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Create a healthy version of your favorite takeout dish with this Healthy Fried Rice Recipe using cauliflower rice, ground chicken, eggs, and vegetables. This meal is packed with protein while still being low-carb and low in calories.
If you love Asian-style recipes, this healthier cauliflower fried rice is the perfect meal for you! It takes less than 20 minutes to put it together while still being nourishing and flavorful. You can customize this low calorie fried rice with your favorite vegetables or meats to satisfy all of your cravings.
If you like fried rice recipes, you will love my breakfast cauliflower fried rice or my healthy chicken stir fry.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Better Than Takeout: Make a healthier version of your favorite takeout fried rice dish! This healthier fried rice captures the flavors of takeout, but without the extra calories or less-than-optimal ingredients.
- Quick and Easy: On a busy weeknight, we all love dinners that come together quickly and without a lot of prep work. Cauliflower fried rice is the perfect fast meal that is still nourishing.
- Packed with Veggies and Protein: The chicken and eggs add a lot of protein to this healthy fried rice. Plus, it has cauliflower, carrots, peppers, and green onions.
- Gluten-Free: This recipe is gluten-free thanks to the cauliflower rice and coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Be sure to always check packaging labels to ensure a totally gluten-free meal.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Ground Chicken: Using ground chicken is a great way to add lean protein to a meal. It cooks quickly and doesn’t require any chopping.
- Eggs: Add more protein and the signature umami flavor of eggs to this healthy fried rice recipe.
- Cauliflower Rice: This low-carb and low-calorie substitute for rice is a great way to add additional vegetables to a beloved takeout dish.
- Coconut Aminos: This flavorful sauce is a gluten-free and soy-free alternative to soy sauce. You could also use a gluten-free tamari soy sauce if you don’t have coconut aminos.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: This mild vinegar is used in many Asian dishes and adds a distinct flavor and sweetness. You can use apple cider vinegar as a substitute, but if you like Asian-inspired meals like fried rice and egg roll in a bowl, I recommend picking up a bottle of rice wine vinegar to keep on hand.
- Garlic & Ginger: These aromatics add much-needed flavor to this low-calorie fried rice.
- Carrots & Green Bell Pepper: Vegetables are one of the most important ingredients in fried rice! This recipe uses carrots and green bell pepper for a little added crunch.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Try a Different Meat: Fried rice is extremely versatile. It pairs well with a variety of meats. Try using ground turkey or ground lean beef. You can also cook and chop up chicken breasts, pork, or beef. You could even go for healthy shrimp fried rice or add my Asian meatballs.
- Add More Veggies: Another way this healthy fried rice is versatile is that it goes well with so many different vegetables! Try it with peas, green beans, bok choy, edamame, bean sprouts, corn, mushrooms, cabbage, zucchini or whatever you like!
- Make it Vegan: Skip the chicken and eggs to make this a vegan recipe. You can add tofu, tempeh, or vegan egg substitutes to increase the protein and calories.
- Half & Half Rice: Half cauliflower rice and half cooked rice is a nutrition hack I use often to include a healthy carb like rice, but adding more volume to the meal by combining it with cauliflower rice.
How to Make Healthy Fried Rice
This healthy chicken fried rice is a great meal for a busy evening, as it’s easy and quick to prepare. You’ll need a large nonstick skillet, or wok, to cook all of the ingredients quickly and evenly.
Step 1: Cook the Veggies and Chicken. Heat your large skillet over medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil. Add the carrots and green bell pepper, and let them soften for 2-3 minutes. Then add the ground chicken, ginger, and garlic. Break up the meat with a spatula as it cooks.
Step 2: Fry the Eggs. As the meat cooks, whisk the eggs together, then add them to a separate skillet. Fry the eggs for 3-4 minutes, then flip them over and cook them for another 2 minutes. They should look like an egg pancake. Alternatively, you could make scrambled eggs in the microwave in 2 minutes!
Step 3: Chop the Eggs. Cut the fried eggs into ¼” to ½” pieces.
Step 4: Add the Cauliflower Rice. Once the ground chicken is fully cooked, add the coconut aminos, rice wine vinegar, cauliflower rice, and chopped eggs to the skillet. Stir the ingredients to combine them and cook for an additional 5 minutes. The cauliflower rice only needs about 5 minutes until it’s fully cooked.
Expert Tips
- Use Frozen Cauliflower Rice: This cauliflower fried rice works best with frozen cauliflower rice (thawed before cooking). Fresh cauliflower doesn’t have as much moisture and doesn’t absorb the flavors of the sauce as well.
- Use High Heat: It’s best to cook fried rice in a large skillet that is hot. Always use medium-high to high heat so the fried rice is crisp and fluffy. Stir the ingredients frequently to avoid sticking or burning.
- Don’t Overcook: Cauliflower rice turns into mush if you cook it for too long. Frozen cauliflower rice should be fully cooked after about 5 minutes.
- Cook Vegetables in Stages: This healthy fried rice with chicken calls for cooking the carrots and peppers first to soften them. This keeps them from being nice and soft in the finished fried rice and blending well. Other vegetables, like leafy greens or mushrooms, only require a few minutes of cooking and should be added with the cauliflower rice and sauces.
Storage Directions
- Storing: Store fried rice leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze these leftovers for up to 2 months.
- Reheating: Reheat your leftovers in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You can also reheat them on the stove over medium heat for 12-15 minutes. Frozen leftovers need to be thawed in the refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating them.
Serving Suggestions
This healthy stir fry rice is perfect for people who love Asian-inspired dishes or takeout but want a healthier option! It’s great for dinner or a protein-packed lunch. Mix up the veggies or protein you use to put a fresh spin on it and keep things interesting.
- Host an Asian-inspired dinner party and serve cauliflower fried rice with healthy orange chicken or homemade kung pao chicken.
- Don’t forget dessert! Chocolate goes so well with Asian food. Try these chocolate cottage cheese cookies or low calorie brownies with your fried rice!
- Serve this Asian broccoli salad or a bowl of broccoli and butternut squash soup as an appetizer or side dish with your dinner.
Recipe FAQs
Rice is a great way to increase the calories for this recipe, especially if you exclude the meat or eggs. Blend rice and cauliflower rice to create more of a balance between the amount of carbs and calories.
There are a few reasons why your fried rice may be soggy. First, your pan may not be hot enough. Try increasing the heat as you cook. Another reason may be that the cauliflower rice holds too much moisture. Try squeezing excess moisture from the cauliflower using a cheesecloth or clean dish towel.
This healthy fried rice with egg is both keto-friendly and Paleo when prepared according to the original recipe. Any changes may alter how this dish fits into a specific diet.
More Delicious Healthy Asian Dishes
If you tried this Healthy Fried Rice recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Healthy Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 eggs, whisked in a bowl
- 4 cups cauliflower rice
- ¼ cup coconut aminos, or low sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- ½ tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons green onions, sliced
- green peas, optional
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat with the carrots and bell pepper. After 2-3 minutes, add the ground chicken, garlic, ground ginger and black pepper. Break up the meat with a spatula as it cooks.
- As the meat cooks, whisk the eggs together and place them in a separate pan over medium heat. Fry the eggs 3-4 minutes then flip and cook another 2 minutes until it looks like an egg pancake.
- Remove the fried eggs from the skillet and transfer to a cutting board. Chop into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces.
- To the chicken skillet, add the coconut aminos, vinegar, cauliflower rice and eggs then stir the ingredients together then cook another 5 minutes until the cauliflower rice is cooked. Top with sliced green onions and serve!
Video
Notes
- 1/4 of the recipe equals 1 serving.
- This recipe works best with frozen cauliflower rice because fresh cauliflower holds more moisture, which makes the fried rice soggy.
- Always use medium-high to high heat so the fried rice has the best texture.
- Frozen cauliflower rice fully cooks within about 5 minutes. Don’t overcook it or the rice may become mushy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Loved this recipe, it’ll become a regular in our house!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was great & so fast to make. My husband was skeptical & made his own dinner…then he tasted mine! I stirred the eggs with a whisk while cooking them & was able to skip the chopping step there. Otherwise, I had all the ingredients already & was theilled with this healthy Fried Rice!!