Shrimp Fried Rice is one of my go-to 30-minute meals and my family can’t get enough of it. Shrimp and rice loaded with veggies and egg is a protein-packed and easy dinner. Fried Rice is the best way to use leftover Cooked Rice.
We love recreating Asian takeout dishes like Chow Mein, General Tso’s Chicken, and of course saucy Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. Making fried rice is probably the easiest homemade takeout dish.
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Shrimp Fried Rice Recipe
Even though fried rice is easy to make, there are some things to know before you start to avoid gummy and sticky rice. I learned how to make (non-sticky) fried rice years ago from one of my favorite bloggers, Jaden of steamykitchen.com.
Once you have a great basic recipe for fried rice, you can easily change up the protein depending on what you have in the refrigerator or what leftovers you have from dinner the night before. That’s how we came up with our popular Chicken Fried Rice Recipe.
Shrimp Fried Rice Video Tutorial
I hope this Shrimp Fried Rice Recipe becomes a new favorite for you. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel, and click the bell icon to be notified when we post a new video.
Secrets for the Best Fried Rice
Here is our best advice for making perfect (non-sticky) fried rice:
- Ingredients prepped ahead: The cooking process moves fast, so be sure to have everything prepped and ready before you start the stove
- Chilled rice: Start with cold cooked rice. Leftover rice is best. Avoid fresh, warm rice or it will become sticky and gooey when it hits the pan.
- High heat: Fried rice is supposed to cook quickly over high heat so give your pan a chance to heat up. Also, give the ingredients time to sizzle and resist the urge to stir constantly.
- Follow the process: Add ingredients to the pan separately and in the order listed. Adding everything at once will cool the pan too quickly and your fried rice will fail.
- Add sauces to taste: Add soy sauce and sesame oil to your taste preference. Depending on how your rice was cooked (with or without salt) or if you use low sodium soy sauce, you will likely need to adjust soy sauce and sesame oil.
Ingredients for Shrimp Fried Rice
- Rice: cooked and chilled rice works best (more on that below)
- Shrimp: use 20-24 count or 26-30 count RAW peeled and deveined shrimp.
- Cornstarch – makes the shrimp slightly crisp when stir-fried like in our Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos.
- Vegetables: we use a bag of frozen peas and carrots that we thaw according to package instructions.
- Eggs: large eggs add more protein and great texture and color to this dish
- Green onion – light and dark green parts, plus more to garnish
- Soy Sauce – use regular, low sodium or even coconut aminos then add them to taste since they will have varying amounts of salt in them.
- Sesame oil – DO NOT SKIP the sesame oil which makes it taste like authentic Chinese fried rice. Use pure sesame oil, not toasted.
How to Make Shrimp Fried Rice
From the time the shrimp hits the skillet, it takes about 10 minutes on the stove so you want everything measured out, prepped, and ready to add to the skillet.
- Marinate shrimp – toss shrimp together with cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat the skillet – preheat over medium/high heat then add cooking oil and shrimp. Cook 1 minute per side. Transfer shrimp to a plate and reduce heat to medium.
- Add beaten eggs – pour eggs into the hot skillet and scramble with your spatula until no longer runny. Transfer to the same plate as the shrimp.
- Wipe down the skillet with a paper towel then increase to medium/high heat, add oil and chives, and saute for 30 seconds.
- Spread rice into the skillet and sizzle for 1-2 minutes without stirring. Flip and sizzle another 1-2 minutes.
- Add Sauces & Veggies – drizzle in Soy sauce and sesame oil to taste then stir in vegetables.
- Add cooked shrimp and eggs back to the pan and stir to combine and add more soy sauce to taste.
How to Cook Rice for Fried Rice
Leftover chilled white rice is best, but If you don’t have leftover white rice, you can make it ahead, but be sure to rinse the rice until water runs clear prior to cooking to remove the extra starch.
Cook White Rice on the Stovetop then cool to room temperature, spread the rice into a casserole dish or baking sheet, and refrigerate until chilled. This will help dry out the rice so it doesn’t turn gummy on the skillet. We love Jasmine rice, but medium or long grain rice will work.
Common Questions
We love Jasmine rice, but medium or long grain rice will work. You can even use leftover brown rice for healthier fried rice.
Rice is gluten-free, so you really just need to make sure your soy sauce is gluten-free like this Tamari soy sauce.
Instead of soy sauce, try using Coconut Aminos, but you need a little more since it contains less salt.
You can leave out the shrimp altogether to make it vegetarian like our Pineapple Fried Rice, or substitute it with whatever protein you have such as ham, bacon (like this Bacon Mango Fried Rice) beef, or chicken for Chicken Fried Rice.
I hope you’re inspired to make some Shrimp Fried Rice this week. Thank you for watching, subscribing, and sharing our recipes with the people you love!
Do YOU have any recipe requests for future videos? Please let me know in a comment below.
More Asian Recipes to try
- Fresh Spring Rolls
- Asian Chopped Salad Recipe
- Korean Beef Tacos
- Crispy Egg Rolls
- Chicken Stir Fry
- California Rolls
- Ground Beef Stir Fry
Shrimp Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb 26-30 count uncooked shrimp , (peeled and deveined)
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp LIGHT olive oil, or canola
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1/4 cup green onion, finely chopped
- 5 cups leftover chilled white rice , (rinse rice before cooking)
- 12 oz frozen carrots and peas, thawed
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos , or added to taste
- 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the shrimp, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium/high heat. When a bead of water sizzles and evaporates, swirl in 2 Tbsp of cooking oil and add shrimp to the hot skillet and spread them out in a single layer. Cook 1 minute per side, or until cooked through and opaque. Remove to a bowl.
- Over medium heat, add beaten eggs to the same skillet. Break up the eggs with a spatula and cook until no longer runny. Remove to a bowl.
- Wipe down the skillet with a paper towel and return to medium/high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and onions and cook green onion until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Stir in rice then spread it evenly over the pan and cook for 1 to 2 minutes without disturbing it then stir and sauté another 1 to 2 minutes. Rice should sizzle.
- Drizzle 2 Tbsp soy sauce (or add to taste) over rice and stir well. Add sesame oil and thawed vegetables and mix well.
- Add cooked shrimp and cooked eggs back to the pan and mix well. Continue to cook until the rice is hot and sizzles, stirring frequently. Add more soy sauce to taste, if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
This recipe was first published in 2014 and republished in 2022. We have added a video, new photos (see original photo below), and more tips for making the Best Shrimp Fried Rice.
This shrimp fried rice recipe is so tasty and easy to do. I tried to make it for the first time and it turned out pretty good. Thank you Natasha for sharing your recipe with me. Thumbs up!👍
You’re very welcome, Tori. Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us, glad you enjoyed it!
Made it today and it was a very easy recipe with simple instructions….
How do I prevent my rice from getting soggy ?
I would love to see a recipe for sesame chicken. I love all of Natasha’s recipe
They are easy to understand, she is a good teacher.dd
Hi Denesia, thanks for your suggestion. I’ll try to add that to our list. In the meantime, you can check out my other chicken recipes here.
Love your recipes . Have made a few of them . I will keep trying them . By the way , where do i find ,Silicon liners for muffins ?
Hi Maxine, you can find our favorite kitchen tools in our Amazon Affiliate Shop HERE.
Hi Natasha! My sister and I made this recipe for dinner today. It was delicious! We are enjoying using your dinner recipes. Thanks for the recipe Natasha!
You’re welcome Zoie! I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
This recipe came out very well! I did not have green onion, but I used some finely chopped garlic. I also and added a little ginger. You know how cooking is; you have to be a bit flexible…
I’m so glad that worked out, Alice! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
My first time making shrimp fried rice it was easy and fast. My family loved it! Thank you so much
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
Delicious! The video was easy to follow and the dish turned out exactly as shown. My husband, who is very particular about his food, loved it! Since this turned out so well, I’m going to try your egg roll recipe next!
I’m happy to hear that, Sherry. I hope that you and your family will love every recipe that you will try!
I just made this for lunch, substituting some of the ingredients with whatever I could “forage” from my fridge and pantry (eg normal onion cooked much longer instead of green onion etc and completely different veggies). It was delicious even with my changes so look forward to making it properly the next time!
Hello Susana, nice to know that you were able to make use of the ingredients that you have available. I’m glad you still liked it!
This is our favorite Shrimp Fried Rice recipe. Even the kids love it!
I make it as written. I use low-sodium soy sauce, so I add more, as suggested.
Thank you for the great recipe!
You’re welcome, Brenda! I’m happy you enjoyed that!
Made this tonight, it was delicious and so easy. Thanks Natasha.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you loved it, Tom!
I cooked this last night for my boyfriend. He loved it! I added about 2 TBSP of Hoison and that really took it next level. I used freshly cooked rice, (no parboiled or instant rice) and had no issues of gumminess.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Is it possible to do this with frozen/cooked shrimp?
Hi Nina, I always try to avoid using cooked shrimp in recipes that call for uncooked because you can’t really make the shrimp take on any flavor without overcooking them. I think you could still make it work but omit the cornstarch on the shrimp and you won’t need to do the marinating. I would still flash heat them until warmed through but no longer than that because re-cooking cooked shrimp will make them rubbery. I hope you love the recipe!
You need to publish a cookbook! All your recipes are so good.
Hi Melissa, thanks for your good suggestion. I am actually already working on it.
I am making this for dinner tonight. It’s the first day of fish Friday’s during the Lent season. Can the carrots be omitted and just use the frozen peas? Thank you!! Love love your recipes.
Hi Anna! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes. Omitting them should work 🙂
Natasha I love love your show- but I can’t find the bell icon?
Hi Jan, it is next to the subscribe button on our Youtube Channel.
Hi I just tried this recipe for shrimp fried rice and find it bland although I added more soy sauce. What other spices can I add? I also added minced garlic. It’s not bad just a bit bland. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi Cindy, the amount needed can vary depending on how the rice was cooked – if no salt was added during the cooking process, you would need to add more. Also, if you are using a low sodium soy sauce, you would need roughly 1/2 to 1 Tbsp more of soy sauce. This is why I suggest adding it to taste in the recipe. I hope you give it another try!
I feel the same. I keep adding more soy sauce to no avail; feel like something is missing,
Hi Pam, as we mentioned in step 4, “Depending on how your rice was cooked (with or without salt) or if you use low sodium soy sauce, you will likely need to add more soy sauce and sesame oil.”
Add garlic and a little ginger.
Is the sesame oil used in this recipe the toasted or plain kind?
Hi Marsha, we have a picture of the sesame oil we used in the blog post in the section titled: “Ingredients for Shrimp Fried Rice”. We used an All Natural, Pure Sesame Oil by Sun Luck.
Hello , I have a silly question on this. Can I use the already cooked salad shrimp. Hubby does not like large shrimp in his fried rice.
Hi Sylvia, I imagine that will work too. Please share with us how you liked it if you try it that way.
I love your recipes and how to prepare it it’s easy and understandable 😘😘😘😍
Thank you for that wonderful compliment!
Natasha,
Another winner.
Ron
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Delicious!
I’m alergic to soy and sesame and I can’t have peas.
So, I swapped the veggies for broccoli and green beans.
And I used lots of olive oil and a little bit of oxo (some kind of cow broth from down here). And it came out just amazing!
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that with me Eleonora!
Can you have coconut aminos? It is so much tastier than soy sauce and there’s no soy, it’s actually approved on a clean eating plan! Plus the sodium is so much less.
Hello natasha just love your video and the food you cook as lots of chef used lots of ingredients that you haven’t got in your food cupboard. Just one thing as I live in England and trying to follow your instructions and ingredients are all like one cup of flour etc please could you show us British people in grams oz so we can get the ingredients right thank you so much and keep cooking your great
Hi Ian, most of our new recipes have gram conversions. When you’re at the recipe, you click Jump to recipe and click Metric and it will be converted to grams. Hope that helps!