Got leftover chicken? Fried Rice with Leftover Chicken is a quick, tasty and easy way to use it up, reducing waste and saving money!
Egg-fried rice is the best!
It’s quick, easy and tastes amazing. My absolute favourite everyone else is out and I’m eating alone dinner is homemade egg fried rice with Ikea veggie balls. Perfect taste and texture and very little effort!
Disclaimer: While I aim to be as accurate as possible, any advice in this post, including but not limited to, cooking times, quantities, nutritional information and storage and freezing guidance is based on my own experience. Please use your own skills, knowledge and judgement, and get up to date food safety information.
The best thing about fried rice is that you can add anything!
I adore pineapple fried rice, and vegetable fried rice, and fried rice with leftover meat is just fab!
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This Fried Rice with Leftover Chicken is Perfect Because:
- It’s a super quick and easy dinner.
- You can add leftover veggies to this leftover chicken fried rice recipe too.
- You can use any leftover meat, not just chicken.
- Rice is really filling, so you don’t need too much meat.
- Leftover Chicken Egg Fried Rice tastes amazing!
- Leftover Roast Chicken Fried Rice is actually pretty healthy.
I’ve got a lot of recipes for using up leftovers, but this is definitely one of my favourites.
As evidenced by my leftover pork, beef and indeed turkey fried rice recipes.
Ingredients for Leftover Chicken Fried Rice
Fried rice on its own is a great side dish. But with added meat and veg, it’s a fantastic main meal! All you need is:
Leftover Roast Chicken – I shred it just by pulling it apart with my fingers. It makes a little meat look like a lot.
Butter – You can use olive oil or cooking oil, but butter gives it an incredible flavour.
Red Onion
Carrots – Fresh or leftovers.
Frozen Peas
Frozen Corn
White Rice – Personally, I’ve never made fried rice with brown rice, but I suspect you can. Just follow the packet instructions when you cook it for the first time and let me know how it goes!
Eggs
Soy Sauce – I use a low-sodium version. Tastes the same when it’s mixed in and has less salt, which is always good!
Oyster Sauce
Chinese Five Spice
Sesame Oil
Can You Use Fresh Chicken?
Yes, egg fried rice with leftover chicken is a great way to use up leftover chicken, but you can make this recipe with fresh chicken instead of cooked chicken.
Just dice and brown in the pan (or bake in the oven), before removing and following this recipe as it is.
What Vegetables Can You Use in Fried Rice with Leftover Chicken?
Any!
I love cooking with frozen peas and corn for ease and cost.
But if you’ve got leftover veggies, or prefer other things, you can absolutely use these instead! Anything from bell peppers and courgettes to broccoli and cauliflower.
How to Make Fried Rice with Leftover Chicken
Step One
Shred the chicken and cook the rice.
For some reason, fried rice always tastes better when you cook and drain it and leave it to cool before adding it to the frying pan.
This means that you can use leftover rice, as long as it’s been stored correctly and only kept for a day. Just make sure it’s piping hot before serving.
I also recommend cooking it for a few minutes less than the packet says, so that it’s fairly firm when you add it, or it can go mushy.
Step Two
Melt half of the butter over medium heat on the hob, in a non-stick pan.
Add the onions and fry until soft.
Step Three
Add the garlic, and fry for a few more minutes, until you can smell it, and the onions are translucent.
Step Four
Add the chicken, carrots, corn and peas and stir well.
Step Five
Stir in the cooked rice and butter. Stir fry for around 5 minutes, stirring often, making sure the rice doesn’t stick and the butter is melted in.
Step Six
Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it.
Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom of the pan and folding the rice and egg together so that the eggs scramble in
Step Seven
Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce and Chinese five Spice and stir well. Cook for 5-10 more minutes until the veg is cooked and the rice and chicken are piping hot.
It will stick to the pan if you leave it, so keep stirring.
Step Eight
Add a drizzle of sesame oil either to the pan or to the bowls after serving. You can add some sliced spring onions here too if you want, they add a lovely flavour and texture.
You can get a recipe card with full quantities at the bottom of this post.
Tips for Making Perfect Egg-Fried Rice
The main thing when making fried rice with leftover chicken is to make sure both the chicken and the rice are piping hot before serving.
You should also keep your chicken in a sealed container beforehand, and I recommend only keeping it for a day, or two at the very most. You can get more information on storing leftover meat here.
Then, I recommend cooking the rice in advance, using butter, and adding the drizzle of sesame oil right before serving. I always think these little things give your fried rice with leftover roast chicken a better flavour.
And I make a lot of fried rice!
Fried Rice with Leftover Chicken
Ingredients
- 400 g Leftover Roast Chicken (Shredded or diced)
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- ½ Red Onion (Finely Diced)
- 2 Cloves Garlic (Crushed)
- 2 Medium Carrots (Peeled and finely sliced)
- 150 g Frozen Peas
- 150 g Frozen Corn
- 200 g White Rice (Cooked to an al dente texture and drained)
- 3 Eggs
- 4 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
Instructions
- Melt half of the butter in a large non-stick pan on the hob over a medium heat.
- Tip in the onions and fry for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Add the chicken, carrots, peas, and corn and stir together well.
- Pour in the cooked rice and stir through the remaining butter.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Crack the eggs into the centre of the pan and stir well.
- Continue to fold, scraping the bottom of the pan, for a few minutes so that the eggs scramble into the rice.
- Stir through the soy, oyster sauce, and Chinese 5 spice.
- Continue to cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is piping hot.
- Stir through a drizzle of sesame oil.
- Check that the chicken and rice are piping hot before serving.
Notes
- See the post above for more tips and process photos.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
