Basil chicken fried rice is one of my favorite go-to weeknight dinner recipes. It’s super easy and perfect for using up leftover chicken or rice that you have on hand. It is also gluten-free and soy-free, making it a great go-to dish for the whole family!
One of the reasons I love making basil chicken fried rice is because it is really high in protein and super easy to meal-prep, which is always a win in my book. If I can get protein in without a ton of work, I am all about it, not to mention it’s delicious!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Nutrient-dense: This dish is packed with nutrients, starting with the rice. I love cooking my rice in bone broth. This adds a lot of collagen, gelatin, and vitamins and minerals into the rice that it would not normally have. To see how to make your own bone broth from scratch, check out my recipe here.
- Flavorful: While this is not your traditional chicken fried rice recipe, it is packed with flavor from homemade bone broth, garlic, onion, ginger, smoked paprika, and topped with fresh basil.
- Soy-free: Instead of adding soy sauce to my rice, I like to substitute it for coconut aminos. Coconut aminos have a very similar taste to soy; however, the sodium content is lower and it has a slightly sweeter taste than soy. It is also soy and gluten-free, which makes it a great substitute if you are sensitive to soy and/or gluten.
- Gluten-free: Because there is no soy sauce added to this recipe, there is also no gluten, making it a great gluten-free meal idea.
Tips For How To Make Good Fried Rice:
- Use cold rice: Using cold rice makes a huge difference in the texture of the dish. When using newly cooked rice, it can oftentimes become “gummy” and stick together. Using day-old or refrigerated rice is super helpful in preventing the rice from “gumming up” and becoming sticky.
- Really hot pan: Making sure that your pan and oil are really hot before adding the rice is important to getting a non-stick surface. To achieve this, heat your pan for a couple of minutes before adding your oil. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and allow it to come up to heat, then add the rice. This will help create a non-stick surface, giving your rice a better texture.
- Prep: Once this recipe starts cooking it moves along pretty fast, so prep all the veggies ahead of time so that you can just add them as you go.
Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast
- Red bell pepper
- Carrots
- White rice
- Bone broth
- Eggs
- Basil
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dried ginger
- Smoked paprika
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Salt
- Coconut aminos
- Fish sauce
Materials:
How To Make Basil Chicken Fried Rice:
Begin by prepping your rice ahead of time. You can make the rice the same day; however, it can oftentimes get a little “gummy” in texture when cooked right away. This is why I always recommend making the rice either in the morning or the day before and refrigerating it until you are ready to use it.
Rinse 1 cup of white rice and add it to a rice cooker (you could also make this in a pot if you do not have a rice cooker).
Add 2 cups of bone broth to the rice and cook according to the rice cooker or for 20-30 minutes on low heat on the stovetop.
Once the rice is fully cooked, it should be light and fluffy. Remove the rice from the rice cooker or pot and chill it for a minimum of 2 hours before frying it in the pan.
Once the rice has chilled, rinse and dry the 1.5 pounds chicken breasts.
Slice the chicken breast open horizontally, splitting the chicken breasts in two.
Season the chicken breast with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and smoked paprika.
Oil the electric griddle or pan and grill the chicken over medium-high heat until it reads 164° F.
Once the chicken is done set it aside to rest while you cook the rice.
Over high heat, bring a large pan up to heat. Once the pan is up to heat, add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil or avocado oil to the pan.
Add the chilled rice to the hot pan and spread it evenly across the pan. The rice should sizzle when it hits the pan.
Allow the rice to cook for 1-2 minutes before stirring it. Then stir and wait another 1-2 minutes before stirring the rice again.
After 4-5 minutes, add 2 eggs over the rice and scramble the eggs into the rice, stirring continually.
Add the coconut aminos, fish sauce, bell pepper, carrots, garlic powder, onion powder, dried ginger, salt, and red bell pepper flakes. Mix everything together and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Next, dice the chicken and add it to the fried rice.
Top with fresh basil and enjoy.
FAQ:
- Can I substitute chicken thighs in place of chicken breast? Definitely! I would recommend using boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You may just need to add a little bit more cooking time.
- Can I use shrimp instead of chicken? 100%! You can use whatever protein you would like. Just keep in mind that the cooking time will be different.
- Can I use brown rice instead of white rice? Yes, you can sub out the white rice for brown rice the cooking time may just vary.
My Favorite Gluten-Free Dinner Recipes:
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you would consider coming back to the site to give it a 5-star rating and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! Thanks so much 🙂
Basil Chicken Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. chicken breast
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 cup white rice
- 2 cups bone broth
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. dried ginger
- 1/4 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp. coconut aminos
- 1 tsp. fish sauce
Instructions
Prepare Rice Ahead Of Time:
- Begin by prepping your rice ahead of time. You can make the rice the same day; however, it can often times get a little "gummy" in texture when cooked right away. This is why I always recommend making the rice either in the morning or the day before and refrigerating it until you are ready to use it.
- Rinse 1 cup of white rice and add it to a rice cooker (you could also make this in a pot if you do not have a rice cooker).
- Add 2 cups of bone broth to the rice and cook according to the rice cooker or for 20-30 minutes on low heat on the stove top.
- Once the rice is fully cooked if should be light and fluffy. Remove the rice from the rice cooker or pot and chill it for a minimum of 2 hours before frying it in the pan.
Basil Chicken Fried Rice:
- Rinse and dry the 1.5 pounds of chicken breasts.
- Slice the chicken breast open horizontally, splitting the chicken breasts in two.
- Season the chicken breast with 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika.
- Bring the griddler or pan to heat over medium high heat. Once hot, oil the pan and grill the chicken until it reads 164° F.
- Once the chicken is done set it aside to rest while you cook the rice.
- Over high heat, bring a large pan up to heat. Once it is up to heat add olive oil or avocado oil to the pan.
- Add the chilled rice to the hot pan and spread it evenly across the pan. The rice should sizzle when it hits the pan.
- Allow the rice to cook for 1-2 minutes before stirring it. Then stir and wait another 1-2 minutes before stirring the rice again.
- After 4-5 minutes, add in two eggs and scramble the eggs into the rice stirring continually.
- Add in the coconut aminos, fish sauce, bell pepper, carrots, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, 1/4 tsp. dried ginger, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. red bell pepper flakes. Mix everything together and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Dice the chicken into small dices and add it to the fried rice.
- Top with fresh basil and serve.
Notes
Tips For How To Make Good Fried Rice:
- Use cold rice: Using cold rice makes a huge difference in the texture of the dish. When using newly cooked rice, it can oftentimes become “gummy” and stick together. Using day-old or refrigerated rice is super helpful in preventing the rice from “gumming up” and becoming sticky.
- Really hot pan: Making sure that your pan and oil are really hot before adding the rice is important to getting a non-stick surface. To achieve this, heat your pan for a couple of minutes before adding your oil. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and allow it to come up to heat, then add the rice. This will help create a non-stick surface, giving your rice a better texture.
- Prep: Once this recipe starts cooking it moves along pretty fast, so prep all the veggies ahead of time so that you can just add them as you go.
