Restaurant-style chicken fried rice recipe with step-by-step photos and a recipe video. This fried rice tastes like what you get at Indo-Chinese restaurants. You need leftover rice, chicken, eggs, vegetables, soy sauce, and a few simple sauces and seasonings. Toss everything together in a wok for a quick and easy dinner ready in 30 minutes.
This restaurant-style chicken fried rice recipe is my go-to on busy weekdays when I need to get dinner on the table without spending too much time in the kitchen. It comes together in just 30 minutes with chicken, eggs, vegetables, and cooked rice.
I can easily adjust the vegetables or protein depending on what I have in the fridge. The result is simple, fluffy fried rice that tastes just like the one you get at Indo-Chinese restaurants. My family loves fried rice with chicken. If you love a spicier version, try my Schezwan chicken fried rice.
When I first started making fried rice at home, I struggled to get that restaurant-style texture and flavor. Sometimes I added a little too much sauce and the rice turned soggy, while other times the rice just wouldn't stay fluffy and would stick to the pan. So, I worked on the recipe and figured out what was missing.
In this recipe, I'm sharing the restaurant-style techniques that helped me get fluffy, separate grains of fried rice at home. These are simple techniques that you can easily use at home to make restaurant-style fried rice.
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Ingredients Notes
- Rice: Use cooked, cold, day-old, long-grain rice. The rice should be cooked al dente, not soft or mushy. The rice is firmer and less sticky, which helps the grains stay separate while stir-frying. If using fresh rice, cook it slightly firm, cool completely, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Protein: Boneless, skinless chicken breast and eggs are my go-to for this chicken fried rice with vegetables. You can also use chicken thighs, tenders, or shrimp if you prefer.
- Soy Sauce: I use both dark and light soy sauce. Dark soy adds color, while light soy adds saltiness and flavor. If you don't have both, regular soy sauce can be used.
- Chicken bouillon cube or powder: It adds savory depth and umami to the fried rice and helps give it that familiar restaurant-style flavour. I recommend using it for the best flavour, especially if you are skipping MSG.
- Tomato sauce: I use Maggi hot & sweet tomato chilli sauce for a slight sweet and spicy tomato flavour. It is optional but . If using regular tomato ketchup instead, add a little red chilli sauce to bring back the heat.
- Other ingredients: I use vinegar for extra flavor, but you can skip it if you don't have any. For the vegetables, I used bell peppers and carrots. You can also add green beans, peas, or corn.
How to make Restaurant Style Chicken Fried Rice (Step-By-Step Recipe)
The most important thing when making fried rice is to keep everything ready before you start cooking. Fried rice cooks very quickly, especially on high heat. So chop the chicken and vegetables and keep the sauces and other ingredients ready before you start cooking. Once the wok is hot, there isn't much time to stop in between.
1) Marinate the chicken with salt, white pepper, vinegar, and dark soy sauce. Set aside while you get the other ingredients ready (image 1).
2) Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper (image 2).
3) Mix the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, vinegar, chicken bouillon, white pepper, and tomato sauce (or ketchup), if using, in a small bowl. This will be your fried rice sauce (image 3).
4) Heat oil in a well-seasoned wok, pour the egg mixture, and scramble the eggs until light and fluffy (images 4 & 5). Remove them from the pan and keep aside in a bowl (image 6). I prefer cooking the eggs separately as they stay soft and fluffy this way.
5) In the same pan, cook the marinated chicken, stir-fry until golden and cooked through (images 7 & 8). Remove and keep aside (image 9).
6) Add garlic and ginger to the pan and stir-fry for a few seconds (image 10). Add the onion, carrot and capsicum, season with a pinch of salt, and cook until slightly tender but still crisp (images 11 & 12). Don't overcook the vegetables.
7) Add the chilled rice and stir-fry for a minute or until warm (image 13). Toss gently so that the rice grains don't break. Pour in the prepared sauce and toss well to coat the rice evenly. Stir-fry for another minute (image 14).
8) Add the cooked chicken and scrambled eggs. Gently toss everything together and check for salt. Remove from heat. Finish with spring onion greens and give it one final toss (images 15 & 16). Serve this restaurant-style chicken fried rice hot.
Tips for Restaurant-Style Chicken Fried Rice
- Use a wok or well-seasoned iron kadhai: A wok works best because it gets hot quickly and gives you enough space to toss the rice. You can also use an Indian iron kadhai. Just make sure it is well seasoned so the rice doesn't stick to the base.
- Keep everything handy: Have all the sauces, chopped vegetables, aromatics, and other ingredients ready before you start cooking. Fried rice cooks quickly over high heat, so you won't have much time to stop and look for ingredients.
- Fluff the rice before adding it to the wok: Break up any large clumps of cold rice with your fingers or a fork before stir-frying. This makes it easier to toss without breaking the grains.
- Cook on high heat: High heat gives fried rice that restaurant-style texture and flavor. It helps the ingredients cook quickly without allowing too much moisture to build up, which can make the rice soggy. Keep stirring or tossing as you cook.
- Don't overcrowd the pan: Too much rice and too many ingredients at once will lower the temperature and make the rice steam instead of fry. If you're making a large batch, cook it in batches rather than overcrowding the wok.
Recipe Card
Chicken Fried Rice (Restaurant Style)
Equipment
- Wok or Heavy-bottomed pan
Ingredients
To marinate chicken
- 150 g boneless and skinless chicken breast cut into small cubes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper powder Substitute: black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
For scrambled eggs
- 2 eggs
- Salt & pepper to taste
Make a sauce mix
- 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon tomato sauce (or ketchup) optional, check notes.
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- ½ teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled, or 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (Or use Maggi chicken or veg cubes)
For chicken fried rice
- 2 tablespoon oil, divided
- 2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 capsicum chopped
- 3 cups of cooked, cold rice (preferably day-old rice)
- 2 tablespoon spring onion greens
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken with salt, white pepper, vinegar, and dark soy sauce. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs with salt and pepper. Keep aside.
- Prepare the fried rice sauce by mixing dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, vinegar, white pepper, chicken bouillon cube/powder, and optional tomato sauce.
- Scramble the eggs in 2 teaspoons of hot oil until light and fluffy. Remove and set aside.
- Add 2 teaspoons of oil, cook the marinated chicken until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
- Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, stir-fry garlic, ginger, onion, carrot, and capsicum until slightly tender but still crisp.
- Add cold cooked rice and stir-fry for a minute. Gently toss to avoid breaking the rice.
- Add the fried rice sauce and toss well to coat the rice.
- Add the cooked chicken and scrambled eggs. Toss everything together.
- Finish with spring onion greens and give it one final toss.
Notes
- Use day-old rice: Cold, day-old rice is firmer and less sticky, so the grains are more likely to stay separate while stir-frying. Freshly cooked rice can easily turn soft and mushy.
- Using Fresh Rice? If using fresh rice, cook it slightly firm, spread it on a large tray to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Tomato sauce: I use Maggi hot & sweet tomato chilli sauce for a slight sweet and spicy tomato flavour. It is optional. If using regular tomato ketchup instead, add a little red chilli sauce to bring back the heat.
- Prep everything first: Keep the chopped vegetables, eggs, cooked rice, sauces, and seasonings ready before you start. Fried rice cooks quickly on high heat, so there's little time to stop and look for ingredients.
- Use a hot wok & high heat: A hot wok helps cook the ingredients quickly and gives fried rice that restaurant-style texture.
- Stir-fry quickly: Keep tossing and stirring the ingredients over high heat. This helps cook everything evenly while keeping the rice grains separate.
- Use soy sauce sparingly: Soy sauce adds a savory flavor, but too much can make the fried rice dark and overpower the other flavors. Use just enough for a balanced taste.
- MSG (Optional): Add ½ teaspoon MSG if you like. I skipped it when testing this recipe, and the fried rice still tasted great.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other rice recipes:
Preeti
I've made this chicken fried rice countless times, and it always turns out with fluffy grains and amazing flavor, so say goodbye to soggy fried rice forever. You have to try this recipe because it's the perfect weeknight meal that tastes like you ordered it from a restaurant.