Ham Fried Rice is a delicious and very simple dinner. Made with just a handful of ingredients, but easy to switch up, your family will love this fried rice recipe.
When you are looking for leftover ham recipes, I have one I know you will love – Ham Fried Rice. Making fried rice at home is just about the easiest dinner recipe, and it is sure to be a hit with parents and kids. Fried Rice is always a home run.
In this Ham Fried Rice recipe, we are adding in just a few simple ingredients. It makes this not only a fast recipe, but a recipe that you probably already have everything you need for. Those are my favorite kinds of dinners.
We love this recipe! One of our favorites💕
How to Make Ham Fried Rice
This is a brief overview of how to make this easy recipe. For the full recipe with all of the measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Make sure you have left over rice. This recipe can only be made with day old rice. I have more on this below, but it is essential to this recipe.
- Cook the egg. We start this recipe by making scrambled eggs in butter. Remove them from the pan and cover to keep warm.
- Fry everything else. Add some sesame oil to the pan and cook until it is smoking. Toss in the rice, garlic, ham, and soy sauce. Cook until everything is well coated, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. Finally, add in the frozen peas, green onions, and the cooked egg.
What Ham to Use
I specifically made this recipe so that those with leftover ham from Christmas and Easter would have a great way to use it. When I have made this, I used my leftover Honey Baked Ham and it was absolutely fantastic.
But this is a great recipe to make all year. Buy a ham steak from your grocery store, cube it, and use it in place of the leftover ham listed here.
Why Day Old Rice
When rice is first cooked, it is soft, and pillowy. We make rice several times a week to eat with our Chicken Tacos and our Butter Chicken. Fresh rice is like a gift from the heavens.
That being said, if you were to use that soft warm rice in fried rice recipes, you would end up with a big gooey mess. Allowing rice to cool and dry out a little makes for that perfect fried rice consistency that you are used to.
Do Not Thaw the Peas
When I make recipes using frozen peas, readers often ask me if they are thawed first. They are not, and the reason why is because frozen peas are completely cooked. They are ready to eat.
If you were to thaw them before putting them in your hot dish, they would end up mushy. By putting them in a steaming hot dish at the very end, the heat of the dish thaws them just enough to keep them plump and bright green.
Substitutions and Variations
Swap the peas out for carrots or bell peppers. If your family doesn’t like peas, you can sauté other vegetables in the oil in step 3 before you add in the rice.
Add in pineapple. I think that pineapple and ham go perfectly together. Some well drained pineapple tidbits would be perfect here. Just throw them in at the very end in the same step you add the scallions.
Leave out the eggs. If you have an egg allergy in your house, you can simple leave them out. Start the recipe on step 3.
Other Leftover Ham Recipes
If you are looking for more great ways to use your left over ham, consider making:
If you make this Ham Fried Rice recipe or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Ham Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 eggs whisked
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 4 cups rice (cooked, cooled, and refrigerated at least four hours)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups cooked ham cubed
- 4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 green onions diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and melt.
- Add the eggs, using a spatula, scrape from the outsides to the center, flipping them as you cook them. Cook until just done, remove from the pan and cover to keep warm. (If the pan has a lot of residual eggs, clean it and then return it to the heat.)
- Add the sesame oil to the pan. Heat until smoking. Add in the rice, garlic, ham, and soy sauce, tossing until well coated in oil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Stir in the green onions, frozen peas, and the eggs. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Kathleen Thomson says
My family really enjoyed this recipe, which I made with chicken instead of ham. One quick question, please: the printed recipe states “4T. sesame oil, DIVIDED” but I couldn’t find where/when I was supposed to add the divided portion of the oil. Can you please let me know?
Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much for catching that error, Kathleen! It shouldn’t say divided. I’m glad that your family enjoyed it!
Amanda says
Delish! Can I freeze the leftovers?
I haven’t ever tried freezing fried rice (we never have any left, lol!) but it looks like others have with good success.
Heather says
We love this recipe! One of our favorites💕
I’m so happy to hear that, Heather!