Sheet Pan Fried Rice

Transform leftover rice into restaurant quality fried rice. Quick and easy to make and totally customizable, this fried rice is perfect for a weeknight side dish or meal.

Today’s recipe lead in is all about why I love fried rice recipes, especially this one.

Reason #1

I love that this recipe uses whole-grain brown rice. The major difference between brown rice and white rice is the milling process. Milling, or whitening, removes the outer bran layer of the rice kernel leaving white rice. The fiber-rich bran coating gives brown rice its light tan color and chewy texture. Brown rice retains an impressive array of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B6, folate, vitamin E, potassium, and magnesium.

This recipe in particular offers an excellent, albeit sneaky, way to introduce brown rice skeptics to this whole grain. Since traditional fried rice made with white rice is tan in color due to the added soy sauce, those who aren’t exactly brown rice fanatics probably won’t question the brown color of this rice dish.

Reason #2

I love this fried rice recipe because it offers an easy and delicious way to use up leftover rice. Day old rice is ideal when making fried rice because the rice grains dry out a bit giving it a nice firm texture. Freshly cooked rice can be soft and even mushy, two qualities you don’t want in fried rice.

If you don’t have leftover rice in the fridge but still want to make this recipe today no worries, just use cooked, instant brown rice. I used it several times when testing this recipe and it worked great. The sheet pan oven cooking method allows just cooked rice grains to dry out a bit creating the expected texture of fried rice. Instant brown rice is just brown rice that has been precooked and dried. It cooks in about 10 minutes. Traditional brown rice takes about 50 minutes to cook. Nutritionally speaking, both versions of brown rice are considered whole grains and contain 2 grams of dietary fiber.

Reason #3

I love that this recipe is totally customizable when it comes to the vegetable ingredients. Use whatever vegetables you have on hand – bean sprouts, red or green bell pepper, broccoli, snow or sugar peas, cauliflower, mushrooms, celery, or corn. The list goes on. For even cooking, just make sure that the vegetables you use are cut to roughly the same size.

Reason #4

I love that this side dish can easily turn into a meal just by adding more protein. Beyond the eggs that are already in the recipe, boost the protein content by tossing in cooked shrimp, pork, tofu, or chicken.

Reason #5

I love that I can moderate the sodium content of fried rice when I make it myself. A quick review of some restaurant nutrition information revealed that a 2/3 cup serving of fried rice can have more than 850 milligrams of sodium. A 2/3 cup serving of today’s sheet pan fried rice has about 260 milligrams of sodium. That’s quite a sodium savings!

I hope you love this recipe as much I do. Please share your favorite vegetable and protein add-ins in the comment section below – I’d love to know what you enjoy adding to your fried rice recipe.

To your health,

Darlene

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SHEET PAN FRIED RICE

Yield: 8 servings 

Serving Size: about 2/3 cup fried rice

Prep: 15 minutes

Ready: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil

• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh gingerroot

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 3 cups cooked brown rice

• 1 cup diced yellow onion

• 1 cup diced carrot

• 3/4 cup frozen peas

• Vegetable oil cooking spray

• 2 large eggs, beaten

• 3/4 cup sliced green onion, tops and bulbs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, oil, vinegar, gingerroot, brown sugar, garlic, and black pepper. Remove 2 tablespoons of soy sauce mixture and set aside for later use.

2. In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, yellow onion, carrot, and peas. Add soy sauce mixture, minus reserved 2 tablespoons, to rice mixture and stir to coat. Spread rice mixture evenly over a large sheet pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking process.

3. Remove sheet pan from oven and drizzle rice mixture with beaten eggs. Return rice to oven and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and stir rice, breaking up any large pieces of cooked egg. Drizzle with reserved 2 tablespoons of soy sauce mixture and stir to coat. Add green onions, stir to combine, and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving

179 Calories, 5 g Total fat, 1 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 44 mg Cholesterol, 262 mg Sodium, 27 g Total carbohydrate, 3 g Dietary fiber, 4 g Total sugars, 0.5 g Added sugars, 5 g Protein, 1 mcg (6%) Vitamin D, 24 mg (2%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 429 mg (10%) Potassium

© 2023 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC

Sheet Pan Fried Rice

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