Shrimp Fried Rice

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Made with kitchen staples, this Shrimp Fried Rice is an easy recipe that rivals your go-to takeout joint. Made in one skillet, this fried rice with shrimp is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.

This Chinese shrimp fried rice is one of the easiest recipes to make whenever there’s leftover rice in the fridge. It comes together so quickly and effortlessly, that you’ll want to make extra rice next time just to make this!

A plate of shrimp fried rice with a meal prep container of rice beside it.

Why You’ll Love This Fried Rice

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this shrimp fried rice. It leans heavily into kitchen staples for days I don’t want to run out to the store and want something filling and tasty. The ingredient list may seem like a lot but a majority of them are kitchen staples (ie soy sauce and eggs!)
It comes together quickly. Ideally, you could finish this cooking this shrimp rice in under 30 minutes. It does require some time for the shrimp to “marinate” but that’s hands-off. All you have to do is mix everything together in a large pan!
Shrimp is a protein that doesn’t require a lot of advanced planning. You can quickly thaw the shrimp in less than 30 minutes in the sink.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Ingredients needed to make shrimp fried rice.

shrimp — I used a bag of peeled, deveined, and tail removed jumbo shrimp. This saves me time as I don’t have to do it myself!
cornstarch — this helps keep the shrimp juicy and moist!
soy sauce — I recommend using low sodium soy sauce.
oil – a splash of neutral oil for the shrimp marinade. You can use canola oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, or avocado oil.
vegetable oil — you’ll need some oil to stir fry everything.
onion — you need regular onion and the white parts of green onions.
garlic — the more garlic, the merrier!
eggs
sauce — for the sauce, you’ll need soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and white pepper.
green onions — as garnish.

How to Make Shrimp Fried Rice

Combine the shrimp, cornstarch soy sauce, and oil. Marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
In a large skillet over high heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, add the shrimp. Cook the shrimp until they’re golden and cooked through. Remove the shrimp and set it aside.

In the same skillet, add another tablespoon of oil and add the diced onion and sliced white parts of the green onions. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes before adding the minced garlic. Saute for another minute before pushing everything to one side of the pan.
Add the beaten eggs to the empty half of the skillet and scramble them.

Rice and seasoning added to the skillet.

Mix together the scrambled eggs and aromatics.
Add the cooked rice and sauce.

Shrimp added to the skillet of fried rice.

Mix until the rice is fully coated in the sauce.
Add the shrimp and frozen peas to the skillet and mix until everything is combined. Garnish with some green onions before serving.

Recipe Tips and Notes

Things move fast in a fried rice recipe. This means you should have everything chopped and measured beforehand so you can just quickly throw everything into the skillet.
I always make this with jasmine rice. Here’s my post on How to Cook Jasmine Rice if you need some tips!
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 shrimp fried rice. (Here’s a review of the rice cooker I have).
The key to everything cooking quickly and having the smokey flavour in the fried rice you get from restaurants is high heat.
Instead of using peas, you can use frozen corn or diced carrots instead! You can also use the frozen mixture of the three combined.

Why do you coat the shrimp in cornstarch?

Adding cornstarch to the shrimp is inspired by the Chinese cooking technique called velveting. The technique involves marinating protein in cornstarch and then quickly cooking it in hot oil or water. I skip the hot oil part and just marinate the shrimp in a cornstarch mixture instead. Doing so helps create a barrier from the heat, which locks in the moisture of the shrimps as they stir fry.

How to quickly thaw shrimp?

To quickly thaw shrimp, place the bag of frozen shrimp into a cold bowl of water or run it under cold water in a colander.

Why do I need cold rice for fried rice?

I always use cold leftover rice that I’ve left in the fridge overnight as it has had the chance to firm up. Using cold rice makes it easier to separate when frying and decreases the chances of your fried rice turning out mushy. I’ve tried this with freshly cooked rice before and it gets sticky and mushy quickly. I always make my rice the day before. If you don’t have leftover rice, you can try to prepare the rice beforehand and then spread it out on a sheet pan so it can cool quickly in the fridge for an hour or so.

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: once cooled, store the shrimp fried rice in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
Freezer: allow the shrimp fried rice to cool before transferring to an airtight container and storing them in the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months.