Veg Fried Rice Recipe

Vegetable Fried Rice is a tasty wholesome asian style rice dish made by tossing cooked rice with crunchy sautéed veggies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce & vinegar. The recipe shared here is egg-free, vegan and can be enjoyed on its own or paired with stir-fried dishes for a filling meal.

Fried rice are a great way to utilise leftover rice or when you are on a ‘fridge cleaning drive’ & looking ways to use those neglected veggies before next round of shopping. It is easy to make, healthy, kids friendly and customisable as you can use vegetables of your choice.

Veg Fried Rice can be accompanied by stir-fried broccoli, bok-choy, saucy sweet & sour tofu or Indo-Chinese dishes like manchurian, chilli paneer or cauliflower manchurian. If you have cooked rice in fridge and a pack of mixed frozen vegetables, it takes barely 10-15 minutes of time to prepare them, perfect for busy weeknight meals.

Fried Rice Ingredients:

Rice: For Chinese fried rice, long grain white rice variety like basmati or jasmine rice are used whereas for Japanese fried rice (Chahan) short grain rice are used. However I would suggest to use any type of rice you have, as the recipe works just fine.

I have used ‘Silver Swan’ brand jasmine rice (use any brand available) to make these Indo-chinese style fried rice which were cooked a day before, cooled and then stored in fridge in an airtight container. Day-old, refrigerated rice hold their texture better and are easier to manage during stir-frying.

One tip which will always help you in getting perfect texture is using cooked rice that have cooled completely or refrigerated for sometime. If you immediately start using hot-steaming rice to make fried rice, they will turn out mushy & sticky.

Also, If you want fluffy, perfectly separated-grain texture, avoid using starchy-glutinous short rice like ‘sticky rice’ as they clump more.

Vegetables: There are so many types of veggies that you can use for fried rice like- carrots, cabbage, capsicum, peas, onion, bell peppers, sweet corn, french beans, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, baby corn etc.

You can use also use frozen vegetables if fresh ones are not readily available. The main thing to take care is saute them just enough to bring out their flavour without losing the crunch. Over-cooked, soft veggies don’t taste good in fried rice.

Aromatics & Herbs: Ginger, garlic and spring onion (scallions) add so much flavour and aroma to fried rice. If you like more intense garlic flavour, you can increase the quantity used and also add finely chopped chives. As I prefer my fried rice to be slightly spicy, I have also used green chilli but it is totally optional.

Condiments: Soy sauce, chilli vinegar / rice vinegar, chilli sauce / sriracha elevate the taste by adding umami flavour and subtle sourness. Using chilli sauce or sriracha is optional and is to be added if you like spicy food.

Protein: If you want to add protein this rice, opt for paneer as vegetarian option or firm tofu for vegan plant-based protein. You can cut them into cubes, saute before adding to the rice or use them in crumbled form.

Oil: Though any cooking oil can be used, but personally I feel sesame oil brings outs so much flavour while giving a typical aroma that you find in Chinese restaurants or takeaways. If its aroma is too strong for you, use half olive oil / avocado oil and half sesame oil.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice (uncooked) – 1 cup (or take 3 cups cooked rice)
Oil- 2 tbsp
Ginger (minced) – 1 inch piece
Garlic (minced) – 3 to 4 cloves
Green Chilli (finely chopped) – 1 (optional)
Spring onion (finely chopped) – 2 tbsp
Onion (finely chopped) – 1 small
Carrot (finely diced) – 1/2 cup
Capsicum or Bell Pepper (finely diced) – 1/2 cup
Cabbage (finely chopped) – 1/2 cup
Salt – 1/2 tsp (to taste)
Crushed pepper – 1/2 tsp (to taste)
Soy sauce – 1 tbsp
Chilli Vinegar / Rice vinegar – 2 tsp
Spring Onion (green part) – 3 tbsp

Notes:

Use any variety of rice available. Other vegetables that can be used- mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, sweet corn.
Rice cooking Instructions are covered at the end of recipe before tips.
Prep all the vegetables in advance as the recipe goes on real quick. Instead of fresh garlic-ginger, you can also use ginger garlic paste.
Any cooking oil-like avocado oil, olive oil, sesame oil or combination of (olive oil + sesame oil) can be used.

Directions:

Step 1:
Heat oil in a pan / wok and add ginger, garlic and green chillies (if using). Saute for 10-15 seconds.

Step 2:
Add onions & spring onions (white part). Saute while stirring for 40-50 seconds (do not brown them).

Step 3:
Add chopped veggies- carrot, capsicum, french beans and cabbage. Saute for 2-3 minutes more while stirring in between (keep the flame high).

Step 4:
Add cooked rice along with soy sauce, vinegar, salt & black pepper. If you want to make them spicy, also add chilli sauce or sriracha. Mix gently (break any rice-clumps with fork).

Step 5:
Garnish with chopped spring onion greens. Serve hot.

How to cook rice on stovetop?

The water to rice ratio is important to get perfectly cooked, non-sticky texture and it can vary depending on the variety of rice being used. For 1 cup basmati rice you need 2 cups of water (1:2) & for 1 cup of jasmine rice you need 1.5 cups water (1:1.5).

For detail instructions on basmati, refer to cumin-rice recipe (skip cumin). Below are the instructions to cook fluffy, non-sticky jasmine rice–

a. Wash the rice ONCE and strain over a colander. Transfer it to a pan (or pot) along with water, 1/4 tsp salt & 1 tsp oil (For 1 cup jasmine rice, use 1+1/2 cups water).

b. Bring it to boil first and then simmer. Cover with lid and let the rice cook for 9-10 min till there is no water left.

c. Turn off the flame but leave it covered for another 10 min as they continue to cook in residual heat. Once done, open the lid and gently fluff the rice with a fork. Store them in fridge in an airtight container only once they have cooled completely.

Tips:

Any leftover fried rice can be stored covered in fridge for 2-3 days. Add a splash of water to them before reheating in microwave or in a pan.
Try to use cooked-refrigerated rice for ideal texture.
Do not overcook the vegetables as we want to maintain their crunch. Always saute them on high heat as it gives a slighty smoky taste to fried rice.
If you still have rice left after making this recipe, then do try out these easy air fryer rice balls which are great as snack or appetiser.

More rice recipes:

Pin for later:

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)