Chicken Fried Rice

This restaurant-style Chicken Fried Rice recipe combines brown rice, any vegetables you have around, and tender chicken in a simple, savory stir fry sauce. One pan. 30 minutes. You’ve got this!

A bowl of healthy chicken fried rice with brown rice and vegetables

I’ve got the trick for perfect fried rice at home.

If you’ve ever gone to a hibachi restaurant for dinner, you know the secret to good fried rice: they add gobs and gobs of butter. ALL the butter. SO much butter.

I don’t add that much butter to this chicken fried rice recipe (I can’t spin an egg on the tip of a knife like those hibachi cooks either), but what sets it apart from a lot of the other recipes you’ll find online is that it does include butter and I think it really makes a big difference. It adds richness to the flavor and helps the rice achieve that fantastic lightly chewy texture—well, that, and using leftover rice instead of fresh. (We’ll discuss that more below!)

With the added chicken, this fried rice is a complete meal in one skillet, and it’s done in only 30 minutes. And when you’re not in the mood for chicken, you can whip up Pork Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice, or Shrimp Fried Rice. Can you tell I love making fried rice?!

5 Star Review

“Excellent tasting and healthy recipe!! We loved every bit of it.”

— Susan —

The Best Rice for Making Fried Rice

You can use any kind of rice, including jasmine, basmati, or long grain white rice, but I prefer brown rice. (If you’d like to make fried rice with cauliflower rice, see this Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe. The technique is different!)

No matter what kind of rice you use, for the best, most authentic-tasting fried rice, YOU MUST USE COLD RICE.

In the refrigerator, the rice grains firm up. This causes them to separate more easily when you stir fry them, resulting in a noticeably superior texture. Day-old rice is best for fried rice, but even a few hours make a HUGE difference and will help you avoid sad, soggy fried rice.

chicken fried rice with oyster sauce and broccoli in a skillet with a wooden spoon

Making the Tastiest Sauce for Fried Rice

The first step for making this chicken fried rice is whisking together the sauce. Some recipes keep it simple with soy sauce alone, but we do one better: soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Soy sauce is the umami king! If you need your fried rice to be gluten-free, opt for tamari over regular soy sauce and check your labels to ensure they do not contain gluten or wheat-derived ingredients.
Oyster sauce gives fried rice its GREAT flavor and is the secret to restaurant-style fried rice, along with the aforementioned butter. Oyster sauce is intensely savory, thick (in a good way), and does not taste like oysters. It’s a critical part of establishing umami.

30-minute chicken fried rice with broccoli in a skillet

Recipe Tips and Tricks

Be Ready to Cook Fast. Stir fry recipes move quickly. Be sure to have all of your chicken fried rice ingredients prepped, measured, and near the stove before you begin.
Get a Head Start. Use Shredded Chicken, Baked Chicken Breast, or rotisserie chicken to streamline the process of making this chicken fried rice recipe.