Veggie fried rice
Takeout-style fried rice with toasty bits, sweet vegetables and fluffy egg, and the best thing that can happen to plain rice.
- 65 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.19 a serving
- 460 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups jasmine rice
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 stalks green onions, sliced
- 3 large eggs
- 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sriracha (optional)
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
Each serving has about 460 calories, 13 g protein, 66 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $1.19 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No frozen mixed vegetables? Frozen peas or frozen corn or frozen green beans work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice in a strainer, add it to a medium with the water, and over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Stir once, cover, to low, and cook 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Spread the rice on a and put it in the fridge, uncovered, for 20 minutes to cool and dry out.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Warm, fresh rice turns mushy in the pan, and cold, dry rice fries into separate, toasty grains. Leftover rice from yesterday is even better.While it chills, the onion, the garlic, the green onions, and the eggs with the salt in a small bowl.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick over medium heat. Add the eggs and scramble until just set with no runny parts, about 1 minute, then slide them onto a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Turn the heat up to high, add the rest of the oil and the onion, and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to , about 2 minutes.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
High heat
Add the cold rice and spread it out. Let it sit without stirring for 2 minutes to , then for 3 minutes more.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: Break up clumps with the back of your spatula. The sizzle should stay loud the whole time.Add the frozen vegetables and garlic and until the vegetables are hot, 2 to 3 minutes.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
High heat
Pour the soy sauce around the edge of the pan, then add the eggs, sesame oil and most of the green onions and for 1 minute.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heat
Dolly’s tip: Soy sauce poured onto the hot pan sizzles and toasts before it reaches the rice.Turn off the heat. Taste, add more soy sauce if it needs salt, and serve topped with the rest of the green onions and a little sriracha.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Vegetarian dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with eggs and rice ›