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.
Tasted great, easy recipe to follow and excellent directions.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Can you make this without eggs? I’m allergic
Hi Elaine, you are welcome to omit, replace, or use an egg substitute here.
We had a Natasha’s Kitchen weekend. My 10 year old son and I made 3 of your recipes, including this one. I am an awful cook, but your easy to follow directions made it fun for me and my son. This shrimp fried rice was wonderful. There is none left!
Wow! That’s just awesome, Danielle!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review
Hi. I rinsed the rice and chilled overnight and it was still sticky and clumped together. Any thoughts?
Hi Gina, 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).
Shouldnt i cook first the frozen vege?
Hi Rana, with frozen (and fully thawed) veggies, they really just need to be heated through completely and hot. They will be soft.
As a family we love this recipe, since finding it we have had it so many times. Can go with anything too, it is brilliant.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Linda!
I love this! You make it so easy for me to prepare different dishes. Thanks so much. A true fan.
I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you!
happy to have read this today ,just happen to have rice in frighted from yesterday and shrimp .Argentina reds ,ya gotta try those more crab taste and LOBSTA texture , so guess what shrimp fried rice ,maybe add some chili flakes I like da heat ,,,great ,,thanks again
So I’ve been making this recipe for a long time. I commented on the basic recipe here a year or two ago, but have since branched off into different meats and thought it was time for an update. I’ve now made it with shrimp, steak, chicken, lamb, and double egg / no meat. Actually, I really love the eggy meatless version. Sesame oil is absolutely critical to this dish, as is sufficient high quality soy sauce. Once you get those two ingredients nailed down and in balance, nirvana is achieved. Like any Asian dish, insufficient soy sauce will leave it tasting a little bland, so don’t skimp. This recipe remains a staple in my recipe collection, with many modifications and tweaks I’ve built onto it over time. I love it.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Larry!
You seem to have missed our family favorite “meat” – many years ago when we were less financially comfortable my sister in law introduced us to a similar version using leftover rice, leftover veggies , freshly cooked eggs and HOT DOGS – the kids all LOVED the result. So glad we have grown up as we adults really prefer the shrimp – thanks for the reminder!
Oh man! I agree, I remember those days indeed.
Super bland. The chicken is bland without sauce. Work intensive for a subpar taste. I would not recommend. Honestly its jot the worst thing ever, just save urself some work and dont do this
Hi Austin, this is one of our best-reviewed recipes. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy it but I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. The amount of soy sauce an sesame oil needed can vary in how you prepare your rice – if there is no salt added while cooking rice or you are using low sodium soy sauce, you would need more soy sauce to compensate – I tried my best to have readers notice that by stating in several times in the post above. I hope that helps to troubleshoot.
Do you have a recipe and video for chicken and dumplings
Hi Peggy, we have this recipe here, it’s our Chicken and Dumpling Soup.
Delicious and easy. My new favorite dish! Thanks.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Mary! Thank you for that great review!
I had really high hopes for this recipe and the video was great but I followed it to a T and found it extremely bland. It definitely needed more flavour. Should have tested it before making it for a group of people! Soy sauce and sesame oil isn’t enough for a flavoursome meal.
Hi Ria, 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!
Can I use cauliflower rice instead? Have you tried it?
Hi Sheila, I haven’t tested that but a couple of our readers mentioned using that with great results. I hope that helps.
So so good! I don’t like sesame oil so I left it out and added a touch more soy. Better than any other fried shrimp rice I’ve ever had. One of my son’s favorites! He likes sesame oil so he adds it as garnish.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review with us!
I made the fried rice and shrimp. Wow, easy, fast and tastyyyy! Thanks once more Natasha
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Montse!
Hi Natasha
Can I use chicken breast instead of shrimp to make stir fry
I bet it would be good with chicken too. I should give it a whirl.
I would love to see a video on how to make spring rolls or egg rolls.
Thank you for the great suggestion!
Have made several times…
always fantastic! Can I use
Jasmine rice? I also have Basmati
rice.
Hi Monique, our readers left great reviews after trying this with both Jasmine and Basmati rice. I hope that helps.
Why is the cholesterol count SO high ???
Hi Mary, Shrimp and eggs are naturally high in cholesterol, but keep in mind there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, but the nutrition card lumps them both into one group, which is unfortunate.