This is a GREAT beef mince recipe. Fried rice made with ground beef tossed in an intense savoury sauce, it’s got extra protein from egg and good amount of veg so it’s a complete dinner you can get on the table quickly. And seriously delicious (you’ll see me scoff it!).
➤ See all my ground beef / beef mince recipes here.
Beef fried rice
Have you ever thought to make fried rice with beef mince? It works beautifully! Fry up ground beef in an intense savoury sauce until it’s beautifully caramelised, then toss it through rice with fluffy bits of scrambled egg and vegetables of choice.
So quick to make – no chopping raw meat! And in my version, I’ve opted for even more convenience by making this with frozen diced veg. Because I totally buy into the whole snap-frozen thing.
But if you’re a better person than me, please do not let me stop you from chopping up fresh vegetables. Also, excellent fridge clean-out opportunity!
In case you doubt me – here’s proof of deliciousness, and how fast this is to cook! (Errr, yes, and classy moment dropping rice down my top 😂).
What you need
I like to use quite an intense flavoured savoury sauce to fry up the beef so the rice doesn’t taste too “beefy”. Which might sound contradictory, but is what I want with fried rice – a nice balance of all the flavours jumbled together rather than the beef flavour dominating.
Beef fried rice sauce
Soy sauces – We’re using both light and dark soy sauce in this recipe. What’s the difference? Dark soy stains the rice that deep mahogany colour as well as adding quite intense soy flavour. Light soy sauce provides the salt without overwhelming with soy flavour, and does not stain the rice.
Substitutions -You can use only light soy sauce or just an all-purpose soy sauce (ie bottle just labelled “soy sauce” without “light” or “dark” in front of it) but the rice colour won’t be as dark. But you cannot use only dark soy sauce as it will make the rice black and the soy flavour will be way too much! More on different types of soy sauces here.
Oyster sauce – A load of flavour, all in one sauce! It’s sweet and savoury and add is a neat flavour shortcut in dishes. Makes a regular appearance in Asian dishes, from Pad See Ew to Asian Glazed Salmon to Honey Pepper Beef to Supreme Soy Noodles. And Steamed Asian Greens with Oyster Sauce!
Vegetarian oyster sauce is available these days, at Asian stores and some large grocery stores (Australia – there’s Ayam vegetarian oyster sauce at Woolies)
Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant tasting” fried rice (and noodles and stir fries!). Without it, the dish will be lacking something.
Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry.
Non alcoholic sub – sub cooking wine with 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth/stock, expect to stir fry an extra minute to allow for evaporation. And (big tip) add a knob of butter at the end and toss through until melted.
White pepper and sugar – For seasoning. White pepper is commonly used in Asian dishes because you can’t see it in clear glossy sauces in stir fries, like cashew chicken, chop suey (chicken stir fry). Whereas if you use black pepper, you end up with little specks in the sauce.
Stuff in the fried rice
Don’t have day-old-cooked rice? Don’t try this recipe – you’ll be disappointed with gluey fried rice! Make Baked Fried Rice instead (starts with uncooked rice, and it’s awesome!). Use the beef to make Asian Beef and serve together.
Cooked rice – Any type of rice can be used but it needs to be day old so it’s dried out. So then when it’s fried up with sauce, the rice gets nicely moistened but is still fluffy and crumbly, rather than gluey and sticky.
TIP – Keep bags of cooked rice in your freezer. Super handy standby for stir fries, and fried rice on demand!
Beef mince – That’s ground beef, to Americans. I use lean in fried rice. Pork, chicken and turkey also work great in this recipe!
Frozen veg – I use frozen for convenience, in the spirit of this quick ‘n easy recipe. But please feel free to be a better person than me and chop up whatever vegetables you want!
Onion and garlic – Essential flavour base. We sauté it up first to flavour the oil.
Eggs – We scramble these in sesame oil for lovely flavour. I love fluffy egg bits in my fried rice, plus it’s extra protein!
Green onion – For freshness and colour. Though you won’t destroy this dish if you don’t have it.
How to make beef fried rice
Using beef mince is so handy for quick meals – no cutting or prep required!
Mix the sauce in a small bowl.
Scramble the eggs in a little sesame oil (love the flavour it adds!) then remove onto a plate. (BTW, this fried rice can be cooked in a large wok or a large non-stick pan).
Cook beef with sauce – Start by cooking the onion and garlic to get the oil nicely flavoured. Then cook the beef, breaking it up as you go, until you no longer see raw meat. Then add 2 tablespoons of the sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
Caramelise beef – Add the frozen vegetables (still frozen is fine) then cook for a further 2 minutes to thaw and cook the vegetables, plus get the beef nicely caramelised. Caramelisation is key for good flavour here! It makes such a difference getting a nice “sear” on mince (case in point: Vietnamese Caramelised Pork Bowls, Asian Beef Bowls, Spicy Firecracker Beef – and so on…).
Rice – Add rice and sauce, toss for a couple of minutes until the rice starts to caramelise too.
Toss through egg – Then finally, toss through green onion and scrambled egg then serve!
And there you have it! It really is a quick recipe. 12 minutes to cook up and minimal prep. It’s kid friendly but if you want to give it a fiery boost, a drizzle of sriracha or dollop of your favourite chilli paste certainly wouldn’t go astray.
Love to know if you give it a go! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Beef fried rice
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 1)
- 2 tsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 1/8 tsp white pepper (sub black)
Scrambled eggs:
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 eggs , lightly whisked
Fried rice:
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, veg, canola or other neutral oil)
- 1/2 onion , finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 250g / 8 oz beef mince / ground beef (I use lean, Note 4)
- 2 cups frozen diced carrots, peas, corn (still frozen fine!) (or fresh diced veg)
- 3 cups day-old cooked rice (1c uncooked rice = 3c cooked, Note 5)
- 1/2 cup finely sliced green onions (1-2 stems)
Instructions
- Mix Sauce ingredients in a small bowl, then set aside.
- Scramble eggs – Heat sesame oil in a large wok or non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add egg and cook, stirring gently, so it is softly scrambled. Remove onto a plate.
- Cook beef – Heat vegetable oil in the same pan over high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, for 2 minutes or until you no longer see raw beef. Add 2 tablespoons of sauce and cook for 1 minute.
- Veg / caramelise beef – Add frozen vegetables and cook for 2 minutes or until the beef gets nicely caramelised – this is the trick to great flavour so do not shortcut this!
- Rice & sauce – Add rice and remaining sauce. Toss for 2 minutes until the sauce is well dispersed throughout the rice and the rice grains start to caramelise a bit.
- Egg & green onion – Then add scrambled eggs and green onion, give it a quick toss to disperse then divide between bowls. EAT!
Recipe Notes:
* Dark soy sauce is labelled as such, provides colour and gives more flavour to the sauce than other soy sauces. Sold at Aussie grocery stores nowadays. Fallback: sub with more ordinary or light soy (below)
* Soy Sauce – ordinary all purpose soy sauce, they just say “soy sauce” on the label (eg. Kikkoman). Can also use Light soy sauce – bottle is labelled as such. 2. Oyster sauce – can be substituted with a vegan/vegetarian oyster sauce (see here for Ayam at Woolies, Australia). OR use hoisin instead – similar thickness and adds similar amount of flavour but has five spice flavour added. Different but similar levels of tastiness (if that makes sense!) 3. Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” fried rice. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic sub – sub cooking wine with 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth/stock, expect to stir fry an extra minute to allow for evaporation. And (big tip) add a knob of butter at the end and toss through until melted. 4. Meat – can sub pork, chicken, turkey mince 5. Rice – Needs to be day old rice so the rice is dry and the fried rice is crumbly. If it’s freshly cooked, the fried rice ends up sticky and gluey. Not good, my friends! TIP: Keep bags of cooked rice in your freezer. This is what I do. Handy to just reheat for stir fries (sprinkle of water makes it all steamy!) and it’s crumbly enough for fried rice. Win win! 6. Leftovers will keep for 2 days. Can be frozen – reheat in microwave with a sprinkle of water to moisten it up. Nutrition per serving assuming 4 servings.
Nutrition Information:
Yet to meet a fried rice I don’t love!
Life of Dozer
When the wind slammed the door and he got trapped in the bathroom. I do NOT want to know why he was in there in the first place!
Looks scrumptious, will try soon for my fried-rice-loving husband! Are you still subconsciously responding to ‘ground beef man/woman’ – can’t recall the context, but do remember the criticism and the hilarity it induced 😂
BA HA HA!!! You know what it is?? The price of meat has gone up so much here in Sydney, I find myself using more mince that I used to last year just because it’s more economical. Plus, I like to try to get creative. Dumplings, koftas, kebabs, meatballs, patties – so many things you can do with mince! N x
Hi Nagi,
I have loved all your recipes, but your Asian ones are my favorite. Would you recommend ground chicken instead of beef, or will other changes need to be made for the flavor profile to still work?
Hi Tara! Made this exact recipe with chicken and it’s so good! No changes at all 🙂 N x
This looks amazing!! Dying over here in Canada waiting for that preorder to drop. Your recipes genuinely have never let me down. Thank you for the constant inspiration in the kitchen.
NEXT MONTH!! So soon! Wracking my brains to think of a great way to celebrate on launch day 🙂 N x
I’m right there with you, Amy! Same here in Ontario (NY),
Ontario, Canada over here! Cheers 🍻
Looks fabulous i think dozer will like it very much and how do i get the music
Hi Mark! It’s actually just stock music I use from a website that I subscribe to 🙂 Let me find the track name for you- N x
Loved hearing your voice and seeing your face while cooking! I’m a huge fan of you and Dozer! Keep on giving us amazing recipes! I will be trying this one today! -GG here in the states
Thanks Genia! Very nerve wracking putting myself on the other side of the camera! 😂
When you switch over to metric, it just stays in the US measurements
Hi Marilyn! It’s just the weight of the veg and rice that gets switched over 🙂 N x
This looks really delicious Nagi, the perfect kind of Fried Rice.
YES it is! Hope you get a chance to try it Pauline! N x
Yum. I make something like this using your regular fried rice recipe, but instead of mince we add longganisa (a sweet Filipino sausage). It works really well.
YUP!!! I love Asian sausages. So much punchy flavour!! N x
Hi Nagi,
Is this the same as Nasi Goreng rice?
Hi Pauline! Different flavour. This has a more intense savoury flavour and is stained a darker colour, and it has beef mince in it! N x
Thanks Nagi,
Will have to try it & congratulations on all your success!
Love all your recipes 😍
Can’t wait to cook this, it looks delicious.
About Dozer listening music, I leave alexa playing calming pet music every time I leave the house. I have 4 pets 😊
Ha ha!! Maybe I’m not such a crazy dog lady after all
I catch myself doing the same thing when something misses my mouth, check my shirt and eat what I find, then look down my shirt. Something is usually there! Very nice recipe by the way. In the states and so looking forward to it coming to us. ❤️❤️🐾🐾
And always wearing a WHITE TOP I bet 😂
yes the receipe is very very good .if you want to make it better then start with a teaspoon of garlic in oil first and then finish off at the end just as you about to take the wok off the fire , with table spoon of minced ginger and toss it .yum
Oooooh YES!
Hi Nagi, do you have a favourite wok?, can you tell me what to look for when buying one please. Thanks heaps for sharing your recipes we love them.
Thanks Michelle
Hi Michelle! I do but I don’t know the name of it because it’s one I stole from my brother 😂 I am yet to find a new one that I like but when I do I will share it (though it will take a while because I like to give things a run for a while to make sure they last!) N x
Not only this I love all your recipes. I am delighted to find that you are now making a video with yourself not only cooking but giving a running commentary. Thank you not only for sharing your recipes and humor, but for all you are doing for those who need a helping hand. And what better way than sharing with food.
Thanks Jonathan! I don’t do it for all recipes but I figure for the ones I do, I may as well share them here on my website, not just social media! N x
Sounds delicious. In #6 of the notes, should that be a sprinkle of water rather than a sprinkle of rice to freshen it up?
You don’t need to post this if it’s just a typo.
BA HA HA YES, sprinkle of water not rice!! 😂 Thanks for picking that up Anne – N x