Easy chilli garlic fried rice recipe in 10-15 mins! Chilli garlic sauce and leftover rice is fried with tofu, vegetables, chillis, garlic, and seasoning!
This chilli garlic fried rice is flavourful, garlicky, and spicy (you can choose spice level based on chillis used). There is a bit of heat, since it is a chilli dish, but this can be customized based on your desired taste!
Recipe for Chilli Garlic Fried Rice
This chilli garlic fried rice recipe is a one-pan recipe that is super easy to whip up and will take you around 10-15 minutes. This is the perfect weeknight dinner idea as you can simply use the ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
This recipe does require you to have some leftover old rice (tip: which is best for fried rice!) or you can make some now before you begin the recipe. I normally make extra rice almost every time I cook rice so I can keep some in the fridge or freezer as leftovers. With leftover, day old rice, it becomes more dry and better for fried rice. You can definitely still make this with fresh rice but it will be less dry and more moist, and the recipe will take longer as you will need to cook the rice first.
The secret to this recipe is the chili garlic sauce which is a simple hack that adds so much flavour. I found mine at simply a regular grocery store but if you can’t find it, feel free to use any chili garlic sauce or paste that you can find at your store. You can also omit the chili garlic sauce and simply add more garlic, soy sauce and if you dare, more sliced chilli. It won’t be the same flavour profile, but it will still be delicious.
To make this soy free, omit the tofu (you can use another plant based protein instead) and use a soy-free soy sauce alternative.
To make this gluten-free, use a gluten-free soy sauce alternative.
If you don’t have frozen mixed vegetables, feel free to add in any vegetables of your choice, or simply omit.
Ingredients
- Rice
- Chillis
- Garlic
- Onion
- Green Onions
- Oil
- Tofu
- Chili garlic sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Rice Vinegar
- Garlic powder
How To Make Chilli Garlic Fried Rice
1. First make sure you already have cooked rice. Leftover rice is best for fried rice!
2. Next, heat oil on a large non-stick pan or wok on medium-high heat. While your pan heats up, prepare and slice your chillis, garlic, onions and green onions (separate the whites from the green parts).
3. Once the oil is heated (turn the heat down slightly if it’s too hot), add diced onion and the whites of the green onion on one side and crumble up the tofu with your fingers on the other side.
4. Sauté separately for a couple of minutes, allowing the onions to soften and the tofu to become slightly golden.
5. Add minced garlic and chopped chilis on the side of the onions and sauté for another couple of minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
6. Add frozen mixed vegetables and mix everything together in the pan. Add chilli garlic sauce and cook for another minute.
7. Add your rice (break it up with your spatula as needed), soy sauce, rice vinegar and garlic powder and mix well.
8. Now turn the heat off and mix in the remaining green parts of the green onions. Feel free to give this a taste and adjust accordingly.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
Chilli Garlic Fried Rice
Equipment
- 1 Knife
- 1 Large Wok or Pan
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rice cooked, ideally leftover rice (best for fried rice)
- 4-6 Chillis of choice, sliced (I used thai chilli's)
- 6 Garlic cloves diced or sliced thinly
- 1/2 Onion diced
- 4 Green Onions sliced thinly (separate whites and greens)
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1/2 block Tofu extra-firm, crumbled
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables optional – add what you like!
- 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce / paste I used Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce (most grocery stores carry)
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder optional for extra garlic flavour
- black pepper optional to taste
Instructions
- First make sure you already have cooked rice. Leftover rice is best for fried rice!
- Next, heat oil on a large non-stick pan or wok on medium-high heat. While your pan heats up, prepare and slice your chillis, garlic, onions and green onions (separate the whites from the green parts).
- Once the oil is heated (turn the heat down slightly if it’s too hot), add diced onion and the whites of the green onion on one side and crumble up the tofu with your fingers on the other side.
- Sauté separately for a couple of minutes, allowing the onions to soften and the tofu to become slightly golden.
- Add minced garlic and chopped chilis on the side of the onions and sauté for another couple of minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add frozen mixed vegetables and mix everything together in the pan. Add chilli garlic sauce and cook for another minute.
- Add your rice (break it up with your spatula as needed), soy sauce, rice vinegar and garlic powder and mix well.
- Now turn the heat off and mix in the remaining green parts of the green onions. Feel free to give this a taste and adjust accordingly.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
Nutrition
NEED MORE VEGAN RECIPE INSPO? CHECK THESE OUT:
Delicious and pretty easy to whip up. Using a whole block of extra firm tofu instead of just half gives it some more substantial protein without sacrificing much flavor.
Despite me botching the job with both recipes, they both came out pretty good. Normally, the Cheap Lazy Vegan recipes I’ve made come out better than this, but I intend to try these both again. The second recipe was *especially* yummy, and I also used an entire block of tofu, which I am happy about, because that means more leftovers!
Wonderful. I a!so used whole block of tofu to meal prep this recipe but adjusted season and ingredients to keep intended flavor. I also used some red and orange Thai chilis to amp up the heat a little.
So delicious, thanks , Rose.
Easiest fried rice recipe and best way to use this Chili garlic sauce that I love so much!!