Maybe you don’t want to make a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. Or maybe you’re already looking forward to turkey leftovers. Whatever you might be feeling, this turkey fried rice is for you! It’s perfect for when you’re looking for a fast and easy bowl of comfort.
I’d say that people are pretty picky about fried rice: everyone has a certain way they make it and everyone thinks their way is best of all. I’m actually love all styles of fried rice, but I’m pretty sure that if you grew up eating it, you’d say that your mom’s way of making fried rice is best of all.
Growing up, my mom would usually make her rice with barbecue pork or chicken, onions, and peas. She’d never season with soy sauce, just salt. And her eggs were always pre-scrambled, fluffy and distinct. It was what I grew up eating and even now, eating a bowl of my mom’s fried rice makes me feel like everything’s right with the world.
But, imagine my surprise when I discovered the other kinds of fried rice. There are so, so many. One of the defining features of fried rice are definitely the eggs. I’d say that there are three distinct ways of incorporating eggs: There’s the simplest, where you fry up a sunny-side egg, plop it on top and call it a day; there are curds that are cooked before hand and are distinctly visible as delicious pieces of yellow fluff in the mix; and there’s golden fried rice, where lightly beaten eggs are tossed in with the hot rice and stirred so that each kernel of rice is coated in egg. Sometimes people do this with egg yolks only, which gives the rice an extra golden hue, but for ease, I use the whole egg.
I went the “golden” style for this rice, but I seasoned it with sweet soy sauce so it isn’t golden at all. What it is: super savory, studded with tender turkey, and lightened up by copious amounts of green onions. Mike said it was one of my best fried rices yet, but then again, he’s always saying sweet things like that.
Turkey Fried Rice Recipe
serves 2
- oil
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 cup leftover vegetables, roughly chopped (i used some leftover sprouts)
- 1 cup (leftover) roasted turkey, roughly chopped
- 2 cups rice, preferably day old
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup sliced green onions
- 1-2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce, or to taste
- 2 lightly beaten eggs
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- sliced green onions, for garnish
In a large skillet or wok, heat up a bit of oil over medium high heat and add the onion, vegetables and turkey. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and meat starts to slightly crisp up. Add the rice and fry, stirring occasionally and breaking up the rice until the rice is crispy and heated through.
Stir in the green onions and season with soy sauce to taste. The rice should be extremely hot, steamy and starting to crisp. Turn up the heat if needed.
Pour the lightly beaten egg into the rice, stirring quickly to coat each kernel of rice with egg. Fry until egg is crispy and cooked through. Season with pepper to taste and garnish with sliced green onions. Enjoy hot!
NOTES:
It may not be traditional, but if you don’t have a wok, I recommend frying rice in a non-stick skillet as opposed to an uncoated frying pan. Most traditional woks (carbon steel or cast iron) end up being virtually non-stick from years of heat and oil. Non-stick means less oil, which can be a good thing.
I’m almost tempted to cook up a turkey tonight (even though our turkey day isn’t for another month) just so that I can have a giant bowl of this tomorrow.
heehee, you could always just use whatever meat you have in your fridge. ooooor, you could use deli turkey meat. my mom does fried rice with deli ham sometimes and it’s really good!
YES this is amazing. I love when you get to talking about fried rice, Steph! The fried-rice lover in me recognizes a kindred spirit ;) and I totally agree it blew my mind when I realized all the different ways to incorporate egg!! You’d think fried rice was so simple, but there are so many nuances to it. (Dare I say…it’s like an ART?! LOL) You are a fried rice queen, my friend. Golden-style plus that sweet soy sauce sounds so so good. Happy Thanksgiving!! (P.S. “Mike said it was one of my best fried rices yet, but then again, he’s always saying sweet things like that.” This made me AWW. <3 you two!!!)
oh my gosh, fried rice is totally an art! we should totally make fried rice together one day! :D
ill take this over a thanksgiving leftover sandwich any dayyyyy
ooh, always so hard to choose…leftover sandwiches are SO good too!!!
I love fried rice! It’s our kind of breakfast back in Asia and last-minute dinner idea. There are all kinds of fried rice, from using sweet soy sauce to shrimp paste to durian. Yep…durian fried rice, sounds kinda creepy, eh? :)
hmm…never tried durian fried rice before!! hahaahhah
Looks delicious! I kind of adore fried rice as it just reminds me of childhood! SO delicious and I love the use of sweet soy!
i hardly ever fry my rice with soy, but when i do, it’s got to be sweet soy! :)
What a fab way to use leftover turkey and have a whole different vibe. Of course I love friend rice, so my vote might not count. Ha. Seriously—good idea!
thanks carol! i’m glad we both think fried rice is the bomb dot com :)
I got a link to your blog in a Noodles & Company email, and I had to come see. I am so wowed! Your photos are absolutely stunning, and they totally make me want to eat everything right now! I am looking forward to perusing, and making lots of this deliciousness. :)
thank you so much michelle!
Hi, your recipes always make me salivate!! may i ask what type of rice you use in this particular one? Thank you
hi! it was leftover koshihikari rice :)
thank you :)
oh my gahh look at that steaming bowl of golden perfection. this post is killin’ me right now because i just had dinner with my parents, grandma and teddy – we go takeout from congee noodle house and my grandma likes this stinky fish fried rice – it was smokey and delicious and i was thinking – man, i need to make fried rice. teddy loved it too … i’m going to try your method!! Ps love the sound of your mom’s pre-scrambled fluffy perfect eggs … xo
ooh i know stinky fish fried rice hahahaahh. teddy loved it?!? it’s a pretty distinct flavour hahahha. i’ll make fried rice for the two of you one day :)
I love this recipe. It’s a different take on Arroz con Pollo of which I am fond being Latin American. I will most certainly try this recipe.
I used ground turkey instead as well as added a frozen vegetable mix. Turned out sooo good! My boyfriend and I loved it! I will absolutely be making this again!
Adorable recipe! Thank you so much!
I ❤️ rice . I’m korean and love korean style rice ?
So l want to eat this food (mix all kind if vegatable and turkey ? meat !!!!!)
I haven’t eaten turkey meat….