This vegan fried rice is absolutely delicious and super easy to make! Loaded with flavor, it's perfect for a simple main dish or a show-stealing side. The best part: it comes together in about 20 minutes!
I'll let you in on one of my top meal-prep rules: whenever I'm cooking plain rice, I make extra! Leftover rice is a meal-prep staple in my house.
This vegan fried rice is my favorite way to use leftover rice. Having some leftover rice on hand is a double win because fried rice is always best when it's made with rice that's a couple days old.
So you end up with a delicious dish that can serve as an awesome main or side (which you can always add some protein to — see below!) that comes together super quickly and easily because the main ingredient is already cooked! This stuff is better than any takeout veggie fried rice I've ever had, it can be on the table faster, and making it is just the tiniest bit more challenging than placing an online order at your favorite Chinese food place.
Let's talk about how it's made!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Peanut oil. Feel free to substitute another type of high-heat oil, like vegetable oil, avocado oil, or canola oil.
- Carrots.
- Scallions.
- Garlic.
- Leftover rice. Leftover rice works best for this recipe because it's a bit dried out, so it crisps up nicely! Most common varieties of long or short grain rice work. My personal preference is white jasmine rice.
- Soy sauce. Gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted if you'd like.
- Vegan oyster sauce. This adds a nice mix of sweet, salty and umami flavor to the dish. Lots of supermarkets carry it in the international foods section. You can also try Asian markets, or online.
- Sriracha. Leave this out for a milder version of the dish.
- Frozen peas. You just need to thaw them out before adding them to the recipe. Not a fan of peas? Try edamame instead!
- Toasted sesame oil. Look for this in the international foods aisle at the supermarket.
- Toasted sesame seeds. White sesame seeds or black sesame seeds can be used. I like a mix of both!
How to Make Vegan Vegetable 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 your peanut oil in a large skillet or wok. Once it's hot, add diced carrots and the white parts of your scallions. Cook them together for about 5 minutes, until the carrots begin to soften up, stirring everything occasionally.
- Push the carrots and scallions to the side of your skillet and add the garlic. Cook the garlic briefly. Make sure to stir the garlic often to prevent burning.
- Now crank up the heat and add the rice and fried rice sauce ingredients: soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sriracha. Tip: take your cooked rice straight from the fridge and add it to the skillet while it's cold. This will help ensure it crisps up well when you fry it!
- Stir-fry everything for a few minutes. The liquid will dry up and the rice will begin to crisp up as you do this.
- Once the rice has gotten nice and crispy, you can add the peas, green parts of your scallions and your sesame seeds. Flip everything a few times and take the skillet off of heat.
- Stir in your sesame oil last.
- Divide your vegan fried rice onto plates and dig on in!
Variations
- Add some protein. Pan-fried tempeh or extra-firm tofu cooked using this method would be a great addition to this vegan fried rice. You could also scramble some tofu and season it with a bit of nutritional yeast and kala namak to make an "eggy" vegan fried rice that's actually eggless!
- Switch up the veggies. Stir-fried broccoli, snow peas, and bell peppers would all be excellent in this recipe!
- Make extra spicy vegetarian fried rice. Add some extra sriracha, chili oil, or your favorite hot sauce!
Shelf Life & Storage
Leftover vegan fried rice will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yup! Just use gluten-free tamari or liquid aminos in place of soy sauce.
You can. Using leftover rice isn't strictly necessary, but it does help to get your fried rice nice and crispy. I find that two-day old rice works best. If you didn't think to make your rice ahead of time and have to use fresh, try cooking it with a smidge less water than you'd normally use.
There's really no best variety, but jasmine rice is my personal favorite because it has great flavor and it's nice and starchy, so it crisps up well. White rice or brown rice are both totally fine to use. Avoid mushy or creamy rice varieties like risotto.
More Fried Rice Recipes
- Pineapple Fried Rice
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Curry Fried Rice
- Hibachi-Style Japanese Fried Rice
- Brussels Sprout Fried Rice with Spicy Tofu
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📖 Recipe
20-Minute Vegan Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil, or another high-heat oil
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 4 medium scallions, white and green parts separated and chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups leftover cooked rice
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vegan oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (optional, or to taste)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet or wok with the oil and place it over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the carrots and white parts of the scallions. Cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the carrots begin to soften.
- Push the carrots and scallions to the side and add the garlic. Cook it for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until very fragrant.
- Mix the garlic in with the carrots and scallions, then raise the heat to high. Add the rice, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sriracha.
- Stir-fry the rice, flipping it continuously with a spatula, until the liquid from the sauces dries up and the rice begins to crisp in spots, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Stir in the peas, sesame seeds, and green parts of the scallions.
- Stir in the sesame oil.
- Remove the skillet from heat. Taste test and adjust any seasonings to your liking.
- Divide onto plates and serve.
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So good and so simple! I added extra peas (because I love green peas!) and I pan-fried a block of tofu to add protein. I cooked the tofu in a little bit of oil, then added extra soy sauce/vegan oyster sauce when I mixed everything together in the pan, to account for the tofu. It was delicious! I cooked the rice the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight before I made the fried rice. I was afraid my rice was too mushy, but it crisped up enough when I sauteed it all together. I might add some broccoli next time as well. Thanks for the recipe!