Pork Fried Rice, made with tender pork tenderloin, is a delicious and complete meal your family will love.
See how easy it is to make pork fried rice just like a Chinese restaurant in your own kitchen!
Pork fried rice is a recipe I’ve been making for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I always used leftover pork chops, which you can totally do. For this recipe, I happened to be cleaning out my deep freezer and took stock of the cuts of meat I needed to use up. I had no idea I had a pork tenderloin in there. I’ve been craving authentic pork fried rice for quite some time now, and thought pork tenderloin would be so much better than using leftover pork chops. Turns out I was right. Read on to find out how to make pork fried rice like a Chinese restaurant. YUM!
Tips for making the best fried rice:
- The best fried rice, in my opinion, has a combination of short grain rice, protein, and vegetables – all dices into really small pieces.
- You can easily make a vegetarian version of egg fried rice or vegetable fried rice, but I much prefer the addition of meat. That means that you will likely see slightly different versions of chicken fried rice or shrimp fried rice in the future.
- If you’re looking to make healthy pork fried rice, you can easily use this recipe to make pork fried brown rice by swapping the white rice with brown rice.
- You need to cook the egg, meat, and vegetables all separately and then combine them at the end. This will give you soft eggs as well as meat and veggies with a nice, flavorful, golden brown sear.
- Butter can be replaced with oil, however butter is what gives you the tastiest browning on your meat, veggies and rice.
- Soy sauce and toasted sesame oil are to be added at the very end for flavor.
How to reheat pork fried rice:
Leftover fried rice is excellent, however you must reheat it carefully so as to not over cook the meat or the egg. There are two methods I recommend. First option would be the microwave. I recommend heating your leftover pork fried rice on a lower power setting or, if your microwave offers, the reheat setting. Heat, uncovered, just until warm. Pork fried rice tastes better really warm as opposed to super hot. My other recommendation would be to melt a bit of butter in a saute pan and reheat over medium heat, uncovered, with very little stirring. This method will heat your pork fried rice all the way through without over cooking the meat or the egg.
What to serve with pork fried rice:
I honestly think pork fried rice is a complete meal. You’ve got your protein, your vegetables, and your starch. If you want to serve your homemade pork fried rice as a side dish instead of a main course, it would pair well with a nice bok choy salad, some onion or miso soup, and/or a buttery grilled steak.
Kitchen tools used to make pork fried rice:
Cutting Board: These are my go-to cutting boards. They are super easy to clean, never hold a smell (onion transferred to apple is gross), and because they are so thin, they are really easy to store.
Knives: There is nothing more frustrating than having to use a poor quality knife. I’ve been using this set for years. I found it to be affordable yet incredibly durable and versatile. Whether you’re filleting a salmon or slicing a super ripe tomato, these are great knives for the everyday chef.
Garlic Press – Having a good garlic press can make all the difference. I use this one because it’s not only easy to squeeze, but it’s easy to clean. Both are equally important, in my opinion.
Fry pan: I’ve been using Staub cookware for years. It gives your food a great crispy outside and distributes the heat evenly.
Pork Fried Rice
RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- 4 cups short grain white rice cooked and chilled
- 5 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup green onions sliced thinly (mostly whites but some greens)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce more if preferred
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil more if preferred
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds more if preferred
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Ahead of time, you'll want to cook your rice. Rice typically triples in size when it cooks, so you'll need at least 1 1/3 cups uncooked rice to start with. I typically make more just to have it on hand for the kids. You want the cooked rice to be cold when you make the pork fried rice, so if you need to chill it quickly, you can spread a thin layer on a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator or even freezer.
- Cut the pork tenderloin into very small pieces. This is easier if the meat is partially frozen and you use a serrated edge knife.
- In a very large pan over medium heat, melt 1 T of the butter. Add the whisked egg and cook to a slightly underdone scramble. Transfer to a plate.
- Increase heat under pan to medium high and melt another 1 T of butter. Add the tenderloin pieces, stirring only occasionally in order to get them to brown. Once mostly cooked, add the garlic, stir, and cook for a few more minutes. Transfer to a large plate.
- Add another 1 T of butter to the pan. Saute the carrots, onion, and peas until slightly golden brown, stirring only occasionally. When done, transfer to the plate with the meat.
- Add the remaining 2 T of butter to the pan. Add the cold rice and spread to an even layer. Allow to cook for a couple minutes before stirring to get the bottom layer to crisp up a bit. Then give it a good stir to heat through. Add meat and veggies back to the pan (along with any juices on the plate). Stir to combine to heat through. Add scrambled egg, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper and additional soy sauce and/or sesame oil, if needed.
- Serve warm.
Tried your recipe and loved it. You Rock! Thanks for taking the time to post it.
I cook all the time. This is the best fried rice recipe ever. My family even noticed. Thanks for giving me a recipe I will be using every time I make fried rice.
Really great recipe and easy to follow. Loved the marinade! The only change I made was adding a few extra veggies and and egg. Thanks!
I tried the recipe and i really loved it .thanks for the recipe
I pretty much use one pan, throwing all ingredients as needed. It works.
Loved it added more veggies – sweet peppers!
Thanks for the recipe! I made my first pork loin roast in the instant pot last night and it didn’t turn out like I had hoped so we have about 2 lbs of roast left -_-. I can’t wait to try this recipe with it 🙂
I tried this last night for supper for my 15-year-old. I had to leave out the sesame oil, since I didn’t have that, but it was wonderful, anyway. He requested I make it again soon. Thank you so much for posting it…next time I will have sesame oil to enhance it.
I have now made this recipe a half dozen times or so. I don’t remember if I wrote a review for my first time but I ended up roasting a pork loin and glazing it with barbecue sauce and then cutting into little pieces and then following the rest of the recipe. I’ve also substituted shrimp and chicken and they both taste fabulous. Super easy even if you don’t have some day-old rice you can still make this and it turns out great
Tried the recipe. Not bad. Next time I won’t be using butter though. You need high temperature to give the pork and the vegetables a good sear, in my opinion, especially if you’re making a big of a batch as this one with probably all the pork or the vegetables crammed inside the pan. Then it just starts releasing too much water and ends up boiling.
But otherwise pretty good. Everything else was pretty good and kept simple, which I like. Should’ve listened and cut the pork into even smaller pieces.
Yes! Teeny tiny pieces of pork taste the best in this recipe. Thanks for trying!
Clarify your butter first, or use store bought ghee. it’s really better with butter.
Followed your recipe to the letter and honestly think this is the best it can be. The secret to a crispy fried rice appears to be cooking the components separately and then combining them at the end. No more gummy mess! Thanks.
This recipe was very good!!! Great taste!!! No need to change a thing!!! I will definitely make this weekly!!! Thanks
Absolutely delicious! Omitted the carrots, used red onions instead of yellow, and doubled the amount of soy sauce. Came out tasting restaurant quality with amazing flavor. Highly recommend.
I’ve made this recipe about 4x now and wouldn’t change a thing. But added some heat, chili oil or sriracha. Awesome. Thanks for posting!
Reminds me of my time in Thailand back in the early 70s.
Could this be used with ground pork?
Sure could!
I live with the original Fussy McFussypants and she loves this recipe. I have made it 4 times now. Tonight using pork chops instead of tenderloin. I also use a chili oil for some added heat.
Is it light soy sauce or dark soy sauce?
I just buy standard soy sauce. I really like the one at Trader Joe’s but I grew up on Kikkoman’s.
Just delicious! I already had a roasted tenderloin
and was trying to find a recipe to use
it up. I followed the recipe ingredients exactly with
A little extra garlic. This recipe goes in my file
For future use for sure!
Is there an alternative to the Soy Sauce? I can’t have the high salt content
Hi Michelle, Not sure if low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos would work for what you need?
I also like to add a couple of strips of bacon. Everything is better with bacon, isn’t it? I cook the bacon first and then saute onions in the bacon grease. What a heavenly smell! I remove the bacon and let it drain and cool. Then I add everything else and scramble the eggs last. When serving I crumble the bacon on top along with thinly sliced scallions! Yum!
I will never say no to bacon! Great recommendation! Krissy
Great recipe. I have tried several, but this one is my favorite. Thank you. I followed the directions and it turned out nicely.
I’ve been trying for a long time to make homemade fried rice as good as the carry out places. This recipe beats them all! Made it exactly like the recipe (with maybe a little more butter), and it turned out fantastic! Thanks
This fried rice is easy and amazing! I call it “left over fried rice”!!! I used left over roast tenderloin, ham, chicken and even a piece of stake! Chopped it up and added a little chopped garlic after heated and followed the rest of the recipe, my family now loves “leftover dinner night”!!!
That’s how we used to do it when I was growing up too! It was the only thing we wanted to make with leftover pork chops. -Krissy
This turned out amazing! I just have one question, how big is one serving? I’m watching my calories so I’ve been measuring all my food. Thank you for this recipe!
Hi Kayla, The serving size is somewhere between 1-1.5 cups. The recipe calls for 4 cups cooked rice, 1 pound of pork tenderloin, along with all the other goodies, and I based the nutritional info off of 6 servings. Hope that helps!
Our family loved this recipe! I was a little skeptical that it could taste authentic. It passed the family taste test and we have some picky testers. A new favorite
Great go-to recipe when I don’t have much time to cook.
First time ever making pork fried rice (and I’m in my 60’s lol). I already had some veggies and rice left over so this was quick…just had to slice and cook the pork. Yum!! I threw in little ginger w/the veggies at the end. Will make it again and Pin it as well. Thanks so much for sharing!
This is THE BEST fried rice I’ve ever had. So good that I’m leaving my first ever food review, anywhere. I added some chicken thigh meat, Napa cabbage, and edamame but otherwise no adjustments. Great work!