This garlic fried rice is so versatile in how it can be enjoyed. Start your day with a delicious Filipino breakfast, or keep this as a traditional fried rice recipe to enjoy for lunch or dinner. Best of all, you just need four simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand!
Use leftover/day-old cooked rice for this recipe, which can save so much time. If you don't have that, then you first need to cook the rice - check the Notes below for the details.
Chop the green onion and mince or grate the garlic cloves.
Add the vegetable oil to a large pan and heat over medium heat. Then, pan-fry the garlic for a couple of minutes until golden. You'll want to stay close and stir every so often so that you don't burn the garlic.
Scoop out the garlic. Then add the cooked rice to the pan. Stir well, so the grains get coated with the garlic-infused oil. Cook long enough to warm the cold rice (if using leftover) or just for a few minutes (if using freshly made). Remember that this is non-sticky rice, so you don't want it to become mushy from overcooking it.
Top with the pan-fried garlic and chopped onion, and serve. If you want to add a little bit of crunch to the top, you can add crunched nuts on top.
Notes
How to cook rice - 2 cups of rice (430 g) and 2.5 cups of water (360 ml) will yield 5 cups of cooked rice.
Rinse the rice well to remove the starch.
Add the water and rice to a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 12 minutes, covered.
Remove from the heat, keep covered, and steam for 10 minutes.
Eggs: If you want to scramble up an egg or two and add it to the rice, it's a fast and easy way to make this garlic fried rice recipe taste differently every time you cook it. It's also a simple way to add a boost of protein.
Pepper: Adding some pepper can add a great flavor!
Everything Bagel Seasoning: This seasoning is an excellent addition because it's a mixture of salts and pepper and sesame seeds which flavors and adds a crunchy texture.
Add some heat: Even though this Filipino garlic fried recipe isn't spicy, you can make it that way. You can cook the rice in the pan with chili oil, or you can add some sriracha sauce, too.
Check the blog post for more tips and serving recommendations!