Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice

Instant Pot Chicken Fried Rice that's gazillion times better than take-out. Make it at home with Jasmine Rice, veggies, eggs & lots of bite sized chicken. Don't skimp on the sauce, it makes the instant pot fried rice one of its kind. So yum! So Good!

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Note: This post has been updated with user friendly content, FAQs, serving ideas, reheating directions and better content.

Chicken Fried Rice

Today's chicken fried rice restaurant style will amaze you with it's authentic and unbeatable flavor. This is our go to easy chicken fried rice recipe made in the Instant Pot.

It's loaded with soy doused boneless chicken pieces, lots of veggies and a good dose of homemade fried rice sauce. And that's the secret of this recipe - It's the SAUCES folks! and how you cook it.

The flavors of this healthy chicken fried rice recipe is bold and delicious. It has all the signature characteristics of a fried rice made in a wok.

Don't skimp on the sauces, the better the sauce the better will be your Chinese chicken fried rice recipe.

Ingredients & substitutions

Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.

• Jasmine Rice: Rinse the rice quite well until clear water runs. This will help rinse out the surface starch from the rice grains and you'll never end up with sticky, gummy rice ever!
• Boneless skinless Chicken Breasts: Made into bite sizes. You can even use boneless skinless chicken thighs.
• Eggs: Scrambled. Often eggs when scrambled in the Instant Pot tends to stick at the bottom of the steel insert of the instant pot. Learn the trick , how to avoid that (shared below). You'll have perfect fluffy scrambled eggs and a clean mess free pot at the same time.
• Veggies: Carrots, Scallions, Green Peas. That's all we added. You can also add broccoli, cabbage, sweet corn, sprouts and green beans. The possibilities are endless!
• Sauces: Dark Soy Sauce, Light Soy Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Chili Garlic Sauce. Dark Soy sauce adds a lot of umami to the dish so add it by all means. It's that special ingredient that'll take this authentic chicken fried rice recipe to a whole new level.
• Garlic: Go heavy with the garlic! Add more garlic than you normally do. You'll thank me later.
• Liquid: We used Chicken Broth. However, vegetable broth or regular water are also good alternatives. Broth is what will add more flavors to the recipe than water. You can also add better than bouillon chicken base stirred in warm water as an alternative to store bought chicken stock.
• Oil: Any neutral oil like - avocado oil, canola, sunflower or vegetable oil or extra light or light olive oil. Add Sesame Oil also. We used chili Sesame Oil and we'll highly recommend it. It boosts the flavor a million times. You can find it in any Chinese grocery store.

Note: The sauces and the sesame oil used in the recipe might not be familiar to all of you, especially to the beginner home cooks. Hence, I've included the picture of the Sauce bottles. Hope it helps. You can buy any brand that you prefer or whatever your nearest grocery store carries.

Tips & Tricks

1. Rinse the Jasmine Rice until clear water runs: This helps to remove the surface starch from the rice grains. As a result, your fried rice won't turn sticky or gummy.
2. Flash marinate the Chicken with sauces: Flash marination means a quick marination (few mins marination). This will make the bite size chicken pieces tender, moist and oh so tasty. The chicken won't taste bland & flat. We hate that! Don't skimp on the sauces & try not to miss any. Sauces is the key to the best chicken fried rice recipe.
3. Saute Chicken: It will boost the overall taste of the dish and the chicken pieces will not taste bland.
4. More garlic: Sauteed garlic is so aromatic and it's a must for any fried rice recipe.
5. The rice to liquid is very important: Do use the same cup to measure them.
6. For best authentic flavors toss the cooked chicken fried rice with the sauces, scrambled egg, scallions, frozen thawed peas & the sesame oil once the pressure cooking cycle is over.
7. Resting time: Allow the Chicken Fried Rice to rest for at least 5-10 mins before serving. This allows the trapped residual heat to escape and makes the dish light and fluffy.
8. Instant pot scrambled egg hack: Some more oil and a controlled heat setting in the Instant Pot will make the best ever scrambled eggs that will never stick at the bottom of the pot and make a mess.

Pro Tip: Add about 3 tbsp oil for 3 eggs, whisk the eggs. Make the Instant Pot hot enough at SAUTE (NORMAL) settings. Then reduce the heat to LOW (SAUTE). Pour the whisked eggs and continue stirring vigorously to make scrambled eggs, do not stop stirring. The eggs will never stick at the bottom of the steel pot. A metal spatula or sharp wooden spatula works best.

How to make chicken fried rice?

Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.

Step #1 Flash marinate the chicken

The Chicken will taste delicious when you flash marinate it in a combination of sauces and allow it to rest until you prep the other ingredients.

Mix the bite sized chicken pieces with light soy, dark soy, Worcestershire sauce and chili garlic sauce.

Chili garlic sauce is totally optional. It provides the dish with a little bit of heat. Skip it if you do not have it handy.

Step#2 Make the scrambled eggs

Making scrambled eggs in the Instant Pot might be a little tricky as the eggs tend to stick at the bottom of the steel pot incessantly.

However, we have a discovered certain hack of making scrambled eggs in the instant pot. If you adopt that you'll never end up with a sticky and messy pot ever! It's all about controlling the temperature and adding a little more oil.

Allow the Instant Pot to really heat up well at the SAUTE (NORMAL) function. Move your hand on top of the pot a few times. When you can feel the warmth add oil and reduce the heat setting to LOW (Saute mode).

Release the whisked eggs and keep on stirring vigorously, do not stop for a bit. Do this until you get soft and fluffy scrambled eggs, just like you see in the pic above. Your pot will remain clean, I guarantee 😉

Step #3 Shallow fry the Chicken

Set the pot in saute mode set at normal heat setting. In the same pot add some more oil, sizzle the garlic until fragrant. Then transfer the flash marinated chicken pieces and shallow fry until opaque.

Step #4 Pressure Cook

Pour the broth, de-glaze pot very well so that there are absolutely no bits and crumbs stuck at the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the burn error. Add the rinsed Jasmine rice. Give a gentle mix and make sure the rice grains are submerged in the broth. Press them down gently with the spatula.

Layer the diced carrots and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 3 minutes followed by 10 mins NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR). Open the lid and add all the garnishes.

Step #5 Toss in sauce & garnishes, serve

Add the sauces, sesame oil & scrambled egg too. Mix well and allow the chicken fried rice to rest for at least 5-10 mins before serving.

The fried rice will have the best texture once the trapped heat escapes. Enjoy with loads of Chili Garlic Sauce or Sriracha Sauce if you love spicy food.

Serving Ideas

You can serve the chicken fried rice as such. It's a complete meal all by itself. We love to serve it with sriracha sauce or chili garlic sauce. You can also serve it with the following sides:

• Stir fry bok choy.
• Chinese cucumber salad.
• Dumplings.
• Egg rolls.
• Potstickers.
• Egg drop soup.
• Sesame roasted brussel sprouts.
• Fried egg.
• Shrimp and broccoli.
• Stir fry shrimp.
• Chili garlic potatoes.
• Chili garlic tofu.

Storing Tips

Fridge: The homemade chicken fried rice will last for up to 5 days in the fridge when stored in air tight containers.

Freezer: It can be frozen for up to 3 months. We love freezing it in individual freezer safe bags. It makes thawing the dish so much easy!

How to reheat

Microwave Oven: Reheat this easy chicken fried rice in the microwave oven until warm or hot.

Stovetop: You can also reheat in a skillet on the stovetop over medium high heat. Stir from time to time to prevent burning.

FAQs

More Asian take-out recipes you might like

• Instant pot pork lo mein.
• Instant pot drunken noodles.
• Authentic chicken lo mein recipe.
• Instant pot ramen stir fry.
• Instant pot pad Thai.
• Instant pot shrimp and broccoli.
• Thai peanut chicken instant pot.
• Instant pot sweet and sour pork.
• Instant pot egg roll in a bowl.
• Instant pot cashew chicken.
• Instant pot sweet and sour meatballs.
• Instant pot chicken teriyaki.
• Instant pot stir fry shrimp.
• Instant pot orange chicken.
• Instant pot Chinese chicken and broccoli.
• Instant pot Mongolian chicken.

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