Healthy Fried Rice

This Healthy Fried Rice Recipe is packed with chicken, veggies and brown rice. Full of flavor + so delicious – just like takeout chicken fried rice at home! This post is sponsored by our friends at ButcherBox. 

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This healthy fried rice is one of our favorite quick and easy weeknight dinners. It’s light while still being filling and delicious. Plus, it’s much better than takeout fried rice!

If you’re looking for more healthy dinner recipes, check out this Chicken Broccoli Casserole.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE takeout. After cooking all week… sometimes on Friday night the only thing I want to do is veg out in my sweatpants and eat something someone else has cooked for me.

It always seems like the best idea in the moment, but then the next day I usually don’t feel great.

That’s why I came up with healthier versions of my favorite takeout foods like Healthy Chicken Pad Thai , Spicy Ground Turkey Stir Fry, Cashew Chicken, and Healthy Orange Chicken!

This lighter fried rice is right up there with healthy takeout fakeout food!

Healthy Ingredients for Fried Rice:

To make this healthy fried rice you’ll need:

• toasted sesame oil
• ButcherBox Organic Chicken Breasts
• onion, garlic, peppers, carrots
• ground ginger, pepper
• coconut aminos
• red pepper flakes
• eggs
• frozen peas
• cooked rice (white or brown)

We have listed substitutions/ways to customize this recipe with what you have on hand below in the green shaded box.

Whenever we are cooking, we like to use ButcherBox meat. If you’ve never heard of ButcherBox, they’re a meat delivery company that delivers the best quality meat right to your door! They have grass fed & grass finished beef, free range, organic chicken, wild caught seafood, and so much more. 

We’ve used their boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe. It’s my absolute favorite chicken to cook with. It has barely any fat on it and it cooks up to be so tender and juicy!

If you want to learn more about ButcherBox, we wrote a whole ButcherBox Review that you can read here.

Important Note: This is not an authentic fried rice recipe. My goal is always to share recipes that are a bit healthier and made with affordable, accessible ingredients so everyone can enjoy them regardless of their food allergies or dietary restrictions. If you are looking for an authentic fried rice recipe – check out this recipe!

How to Make Healthy Homemade Fried Rice:`

Making fried rice is super simple!

1. In a pan sauté ButcherBox chicken for 15-20 minutes until brown on edges. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan sauté onions and garlic for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes add in peppers and carrots. Sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
3. Push the veggie mixture to one side of the pan. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs until combined. Add eggs to the pan and scramble on the empty side of the pan.
4. Once eggs are cooked (about 1-2 minutes), stir together with veggie mixture.
5. Add pepper, ginger, red pepper flakes, toasted sesame oil, coconut aminos, thawed peas, cooked rice and cooked chicken back to the pot. Stir over low heat until combined and warm.

If you want to make fried rice in your instant pot, check out our Instant Pot Fried Rice recipe.

We love our Caraway Pans for cooking quick meals like this. They’re completely nontoxic and non stick! Check out our Caraway Cookware Review.

How to cook rice:

You can cook your rice on the stovetop, instant pot, or even in the crockpot. You can also buy/use pre cooked or frozen brown rice in this recipe!

Stovetop: Check the back of your rice for instructions on how to cook the rice.

Instant Pot: Different types of rice require different cooking times. Here’s a link to how to cook rice in your instant pot.

Crockpot: I usually make my rice in the instant pot because it’s quicker but here’s a link to cooking rice in the crockpot.

Do you boil rice before frying it? Yes, you need to cook rice completely before frying it. You don’t need to boil it, you can cook it on the stove, instant pot, crockpot, or even in the microwave – but it does need to be cooked before adding it to fried rice.

Best Rice for Fried Rice

Long grain white rice is the best rice for fried rice. It cooks up to be very fluffy but also doesn’t stick together. Jasmine rice is often used for fried rice because it has a light flavor and texture.

Any rice will work in fried rice though. Use up whatever you have!

Is basmati rice good for fried rice? Yes! We recommend using basmati or Jasmine rice for fried rice. Both are long grain white rice and will work very well in fried rice!

Seasoning for Fried Rice

The seasoning for fried rice is a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. The veggies and eggs also add extra flavor to it!

Tips for making Homemade Fried Rice

• Cutting carrots – an easy way to get small pieces of carrot is to peel in ‘ribbons’ and then chop with a knife. They’ll cook perfectly in this recipe that way!
• Precooked rice – You can buy precooked frozen brown rice or make it in the instant pot to save time. For brown rice we do a 2:1 ratio of chicken broth to rice at 14 minutes.
• Veggies – You can buy pre cut veggies to save time. I love the Healthy 8 Mix from Trader Joe’s. Coleslaw mix or broccoli slaw mix will also work! Load it up with as many veggies as you can!
• Extra soy sauce/coconut aminos – You might want your fried rice a little saucier (or saltier!) adding a few extra drops of coconut aminos or soy sauce can help with this