Better Than Take-Out Fried Rice

This rice is BETTER than P.F. Changs!

Even if you are fortunate enough to grow up around a talented cook, you may fall prey to some limiting food myths. Here are two that Mother passed on to me: (1) Good Chinese food is really too complicated and impractical to make at home. (2) It is extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible, to make a dish that is really good AND really healthy. This recipe goes a long way to dispel these notions.

Just to be clear: I don’t plan on giving up all of those less-than-healthy things. I will always love my bacon, and I still believe that butter makes plenty of things a whole lot better. But I do believe in maintaining a balanced diet and mixing in healthier options when possible, and I do like variety.

The fried rice dish here allows me to take down all of those proverbial birds with one stone. It offers a healthy sampling of the better carbs and is low in fat–much better than the usual Chinese takeout–and offers me a bit of departure from the everyday food options for home cooking without breaking the bank.

For me, fried rice is so indulgent. I normally get the white rice with my Chinese or Asian meals, but every now and then I get that flavorful, veggie filled rice along with my entrée and it’s so amazingly good! Only recently did I discover I can make that junk at home! You don’t need a wok, or a huge flat top grill like those at the restaurant.

A simple pan will do. I like to toss in some chicken or beef to the mix as well. That way, you can call this fried rice a complete meal. Yay!

My family never complains when I make up some fried rice. We’ve had shrimp, chicken, and pork fried rice since my recipe discovery. You can imagine my thrill when I saw Thai flavored fried rice!

Thai food is super flavorful and is one of those that I can’t stop eating until I feel stuffed like a Thanksgiving day turkey. Speaking of turkey, you’ll have quite a bit leftover soon and the white meat would be perfect in this dish – just sayin’! We had some leftovers of this yummy fried rice and took them over to my grand parent’s house.

They loved it! This speaks volumes as to how good this rice truly is because my grandparents are old school and don’t typically eat foods like fried rice.

I really couldn’t believe how good it turned out. I promise that you can stay at home and have this better than take out chicken fried rice.
To Make this Recipe You’Il Need the following ingredients:
  • 4 c rice, prepared
  • 1/2 lb boneless chicken breast, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces. or same amount of medium-size cooked shrimp.
  • 1 c peas and carrots, frozen
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 2 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 c soy sauce

  instructions :

  • 1 Prepare rice according to package instructions to yield 4 cups cooked rice.
  • 2 Heat sesame oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, peas, and carrots. Stir fry until tender.
  • 3 Crack eggs into pan and scramble, mixing throughout vegetables.
  • 4 Add rice, chicken or shrimp or both, and soy sauce to pan. Stir to combine all ingredients and remove from heat. Enjoy!