Garlic Fried Rice

All you need are a handful of simple ingredients to make this delicious garlic fried rice. Full of fragrant garlicky flavor, it’s the perfect side dish that uses up leftover rice in a tasty way.

 

I’m a little obsessed with adding fried red onion and fried garlic on top of my rice when I just need to add a little extra oomph, so I got to thinking… what if I make my own fried garlic? When I make scallion oil, I fry scallion in hot oil so the oil is infused with scallion flavor, so why not do that with garlic, so when I fry the rice in the garlic-infused oil, it adds even more garlic flavor. And let me say, this was a wonderfully delicious idea that you will definitely love if you’re a garlic lover and fried rice lover.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s so easy to make! Garlic infused oil literally takes minutes to make.
• You only need 7 ingredients, and you might already have most of them on hand.
• It’s the perfect side dish for pretty much any protein from chicken bulgogi, honey sriracha meatballs, to garlic butter steak.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• oil — you’ll need a neutral oil that doesn’t have a low smoking point. I use avocado oil, but you can also use vegetable or canola oil.
• garlic — I am generous with my garlic and usually use 2 to 3 heads of garlic. Feel free to always use more!
• green onions — green onions are a staple for me when making fried rice, whether it’s for garnish or as a part of the dish.
• leftover cooked rice — I always use jasmine rice. Chilled leftover rice is ideal as cold rice is firmer and decreases the chances of your fried rice turning out mushy.
• soy sauce — I use low sodium soy sauce.
• garlic powder and onion powder — for extra flavor, I use garlic and onion powder. I don’t recommend skipping it.

How to Make Garlic Fried Rice

• Add the oil and garlic to a cold skillet over medium heat.
• Allow the garlic to fry until golden, around 5 minutes.

• Strain the fried garlic from the oil and set aside.
• Set aside half the infused oil for another recipe. Add the white parts of the scallion to the oil and saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

• Add the cold rice to the skillet, making sure the rice is spread across the skillet so it can absorb the garlic oil evenly.
• Add the soy sauce, garlic powder, and onion powder.

• Mix well to combine.
• Add the fried garlic.

• Mix well to combine and top it off with the rest of the green onions.

Recipe Tips and Notes

• I use extra oil, so it’s easier to skim out the fried garlic. You can use less to avoid having to set aside some of the oil for another day if you prefer. It’s up to you. I only use half the oil as it gets a little too oily if you use all the oil in the fried rice. Store the oil in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month. You can strain it before or after you cook the green onions if you want the oil to have green onion flavor in the oil as well!
• I use a shallow strainer/skimmer to get my fried onion out of the oil (tilting the skillet makes it easier to get the garlic into the skimmer). If you don’t have a shallow skimmer type, you can pour the oil into a jar through a regular stainless steel strainer and add half the oil back into the skillet.
• I do not mince the garlic finely as I don’t want the garlic to burn.
• It’s important to start the garlic and oil together on low heat. The garlic might cook and burn quickly if you add the chopped garlic to hot oil. Plus, allowing more time for the garlic to cook in the oil helps the garlic flavor infuse more into the oil.
• Keep a very close eye on the garlic. If it burns, it becomes bitter and you’ll have to start over.
• For garnish, I thinly slice a few cloves of garlic and fry that as well, just so it looks prettier!
• If you have a rice cooker, you can change the setting to make slightly “harder” rice when you cook it the night before. It’ll help the rice grains hold their shape better when you use it for ketchup fried rice. (Here’s a review of the rice cooker I have)

Make Ahead Tips

• Meal prep: once cooled, store the garlic fried rice in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
• Freezer: allow the fried rice to cool before transferring them into an airtight container before storing them in the freezer.

More Fried Rice Recipes to Try

• Ketchup Fried Rice
• Bacon Kimchi Fried Rice
• Tuna Kimchi Fried Rice
• Sriracha Fried Rice
• Steak Fried Rice
• Hibachi Chicken with Fried Rice
• Lap Cheong Fried Rice

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