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 is just as good as what you get from the fancy Japanese Steakhouse at a fraction of the cost. The only thing I do different, is I fry the rice in two separate batches on a large griddle with a small amount of butter. This helps the rice become more crispy. Absolutely delicious!
I’m happy to hear how much you enjoy the recipe Debbie! Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
wow! this sound good am gonna try it.
It’s delicious! Please let me know what you think!
Just made your Shrimp Fried Rice.
Outstanding! I used a quart of rice from my local Chinese restaurant and low sodium soy sauce, but everything else was accordingly to your recipe. So delicious and it looks fantastic. Thanks Natasha!
You’re welcome Gail! I’m glad to hear how much you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your excellent review!
Wonderful recipe – simple, delicious and great way to use up veggies in the fridge. New staple in our house.
I’m so glad to hear that Donna! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Such a simple, yet yummy recipe! Also, I love how you always indicate the approximate cost of making the dish, it’s such a useful feature for food websites, that I very rarely see anywhere else!
Very happy to have discovered your blog and looking forward to cooking more with you! 🙂
I am so glad you find that useful! Thank you for that wonderful feedback and welcome to our blog!! 🙂
Don’t rinse your COOKED rice!
The directions said to use cooked rice, and then to rinse it. So I did. It was a little sticky, but tasted better the next day when I heated it up on the skillet.
Oh no! I definitely didn’t intend for it to read that way. I had the note: “Make sure to rinse the rice before cooking so it’s not sticky – sticky fried rice doesn’t’ work” but I can see how you might interpret it that way so I revised it to say “the raw rice” I’m glad it still worked out.
My daughter requested shrimp fried rice for her birthday dinner and she loved this! It came out perfectly.
I’m happy to hear that Maleeha! Thanks for sharing!
maybe a little fresh ginger,a nice flavor
Hi Tatyana, each person gets up to 10 chances to win but you can only log into the raffle copter using 1 email or 1 facebook login. Does that make sense? So each person enters once and you have up to 10 chances to win (each of those 10 chances count). 🙂
Made this tonight, delish!! I used brown rice instead of white and used fresh peas and shredded carrots. I will definitely use this recipe frequently.
Mmmm! That sounds good too Michelle!
OMG! Just cooked it and it is delicious! My new recipe for fried ric. I love knowing whats in it and its super easy. Love it! Thank you.
Awesome! How wonderful to hear, thank you for sharing Elizabeth!
Can’t to try this recipe! It looks fantastic! Do you mean to rinse the rice before cooking the first time or after it comes out of the fridge?
Dawn, rinse the rice before cooking the first time 😀.
Can I use long grain brown rice?
Hi Helen, it will be a little more firm to the bite, but yes you can use cooked long grain brown rice to make it healthier 🙂
people should think of single serving i rated 5 cause it sounds so good but i am alone thank you
I hope you love it Denise! It does refrigerate pretty well so you can reheat leftovers on the skillet the following day 🙂
Hi! So heres the thing… I have no left over rice. Can I make some and use that instead?
Hi Karly, it works best with leftover rice because it’s less sticky. If using fresh rice, make sure to rinse it before cooking it to remove some of the starch and let it cool completely (ideally it should be refrigerated and chilled before using).
Is it safe to refreeze
fresh shrimp?
Hi Pat :). As far as I know, it’s safe to refreeze if they were thawed at a safe (refrigerator) temperature. Some sources say it’s not a good idea but I haven’t read anything that says it’s not safe. If there is any off odor or if you suspect the shrimp aren’t fresh any more, it’s best not to refreeze.
I have had wonderful luck freezing Basmati rice that has been thoroughly rinsed before cooking. I looks like it’s all freezer burned in the freezer, but when you thaw it out it is ready to go. You can also freeze a single layer on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes, and then freeze it in Ziploc bags. Then you can just take out what you need and put the rest back in the freezer. Rice frozen this way thaws very quickly.
I am so happy to have found you and your recipe for dry farmer’s cheese. I have my mother’s sernyk recipe that I haven’t been able to really duplicate. Maybe now I will!
Welcome to the site Ksenia, I hope you’ll find many new favorites here 😀.
I love recipes with shrimp and I’m planning to make this and eat after church I’ll just cook the rise when I get home but do the rest now do you think that’s a good idea?
Ella, that should work fine 😀.
Hi! The place I shop was out of shrimp, they only had frozen cooked shrimp, will this work just as well? Thank you! Making today!!!
Hi Christina, sorry I missed your comment didn’t reply sooner! 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!
Hi! Was gonna try this but have two questions, 1, what’s best tasting rice for this recipe and 2, can I make the rice day before and store in fridge? I read that refrigerator will dry out the rice though so just curios? Thank you and can’t wait to try it!!!!!!!!
Hi Christina, generally, any leftover white rice will work well for this recipe. I used California calrose rice. Yes, it’s best to make the rice the day before and store in the fridge. You want the rice to be on the dryer side for a fried rice otherwise it can get sticky. I hope you LOVE it! 🙂
Great recipe! simple ingredients, quick to make and DELICIOUS (it gets better the next day). light and satisfying. love this. going in to ‘regular’ rotation 😉
Thank you so much for your wonderful review! Now I’m craving this dish all over again! 🙂
45 years ago in a Asian cooking class I made this recipe. Unfortunately I lost the recipe, and was so happy too finally find your recipe today. The recipe is simple, but needed a recipe to look at to make sure that everything was right as I went down the list. Thanks again
Thank you for the nice review Jennie, I’m glad you liked it 😀.