Healthy Fried Rice Weight loss Recipe
Fried and healthy? This loaded healthy fried rice will become your favourite if you love rice like me and are counting calories for weight loss. highly nutritious, low-fat and super filling meal you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Gluten-free and vegan options included!
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2
Healthy fried rice loaded with plenty of vegetable ideal for any meal of the day. Simple to make and super filling, ideal for lunch box too.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup cooked cold White or Brown rice
2 Eggs
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 Cup finely chopped Cabbage
1 Carrot finely chopped
5 Mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup frozen green peas
few florets of finely cut broccoli(optional)
2–3 spring onions chopped.
1.5 teaspoons sesame oil or vegetable oil(divided)
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes(optional)
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
Heat 1/2 teaspoon of oil in a non-stick pan and crack open the eggs, allow to sit for a minute and using a wooden spatula start breaking them into small pieces. Fry well and keep them aside.
Heat another teaspoon of oil, add in garlic and fry for few seconds, then add all the chopped vegetables and season with little salt and half of the crushed pepper.
In high flame, allow the vegetables to get fried for a minute until they turn a bit soft but still remain crunchy.
Reduce the flame to medium, Add in the rice, scrambled eggs and mix well. Increase the flame to high and fry the mixed rice for 1 minute making sure all of the rice is touching the surface of the pan.
Now make a small well in the middle and pour in the soy sauce and remaining pepper powder and adjust any salt too. Mix the rice well and continue to fry for another 2 minutes on medium to the high flame by adjusting in between.
Add red chilli flakes if using and garnish with spring onions before switching off the flame.
Serve piping hot with little ketchup if preferred or eat as it is.
NOTES:
Long grain or basmati or short-grain – my vote is to use short grain rice as basmati tends to break into pieces and also too tender to fry on high temperatures.(I ave used basmati in the photos shown)
Using cold rice is a must in my opinion. Rice at least one day old kept in the fridge is the best. If you don’t have any leftover rice, spread the freshly cooked in a plate evenly, allow it to cool down and keep in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This will make the grains firmer.
Use sesame oil if you can for getting the best flavour for fried rice.
If eating for weight loss, always bulk up the rice with more vegetables especially chopped cabbage.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Fried rice is usually best eaten as it is, but you can serve with a dollop of tomato ketchup if you like.
If you still have calorie allowances left for the day, serve with some infused chilli oil.
You can serve with some additional proteins like stir fried tofu and baked Manchurian balls etc(will post recipes)
This can be a great lunch box recipe too.
WEIGHT LOSS TIPS
Use more chopped cabbage that gets blended with rice easily and bulk up the fried rice. Chop it very fine to make it resemble rice.
Use plenty of low-calorie vegetables like carrots, peas, broccoli, grated cauliflower, mushrooms.
Non-stick pan won’t demand you much oil, whatever fat you use, try to limit it.
Use brown rice instead of white to increase the fibre content which keeps you full for longer.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS
Fried stays goods in the fridge for 2 days. When you are ready to eat, just microwave it on full power for 1-2 minutes. I often do it in a skillet or pan with some additional cooking spray. Make sure the grains didn’t turn out very hard, if so please do not eat as it can lead to digestion issues.
HOW ABOUT FREEZING FRIED RICE?
You can indeed for upto a month, providing you cool it quickly and freeze it as soon as it’s cooled. Also, reheat it until it’s piping hot right through once it’s defrosted.