Bacon Fried Rice

If you’ve ever wondered what to do with leftover rice from last night’s take-out dinner or other rice-based dish bacon fried rice is the answer. It’s a 15-minute recipe you can make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Bacon Fried Rice

Bacon fried rice has been on repeat the last month mostly because it’s so easy to make and, like my beloved salsa verde eggs and eggs in purgatory, you can make it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It’s a 15-minute wonder that breaks mealtime barriers and, while totally inauthentic, scratches that take-out itch when it strikes.

And this bacon fried rice obsession started with my Instant Pot. In early experiments with my new electric pressure cooker, I made several batches of brown rice – first, because an Instant Pot takes a little getting used to with all it’s new-fangled controls and buttons and so I needed several practice rounds with basic things like rice, eggs, and veggies to see how it worked and, two, I loved how easy it is to make a batch of rice so I kept making rice and storing the leftovers in the fridge. Day old cooked rice makes great fried rice because it has a chance to dry out a bit, which means your fried rice won’t be sticky and soggy as it would be if you used freshly cooked rice.  And so I made bacon fried rice and loved it so much I kept making it, which means I got a lot of practice cooking brown rice in the Instant Pot. It also means I’m caught in an Instant pot/fried rice kitchen loop that hasn’t stopped. It’s kind of great.

So, let me share how inauthentic this fried is: first, bacon(!). The last I checked bacon fried rice was not on the menu at my local Chinese take-out place and, second, while my version includes an egg it’s not a scrambled one but an intact one fried just until the whites are set leaving the yolk like a little pool of golden richness that, once broken, runs into the rice creating a delicious sauce.

How to Make Bacon Fried Rice

• It bears repeating, so I’ll stress this point again: start with day old rice whether it’s plain rice leftover from last night’s take-out dinner or other rice-based dinner or side dish. I’ve taken to using brown rice recently because the Instant Pot makes easy work of it. It’s a mostly hands-off rice cooking experience.
• You’ll need a small non-stick skillet to cook two slices of bacon until they’ve rendered most of their fat.
• Add some garlic, the rice, some frozen peas and carrots and cook them all until the veggies are warmed through.
• Add the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
• Fry an egg in a separate skillet, transfer both the rice and the egg to a plate and serve.

You get a lot in a short amount of cooking time – savory, smokey rice with crispy bacon and little bites of sweet carrots and peas with a hint of tang from the vinegar. You get one generous serving – sometimes I double up on the eggs because I love the runny yolks – but the recipe easily scales to serve a few more if needed.

Make it on a busy Monday for dinner, a lazy Saturday for breakfast, or as a quick lunch on Sunday. It’s a dish for all mealtimes.

More Takeout-Style Recipes

30-Minute Beef and Broccoli

Easy Sesame Noodles for One

Orange Chicken

Bacon Fried Rice

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If you’ve ever wondered what to do with leftover rice from last night’s take-out dinner or other rice-based dish bacon fried rice is the answer. It’s a 15-minute recipe you can make for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

• Author: April @ Girl Gone Gourmet
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 1 serving 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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• 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 slices thick cut bacon, cut into 1/2” pieces
• 1 large clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup leftover cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
• Cooking spray
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch each of kosher salt & black pepper
• 1 green onion, white and tender green parts only, thinly sliced

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Instructions

1. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
2. In an 8″ non-stick skillet, cook the bacon pieces over medium heat until they start to crisp up, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir it with the bacon fat until it’s fragrant about 10 to 15 seconds. Add the brown rice to the pan and stir to coat it in the bacon fat. Add the peas and carrots and stir again until the peas and carrots are warmed through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the heat to medium-low to keep it warm while you make the egg.
3. Coat a separate small skillet with cooking spray. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the egg to the pan. Cover the pan and cook the egg until the white is set, but the yolk is still runny about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Transfer the fried rice to a plate. Top with the egg. Season the egg with the salt and pepper. Garnish with the green onion and serve.

Notes

I like to use two pans because it makes it easier to transfer everything to a plate, but If you don’t want to use two pans use a 10″ non-stick skillet to make the rice. Once you’ve made the rice, push it to the perimeter of the pan leaving a space in the middle to cook the egg.

Nutrition

• Calories: 643
• Sugar: 1.8g
• Sodium: 952.9.mg
• Fat: 33.8g
• Carbohydrates: 62.2g
• Fiber: 5.9g
• Protein: 22g