Ham Fried Rice is easy to make at home! You can use fresh or frozen veggies, throw in some ham and and scrambled eggs and you have takeout made at home!
This recipe makes quite a bit of ham fried rice, so you will have leftovers (unless you have big eaters)! It makes at least 8 cups depending on how much of the other ingredients you add…so it is perfect to share with a friend!
The Rice for Easy Ham Fried Rice
Basmati Rice is the rice I prefer! Basmati Rice is light and fluffy with a delicious smell and a slightly nutty flavor. It is the first thing I start when making this recipe!
I put the rice in my rice cooker (2 cups of uncooked rice) and it ends up making about 4 1/2 cups of cooked rice. After the rice was cooked, I spread it out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to let it cool off so it doesn’t continue to cook and get too soft.
Ham for Ham Fried Rice
Ham steaks is what I usually use for this Ham Fried Rice. Leftover ham is perfect too. I always freeze any leftover ham from the holidays for this recipe! I use two ham steaks and dice them up. It ends up being about 3 cups of diced ham. If you have half the recipe you only need one.
Eggs and Other Stuff for Ham Fried Rice
Scrambled eggs were a must in my ham fried rice, so I cooked those up and set them aside.
Carrots, finely chopped cabbage, green onions, and yellow onion need chopped!
For the veggies, I prefer them to be fresh (no frozen or canned for me, thank you), and I knew that I did not want peas in mine. Peas are usually included in Ham Fried Rice but I cannot stand them, so add them or don’t, totally up to you!
Cooking the Ham Fried Rice
On medium-low heat, I cook the carrots first (notice my carrots are not uniform cubes like you will get in a frozen bag and that is ok… you just need them as close to the same size so they cook evenly-who cares if they are cubed, round, or somewhere in between!).
Add a bit of water and some butter. I cooked them just to the point of softening, but still very crunchy (I hate mushy carrots), then added yellow onion and minced garlic. I let it cook/sauté until the garlic became fragrant and the onion became translucent. The carrots should be perfectly crisp-tender.
Ham was then added with a little more butter, and cooked with the carrots and onion until it started to brown a bit.
Next, I added my chopped cabbage. (Side note on cabbage, you can buy this pre-shredded in the produce section at your grocery store, but once again, I love to chop mine fresh).
I cooked the cabbage until it turned a bright green and almost looked wilted.
Next add in the scrambled eggs! Then add the rice!
Seasoning Ham Fried Rice
Soy Sauce is all you need to make this taste delicious! Just soy sauce! No fancy, sauces or dressings, just soy sauce and a little salt and pepper to taste and it didn’t take away from the fresh veggies. So easy! So yummy!
I add 1.2 cup of soy sauce but you can start out with less and add more to taste! Then salt and pepper to taste!
Green onions are added at the end!
Serve it up and enjoy!
It is easy to make 1/2 this amount if you aren’t wanting leftovers or aren’t needing to feed another family (although I am sure a friend or neighbor would appreciate a yummy dinner). If you follow the recipe as I have it, you will end up with somewhere between 8-9 cups depending on what you add in.
Other Add-In Options
I do not add peas to my rice, if you love them add them. Try adding pineapple for a sweet addition to compliment the ham. You can also replace the ham with chicken, and leave out the ingredients you may not like.
Hope you enjoy!
Also try my Lettuce Wraps, Chicken Egg Rolls, Chicken Wontons, Fast and Easy Korean Beef made with ground beef, and Chicken Broccoli Ramen Stir Fry.
If you liked this recipe please take the time to leave a comment and a star rating below! Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!
Ham Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups Basmati Rice, cooked and cooled see note
- 2 8-oz Ham steaks, chopped about 3 cups
- 5 Eggs, scrambled and cooked
- 2 cups Carrots, chopped/diced
- 1 1/2 cups Cabbage, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup Green Onions, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup Soy Sauce or more to taste
- 2 tbsp Butter, divided
- 2 tbsp Water
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook your rice as directed on the package, and then spread it out on a baking sheet to cool. Scramble your eggs and set aside. Chop up your ham steaks. Chop up your cabbage, carrots, and onions.
- In a large skillet, add in 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of butter, add your carrots and cook partially on medium heat. Let these cook until they slightly start to soften. You still want them to be pretty crunchy. About 5 minutes.
- Add in the chopped yellow onion and the minced garlic with the carrots and let it cook until the garlic becomes fragrant and onion starts to become translucent. The carrots should be crisp tender at this point, not fully cooked and not too mushy.
- Add in 1 tbsp. of butter and the ham. Cook until the ham begins to brown.
- Add in chopped cabbage and cook until the green color brightens and it almost looks wilted.
- Mix in the cooked scrambled eggs, and then the rice. Mix until fully combined.
- Soy sauce is all that is needed for seasoning. Start our with 1/2 cup, mix very well and then add more to taste as needed. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add in the chopped green onion. Stir again and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Enjoy! Save the leftovers for another meal, or share with a neighbor! This will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Notes
- This recipe can easily be cut in half.
- It is easily adaptable. Add those peas if you love them, add in pineapple for a sweet addition to compliment the ham, replace the ham with chicken, and leave out the ingredients you may not like.
- Soy Sauce is all that is needed for the perfect seasoning that won’t over power the fresh veggies. Start out with 1/2 cup and slowly add more as needed. I usually only add 1/2 cup, then let people add more soy sauce to their liking.
- Canned or frozen veggies will work. Let them thaw before adding or if using canned rinse them before adding.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.
