Fried rice is always a good choice, but it’s even better with bacon! Stir fry some bacon, diced veggies, fresh or day-old rice, and eggs, then mix in a soy-based sauce. Try it tonight!
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To make bacon fried rice, you really only need bacon, vegetables of your choice, rice, a couple of eggs, and a sauce. I’ll walk you through each category and give you tips and tricks for each ingredient
Ingredients for Bacon Fried Rice
Bacon
The easiest way to make the bacon for bacon fried rice is to dice it up and cook it right in the wok or large frying pan that you’ll be using for the rest of the recipe. Fry the bacon until it is as crispy as you like it to be, then remove it to a paper towel, but do not discard the rendered bacon fat.
While it wouldn’t be bacon fried rice without bacon, this recipe is also very good with ham, pork belly, and pulled pork shoulder. If you have leftover cooked pork from another meal, this is a great way to use it up. If you substitute another meat, you can crisp it up in the pan in a tablespoon or so of any neutral oil.
Vegetables
Fried rice is very customizable. I like to use fresh onions, carrots, and cabbage, plus minced garlic and grated ginger. I also add frozen peas and corn at the end, after cooking the rice. Diced cauliflower, snow peas, asparagus, shelled edamame, or bell peppers would be very nice in this recipe, and you can use fresh, frozen, or a combination.
After cooking the bacon, I stir fry the fresh vegetables in the reserved bacon fat. If you have sesame oil, a quick drizzle adds fantastic flavor to the recipe. Season with a pinch of salt after adding them to the wok, and cook until crisp-tender. Add the minced garlic during the last 30 seconds of cooking. Then, remove the vegetables to a bowl and start on the rice. Frozen vegetables are generally pre-cooked, so you can add them after you cook your rice.
Rice and Assembly
Fried rice is one of the best ways to use up day-old rice. This becomes an incredibly easy weeknight meal if you make a large batch of rice for another meal the day before and refrigerate the leftovers.
If you don’t have any leftover rice, you can absolutely still make this recipe. Make rice according to your preferred method (I use my rice cooker). Spread it out on 1-2 baking sheets as shown above. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or place in the freezer for 10 – this dries out the rice, and makes it significantly easier to stir fry. Do NOT try to stir fry hot, fresh rice. It will get gummy and sticky – been there done that!
You can substitute cooked brown rice for white if you prefer. I’ve never used cauliflower “rice” or any other rice substitutes, but if you try it in my recipe I’d love to hear how it goes!
Whichever type of rice you use, stir fry it in the wok over medium-high heat, in either bacon fat or oil (a combination of sesame oil and vegetable, grapeseed, or peanut). Stir fry in batches, about 2 cups at a time, so that all of the rice can contact the bottom of the wok. Add a pinch of salt to each batch as it cooks. Stir fry for about 3-4 minutes per batch.
Add the cooked vegetables, bacon, and frozen vegetables back in after cooking the rice. Stir fry everything together until heated through. Drizzle in the stir fry sauce, consisting of soy sauce, sake (Japanese rice wine), mirin (sweetened Japanese rice wine), and oyster sauce whisked together in a bowl. Grate some fresh ginger over the top. Cook 2 minutes. Finally add the eggs and serve!
Eggs
I generally add my eggs directly to my fried rice. I push the fried rice out to the edges of the pan, creating a well in the center. Add a bit of oil or bacon fat, and crack two eggs right into the pan. Quickly scramble them with chopsticks or a fork, and season with a bit of salt and pepper, then as they begin to set mix them into the rest of the dish.
Top with scallions if you’d like, and serve immediately!
What to Serve with Bacon Fried Rice
Fried rice can be either a main course or a side dish. I like to stick with Asian flavors when I make it, so I paired it above with a miso salmon. Other ideas would be:
- Edamame
- Gyoza/potstickers (bacon and shrimp gyoza)
- Yakitori (grilled chicken thighs)
- Soup – egg drop, miso, or hot and sour
- Seaweed salad
- Sweet chili shrimp skewers
Bacon Fried Rice
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
Bacon Fried Rice
- 6 cup cooked, day old rice (2 cups uncooked) or see note
- 1/2 lb bacon diced
- 1 onion small, peeled and diced
- 1 carrot large, peeled and diced
- 1 cup cabbage red or green, about 1/4 head, cored and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic fresh, minced
- 1/2 cup peas frozen
- 1/2 cup corn frozen
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 inch ginger fresh, peeled and grated
- 3 scallions diced
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil divided
- 4 tsp vegetable oil divided
- salt to taste
Fried Rice Sauce
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
Instructions
- Mix sauce ingredients (soy sauce, mirin, sake, and oyster sauce) together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Place wok over medium heat. Add bacon immediately to cold pan. Fry 8-10 minutes or until desired level of doneness reached. Remove to paper towel-lined plate. Reserve rendered bacon fat in wok.
- Turn wok up to high heat. Add 1 tsp sesame oilAdd onions and a pinch of salt, stir fry 2 minutes. Add carrots to middle of wok, pushing onions towards edges. Stir fry 2 minutes. Add cabbage to middle of wok, pushing onions and carrots towards edges. Stir fry 3 minutes. If adding any additional fresh vegetables, add them during this step. Add garlic and toss together for 30-60 seconds. Remove vegetables to a medium bowl.
- Add 1 tsp vegetable oil and 1 tsp sesame oil to wok. Add only enough cooked rice to cover bottom of wok, about 2 cups, with a pinch of salt. Stir fry rice 3-4 minutes. Remove to a large bowl and repeat the process, stir-frying the rice in batches until all is lightly browned.
- Add the rice, cooked bacon, cooked fresh vegetables, and frozen peas and corn to the wok. If adding any additional frozen vegetables, add them now. Make a small well in the center and add a tsp of vegetable oil. Crack two eggs into the well. Scramble them with chopsticks or a fork. Once they begin to set, mix them into the rice.
- Pour sauce over fried rice in wok. Toss to combine. Add grated ginger. Toss to combine. Add scallions. Serve immediately.