This Garlic Fried Rice is a delicious, easy side that’s made with a whole head of garlic and just the right amount of soy sauce. It’s extremely simple, with only a few pantry ingredients, and quick to make!
Extra Garlicky Fried Rice
When you want something a little more special than plain rice but not as complicated as a smorgasbord fried rice, this Garlic Fried Rice may be just what you’re looking for.
You may be familiar with the Filipino version of garlic fried rice, called Sinangag. That version is usually just rice + garlic + salt, fried in oil. It’s simple and aromatic! We decided to make a Chinese take on Garlic Fried Rice, instead with light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, a little sugar, salt, and scallions to round it all out.
The Importance of Salt
You may be wondering why this recipe includes a ¼ teaspoon salt when it also contains salty ingredients like soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine.
Sarah and I were recently chatting between shots for Wontons with Peanut Sauce about how it took us a long time as young and inexperienced home cooks to realize that if your fried rice tastes bland, at a certain point, more soy sauce will not save you, no matter how hard you try.
So what is the key? Salt!
It sounds simple, but when cooking Chinese food, it’s tempting to think soy sauce will cure all of your seasoning woes. Sadly, it will not. Just like how a little salt brings out the flavors of sweet baked goods, salting your rice instead of adding more soy sauce brings out all the flavors in the wok, instead of just making everything taste blunt and soy-soaked.
Recipe FAQs and Adjustments
Can I add protein to this recipe?
Yes! Figure on 6-8 ounces cooked protein or 10 to 12 ounces of raw protein. Just keep in mind you’ll have to pre-cook the raw protein. Just velvet it (see our velveting techniques for chicken, pork, beef and shrimp), sear it in the pan, then set aside, and proceed as normally with the recipe!
Can I use a rice blend?
Since posting my Quinoa Rice recipe, which has since become a real staple for the whole family (see also, Millet Rice!), we’ve had some of you ask if you can use these rice blends for fried rice. The answer is yes! I use it all the time, and it has a great nutty flavor, and the quinoa or millet offer their health benefits without taking away from the texture of the fried rice. If brown rice is more your speed, we have specific guidance for making Brown Fried Rice here!
What vegetables can I add?
The sky’s the limit when it comes to vegetables. See our How to Make Fried Rice post for guidance on how to treat various types of vegetables (i.e. when to add them, whether they need to be pre-cooked, etc).
Garlic Fried Rice Recipe Instructions
Heat a wok or large skillet (you could even use a nonstick pan) over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic. Gently fry until the garlic is lightly golden.
Add the rice, and increase the heat to medium-high. Toss to stir fry, breaking up any clumps and spreading the rice in a single layer. Fry for 30 seconds or so and repeat this process to warm the rice through and coat in the oil and garlic. Add the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, salt, and sugar.
Stir-fry to combine and distribute the seasonings until the color becomes more uniformly light brown. Give it a taste to see if you need more salt. Add the scallions, and give it a final toss.
Serve alongside your favorite dishes and enjoy!
Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil)
- 1 head garlic (minced, about 12 cloves)
- 5 cups cooked white Jasmine rice (day-old rice is best, but you can also make fresh rice and let it cool while spread out on a sheet pan for a similar effect)
- 1½ tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 scallion (finely chopped, optional)
Instructions
- Heat a wok or large skillet (you could even use a nonstick pan) over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic. Gently fry until the garlic is lightly golden.
- Add the rice, and increase the heat to medium-high. Toss to stir fry, breaking up any clumps and spreading the rice in a single layer. Fry for 30 seconds or so and repeat this process to warm the rice through and coat in the oil and garlic. Add the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, salt, and sugar.
- Stir-fry to combine and distribute the seasonings until the color becomes more uniformly light brown. Give it a taste to see if you need more salt. Add the scallions, give it a final toss, and it’s ready to serve alongside your favorite dishes!
nutrition facts
More simply perfect fried rice recipes:
We’ve delved deep into the many iterations of fried rice over the last decade plus. We have loads of fried rice recipes, but I personally love unconventionally simple fried rice dishes. If you do too, here are some recipes to try!
- Scallion Rice (Totally underrated and an excellent way to use spring scallions or perhaps even garlic scapes!)
- Golden Fried Rice (You coat the grains in egg yolks first! Perhaps all you egg bagel lovers will appreciate this recipe in particular!)
- Chengdu-Style Sichuan Fried Rice (The simple addition of sui mi ya cai, a Chinese preserved vegetable that comes minced and is almost too tasty to believe, is the key!)
- Supreme Soy Sauce Fried Rice (If dark soy sauce is your star ingredient of choice, you have to try this one!)
If you’ve come away from reading all this thinking—I just want to make fried rice with what I’ve got in the refrigerator, check out our Easy Fried Rice Formula, where we give you guidance on how to incorporate various vegetables, cooked meats, and uncooked meats into a bespoke fried rice!
