and

5) Use high heat: This will help fry and brown the rice and veggies well, and will also help prevent the rice from steaming in the pan instead of frying.

6) Let the rice brown a bit on the bottom: If you’re like me and love your rice to be a bit crispy, let it rest for a bit in between stirs so that it can brown a bit on the bottom. It also helps greatly to use a non-stick skillet so that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Egg Fried Rice (chinese Restaurant Style)

7) Don’t be afraid to add in some extra soy sauce at the end: I know that everyone has different sensitivities to salt, and different brands of soy sauce also contain pretty dramatically different levels of sodium. So I went a little light on soy sauce in the recipe below. But 

Add more at the end if this tastes good to you. I almost always stir an extra drizzle into my portion and love it.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to homemade fried rice variations, so feel free to get creative and use up other leftover ingredients you may happen to have on hand. That said, here are some classic add-ins:

Easy Chinese Fried Rice (just 10 Minutes!)

Learn how to make fried rice with this classic recipe. It only takes 15 minutes to make, it’s easy to customize with your favorite add-ins, and it’s SO flavorful and delicious!

*Sauté pan: If you happen to own a nonstick or cast-iron pan, I would recommend it for this recipe.  But that said, any pan that you have can work — you may just have to be a bit more vigilant with stirring so that the rice and eggs don’t stick.is a combination of long grained rice, mixture of warm peas, carrots and onions with scrambled eggs mixed alltogether! You will not be getting take out any longer!

Have fried rice as an entree or a side dish when serving it! If you love fried rice try these variations of fried rice: Bacon Fried Rice, Shrimp Fried Rice, Ham Fried Riceor Chicken Fried Rice.

Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice

I have always loved fried rice. I could probably eat an entire bowl. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever you would like! I have added bacon, chicken, and ham. It is the perfect fried rice base and they say the secret ingredient to get the authentic Chinese taste is sesame oil. Whatever it may be it is fantastic!

I had my entire family over for chinese night. It was a lot of work, but I wanted them to experience my famous sweet and sour chicken. They absolutely loved it and agreed that it tasted straight from a restaurant.

I always serve this amazing fried rice with all of my Chinese dishes. It is easy and goes perfectly as a side!

Better Than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice

Preheat Skillet. Turn your skillet to medium high heat and pour sesame oil into the bottom of your skillet and add the onion, peas and carrots. Fry this until they are tender.

Slide the veggies to the side. Pour the beaten eggs onto the other side. Use a spatula to scramble the eggs. Mix them together with the veggies.

Add the rice. Combine it with the veggie and egg mixture. Pour the soy sauce on top and stir until it is heated throughout. Garnish with green onions.

The Best Vegan Fried Rice

My Chinese sister in law gave me these awesome tips and recipe that I feel make it truly authentic. This is a tried and true family recipe that tastes even better than take out. We love have family gatherings and this is always a favorite recipe to use.

Here are some tips that will make this fried rice simple and easy for you to make. The great thing about this fried rice is made all in one pan. Less clean up for you and more time to sit and enjoy your fried rice as a family.

This Quinoa Fried Rice or even this Cauliflower “Fried Rice” are both healthier ways to make fried rice. Quinoa and cauliflower fried rice are perfect for making the dish low carb. You will get that same authentic and delicious Chinese flavor.Fried rice on average is about 333 calories in 1 cup. You better have 2!

Thai Fried Rice Recipe

Calories 142 kcal (7%) Carbohydrates 20 g (7%) Protein 4 g (8%) Fat 5 g (8%) Saturated Fat 1 g (5%) Cholesterol 41 mg (14%) Sodium 282 mg (12%) Potassium 99 mg (3%) Fiber 1 g (4%) Sugar 1 g (1%) Vitamin A 1736 IU (35%) Vitamin C 3 mg (4%) Calcium 20 mg (2%) Iron 1 mg (6%)

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.

I am Alyssa and the blogger behind The Recipe Critic. I started my blog in June of 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family.Learn how to make The Best Fried Rice at home! This copycat recipe tastes just like your favorite restaurant but even better! Loaded with tons of vegetables, scrambled eggs, leftover white rice and my secret ingredient: Butter!

Restaurant Secrets: How To Cook The Perfect Fried Rice

Love fried rice as much as I do? Give my Shrimp Fried Rice, Beef Fried Rice or Cauliflower Fried Rice a try!

Vegetable Fried Rice has to be one of my all time favorite takeout inspired dishes to make at home.