Sheet Pan Fried Rice
When I started the GLB site I can’t say “Global Pandemic” was a topic I expected to address, and yet here we are. I’m fortunate to be relatively safe and secure though, like all of us, I’m living with an undercurrent of anxiety. I worry about family and money and health on a more or less constant loop. I know many face greater challenges: you might be out of work, or you’re an essential worker and your job is suddenly dangerous, maybe you’re also struggling with your new role as a homeschool teacher. Maybe you’re alone. I hope this message finds you healthy and happy given the circumstance.
We are all adjusting to radically different routines, not least of which how, when, and what to eat. “Adjusting to” may be a polite euphemism where “coping with” is more appropriate (in my case see “sobbing about breaking my 16 year tradition of Sunday dinner with my parents”). I, like everyone, miss sharing meals with my family and friends.
As a working chef who cooks for families, I feel almost absurdly well-suited to a new reality where making every meal at home is an economic and hygienic necessity. While I miss being able to splurge on a sushi date or split a pile of nachos with my friends at the neighborhood bar, my cooking routines are mostly unchanged. That’s not true for most folks in my community who are, in some cases for the first time, making most of their meals at home.
In the last few weeks, my phone has been blowing up with cooking and baking questions. While I’ve always loved talking about food, it’s become a surprising source of strength and joy in this dark time. I’ve been able to show up for my people by giving counsel and encouragement as they embark on unfamiliar baking projects, troubleshoot a recipe with missing ingredients, or even just figure out what to make for dinner without a fully stocked pantry. It’s connected and comforted me when my usual way of relating to my community—eating together—has been literally off the table.
In a time of tremendous uncertainty, one thing is clear to me: many of us will emerge from this disaster as more creative, confident, and resourceful home cooks.
To that end, I want to share a delicious and extraordinarily flexible recipe with you today. This fried rice dish feels right for these times: it’s satisfying, budget friendly, and through clever substitutions you can avoid the grocery store for one more day and make it work with almost any pantry.
Sheet Pan Fried Rice
Serves 4
For the sauce:
3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
1 t sugar
1t fish sauce
3 T any neutral vegetable oil
1 T sesame oil
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
For the rice:
4.5 c leftover cooked rice (from 1 1/2 c dried)
4 c shredded cabbage, from about ¼ of a large head
1 large carrot, diced
1 c frozen peas
To top:
A fried egg
Hot sauce, scallions, sesame seeds, chopped peanuts, and on and on..
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Make the sauce: combine all the sauce ingredients (the garlic, sugar, fish sauce, oils, vinegar, and soy sauce) in a small bowl.
Put the rice into a large bowl, breaking it up a bit with your hands. Add the vegetables (cabbage, carrot, peas) and the sauce and mix until the sauce and vegetables are pretty evenly distributed. Take a bite of cabbage or rice and taste for seasoning- does it need salt? Acid? You know what to do!
Dump it all on a sheet pan and throw it in the oven.
Bake for about 15 minutes, then flip and stir everything around with a metal spatula. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until the corners are crispy and crunchy.
Top with a fried egg and dig in.
Leftovers: Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Sprinkle with a bit of water before reheating in the microwave, then serve with a fresh fried egg.
Make ahead: I often make this ahead for Good Luck Dinner families, or for my family. After mixing it all up (step 3 above), cover the bowl (or transfer to an airtight container or a freezer bag) and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the rice.
How to riff on this dish
I wanted to share this recipe in particular because it’s really easy to substitute ingredients. Everything in this recipe- the rice, the vegetables, protein, and the sauce can vary based on what you need to use up and what’s in your cupboard.
Let’s talk rice. Use any kind of leftover rice you want- white or brown, long or short. I haven’t tried this with other cooked whole grains (wheat berries, farro, etc.) but I bet it would work!
Don’t have leftover rice? That’s OK- make a fresh pot of rice. When it’s done cooking, spread it out on the sheet pan and let it cool and dry out a little in the fridge while you gather the rest of the ingredients.
Don’t have 4.5 cups of rice? Also OK! Use what you’ve got. If you have less than 4 cups, my suggestion would be to make the sauce and put it in a jar, then season your rice to taste before baking. You can use a quarter sized sheet pan for a small amount of fried rice. The more you cut this recipe down, the less time it will take to bake (and vice versa). For less rice, bake for 10-15 minutes, then stir and keep an eye on it, taking it out of the oven when it reaches your ideal texture.
If you have more than 4 cups of rice that you want to use, double the sauce and season to taste.
In both scenarios, the leftover sauce can be kept in the fridge for a few weeks. (For your next round of fried rice!)
Now, onto the veg. My favorite vegetable for this dish is cabbage. (It’s probably my favorite winter veg in general, and I usually have at least part of a head rolling around my vegetable crisper.) Cabbage does a great job in this dish—it kicks off a lot of water, which helps prevent the rice from getting too crispy. It also turns a little bit sweet and gets a nice char from roasting, all while retaining some crunch.
If you don’t have it, you can shred, rice or cut up almost any other cruciferous vegetable- broccoli, cauliflower, etc.- for the same effect.
I also used diced carrot, because I had it. It’s a fried rice classic and tastes great. It’s not necessary, though! Your fried rice would also like diced bell pepper or celery.
Frozen peas are probably my favorite whole food. Other frozen veg- like corn, green beans, or a mix would find a happy home in your fried rice.
Sky's the limit with vegetables, my friends. In general, I like to use frozen or raw vegetables in this dish, but you could also add leftover vegetables that are already cooked. They will shrivel up a bit though, so consider mixing them in halfway through bake time when you’re giving the rice a stir.
Protein. I most often top this with a fried egg and call it good. If you want, you can also whisk a few eggs and add them to the top of the pan in the last 5 minutes of baking time. In addition, you can add leftover meat to this dish, or marinated tofu, or even raw ground meat.
If you’re using leftover protein with a different flavor profile, tweak the sauce and other additions to match.
Which brings us to the sauce! Approach this sauce like you would a salad dressing- you want to balance the acidity, saltiness, and sweetness, but how you do that is up to you! If you’re really riffing here, you can let whatever protein and veg you use influence the flavor profile of the sauce. (For example, let’s say you’re going totally off the rails and adding some leftover Italian sausage. Make an Italian vinaigrette! There is literally no wrong way to do this!)
Fat is key to the crispy texture of the rice, and it makes this dish really satisfying. I used peanut oil for most of the fat, but any neutral tasting oil will work. I also add a little toasted sesame oil for flavor.
For acidity, I chose rice vinegar. If you don’t have it but are going for this general flavor profile, you could use seasoned rice vinegar (omit the sugar if you’re using this), mirin, or lime juice. Soy sauce is also bringing some acidity, too.
For saltiness, I used soy sauce and little fish sauce. The fish sauce is optional, but I love it. If you don’t have it, just taste and adjust with more soy sauce or salt. For the soy sauce, you could sub tamari, or rely more on the fish sauce, or in a pinch (ha), just use salt!
For sweetness, I used a little sugar. You could omit this or use another sweetener. And, as mentioned above, if you have seasoned rice vinegar that would streamline your acid and your sweet. Oyster sauce would also be great here for saltiness and sweetness- just taste and adjust!
For aromatics, I used grated garlic. If I had ginger, I would have definitely added it, too. I was also pining for scallions a little but was over it by the time I was eating lunch.
