Juicy pineapple chunks are stir-fried with crispy rice, edamame and fresh basil in this peanut-topped pineapple fried rice! Better than takeout and easy enough for a weeknight!
Need a quick and easy dinner idea for busy weeknights? Fried rice is where it's at! And this pineapple fried rice in particular is loaded with flavor and comes together in under 30 minutes.
There is a catch though: you need to have some leftover cooked rice on hand. Leftover rice always makes the best, most delicious, crispiest fried rice. Trust me.
Tip: Plan ahead next time you're making rice — cook some extra so that you can make fried rice later in the week.
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What You'll Need
- Oil. The recipe calls for canola oil, but any high-heat oil will do! Feel free to use peanut, vegetable, or corn oil.
- Pineapple. Fresh pineapple is ideal, but I can't see why canned wouldn't work in a pinch.
- Scallions.
- Garlic.
- Fresh ginger.
- Red bell pepper. An orange or yellow bell pepper would also work just fine in this recipe.
- Cooked rice. Fried rice always works best with rice that's a day or two old and has been chilling in the fridge. Most varieties of brown or white rice work just fine in this recipe. Jasmine is my personal favorite!
- Soy sauce. Or substitute gluten-free tamari if you'd like.
- Sriracha sauce. Skip this for a milder version of the dish.
- Frozen edamame. Look for shelled edamame. Substitute with peas if you can't find this.
- Fresh basil.
- Roasted peanuts.
How to Make Pineapple Fried Rice
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat up some oil in a skillet, then add diced pineapple. Pineapple needs a little bit more time to cook at a lower temperature than everything else, which is why we'll be cooking it separately. Cook the pineapple until the pieces become tender and start to brown, then remove it from the skillet.
- Add some more oil and your aromatics: garlic, ginger and the white parts of some scallions. Cook them for just a minute, until the mixture becomes very fragrant.
- Raise the heat, add your bell pepper and stir-fry it for a minute. It'll just barely soften up in that time. Tip: always use high heat and flip your veggies constantly when stir-frying.
- Add your rice, soy sauce, and sriracha. I highly recommend adding the rice cold, straight from the fridge — this will help it to cook up nice and crispy!
- Stir-fry everything for a few minutes, until the rice starts to dry out and get crispy. This should take five minutes or so.
- Add your cooked pineapple and edamame to the skillet. Cook everything for just about a minute more, to heat up the edamame.
- Take your skillet off of the heat and add the green parts of your scallions, some basil and chopped peanuts.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover fried rice will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days (depending on how old your rice was to start with).
Frequently Asked Questions
It is if you make it with gluten-free tamari.
I prefer a sticky medium-grain white rice, such as jasmine, but most varieties will work just fine. You could even use quinoa! Avoid creamy or such as risotto or rice that's mushy because it's been overcooked or cooked with too much water (this happens a lot with brown rice).
You can serve this dish either as a main, or a side. Try pairing it up with a simple salad or some pan-fried tofu for extra protein.
More Fried Rice Recipes
- Vegan Fried Rice
- Curry Fried Rice with Scrambled Tofu
- Brussels Sprout Fried Rice
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Japanese Fried Rice
Video
Need some more guidance on how to make this pineapple fried rice? Check out my video!
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Pineapple Fried Rice
Juicy pineapple chunks are stir-fried with crispy rice, edamame and fresh basil in this peanut-topped pineapple fried rice! Better than takeout and easy enough for a weeknight!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil, or high-heat oil of choice, divided
- 2 cups diced pineapple (1-inch pieces, about ½ of a pineapple)
- 4 scallions, white and green parts separated and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 3 cups cooked rice, preferably 1-2 days old and chilled
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tablespoon sriracha, or to taste (optional)
- 1 cup shelled frozen edamame, thawed
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
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Place a large skillet over medium heat and coat the bottom with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
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When the oil is hot, add the pineapple in an even layer.
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Cook the pineapple for about 3 minutes, until the pieces begin to soften up and brown on the bottoms, flip and cook for about 3 minutes more.
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Remove the pineapple from the skillet and transfer it to a plate.
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Add the remaining oil to the skillet.
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Give the oil a minute to heat up, and then add white parts of scallions, garlic and ginger.
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Sauté about 1 minute, until very fragrant.
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Raise the heat to high. Add the bell pepper and stir-fry it for about 1 minute.
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Add the rice, soy sauce and sriracha (if using) to the skillet. Continue to stir-fry everything for 4 to 5 minutes, until the rice begins to dry out and crisp up in spots.
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Return the pineapple to the skillet and add the edamame. Flip everything a few times to mix the ingredients.
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Cook everything for about 1 minute more, just to heat up the edamame.
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Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the green parts of scallions, basil and peanuts.
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Divide onto plates and serve.
Oh my goodness, this sounds incredible and looks even better! It looks very similar to the Khao Pad served at my favourite restaurant, which comes with a little wedge of lime and crushed peanuts - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. I'll definitely give this a go next week. I hope your hand feels better soon!
Poppy | http://poppyallanorma.com
Boo-hiss, it's so disappointing when our bodies do janky-wierd things. Kudos to you for a little food healing! I have never tried pineapple and basil together, but you have sold me!
This looks really. Could the rice be replaced with qunoa
Thanks Linda! You might have to tweak the recipe a bit, but I think quinoa would work. I have a quinoa fried rice recipe here that might be useful for guidance. Good luck!
That's an interesting combination of ingredients. Something I wouldn't have tried before, but I am certainly tempted now. Especially edamame and pineapple. I like them separately, but together - interesting thought :) Thanks for sharing.
It really was a nice combination - my husband and I LOVED it! Hope you do too!
I' m your friend from FBC. This looks delicious and I am glad that you are able to make this inspite if your painful hand ..
This is wonderful, great recipe! When I was in Vietnam I loved eating pineapple fried rice in a little place where they used half a pineapple as a bowl - maybe if I'm patient one day I'll try that. :) Thanks for the recipe!
Fantastic rice dish. Very tasty and tongue watery to eat.
Awesome! Glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know!
Made this last night for the hubs and I. Absolutely delicious! Enjoyed every bite, and will be enjoying again tonight as leftovers. This will definitely become a staple in my dinner rotation. Thank you for sharing!
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Robyn!
All that pineapple............... heaven..............
Can you use olive oil instead of vegetable oil?
I'm sure it would cook just fine with olive oil, but you might get a little bit of olive flavor in there.
I love thai food. I made this recipe and it is verey delicious, easy and fun making. I have used sticky rice, basmati rice, brown rice and qunoa. Any grain you use it is always delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Why would people would write comments without making the recipe? That does not help.
What accompaniment would you suggest just incase we need one.. although this alone is backed by full of flavour but just incase. Thanks
If you want to round out the meal some pan fried or smoked tofu would be nice. :)
Was really good, I'm gonna do it again:)
I'm glad you like it!
Delicious! I added some extra vegetables but I'm sure it would have been very good without them, too. Hanifia
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
This looks delicious! Gotta try this!
I just made this, but I sauteed 1 package of Trader Joe's Super Firm Tofu (pressed & crumbled) along with the pineapple. Also, instead of the regular rice, I used 2 packages TJs frozen organic cauliflower rice. Delicious!
Sounds like a wonderful meal, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Brenda!!
Made this last Tuesday for the family, they all loved it. EVERYONE.
Making it again tonight.
Thank you for sharing this. It is going into our regular rotation.
Very welcome! I'm so glad it's a hit!
Came out terrific!!
I'm glad to hear it!
Full of flavour and tastes way better that take out too!
Yay! Glad you think so!
Followed the recipe with the exception of using sweet onions instead of green onions (although I used the green onions/basil for garnish). Also added cabbage when sautéing my onion, bell peppers. It was really good. Made Teriyaki chicken to go along with the rice.
This looks delicious! I like to use brown rice and I see you say not to use " improperly cooked brown rice". What is that?
I just updated the post to clarify a bit - brown rice can sometimes turn out mushy if it's cooked too long or with too much water. If it has a nice texture with distinct grains of rice it'll work fine. :)