This quick and easy Vegetable Fried Rice Recipe filled with veggies and topped with perfectly seared shrimp is next level.
Before you consider ordering take out, plan ahead and make this colorful and delicious dish in the comfort of your own home. It's has all the elements of a tasty fried rice.
Ingredients
- Rice (either white or brown)
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh snow peas
- Carrots
- Broccoli
- Eggs
- Coco aminos (soy sauce substitute) or soy sauce - Coco aminos is a soy sauce substitute that has a slightly sweeter taste compared to soy sauce.
- Water
- Grape-seed oil or olive oil
Essentials
- Nonstick skillet, cast iron skillet, or stainless steel skillet
- Cutting board
- Chef's knife
How to make fried rice with veggies
Making vegetable fried rice is a simple side dish that comes together in minutes after the rice has chilled and is ready to be fried.
Here, are quick and easy steps to make this delicious veggie-rich fried rice.
- Make either white or brown rice using a rice cooker or on the stove-top. After it has steamed, place the cooked rice in an airtight container and then into the fridge to chill for least for 4 hours or overnight.
- Mince garlic and fresh ginger and set aside.
- Thinly slice snow peas lengthwise (julienne style) and set aside.
- Cut carrots into match sticks or into ribbons with a vegetable peeler and set aside.
- Cut broccoli into florets, add florets to a pot of boiling water to blanch for 2 to 3 minutes then add florets to an ice water bath to stop cooking. Drain and set aside.
- Add a little butter to a skillet, when butter has melted, add beaten eggs to the skillet and swirl around until the egg coats the bottom of the skillet like a pancake, cook for a couple of minutes, flip and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Slide the cooked egg unto a plate, roll the egg and slice thinly (i.e julienne style). Set aside.
- (Optional): Thaw, de-vein shrimp, dry thoroughly, season, and sear. Set aside. Check out my post on How to Cook Frozen Shrimp to get perfectly seared shrimp.
- Add cooking oil to a skillet and place over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant, add the chilled cooked rice and allow the rice to turn slightly brown. Add the coco aminos and stir to coat the rice. Add the cut veggies and season with kosher salt to taste. Add more coco aminos and a drizzle of cooking oil. Add seared shrimp.
- Serve immediately and enjoy.
How to cool rice down faster to make fried rice the same day
Freshly steamed rice isn't ideal for making fried rice. Cold rice yields the best results. If by chance you haven't planned ahead but want to make this vegetable fried rice recipe, do not worry.
- You can simply steam rice as usual
- Spread the steamed rice onto a baking sheet or other vessel that you can spread into a single layer
- Place in the freezer for at least 10 to 20 minutes until the rice is cool
- Then, proceed with the next steps
Good vegetables for fried rice
- Broccoli
- Snow peas
- Peas
- Mushrooms
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Cucumbers
- Green or purple cabbage
- Green beans
Fried Rice Variations
This vegetable fried rice recipe is very adaptable and can be made with shrimp, chicken, beef, or pork.
Saute or sear your protein of choice, and add it to the fried rice at the end.
For this recipe, I used coco aminos which is slighter sweeter than soy sauce which I love; however, feel free to use soy sauce instead as your flavor enhancer along with a dash of oyster sauce or a few dashes of fish sauce to elevate the flavor. It's you're choice.
Tips
- Use cold cooked rice (refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight) or follow the steps above to cool the rice faster
- If using a skillet that isn't nonstick, rice can stick to the skillet (keep this in mind)
- If using a cast iron skillet, do not fry eggs in this type of skillet they will stick instead use a different skillet in which the eggs will release easily
- Prep all your ingredients and have them close by before putting it all together
- Feel free to scramble the eggs I prefer frying the eggs and slicing thinly for a nicer presentation
- This recipe is great for getting rid of unused veggies that may be reaching their expiration date
Other Asian inspired recipes you may like
Grilled Teriyaki Pork Ribs Recipe
For more recipe ideas and inspiration, be sure to connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.
Thanks for visiting,
Cree
📖 Recipe
Vegetable Fried Rice Rice
Equipment
- nonstick skillet, cast iron skillet, or stainless steel skillet
- Chef's knife
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 2 cups Jasmine Thai rice (white or brown rice)
- 5 cloves fresh garlic
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger
- ¾ cup fresh snow peas (or more if you'd like more veggies)
- 1 carrot (or 2 carrots if you'd like more veggies)
- 1.5 lbs broccoli (or more if you'd like more veggies)
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup coco aminos (add at the end)
- 2 tablespoon grape-seed oil (peanut oil or olive oil )
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
Coco aminos mixture
- ½ cup coco aminos
- ¼ cup water
Sear Shrimp
- 1 tablespoon grape-seed oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Steam rice and place in airtight container and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. If you want to chill the rice much faster, refer to the section labeled 'How to cool rice down faster to make fried rice the same day' within the post.
Making the Fried Rice
- Using a measuring cup, combine coco aminos and water. Set aside.
- Now that the rice is cold, prep the other ingredients.
- Thaw and de-vein shrimp. Rinse with cold water and dry them thoroughly by placing them on a baking sheet lined with layers of paper towels and pat dry the top of the shrimp with an extra paper towel to absorb the moister. Season with kosher salt, black pepper and smoked paprika. Sear each side for 2 to 3 minutes. Place on a clean plate. Set aside.
- Cut broccoli into florets, add florets to a pot of boiling water to blanch for 2 to 3 minutes then add florets to an ice water bath to stop cooking. Drain and set aside.
- Mince the fresh garlic and ginger. Set aside.
- Wash and string the snow peas and thinly slice lengthwise (julienne style). Set aside.
- Remove the outer skin of the carrots and cut into match sticks or ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Set aside.
- Add a little butter to a skillet, when butter has melted, add beaten eggs to the skillet and swirl around until the egg coats the bottom of the skillet like a pancake, cook for a couple of minutes, flip and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Slide the egg onto a clean plate, roll it and slice thinly. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the skillet and place over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant, add the chilled cooked rice and allow the rice to turn slightly brown about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the coco aminos and stir to coat the rice. Add the cut veggies and season with kosher salt to taste and gently toss to combine. Add more coco aminos about ¼ cup and a drizzle of cooking oil. Add seared shrimp.
- Serve immediately and enjoy.
Notes
- Use cold cooked rice (refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight) or follow the steps above to cool the rice faster
- If using a skillet that isn't nonstick, rice can stick to the skillet (keep this in mind)
- If using a cast iron skillet, do not fry eggs in this type of skillet they will stick instead use a different skillet in which the eggs will release easily
- Prep all your ingredients and have them close by before putting it all together
- Feel free to scramble the eggs I prefer frying the eggs and slicing thinly for a nicer presentation
- This recipe is great for getting rid of unused veggies that may be reaching their expiration date
Thanks for visiting! Please feel free to leave a comment