Gochujang fried rice is a simple weeknight meal to make with leftover cooked rice and veggies. This Korean fried rice dish is seasoned with a spicy gochujang sauce and topped with a sunny-side-up egg.
Is it dinner time and you're craving your favorite local takeout? Try making gochujang fried rice at home!
Fried rice makes a fantastic weeknight meal because it's inexpensive, made with (mostly) simple ingredients, and it's easy to toss in any leftover veggies you happen to have in the fridge. Gochujang, a Korean red chili paste, adds spicy, umami flavor to the fried rice that you're going to love.
Make gochujang fried rice any day of the week. It's the perfect meal to make with that leftover cooked rice in your fridge. Toss in your favorite veggies and top it with a fried egg for a complete meal.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cooked, day-old rice - The most important part of any fried rice recipe is the rice. This recipe must be made with day-old cooked rice. Fresh rice is sticky and more likely to clump together and get mushy when fried. Day-old rice is dry, has a better texture for frying, and is much less likely to clump together. If you need to prepare your own day-old rice, cook your rice the day beforehand and spread out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Store it uncovered in your refrigerator overnight and allow it to warm to room temperature before cooking.
- Oil - Any neutral vegetable oil works well in this recipe. Use an oil with a high smoke point, like peanut oil or avocado oil. I don't recommend using olive oil or butter for the first portion of the recipe.
- Aromatics - Onion and garlic add flavor to the recipe. I don't recommend omitting these ingredients.
- Vegetables - I like to add frozen peas and carrots to my fried rice because I always have a bag on hand in the freezer. The great part about fried rice is that you can add any veggies you happen to have in the fridge. Finely chopped broccoli, green beans, fresh carrots, mushrooms, or cabbage make great additions.
- Butter - Unsalted butter is added towards the end of cooking for extra flavor.
- Sesame oil - A small amount of sesame oil adds a bit of sesame flavor to the fried rice.
- Soy sauce - I recommend a low sodium soy sauce for this recipe. It adds a salty, savory flavor to the fried rice.
- Gochujang - I use and recommend Chung Jung One brand gochujang paste that I purchased at my local Asian grocer, but it's also available on Amazon. If you're in the US, check the international aisle at your local grocery store. Gochujang is a Korean red chili paste made with fermented rice, red peppers, soybean powder, and salt. It has a deep red color and adds a spicy, fermented umami flavor to the fried rice.
- Eggs - Eggs can be fried sunny-side-up to place on top of your rice bowls or scrambled and mixed into the rice before serving.
- Sesame seeds - Optional, but adds a nice little crunch and sesame flavor.
- Green onions - Optional, but adds a nice splash of color and a fresh crunch.
Tips and tricks
- Use old rice - As I said earlier, using day-old rice is important to make a quality fried rice at home. Leftover rice is less likely to stick together and fries up beautifully.
- Don't have leftover rice? - Rinse your uncooked rice to remove surface starches, then cook either in a rice cooker or on the stovetop according to package directions. Spread cooked rice onto a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
- Best pan to use - A wok is the ideal pan to use for this recipe. If you don't have a wok, I highly recommend using a large nonstick skillet. No, you don't need to own a wok to make a decent fried rice at home. A nonstick skillet works just fine as long as you fry your rice in small batches.
- Fry rice in batches - As a home cook, it's not likely that you'll have an industrial sized wok on hand. Cooking in small batches allows the rice granules to come in contact with the skillet to create that crispy, fried texture. Don't rush it and cook all your rice at once - the texture won't turn out right.
- Remove ingredients from the pan after cooking - For the first part of this recipe we'll be removing ingredients from the pan once they're cooked. This ensures that none of the ingredients burn while we're frying the rice.
Frequently asked questions
Gochujang paste is a Korean red chili paste made with fermented rice, soybean powder, red peppers, and salt. It's a savory, spicy & sweet paste that's deep red in color. You can find it at your local Asian market, at your local US grocery store, or on Amazon.
Here's the brand I like: Chung Jung One Gochujang Paste
Gochujang paste is one of the main ingredients in this recipe and has quite a unique flavor, so there's not really a great substitute for it. I'd recommend searching for a fried rice recipe that contains the ingredients you have on hand for best results.
This recipe has a medium spice level. It's not extremely hot but has noticeable warmth. If you don't like spicy foods at all, I wouldn't recommend this recipe.
Fried rice has the best taste and texture when served immediately. Leftovers will keep for 4 to 5 days in a tightly sealed container and can be reheated on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Gochujang Fried Rice
Ingredients
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons gochujang, more to taste
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Rice
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- ½ small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups cooked long grain rice, day old, chilled rice recommended
- 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, optional
- 2 green onions, sliced, optional
Instructions
Sauce
- In a small bowl, add gochujang paste, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Rice
- In a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent. Add garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Transfer onion and garlic to a bowl and set aside.
- Add a splash of vegetable oil to the pan along with about ⅓ of your cooked rice. Spread rice into an even layer. Allow to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until rice takes on a little color and gets crispy around the edges. Transfer cooked rice to the bowl with your onion and garlic. Repeat with remaining rice.
- To your empty skillet add frozen peas and carrots, unsalted butter, and sesame seeds. Stir and cook for a minute to warm up the ingredients.
- Add the cooked onions, garlic, and fried rice back to the pan along with the prepared sauce. Toss ingredients gently until evenly coated. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until you see a little caramelization on the bottom.
- Remove from heat and divide between four serving bowls.
- Return skillet to heat, add a splash of vegetable oil, and crack eggs into the pan. Allow to fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. Top each bowl with one fried egg and sliced green onions.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- Fried eggs can instead be scrambled and incorporated into the fried rice if preferred.
- Leftovers will keep for 4 to 5 days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator and can be reheated on the stovetop over medium heat or in the microwave.
- It's important to fry your rice in batches. This allows more rice to make contact with the pan to get that fried, crispy texture. If you've got a larger pan feel free to fry more rice at once.
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