This delicious vegan fried rice is simple, flavorful, veggie packed and ready in 15 minutes! The perfect way to use up leftover rice.
I am in love with this vegan fried rice. While testing this recipe we have had a few batches of this fried rice in the fridge at any one time and I have been loving it.
It’s a super simple recipe that really delivers on flavor.
It’s also a great way to use up any leftover rice. It’s quick and easy and deliciously satisfying.
Serve it as a main course or as a side alongside some crispy baked tofu or grilled tofu for a delicious restaurant-worthy meal.
And if you love easy rice dishes, then also check out our vegan mushroom risotto, vegan paella and vegan jambalaya.
What You Need To Make It:
Ingredient Notes
- Soy sauce – if you need this vegetable fried rice to be gluten-free then use a gluten-free soy sauce or switch this for tamari.
- Roasted salted cashews – create the best flavor in this dish, so are recommended, but if you can only get raw cashews they will still work fine.
- Spring onions – are also known as green onions or salad onions or scallions.
- Basmati rice – is so quick and easy to cook so makes a great choice here. One cup of dry basmati rice (200g) makes around 4 cups of cooked rice, so you can just use all of it in this recipe. However, any cooked rice is going to work perfectly in this recipe.
- Green curry paste – is a great flavor add here but red curry paste also works great. Check the ingredients list for vegan friendliness as some brands are not vegan.
- Frozen vegetables – our mix contained peas, corn and carrots but if your frozen veg mix has slightly different veggies this is totally fine.
- Sesame oil – is a great flavor blend here, but olive oil would also be great. We didn’t use a lot of oil as the flavor is more from the veggies and spices.
How to make Vegan Fried Rice
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Start out by adding some chopped onions, crushed garlic, minced ginger, green curry paste and sesame oil to a frying pan and fry until the onions are softened.
- Then add in some frozen vegetables and soy sauce and fry that with the onions until the veggies are softened but still firm.
- Then add in cooked rice, some roasted and salted cashews along with chopped spring onions and fresh chopped basil and mix together and stir fry for a couple of minutes until everything is well mixed and heated through.
- Serve it as is for a delicious main course, or as a side alongside other vegan dishes.
Recipe FAQ
You could make an oil free version of this recipe if you prefer, though the original recipe with oil is going to be the most tasty. If you want an oil-free version then just use water or vegetable stock to stir fry the onions and veggies.
This meal is gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free soy sauce or switch it for tamari.
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and consume within 3-4 days. You can either reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
It is freezer friendly. Let it cool completely before freezing in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
What To Serve With Fried Rice
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 Medium Onion White, Yellow or Brown, Chopped
- 1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Minced Ginger
- 1 tsp Green Curry Paste
- 2 cups Frozen Vegetable Mix (280g)
- 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 4 cups Cooked Rice
- 1 cup Roasted Salted Cashews (150g)
- 2 Spring Onions Chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh Basil Chopped
Instructions
- Add the sesame oil to a frying pan with the chopped onion, crushed garlic, minced ginger and green curry paste and fry until the onions are softened.
- Add in the frozen vegetables and soy sauce and fry that with the onions until the veggies are softened but still firm.
- Then add in the cooked rice along with the cashews and chopped spring onions and fresh chopped basil and stir fry together for a couple of minutes until everything is well mixed and heated through.
- Serve immediately.
- Leftovers keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Video
Notes
- You can switch the sesame oil for olive oil if you prefer.
- You can use red curry paste instead of green curry paste. Just make sure you check the label for vegan friendliness as not all brands are vegan.
- Our frozen veg was a mix of peas, corn and carrots. Any similar veggie mix will work fine.
- If you want this to be gluten-free then make sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce or switch it for tamari.
- If you’re making rice from scratch, then just cook 1 cup (200g dry weight) of rice which will make around 4 cups of cooked rice and then use all of it in this recipe. We used basmati rice but any rice will work great.
- Spring onions are also called green onions or salad onions/scallions.
- Prep/cook time assumes the rice is already cooked.
- This recipe was first published in July 2019, it has been updated with extra tips, but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Can I replace the rice with quinoa? Thanks.
Sure!
Vegan fried rice is such a great recipe especially since it’s easy to tweak some ingredients 🙂 Love your recipe!
It was delicious! I cooked it for three of my vegan children. They loved it! (I even added a can of chickpeas:)
Wonderful! Thanks Fabiana!
Had this for dinner tonight. It was very flavourful. Would never have thought of using curry paste in this way. Will definitely help get through the big tub of paste! I found that I had to add a little extra paste to get the curry flavour but that may be because i added a touch too much sesame oil. I also used mix of frozen and fresh veg (carrots, green peppers, peas and sweetcorn) as it was there. Chopped it finely and it cooked really well. I am definitely making this dish again. It was so easy and took no time at all… thank you Alison ????
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the awesome review Rani!
How would the recipe taste without the curry paste? Thank you
I haven’t tried it without curry paste, but I imagine it would still be tasty.
I loved this recipe! Came out very well. Hoping my family loves the dinner too.
I didn’t realize you are in South Africa, a place I have always wanted to visit. We are in Canada i.e.: Toronto.
Hi Kay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Oh that’s awesome, hope you do visit some day, it’s a stunning country! Definitely on our bucket list to visit Canada too. 🙂
Loved this! I used brown rice and it was delicious.
Awesome! Thanks Cathie!