To make baked fried rice, just place uncooked rice, stock, soy sauce and a few other flavourings in a baking pan, give it a mix then shove it in the oven. Out comes fluffy, seasoned fried rice that’s so good, you may never wok-toss fried rice ever again!
(Well, maybe not. Nothing beats the real deal, after all. But this emergency version is excellent for the minimal effort required!)
Emergency baked fried rice
OK, you’re right, this isn’t fried rice per se! It’s a baked rice. But I call it a baked fried rice because it’s everything we love about fried rice, without the frying! It will save you on all those nights when you’re scrambling for a quick side dish that will go with almost everything and please everyone.
Unlike the normal way fried rice is cooked, there’s no need to plan ahead and cook rice the day before so that it has time to dry out overnight in the fridge. You don’t even need to chop anything (hello, frozen veg!).
Just dump everything in the pan – uncooked rice, stock, frozen pre-chopped vegetables, raw bacon – then whack it in the oven. There’s no need to stir while cooking – in fact, I forbid it, because it makes the rice mushy!
And for all that effort, you will be rewarded with THIS ↓↓↓ (“this” being a big pan of fluffy seasoned fried rice that’s littered with vegetables and oh wow, even the bacon is nice and golden!!🙌🏻)
Ingredients for baked fried rice
This is an excellent recipe to customise and make your own, with lots of options for changing up add-ins! Here’s what I use in this baked fried rice recipe:
Rice – Best made with long grain white rice because it’s the least sticky. This means you get that nice, crumbly and fluffy fried rice texture with this “dump ‘n bake” cooking method.
Other rice types that work:
→ Basmati rice: Has the same fluffy texture but you get the basmati aroma (it’s not traditional with fried rice seasoning, but it’s rather nice!)
→ Medium and short grain white rice: Works perfectly but these rices are a bit stickier so don’t expect quite the same rice texture you see in the video (it will clump a little more).
→ Jasmine rice: Reduce water by 1/4 cup (water to rice ratio is lower, see here for cooking plain jasmine rice).This recipe won’t work as-written for the following: Brown rice, paella or risotto rice, wild rice, quinoa or other speciality rices. I’d need to figure out special liquid/rice ratios and bake times, which I have not done!
Stock/broth – Chicken stock will give a better flavour (it’s not chicken-y as such, it has just a more deeply seasoned flavour), but vegetable stock works just fine too. Whichever you use, make sure it’s low sodium otherwise the rice ends up a tad saltier than is ideal.
Don’t have liquid stock? Use water plus stock powder. Make up 2 cups according to the stock powder directions and use per the recipe.
Vegetables – Because this is conceived as a recipe for “dinner emergencies”, I’ve used frozen diced vegetables here. Fresh vegetables can be used, but you’ll need to increase the water by 1/4 cup because the liquid to rice ratio factors in the water that comes off the frozen vegetables (a surprising amount!).
Garlic – I can’t ever imagine making any type of fried rice without garlic. And that includes an emergency baked version!
Bacon (uncooked) or ham – Just like we do in wok tossed fried rice! Here, it’s scattered across the surface and it adds flavour into the stock as it cooks.
There’s no need to cook the bacon beforehand, it will brown at the end when we finish the rice off uncovered in the oven.
Soy sauce – I’ve used light soy sauce here which adds seasoning without discolouring the rice too much. All purpose soy sauce will work just fine too.
Dark soy sauce – It’s much more intense in flavour so use half the quantity and be prepared for your rice to be much browner in colour.
Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) – adds umami / depth of flavour which is important for this method of cooking that skips the usual “sauté garlic and onion” etc.
Best substitute – Dry sherry, followed by cooking sake, followed by mirin (though rice will be a touch sweeter).
Non alcoholic option – Skip the wine and add an extra 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce PLUS add 30g / 2 tbsp of unsalted butter with the sesame (butter compensates for loss of flavour from skipping the cooking wine). It’s not the same, but equally delicious!
Pepper – For a touch of warmth. White pepper is typically used for fried rice because you can’t see it. Substitute with black pepper.
Sesame oil & green onion – For finishing. We add sesame oil at the end to preserve the flavour, and the green onion is tossed through at the end for a hit of freshness and colour.
How to make baked fried rice
Are you ready to see how easy it is??
Put the uncooked rice into the baking pan;
Add everything else except the bacon;
Give it a mix, then scatter the bacon across the surface (because we want it to get some colour when we bake it uncovered);
Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes at 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan);
Remove foil and bake for a further 15 minutes. This gives the bacon some nice colour;
Remove from the oven, cover with foil then let it rest for 10 minutes. To finish the dish, add sesame oil and green onion, fluff with a fork then serve!
Why we rest rice – When you take it out of the oven, there should be no liquid left in the pan and the rice will be cooked through though a tiny bit firmer than ideal. You’ll also notice that the surface of the rice grains will be wet.
When we rest the rice for 10 minutes, the grains finish cooking through using the residual heat, and the wetness on the rice grains gets absorbed. This is an essential step with any rice you cook, no matter what method you use – stove, absorption, boil and drain, oven, microwave or rice cooker!
Here’s a nice close up for you so you can see how the grains are fluffy and separated, and how the bacon bits are lovely and golden.
No mushy, overcooked rice in sight!
What to serve with baked fried rice
Serve to accompany dishes you would with fried rice, which these days is far and beyond just Asian foods! Try it with the Mushroom Stuffed Chicken I shared a couple of weeks ago, or as a side for a fillet of seasoned pan fried fish.
Pair it with something sticky like this Chilli Chicken, Honey Garlic Chicken or a tropical Hawaiian Huli-Huli chicken. For vegetarian options, skip the bacon and instead, pile over juicy and buttery garlic mushrooms or a medley of marinated grilled vegetables.
The rules are: there are no rules! This is a rice side that will go with virtually anything, Asian or not! – Nagi x
PS. I just had a fleeting thought. If you’d like to turn this into a meal, trying stirring through a big handful of baby spinach or chopped English spinach when fluffing it up at the end. By upping the veg in this, it would be great as a meal!
Watch how to make it
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Emergency “Dump ‘n Bake” Fried Rice
Ingredients
Baked Fried Rice:
- 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice , UNCOOKED (Note 1)
- 2 cups chicken or veg stock , low sodium
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (dry sherry, mirin or sake, Note 3)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced with crusher (straight into pan)
- 2 cups frozen diced veg (carrots, peas, corn mix, Note 4 fresh veg)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 1/4 cups / 180g bacon (uncooked) or ham , chopped (I use store bought chopped bacon, Note 5)
Finishing:
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup green onion , finely sliced (2 – 3 stems)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
- Mix ingredients in baking dish: Place all Baked Fried Rice ingredients except bacon in a baking dish (~22 x 32cm / 9 x 13"). Stir, then spread rice evenly across pan.
- Top with bacon: Scatter bacon across surface.
- Bake covered 40 min: Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes.
- Bake uncovered 15 min: Remove foil. Bake uncovered 15 minutes – this will colour the bacon. Liquid should be absorbed, rice should be cooked (but will seem wet, will absorb and soften while resting).
- Rest 10 min: Cover loosely with foil, stand for 10 minutes.
- Fluff: Add green onion and sesame oil. Fluff rice with fork, marvel at how perfectly cooked the rice grains are. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
1. Rice types – Best made with long grain rice because it’s the least sticky so you get that nice crumbly, fluffy fried rice texture with this “dump ‘n bake” cooking method. Other rice types that work:
- Basmati rice – same fluffy texture but you get the basmati aroma (it’s not traditional with fried rice seasoning, but it’s rather nice!)
- Medium and short grain white rice – works perfectly but the rice is a bit stickier (that’s the way it is) so don’t expect the same rice texture you see in the video (it will clump a little more).
- Jasmine rice – NOT RECOMMENDED. This rice is softer and difficult to get exactly right for this recipe.
- Carrots, peas, corn, onion – use in recipe as written.
- Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, asparagus, zucchini, capsicum/bell peppers (chopped) – add them 30 min into bake time.
- Egg – Cook separately and stir in when fluffing rice. Either scramble, or make ribbons (cook a thin omelette using 2 whisked eggs, roll it up like a cigar then finely slice)
- Cooked chicken (or other cooked protein), char siu – dice or shred, toss on top of rice when resting (residual heat will warm up), then mix through well fluffing rice.
- Raw prawns/shrimp – small ones. When you remove the foil, scatter them across the surface, pop into oven for the last 15 min uncovered bake time.
- Baby spinach or chopped spinach – Stir it through at end with fluffing rice, residual heat will make it wilt.
- Spicy! Add a squirt of sriracha or dollop of your favourite chilli paste during cooking, or stir through a big handful of chopped kimchi just before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Weekend car problems. Dozer was keen to help. (Well that’s a big fat lie! We all know he was just snuffling around for treats from the road side assistance man.)
Lorraine Wilson says
Where can we get ingredients list and amounts for the baked fried rice
Nagi says
In the written recipe above 🙂 N x
Sue says
Fantastic fried rice and so easy !
I used frozen peas with fresh carrots , onion , capsicums and tinned corn kernels .
Absolutely delicious Nagi 😄😄
Nagi says
Perfect Sue!! N x
Scott says
I failed at this as I didn’t use the recommended baking pan size. I accidentally used a larger one (40cm x 28cm instead of the 32cm x 22xcm one recommended), and the rice came out dry and stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Lesson learned!
Nagi says
Hi Scott, yes this is important as the more surface area, the quicker the liquid will evaporate! N x
Scott says
Make sure you use the recommended baking pan size. I accidentally used a larger one (40cm x 28cm instead of the 32cm x 22xcm one recommended), and the rice came out dry and stuck to the bottom of the pan.
John says
Great point Scott. Thx. The larger surface area will allow quicker evaporation.
Dot says
Awesome dinner! And was so easy to make. I’ll be making this again. Thank u
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Dot!! N x
Cynthia Copeland says
I realised I hadn’t clicked the stars! 5 star all the way!
Nagi says
Thanks Cynthia!! N x
Cynthia Copeland says
Tried this as I’m a lover of fried rice, though sometimes find the craving hits far too late in the day to go the ‘traditional’ route. Followed the recipe to the letter and it was amazing!!! Thank you!!
Nagi says
You’re converted noe Cynthia!! N x
James H says
Hi Nagi…would you suggest to rinse jasmine rice before making this?
Nagi says
Hi James, I mention this in the recipe notes. N x
Donna G says
This is fantastic. I used a mix of fresh and frozen vegetables, and it came out perfectly. So easy and the kids loved it. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe.
Pam says
Nagi, Forget what others say, it’s a great name and just what we did ….. wow its, easy tastes fantastic and not messy !
Rice cooks well, some crispy but mixed all together it’s FANTASTIC !!!!
We wondered if we should add a little oyster sauce, did you try adding it ?
Thanks… Pam
Nagi says
Hi Pam, I honestly don’t think it needs it as the saltiness comes from the light soy 🙂 N x
Cheryl says
Absolutely yummy. I made it without the bacon as I’m vegetarian and it was amazing. Served it with crumbed schnitzels for hubby and he gave it a 10/10. Thanks Nagi. All your recipes are just the best.
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s awesome Cheryl!! N x
Sylvia Holland says
This is fabulous, very tasty, a big hit with the family and so easy to do ahead. Your recipes are great, have made so many of them, including Artisan Bread, and I love reading the adventures of Dozer.
Nagi says
Yes exactly Sylvia!!! N x
Robert says
What is your take on subbing white with brown rice?
Nagi says
Hi Robert, I mention this in the recipe notes. N x
Anne says
Can’t believe how good this was!
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great Anne! N x
Pauline McNee says
What a clever recipe Nagi. I love fried rice and this one is so much easier to make in the oven.
Nagi says
Isn’t it just Pauline – so much left effort! N x
Brian S. says
Very good, but bacon did not get crisp even after leaving it in the oven for an extra 10 minutes. It won’t replace the wok version of fried rice, but it sure is a lot easier.
Nagi says
Hi Brian, it must of been some thick cut bacon you’ve used, you can always fry this off first and then add onto the rice as well if you like it crispy (generally it’s not super crispy in true fried rice). Nothing will beat the wok, but this sure is a lot easier 🙂 N x
Jan Dudley says
Hi Nagi another great recipe the Dump and Bake fried rice.Cant wait to try it.Looks amazing xx
Nagi says
I hope you love it Jan! N x
Rebecca says
Hi Nagi, if making the dish vegetarian, ie not adding bacon, should we still cook uncovered for 15 minutes toward the end of the cooking process? Thanks 😊
Nagi says
Yes it will need the full cook time for the rice to cook. N x
Bev says
Your Dump Fried Rice is perfect just as it is, no tweaking. Everyone loved it, right down to the last grain of rice 😍
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great Bev!! N x
Helen says
Another great recipe Nagi! So easy and delicious.. I’ll never make fried rice the normal way again…I put in some mushrooms, capsicum and added peas at the end with the shallots and sesame oil..
Nagi says
Woah, that’s a big call Helen!!! I’m so glad you loved it!! N x
Jen says
This worked fabulously! So easy to make while you are cooking another meal. And it tastes delicious. Another triumph, Nagi. Thank you
Nagi says
WOOT!! Thanks Jen!