Simple and tasty Salmon Fried Rice using leftover grilled salmon, green beans, and eggs. Red…
Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice
This super quick, easy, and delicious Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice can be made in 20 minutes. Perfect for lunch or the lunchbox.
Fried rice is comfort food for those of us who consider rice as a staple. Since we cook rice on a daily basis, there is a high chance that we would have some leftover rice in the refrigerator. This makes preparing fried rice very quick and easy. A hot delicious meal can be ready in under 20 minutes.
Vegetables in Fried Rice
While there are a few classic and favorite combinations of ingredients for fried rice, the possibilities are almost endless. Any firm vegetables like cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, corn, green beans, green peas, and peppers to name a few, are good ingredients for fried rice. Never use tomatoes or cucumbers as these vegetables give out a lot of water which will cause your fried rice to be soggy, and that is not a good thing.
While cucumbers are generally not used in fried rice, zucchinis on the other hand work really well. In fact, zucchinis are great in fried rice because they are firm and easy to prepare. Zucchinis also combine well with eggs, hence this super quick and easy Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice. The first time I ever tasted zucchinis in fried rice was in Sydney, Australia at a distant relative’s home. It was delicious and I have loved it since!
Protein in Fried Rice
Quick and easy options for fried rice are bacon, ham, sausage, roasted meats like char siu, shrimp, canned meats like Spam, and even canned sardines. These protein need very little prep work and they taste great in fried rice.
Eggs in Fried Rice
Eggs are the favorite protein in fried rice, so much so that many think eggs are an essential ingredient. That is not the case as you can most certainly prepare fried rice without eggs. There is hardly any prep work needed for eggs and they are so inexpensive and easily available.
There are different ways though to incorporate eggs in fried rice and they fall in 3 broad methods. It is more of a preference as there is no right and wrong method.
1. The eggs are likely beaten and fried into an omelet which is then broken or torn up with the spatula. Some will even remove the omelet from the wok and only return it to the wok towards the end of stir frying.
2. The eggs can be cracked directly into the wok (or lightly beaten) and rice added on top so that the rice is coated with the eggs and stir fried until the rice is dry, fluffy, and fragrant.
3. An egg is fried and place on top of the fried rice.
My preferred method is the method #2. I like my fried rice grains to be coated with egg because the egg coated grains are so fragrant and delicious. This is why you see me adding the rice onto egg that is barely set. As such, I also seldom cook fried rice without eggs unless I have had my quota of eggs for the week.
Cooked Rice for Fried Rice
Nothing can be more disastrous than soggy fried rice or fried rice that clumps together. The best rice to use is day old rice or leftover rice in the refrigerator which has had a chance to dry up a little. If you do not have leftover rice, try cooking your rice with a ¼ cup (60ml) less water than the water you would usually use. Once the rice is cooked, let it sit for 10 minutes. Then, fluff the rice with chopsticks or a fork and leave the lid open until it is more or less cool. Place cool rice in the refrigerator uncovered until ready to be used.
Tools Used in Making This Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice
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Hand Hammered 14 inch, Round Bottom Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Bamboo Handle
Traditional Heavy Gauge Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok (14 inch, round bottom)
Traditional Carbon Steel Wok, Hand Hammered (14 inch, round bottom)
Carbon Steel Hand Hammered 14 inch Flat Bottom Wok (Gauge – 1.2mm)
Carbon Steel Wok 12-inch, flat bottom
Traditional Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok (12 inch, Round bottom)
Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice
This super quick, easy, and delicious Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice can be made in 20 minutes. Perfect for lunch or the lunchbox.
Keyword : egg fried rice, zucchini fried rice
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 small carrot (diced)
- 1 small zucchini (diced)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups cooked white rice (preferably kept overnight)
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt to taste
- 4 green onions / spring onions (thinly sliced at a diagonal)
Instructions
- In a wok or large fry pan, heat vegetable oil. Saute garlic for 30 seconds.
- Add carrots and zucchini. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Push the vegetables to the side of the wok or large fry pan. Lightly beat the eggs and pour into the wok or fry pan. Allow eggs to set.
- When eggs are almost set, add rice over the eggs and vegetables.
- Add ground pepper and soy sauce. Stir to get everything well mixed. This will take 3 to 4 minutes.
- Half way through stir frying, add salt to taste. Continue to stir fry until rice is dry and fluffy.
- Stir in sliced green onions. Turn off stove.
- Dish into bowls and serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 512kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @RotiNRice or tag #RotiNRice
Quick and Easy Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice
If you are in a pinch and need to make a quick and easy meal, try this Zucchini and Egg Fried Rice. It is quick, easy, and delicious!
NOTE: The original publication of this post was on January 25th, 2013. This republication comes with minor changes to the recipe, a new writeup, and video.
Haruna says
Looks so good! Always game for fried rice B)
Biren says
Thanks Haruna! Fried rice is so easy yet so tasty. 🙂
Dongxing says
Now, that is a good way to get kids to eat zucchini. Combined with fried rice, eggs, carrots and peas, the dish would be a winner. I do like the colours.
Biren says
We love zucchinis at our house and add them to fried rice all the time. 🙂
wok with ray says
It is also cold here in Southern California as I read your post, I guess I should not be complaining. This fried rice will definitely warm you up as it has all the hearty and healthful ingredients. Stay warm, Biren and have a good week ahead! 🙂
Biren says
Thanks Ray! We still have about 2 more months of winter to go. Definitely looking forward to warmer climate.
mjskit says
Fried rice is an easy lunch for us whenever we have leftover rice. Quite versatile with the veggies. I love your use of peas and zucchini! I’ll have to give this recipe a try. Easy and tasty as all of your recipes are!
Biren says
My boys love fried rice and I cook it often with lots of vegetables. It is fast food and comfort food rolled into one for us. 🙂
denise @ singapore shiok says
I’ve not tried adding zucchini to fried rice. In fact I rarely cook with it as it’s quite pricey here. I do like it though, especially briefly stir fried with lots of garlic. I like how it looks in your fried rice. Maybe I’ll try this some time….
Biren says
I don’t remember seeing zucchinis during my last visit to Malaysia. Lots of cucumbers but not zucchinis. They would be expensive since they are imported. Cucumbers won’t work as there is too much liquid in them. I do hope you get to try zucchinis in fried rice some time. 🙂
Sandrine says
Biren, in your cooking instructions you said add lemon pepper, is that a typo or you do add lemon pepper? I don’t see it in the ingredient section listed above. How much lemon pepper to add?
I have a bottle of lemon pepper in my kitchen pantry, never really have a good use of it. Now I am curious.
My mom makes the best fried rice, I feel like mine seems to be lacking in the ‘wok hei’. She has used the same wok and same stove at our place. I guess is mom’s invaluable cooking skills. Any tips about getting the good ‘wok hei’ in fried rice?
Thanks for all the great recipes.
Biren says
Sorry, that was a typo. I have corrected the recipe. However, you can always add a teaspoon of the lemon pepper if you like. I have done that before and it tastes great. Here is a Lemon Pepper Chicken Rice you may want to try.
“Wok hei” is hard to achieve unless you are using a gas stove and a well seasoned wok. I am not sure where you are writing from but if you are using an electric stove like most homes here in the US, then you can try using a flat bottom stainless steel pan. You will also need to use a lot more oil so that the rice does not stick to the pan.
Sandrine says
Hi Biren,
Last night for dinnerI made fried rice with zucchini, even my hubby who does like zucchini said it was good in fried rice. I can’t stop eating the fried rice. Thanks for the great idea!
My stove is gas stove. However, yesterday fried rice still not at par with Mom’s fried rice.
BTW, Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Sandrine says
Hi Biren,
Last night for dinnerI made fried rice with zucchini, even my hubby who does like zucchini said it was good in fried rice. I can’t stop eating the fried rice. Thanks for the great idea!
My stove is gas stove. However, yesterday fried rice still not at par with Mom’s fried rice.
BTW, Gong Xi Fa Cai!
JESSICA says
What a delightful recipe!
I had a zucchini I had no idea what to do with and some rice. I googled “zucchini fried rice recipe” and this one popped up. I had everything on hand and quickly made it!
It was absolutely delicious. I will be making it regularly.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I am Vegan so I replaced the eggs with Just Egg. Still so delicious. And my non-vegan husband loved it too.
THANK YOU FOR THIS WONDERFUL RECIPE!
Linda says
I am glad to hear both you and your husband enjoyed this fried rice. It is one of our favorites and so easy to prepare.