Nasi Goreng is the popular Indonesian fried rice which is traditionally served with a fried egg. I love the unique dark brown, caramelised colour of the rice! It’s a simple recipe, you won’t need to hunt down any unusual ingredients, and it’s one of my favourite Indonesian foods – and I’m betting you will love it too. 🙂
Nasi Goreng
Anyone who has been to Bali would be familiar with Nasi Goreng and probably had it almost every day because it’s everywhere and darn delicious!
So for those who have tried and love Nasi Goreng, you will be surprised how easy this is to make in your very own home.
And for those who haven’t tried it, I hope you do!
What is Nasi Goreng?
The literal translation of Nasi Goreng is “fried rice” in Indonesian and Malaysian – and that’s exactly what it is! It’s mainly rice with just a little bit of meat and just onion for the vegetables. The thing that distinguishes it from other Fried Rice dishes is the sauce which is made with kecap manis, a sweet soy sauce that stains the rice dark brown and caramelises the rice when it cooks.
Typically it’s served with a sunny side up egg (love how the yolk runs into the rice!) and a side of fresh cucumber and tomato (no dressing) to make a meal of it.
Shrimp Paste is optional!
As with almost every traditional dish, there are many versions of Nasi Goreng. Some are more complicated than others, calling for the use of dried shrimp (belacan) which, astonishingly, is now sold in large supermarkets in Australia as well as Asian stores.
I make it with, and I make it without. It’s tasty even without dried shrimp – and in fact, when I originally shared this Nasi Goreng recipe in 2016, I chose the version without shrimp paste because of that reason.
But it is tastier and more authentic with dried shrimp.
So I’ve compromised and taken the easy route by using shrimp paste rather than dried shrimp which requires more effort in the preparation process (crumble and toast before using).
Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)
A distinguishing feature of Nasi Goreng is the dark brown colour of the rice from the kecap manis / ketjap manis which is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce. It’s thicker and sweeter than normal soy sauce, with a consistency like syrup.
Don’t go running for the hills thinking it’s a hard-to-find-ingredient! Here in Australia, kecap manis is available in major supermarkets (see here for Woolworths).
And if you can’t find it at your supermarket, don’t worry! It is SO easy to make – just reduce soy sauce and brown sugar. Seriously. I’ve included directions in the recipe for you.
Cold, day old rice is not optional!
While shrimp paste is optional, the COLD cooked rice called for is not!
It’s simply not possible to make any fried rice with hot, freshly cooked rice – it gets kind of stickier when stir fried in sauce.
On the other hand, day old cold rice is drier and harder, so the rice can be stir fried in the sauce in a way that makes it become caramelised which gives Nasi Goreng the signature colour and flavour.
Speedy option: Cook the rice, spread out on tray then FREEZE for 1 – 2 hours, or refrigerate for 3 – 4 hours. It’s not just about cooling the rice, it’s also about making the surface of the rice dry out.
Super quick 20 minute recipe
The making part is very straightforward, no different to typical fried rice recipes. Garlic, chilli and onion first, then chicken, then rice, kecap manis and shrimp paste, if using.
Cook for a couple of minutes until the rice grains start to caramelise. Trust me – you will know when it’s ready, it smells amazing!
How to serve Nasi Goreng
Nasi Goreng is traditionally served with a fried egg and a side of fresh vegetables (commonly plain juicy wedges of tomato and cucumber).
Both these side options are very typical in various parts of Asia to add protein and vegetables to a plate to turn something carb-heavy into a meal.
Nasi Goreng is also a terrific Asian side dish option, something a little different that packs a bit of a flavour punch! Try it on the side of:
Asian Chilli Garlic Shrimp/Prawns – big punchy flavours, tastes like Thai Chilli jam!
Or have a browse of my Asian recipes collection for more ideas!
I do hope you try this. Super tasty, it’s probably one of the most flavour packed Asian fried rice dishes! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 tbsp oil
- 5 oz / 150g chicken breast , thinly sliced (or other protein)
- 1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce, Note 1)
Rice
- 1.5 tbsp oil
- 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 1 tsp red chilli , finely chopped (Note 2)
- 1 onion , small, diced
- 3 cups cooked white rice , day old, cold (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce, Note 1)
- 2 tsp shrimp paste , optional (Note 4)
Garnishes / side servings (optional)
- 4 eggs , fried to taste
- 1 green onion , sliced
- Tomatos and cucumbers, cut into wedges/chunks
- Fried shallots , store bought (optional) (Note 3)
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.
- Add chilli and garlic, stir for 10 seconds.
- Add onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken, cook until it mostly turns white, then add 1 tbsp kecap manis and cook for a further 1 minute or until chicken is mostly cooked through and a bit caramelised.
- Add rice, 2 tbsp kecap manis and shrimp paste, if using. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes until sauce reduces down and rice grains start to caramelise (key for flavour!).
- Serve, garnished with garnishes of choice (green onions, red chilli, fried shallots).
Serving
- Serve as a side for Asian main dishes or as part of a large spread, Asian or not! 🙂 See in post for suggestions.
- Make it a meal – traditional Indonesian style!: Serve with a fried egg sunny side up (runny yolk!), tomato wedges and slices of cucumber on the side.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nasi Goreng recipe originally shared March 2016. Updated June 2019 with new photos, new writing, brand new video, slight recipe improvement and most importantly, Life of Dozer added!
Life of Dozer
Annual check up – passed with flying colours! And he behaved pretty well too…. until he saw the needle….
…. but the teeny tiny little prick was soon forgotten as he launched himself onto the reception desk for treats. 🙄 The wonderful team at Mona Vale Vetinary Hospital spoil him!! (And you know I totally love it)
Hi Nagi, I tried your Nasi Goreng recipe last night. It was simply delicious. Thank you for sharing, it’s a wonderful experience.
That’s so great to hear Evelyn! I’m so pleased you enjoyed this, thank you for letting me know! N x
Am I right was told never ever reheat cooked rice to much bacteria in it cannot be cooked out
Alan, that is simply not true. Most restaurants serving dishes with rice, including the Indian and Chinese restaurants, will cook a huge batch of rice at least one day in advance, and then reheat or stir-fry it for serving. Cooked rice, stored in a plastic bag or Tupperware-type container will keep for at least three days in the fridge,. It also freezes beautifully, as stated above.
HI Alan, I come from a rice eating background and I promise that my family and all my relatives in Japan reheat rice all the time 🙂 It’s fine!
Hi, I’m Indonesian and I wanted to say that Bali’s nasi goreng is not so authentic w/ shrimp paste. It originated from the island of Java and actually topping it w/ fried shallots makes it more authentic than using shrimp paste. In any Indonesian household, it usually just seasoned w/ ground shallots & garlic+ green onion/leek. If the family happens to like heat then a tablespoon or 2 of sambal would make it into the fried rice along w/ leftovers veggies such as cabbage & bean sprout then just before turning off the heat add some kecap manis. Topped w/ sliced (leftover) fried chicken or omelette & fried shallots.
By reading your ingredients and recipe’s instructions, i reckon it’s quite authentic. Highly recommened 👍👍
Love hearing that Ima!
This looks delish! It looks reminiscent of the receipt I learned (and forgot!) in high school.
Your blog is my go-to since I’ve moved out.
I love pineapple, but I don’t have the ingredients for pineapple fried rice, would I be able to add pineapple to this ?
YES you totally can! YUM!!
This dish was “sooooo easy” to make & absolutely DELICIOUS 😁
LOVE HEARING THAT Maria! N x ❤️
Very disappointing as the dish was extremely sweet and no savoruriness at all – there was no salt or soy sauce in the recipe. Surprised at the lack of sambal also… Tastes nothing like what I’ve had in Bali.
Curse you Nagi! Felt like Nasi Goreng for last night’s dinner and when reading your recipe I didn’t realise we could buy fried shallots at Coles/Woolies so I traipsed up to the Mall yesterday in 35o heat. I found myself munching on them on the way back to the office. Anyway, back to dinner.
We’ve been to Kuta, Seminyak, Sanua, Lombok – all over Indo for diving and definitely their staple meal is Nasi Goreng.
Your recipe is dead set authentic to what is served up over there for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. The addition of the fried shallots totally takes my head back to the hustle & bustle of downtown Kuta. Like Indo, (everything being so simplistic), this dish nails it.
Thanks again Nagi, I can’t wait to have my leftover breakfast.
BTW – looking forward to the hamy congee thingo you’re going to share. Ham bones are at the ready in the freezer.
I love hearing that Barb!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! N x
Mine became a bit too sweet. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Maybe not enough Sambal? After I added more it was good. Also I added Krupuk as side dish. It was almost always part of the meal when I visited Indonesia.
Sweet is from kecap manis which is a sweet soy sauce. If this is too sweet for your taste, you can cut back on that and sub with dark soy sauce instead. 🙂
Cooked nasi goreng for the first time today. My 6yr old said “it’s not nice…it’s delicious!” 😆 Thanks for the simple and delicious recipe! Prawn crackers would make this meal complete!
That’s so terrific Cheryl! I’m so pleased to hear that, thanks for sharing your feedback! N x ❤️
I have a confession. I’d never heard of Nasi Goreng until I was watching an episode of ‘Wentworth’ (the Australian show set in a women’s prison), and one of the characters mentioned Nasi Goreng. I Googled it to see what it was. The first results were yours Nagi. 🙂 Since I had tried several of your other recipes, I decided to give it a shot.
Oh.my.God! It was so good!
At first when I told my family that I was going to make it, they were skeptical but they ended up devouring it.
There was almost a fight for the leftovers the next day (there were definitely some angry feelings for those who didn’t make it to the leftovers in time). So I am making it for the second time this week so everyone will be happy. And I’m going to make 5 cups of rice so there are plenty of leftovers.
Thanks Nagi for such a wonderful recipe!
That’s so wonderful to hear Cleopatra! Thanks for letting me know – N xx
My whole family loves this recipe, so easy and simple and yet so tasty. It’s one of the kids, most requested meals. Thanks Nagi.
That’s so fantastic to hear Jen! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Hi there! Thanks for the great recipe! I need to cook a big batch of this tomorrow for about 20 people. Can you tell me how many cups of raw rice I need to use? You have mentioned 3.5 cups of cooked rice…
Hi Naz! I think 6 cups raw rice will be sufficient. 🙂
Love Nasi Goreng. My mother & her parents moved from Amsterdam to Indonesia and lived there for a year or two. I grew up on this dish. Ultimate comfort food for me.
Isn’t it awesome?? One of my favourite fried rices!
So very tasty! I added in long beans chopped into little pieces, mushroom slices, sliced fish cake instead of chicken, and scrambled the eggs into the rice instead of serving on top. The substitute soy sauce + brown sugar was easy to make and very flavorful. Your directions don’t specify whether to just scoop or tightly pack the brown sugar but I used common sense and just lightly scooped it as we aren’t baking here 😉 maybe next time I’ll use 3 tbsp of brown sugar, 1/4 cup was just a bit on the sweet side. I can’t wait to make this fried rice again, maybe I’ll be eating out at Malaysian + Indonesian restaurants less from now on!
Oooh! So glad you enjoyed this Vincci, this is one of my FAVE fried rices!
Nagi, you have nailed this as the very best version of any fried rice anywhere! I could never figure out how this stuff was made, I sure did try too. Nevertheless you have wonderfully shown the steps so many other recipe sites make mysterious, and show us not only can it be done well, it can also be done so much faster than any box, bag or can can do.
Thank you!
Thank you Elizabeth! I’m SO GLAD you enjoyed this! I am obsessed with Nasi Goreng. I swear I ate it every day in Bali!!!
This is one of J Daddy’s favourite dishes, I knew I had to try and make this at home. Thank you, Miss Nagi, for this easy and amazing recipe. Sweet, savoury, spicy, this rice had it all. So good. I bought the fried shallots but sadly forgot to use them. Oh well. Just means I have to make this dish again!
Awwww!!! So glad J Daddy likes this so much!!! Isn’t Nasi Goreng the BEST??? N x
Psssst: North Americans can purchase Ketjap Manis in Grand Rapids, MI at Peters Gourmet Market or online at: http://petersgourmetmarket.com/
Thanks so much for sharing that tip Marie! N x
Another superb recipe of yours! This tasty kind is hard to come by in a Balinese restaurant nowadays and using fresh chili is nice.. it`s often fast food with bottled flavours In Indonesia now. Homemade Sambal is hard to find and a great sign of quality these days. If they put it on the table it puts a big smile on my face 🙂
If you are in Australia and you want to make it a healtier dish, there is an organic brown rice to be found at Woolworth by SunRice which works very well for us (I also use it for Risotto). For anyone in Bali, there is a supermarket near the airport called `Pepitos’ – they have a huge range of stuff, of course Ketjap Manis in all sizes and also specialities like granulated Palm sugar which is hard to find. Happy cooking!
Thanks for the tips Nikki! Sounds like you know Bali well!!! PS I agree, SunRice brown rice works really well in this, I actually really like the nutty flavour 🙂
I love how you make a simple fried rice dish look so fancy and pretty with the garnishes. Makes me want to lift my presentation game!
This is how I usually get it at Indo restaurants! No schamcny styling here!! 🙂
I have a friend that just got back from Bali, I wonder if she had this. It looks amazing – who does not love fried rice – and love the added egg on top.
Surely she did!!! It’s mandatory! Along with cheap massages 🙂
Oh my… I love all forms of nasi goreng cooked in super ‘wok hei’ (high heat). It’s the best. Ditto what Bobbi from Bam’s Kitchen said.. a lot of fried rice on the brains this week. Lol.
Indonesian nasi goreng taste the closest to what we have in Malaysia called Nasi Goreng Kampung (which translates to Village Fried Rice). Super delicious! So additive.
I got all confused reading up about nasi goring because here in Australia, Nasi Goreng is served at Malaysian restaurants too. I haven’t made Malaysiann nasi goreng yet – do you have a recipe on your site?
Haha yes. Nasi means rice and goreng means fried. Since Malaysian and Indonesian language is similar, you will see Nasi Goreng in both types of restaurant. In Malaysia and Indonesia, each state has their own version of nasi goreng too. Regardless, they all taste super delicious. I’ve yet posted Nasi Goreng Kampung in my blog yet. Maybe soon. Cheers!!
Gotcha!!! I definitely noticed that Malaysian Nasi Goreng tastes a little more shrimpy too so I guess the recipes really are different! 🙂