Craving a restaurant-quality stir-fry but short on time? This bacon fried rice recipe is your weeknight dinner hero. Tender, cooked rice gets infused with smoky bacon, crisp veggies, and fluffy scrambled eggs, all seasoned to perfection with a touch of soy sauce and sesame oil.
It’s a flavor and texture explosion in every bite! The best part? You can customize it with your favorite ingredients, making it a great way to use up leftover rice and veggies.
Why You’ll Love This Bacon Fried Rice
There isn’t anything not to love about this recipe, I can list the reasons why, but you just need to try it!
Tips for Making Bacon Fried Rice
1) Use cold rice. When your rice is cooked and almost cooled, pop it into the refrigerator for at least an hour. The reason for this, is that it doesn’t fry as well and your rice will end up soggy and in sticky clumps instead of separated.
If you forgot to refrigerate it or need to make it fast. Take a sheet pan and spread the rice out in a thin layer and pop it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes until it’s completely cooled. Careful, don’t let it freeze.
2) Use bacon grease: So I recommend using 2 tablespoons for best results for this recipe but I often add more for more flavor. If you don’t have bacon grease, use butter instead for a rich, deep flavor that is reminiscent of restaurant style fried rice.
Storage Tips
This bacon fried rice stores well in the refrigerator for about 5 days. To reheat, add a couple of droplets of water to add moisture to the rice. Microwave about 1-2 minutes.
We did not find that this rice did very well in the freezer, but if you decide to freeze it, store in an airtight, freezer safe container and thaw completely before reheating.
More Amazing Bacon Recipes
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Making the Recipe
Bacon Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 8 slices bacon
- 2 Tablespoons bacon grease divided (you can use vegetable oil if you don't have bacon grease but I highly recommend bacon grease)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil optional but adds tons of flavor
- 4 cups rice cooked and cooled to room temperature
- peas, carrots, other vegetables chopped, as desired
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium heat cook the bacon until crisp, turning to evenly cook both sides. (we didn’t “crisp” ours, fully cooked but instead left it just a little soft in areas.)
- Transfer your bacon to a paper towel covered plate to drain.
- Pour all but a couple tablespoons of bacon grease into a glass bowl to cool. You want to leave a bit of it for the flavor.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of the vegetable oil and heat for about a minute or two.
- Crack each of the eggs gently into the oil and fry until the whites are cooked through. (Jess did each of hers sunny-side up, so that’s what I did and I loved the yolk mixed with the fried rice and bacon.)
- When the eggs are done cooking, remove them from the pan and place on a plate (they will go on top of each serving)
- Now, add the final Tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan. Add the onion and saute until it softens, about 1 minute.
- Add the soy sauce and rice (also the siracha if using). Stir-fry the rice until it is evenly coated in soy sauce and begins to sizzle on the bottom of the pan.Scrape the bottom of the pan several times to keep the rice from sticking and to get the loose flavor pieces free. They really are a huge part of this.
- Next, crumble up your bacon or chop it and add it to the rice. Toss it all together to combine it.
- Remove from the heat and scoop four servings on to individual plates. Top each serving with an egg and serve immediately.
