Quinoa Fried Rice – The Kitchen Sink Version
We love fried rice. In this recipe, I use mostly quinoa and a little bit of rice and everything on hand to create a great take on the classic. Quinoa Fried Rice is a great upgrade on the classic. Protein rich and very accessible.
I call it kitchen sink, because other than some standard flavors the other ingredients are variable. It is about broad strokes. The only thing that is essential is that you need to have cooked quinoa and rice on hand. They need to be cold. And guess what, if the fancy strikes and you want to do it right away you can consider pre-cooked quinoa.
The concept of this Quinoa Fried Rice
This recipe is meant to be super flexible.
The options for this are,
- You can use all quinoa or all rice.
- Other grains such as millet, bulgur, farro and or brown rice are all good.
They just need to have dried out. Cook ahead and let it rest in the refrigerator. If you cook this and want to do this quickly, place your cooked grains in the freezer while you organize the rest of your ingredients.
Other fun Quinoa recipes are, Quinoa Chickpea Salad and Quinoa with Lime and Peanuts.
Why do I add some rice?
It offers texture and some softness. And truth be told, I do often have some rice on hand. That extra amount that is leftover and does not know what to do with itself.
The protein
I usually use a combination of chicken sausage and scrambled eggs. Shrimp and or cubed tofu are also options. If you are in camp only eggs just increase the number of eggs by one or two in the recipe.
The Veggies
The 2 cups of veggies can be anything on hand, I often use combination of chopped bell peppers, diced carrots, and frozen green peas. However, mushrooms, cubed cauliflower, broccoli are all good options. I am serious about the kitchen sink part.
Vary the flavors
Finish with lime and cilantro, chives and basil also work well.
Top with crunchy toasted peanuts or cashews and add in cubed pineapples into the mix.
A great everyday take on fried rice, replacing most of the rice with pre-cooked quinoa.
Ingredients
- 4 scallions
- 3 tablespoons oil divided
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 1 small to medium onion, diced
- 1 chicken sausage diced (see notes)
- 1 medium sized bell pepper diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (use tamari, if you want this gluten free)
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa (see note)
- 1/4 cup cooked rice (see note)
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Instructions
- Chop the scallions into small 1/4-inch pieces, separating the whites and the greens
- In a large pan, heat one tablespoon of oil and add in the eggs with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Lightly scramble the eggs and remove from the pan.
- In the same pan add the remaining oil and add in the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, and the onion and cook for about 1 or 2 minutes.
- Add in the bell pepper, carrot and the chicken sausage and stir well.
- Add in the soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir in the quinoa and the rice and mix well and let this cook for 2 minutes on high heat.
- Stir in the frozen peans and the sesame oil and cook for another minute.
- Finally add in the butter if using and turn off the heat and let this rest for 3 to 4 minutes allowing it to dry out in the residual heat.
- Stir in the scrambled eggs.
- Garnish with the scallion greens and serve hot.
Notes
The quinoa and rice need to be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator 1 day ahead, or made and chilled in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. You can substitute the quinoa with something like millet or bulgar
C. Robinson
The recipe may be missing a last ingredient. After butter it says “1 t” only. Please check and post last ingredient. Thanks!
rinkub@aol.com
We are good, I have updated and thank you for pointing this out.