This curry fried rice is packed with flavor and cooks up in minutes! Studded with tender-crisp veggies, this easy vegan dish is better than takeout and makes an excellent side or main.
Fried rice is one of my favorite easy weeknight meal secrets. And no, I’m not talking about the kind you get delivered in a paper carton. Homemade fried rice is generally quicker (under 30 minutes to make!), better, and almost as easy!
While plain old fried rice with soy sauce and veggies is good, it can get boring. When you make it at home you’ve got all kinds of options on how to season it up! Adding a little curry powder is one of my favorite fried rice variations.
This curry fried rice is super easy to make and absolutely scrumptious. It can be enjoyed all kinds of ways. Sometimes I eat it on it’s own for a light meal, other days I pair it up with some fried tofu for extra protein, and yet other times I make it as a side to serve alongside other Chinese inspired vegan dishes like sticky sesame cauliflower or vegan Mongolian beef.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted for a gluten-free version of this dish.
- Rice vinegar. Look for this in the international foods aisle of your supermarket.
- Curry powder. There’s so much variation among curry powders, so try a few until you find one that you really like. I’m a big fan of McCormick’s curry powder, so that’s what I used when developing this recipe.
- Ground turmeric.
- Peanut oil. Feel free to substitute your favorite high-heat oil. Vegetable oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil will all work.
- Onion.
- Carrots.
- Bell pepper.
- Garlic.
- Ginger.
- Cooked rice. Fried rice works best when made with leftover rice, chilled and straight from the fridge. Rice that’s been in the fridge for a day or two tends to get a bit dried out, so it gets super crisp when you fry it. Most varieties of rice will work, but ideally go for a sticky, medium grain variety. Jasmine is my favorite for this dish!
- Frozen peas.
- Scallions.
- Toasted sesame seeds. I like a mix of white and black sesame seeds, but either variety is fine on it’s own.
Variation: Add some firm tofu to your shopping list, scramble it up and add it to your fried rice. It’ll make the dish like a vegan version of egg fried rice.
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
Make sure to do your prep work before you start cooking. Prep your veggies and aromatics, and mix up the sauce. This dish cooks fast, so you’ll want everything ready to go when it’s time to add it.
Add your oil to a wok or nonstick skillet and give it a minute to heat up over medium-high heat. It’ll be shimmering when it’s ready.
Add diced veggies to the wok: onion, carrots and bell pepper. Stir-fry the mixture for about two minutes, just until everything starts to become tender.
Push the veggies to the side to clear some space on your cooking surface. Add minced garlic and grated ginger. Sauté them very briefly, being careful not to let them burn.
Add your cold, leftover rice to the skillet. Carefully pour the sauce over the rice. Don’t pour the sauce directly on the cooking surface, which is super hot, or it will sputter like crazy!
Stir-fry everything for a few minutes, until the sauce dries up and the rice gets crispy in spots. Make sure to constantly flip the rice with a spatula the entire time, or it will burn.
Add your (thawed) frozen peas to the wok. Flip them a few times to incorporate them with the rice. Keep cooking the mixture for about a minute, which should be just long enough to heat up the peas.
Remove the wok from heat and top your curried fried rice with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions.
Dig in while it’s hot!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover curry fried rice will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Meal-Prep Tips
- The sauce for this dish can be mixed in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
- The onion, carrots and bell pepper can be chopped in advance and stored together in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Since this dish works best with rice that’s one or two days old, I like to cook another dish that uses rice earlier in the week and make extra. Try something like this green curry or this Kung Pao tofu. Cook 2 to 3 cups of rice so that you’ll have plenty to make curry fried rice a few days later.
More Fried Rice Recipes
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Curry Fried Rice
This curry fried rice is packed with flavor and cooks up in minutes! Studded with tender-crisp veggies, this easy vegan dish is better than takeout and makes an excellent side or main.
Ingredients
-
¼
cup
soy sauce -
1
tablespoon
rice vinegar -
2
teaspoons
curry powder,
plus more to taste (up to 4 teaspoons) -
½
teaspoon
ground turmeric -
2
tablespoons
peanut oil,
or high-heat oil of choice -
1
small onion,
diced -
2
medium carrots,
diced -
1
red bell pepper,
diced -
3
garlic cloves,
minced -
1 ½
teaspoons
freshly grated ginger -
4
cups
leftover cooked rice
(1-2 days old and chilled) -
1
cup
frozen peas,
thawed -
2
scallions,
chopped -
2
teaspoons
toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
-
Stir the soy sauce, vinegar, curry powder and turmeric together in a small bowl. Set it aside.
-
Coat the bottom of a large nonstick skillet or wok with the oil and place it over medium-high heat.
-
Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the onion, carrots and bell pepper. Stir-fry everything for about 2 minutes, until the veggies brighten in color a bit.
-
Push the vegetables to the side and add the garlic and ginger. Sauté them together for about 30 seconds, until the mixture becomes very fragrant.
-
Add the rice and carefully pour the soy sauce mixture over the rice. Stir fry the rice and vegetables together until the sauce dries up and the rice begins to crisp in spots, about 3 minutes. Flip the mixture constantly while cooking to prevent burning.
-
Add the peas and continue stir-frying the mixture for about a minute, just to heat up the peas.
-
Remove the wok from heat.
-
Sprinkle the fried rice with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve.
Nutrition Facts
Curry Fried Rice
Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups)
Calories 364
Calories from Fat 75
% Daily Value*
Fat 8.3g13%
Saturated Fat 1.4g7%
Sodium 952mg40%
Potassium 373mg11%
Carbohydrates 63.2g21%
Fiber 5.3g21%
Sugar 6.1g7%
Protein 8.4g17%
Calcium 60mg6%
Iron 15mg83%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.