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.
Delicious! I used TraderJoe’s frozen rice— one bag of brown and one bag jasmine.
I love your recipes! Thanks
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Kathy!
This is really tasty! A nice way to make something mix things up.
Thanks Claire! 🙂
Just finished making this for the second time. The first time I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was amazing. This time I added frozen broccoli to the peas, corn and carrots. I added extra ginger, extra garlic and extra green curry paste and I used Bragg’s instead of soy sauce and Thai basil. I have tried to make fried rice countless upon countless times and they never tasted nearly as good as yours. Thank you so much. I will be making this over and over again!
So happy to hear this Marnie, thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Oh my goodness! So delicious! We are new vegans and have been trying lots of new recipes over the past two weeks. We’ve found several that we really liked, but this one is tops so far. Will be on our weekly rotation.
Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks Mary! 🙂
Hello,
Is this a spicy dish? I don’t mind a little heat, but I don’t want to drink milk in between each bite.
Thank you
Luba
It’s only very mildly spicy. 🙂
Can you use liquid aminos or coconut aminos instead of the soy sauce?
Sure! 🙂
I made this with red curry paste and it was awesome! I used a mixture of fresh veggies (water fried), lowered the oil to 1 tsp, lowered the soy sauce to 1 Tbs., and used leftover “sticky” rice. This one’s going into my MAKE AGAIN folder. HUGE THANK YOU!!!
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing and the wonderful review! 🙂
I used a tablespoon of green curry paste because I didn’t have any ginger on hand and it was great! Thanks for the recipe.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
So easy and absolutely delicious! Never cooked fried rice before but the recipe is so simple. Added only 1/4 of a teaspoon of green curry paste and that was plenty for me.
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
This was delicious! The flavors were so tasty. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome review! 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! Can I use cauliflower rice instead of basmati.
Hi Leslie, yes I think that would be great too! 🙂
This is so easy to make and absolutely delicious. I’m not much of a cook but even I could follow the recipe and was quite surprised how well it turned out. Thank you so much :o)
So happy to hear Linda, thanks for the awesome review! 🙂
This was really good! Can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed it. Thanks for the inspiration and sharing this wonderful recipe!
Awesome! So happy to hear that! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
This tasted great. I only had red curry paste so I used that. Bought the green for next time. Thx!!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
This is delicious! Love the flavors and how easy it is.
Thanks Megan! 🙂