Beef Fried Rice

➤ See all my ground beef / beef mince recipes here.

Beef fried rice

Have you ever thought to make fried rice with beef mince? It works beautifully! Fry up ground beef in an intense savoury sauce until it’s beautifully caramelised, then toss it through rice with fluffy bits of scrambled egg and vegetables of choice. So quick to make – no chopping raw meat! And in my version, I’ve opted for even more convenience by making this with frozen diced veg. Because I totally buy into the whole snap-frozen thing. But if you’re a better person than me, please do not let me stop you from chopping up fresh vegetables. Also, excellent fridge clean-out opportunity! In case you doubt me – here’s proof of deliciousness, and how fast this is to cook! (Errr, yes, and classy moment dropping rice down my top 😂).

What you need

I like to use quite an intense flavoured savoury sauce to fry up the beef so the rice doesn’t taste too “beefy”. Which might sound contradictory, but is what I want with fried rice – a nice balance of all the flavours jumbled together rather than the beef flavour dominating.

Beef fried rice sauce

Soy sauces – We’re using both light and dark soy sauce in this recipe. What’s the difference? Dark soy stains the rice that deep mahogany colour as well as adding quite intense soy flavour. Light soy sauce provides the salt without overwhelming with soy flavour, and does not stain the rice. Substitutions -You can use only light soy sauce or just an all-purpose soy sauce (ie bottle just labelled “soy sauce” without “light” or “dark” in front of it) but the rice colour won’t be as dark. But you cannot use only dark soy sauce as it will make the rice black and the soy flavour will be way too much! More on different types of soy sauces here. Oyster sauce – A load of flavour, all in one sauce! It’s sweet and savoury and add is a neat flavour shortcut in dishes. Makes a regular appearance in Asian dishes, from Pad See Ew to Asian Glazed Salmon to Honey Pepper Beef to Supreme Soy Noodles. And Steamed Asian Greens with Oyster Sauce!Vegetarian oyster sauce is available these days, at Asian stores and some large grocery stores (Australia – there’s Ayam vegetarian oyster sauce at Woolies) Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant tasting” fried rice (and noodles and stir fries!). Without it, the dish will be lacking something. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic sub – sub cooking wine with 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth/stock, expect to stir fry an extra minute to allow for evaporation. And (big tip) add a knob of butter at the end and toss through until melted. White pepper and sugar – For seasoning. White pepper is commonly used in Asian dishes because you can’t see it in clear glossy sauces in stir fries, like cashew chicken, chop suey (chicken stir fry). Whereas if you use black pepper, you end up with little specks in the sauce.

Stuff in the fried rice

Don’t have day-old-cooked rice? Don’t try this recipe – you’ll be disappointed with gluey fried rice! Make Baked Fried Rice instead (starts with uncooked rice, and it’s awesome!). Use the beef to make Asian Beef and serve together. Substitutions -You can use only light soy sauce or just an all-purpose soy sauce (ie bottle just labelled “soy sauce” without “light” or “dark” in front of it) but the rice colour won’t be as dark. But you cannot use only dark soy sauce as it will make the rice black and the soy flavour will be way too much! More on different types of soy sauces here. Vegetarian oyster sauce is available these days, at Asian stores and some large grocery stores (Australia – there’s Ayam vegetarian oyster sauce at Woolies) Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic sub – sub cooking wine with 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth/stock, expect to stir fry an extra minute to allow for evaporation. And (big tip) add a knob of butter at the end and toss through until melted.

Cooked rice – Any type of rice can be used but it needs to be day old so it’s dried out. So then when it’s fried up with sauce, the rice gets nicely moistened but is still fluffy and crumbly, rather than gluey and sticky. TIP – Keep bags of cooked rice in your freezer. Super handy standby for stir fries, and fried rice on demand! Beef mince – That’s ground beef, to Americans. I use lean in fried rice. Pork, chicken and turkey also work great in this recipe! Frozen veg – I use frozen for convenience, in the spirit of this quick ‘n easy recipe. But please feel free to be a better person than me and chop up whatever vegetables you want! Onion and garlic – Essential flavour base. We sauté it up first to flavour the oil. Eggs – We scramble these in sesame oil for lovely flavour. I love fluffy egg bits in my fried rice, plus it’s extra protein! Green onion – For freshness and colour. Though you won’t destroy this dish if you don’t have it.

How to make beef fried rice

Using beef mince is so handy for quick meals – no cutting or prep required! TIP – Keep bags of cooked rice in your freezer. Super handy standby for stir fries, and fried rice on demand! And there you have it! It really is a quick recipe. 12 minutes to cook up and minimal prep. It’s kid friendly but if you want to give it a fiery boost, a drizzle of sriracha or dollop of your favourite chilli paste certainly wouldn’t go astray. Love to know if you give it a go! – Nagi x