Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice

Fried rice is one of my favorite ways to use up leftovers; it’s a great way to give new life to leftover rice, leftover meat, or leftover veggies, or to cook up an easy meal on your next “use up what you have in the fridge” day. Sometimes I even just make up a big pot of rice on Sunday, so that I always have cold cooked rice handy to use for fried rice, to top with stir fries, or to use in rice bowls later in the week.

All this leads to: Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice!

Today’s Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice recipe makes use of just a little bit of leftover cooked pork roast I had in my fridge: It wasn’t enough to feed all of us when served as a sliced up roast, but was easy enough to stretch into a whole new meal by throwing it into a big batch of fried rice with a couple of scrambled up eggs, plus some veggies I already had on hand.

Bonus: Leftover pork fried rice only takes about 20 minutes to throw together, so it’s a great weeknight recipe for a busy evening — and, it’s cheaper than takeout!

Usually I like to add mushrooms to my pork fried rice since the flavors of pork and mushrooms pair so well, but apparently someone already ate all the mushrooms in my fridge before I could get to them. (OK, in all honesty, it was me, so I guess I can’t get mad…) So, I instead found a bit of broccoli in the fridge to add into this batch of fried rice.

You can substitute whatever veggies you have on hand or that you personally enjoy, because fried rice is not an exact science, but just an easy weeknight meal to throw together with whatever you have in the fridge!

Not a pork fan? Check out this easy shrimp fried rice recipe for an alternative dinner idea, or just use leftover cooked chicken instead.

Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients

3 Tbsp canola or other high smoke point oil, divided
1 tsp sesame oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced small
4 cloves minced garlic (about 2 tsp)
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
1 cup frozen green peas
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (use less or omit, if you’re sensitive to heat)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce
4 cups cold cooked rice (it’s not an exact science — use what you have!)
1-1.5 cups leftover chopped cooked pork
2 eggs, beaten
2 chopped green onions
Sriracha or chili garlic sauce to taste, optional

Directions

Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the carrot, garlic, broccoli, and sesame oil and cook for about two minutes until veggies begin to soften, stirring occasionally.

Stir in peas, crushed red pepper, and ginger and continue cooking for about a minute, then stir in the rice and spread it out across the entire pan, breaking up clumps. Let the rice cook undisturbed for two minutes, then stir, spread out again, and cook for another two minutes.

Stir in the soy sauce and pork and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about another minute.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a small bowl. Push the rice to the edges of the pan to create an open well in the center, then add 1 Tbsp canola oil to the center of the pan.

Pour the beaten eggs into the center of the pan and cook for about two minutes until scrambled, occasionally pushing the egg to the middle and breaking it up. Stir and chop the cooked scrambled eggs into the rice, then stir in the chopped green onions.

Taste to see if you want to add additional soy sauce, stir in a little optional chili garlic sauce or Sriracha to taste, then serve.

Note: Cold cooked leftover rice works much better for fried rice than freshly cooked, and it’s also important for the final texture to let the rice sit spread out in the pan undisturbed for a while, rather than stirring frequently.

Why yes, I may have eaten too much of this…

… Although I seriously had to fight our resident fried rice fiend Mr. 11 over the last of it! There’s just something kind of irresistible about a big plate of fried rice, isn’t there? I added a little dollop of chili garlic sauce to mine to kick it up a notch, but you can skip that for the kids or if you don’t care for that bit of underlying heat.

This easy leftover pork fried rice could just as easily become leftover chicken fried rice, leftover veggie fried rice, or any combination you prefer, but just a little bit of leftover pork roast seems like a lot more meat when diced up and distributed through the whole batch — and the slightly chewy pork goes so well with the salty soy and tender rice & veggies. Enjoy!

Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice, printable recipe

5 from 10 votes

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Easy Leftover Pork Fried Rice

Total Time

20 mins

 

Leftover pork fried rice only takes about 20 minutes to throw together, so it's a great weeknight recipe for a busy evening -- and, it's cheaper than takeout!

Course: dinner

Servings: 4

Author: Rachel Singer Gordon

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp canola or other high smoke point oil, divided
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced small
• 4 cloves minced garlic (about 2 tsp)
• 1 cup finely chopped broccoli
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (use less or omit, if you’re sensitive to heat)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 4 cups cold cooked rice (it's not an exact science -- use what you have!)
• 1-1.5 cups leftover chopped cooked pork
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 chopped green onions
• Sriracha or chili garlic sauce to taste (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the carrot, garlic, broccoli, and sesame oil and cook for about two minutes until veggies begin to soften, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in peas, crushed red pepper, and ginger and continue cooking for about a minute, then stir in the rice and spread it out across the entire pan, breaking up clumps. Let the rice cook undisturbed for two minutes, then stir, spread out again, and cook for another two minutes.
3. Stir in the soy sauce and pork and continue cooking over medium-high heat for about another minute.
4. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a small bowl. Push the rice to the edges of the pan to create an open well in the center, then add 1 Tbsp canola oil to the center of the pan.
5. Pour the beaten eggs into the center of the pan and cook for about two minutes until scrambled, occasionally pushing the egg to the middle and breaking it up. Stir and chop the cooked scrambled eggs into the rice, then stir in the chopped green onions.

6. Taste to see if you want to add additional soy sauce, stir in a little optional chili garlic sauce or Sriracha to taste, then serve.

Recipe Notes

Cold cooked leftover rice works much better for fried rice than freshly cooked, and it’s also important for the final texture to let the rice sit spread out in the pan undisturbed for a while, rather than stirring frequently.

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