Another one of my "go-to" dinners that is ready in 20-minutes only. Super simple fried rice with carrots, frozen peas and some tamari sauce.
Chose the right ingredients
- Rice: to be able to make this recipe in only 20 minutes, you need to choose a rice that has a cooking time of about 10 minutes.
- Tamari sauce: just like soy sauce, tamari sauce is made from fermented soy. The only difference is that it does not contain added wheat, making it 100% gluten free.
- Vegetable broth: you can use any type of vegetable broth you like. I recommend homemade one (always keep some in the freezer) or if you buy it in store, look for the ones in a glass jars. These usually (double check to be sure) contain less additives and flavor enhancers compared to dehydrated broth cubes.
Tips to make the perfect fried rice
I have 2 tips that make this recipe go from boring to amazing, so read carefully:
- Cook your rice in vegetable broth: this simple trick will give the entire dish a lot more flavor in comparison to rice cooked in water.
- Add some sesame oil: when frying the onions and the carrots, I like to combine olive oil and sesame oil to give the dish a nice Asian taste. I like to mix both as sesame oil has a quite strong flavor and we don't want it to dominate.
I must admit I do not cook Asian inspired dishes very often. Which is also why I don't have most of the ingredients used for that type of cuisine in my pantry (I'm talking about rice vinegar, miso paste, etc.). But having a small bottle of sesame oil and adding a tiny bit to this dish just does the trick for me. It's also really nice in salad dressing and marinades (even for vegetables).
More easy dinner ideas
The Recipe
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The recipe
20-min Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion or 2-3 green onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 cups (380 g) quick-cooking long-grain rice
- 3 cups (700 ml) vegetable broth
- 2 cups (300 g) frozen sliced carrots or use a frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 cup (160 g) frozen green peas
- 4 tablespoons tamari gluten-free
Optional
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
Instructions
- Peel and dice the onion. If you're using green onions, save the green parts as a topping.
- Heat a large saucepan with vegetable oil. When hot, sauté the onion over medium heat until fragrant.
- Add the sesame oil and the rice to the pan. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add in the frozen carrots, frozen peas, vegetable broth, and tamari. Cook over medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated.
- Make sure the rice is cooked. If not, add a splash of vegetable broth or water and simmer until cooked.
- Optionally top with sesame seeds and the green parts of the green onions.
Notes
- Rice: to be able to make this recipe in only 20 minutes, you need to choose a quick-cooking rice that has a cooking time of 10-15 minutes. You can use brown rice but you may need to adapt the cooking time accordingly and only add the frozen vegetable when there are 10 minutes of cooking left.
- Vegetable broth: I recommend jarred or boxed vegetable broth made with minimal ingredients. You can also use bouillon powder.
- Tamari sauce: make sure it's 100% gluten-free if needed.
Did you like this recipe? Let me know!