Turn holiday ham leftovers and basic veggies into a quick, delicious and easy ham fried rice. Get creative – supermarket ham, bacon, diced chicken, or shrimp all work beautifully for any time of the year.
My Go-To Ham Fried Rice
This is an easy ham fried rice recipe using up staple veggies and freezer corn and peas. I made this rice with leftover glazed ham from the weekend but you can use any good ham from the supermarket as well as bacon, diced rotisserie chicken or shrimp.
You can use this recipe as a template to use up leftover ingredients and veggies. It’s my go-to meal when I am running out of fresh produce as I almost always have some onions, garlic, carrots, frozen corn and peas, rice and bacon or ham in the fridge. I often have some frozen leftover ham too, especially after the holidays.
It’s a tasty, budget-friendly dish that everyone in my family loves. I serve it with a side of garlic broccoli or leafy greens or a simple side salad. I love a little garlic chili oil on top.
💡You can use this recipe combined with my cauliflower egg fried rice to make a low-carb version of this dish.
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make this ham fried rice:
- Leftover ham or regular smoked ham – diced into cubes.
- Rice – I really like medium-grain white rice for fried rice but you can use long-grain, Basmati, Jasmine or brown rice if you wish. Rice can be cooked ahead of time but do not store it for more than 24 hours in the fridge before using!
- Onions, celery, carrots – I almost always have these as they go into so many meals – and I like to throw in some frozen peas and corn.
- For flavour: garlic, ginger, salt, white pepper (this is more traditional for Asian recipes), soy sauce or Tamari, sesame oil and a little butter, which I love in rice dishes.
- Egg – you gotta have an egg in fried rice! – of course, omit if you can’t have eggs.
How To Make Ham Fried Rice
Find the full list of ingredients, nutritional info, and instructions in the recipe card below. Here are some step-by-step pictures to guide you along. The process is simple:
Step 1. Cook white rice on a stovetop, in a rice cooker or in the Instant Pot (see all instructions below). Let it cool off on a flat plate before using the rice, this will give you the best texture.
Step 2. Saute veggies, ham and aromatics in a skillet. Add frozen corn and peas (don’t bother with thawing them out, they will defrost in the skillet).
Step 3. Add the cooked rice and sauces and stir through. Scramble the egg in the middle and fold it into the fried rice.
Garnish with green onions (scallions) and fried shallots.
Recipe Tips
- Medium-grain rice works best in my opinion. Make sure it’s cooled down before adding to the skillet. Leftover cold rice works great too, it has a bit more bite to it but make sure it hasn’t been stored for longer than 24 hours.
- You can use leftover glazed or baked ham or regular deli ham, bacon, leftover chicken, diced shrimp or diced tofu for a vegetarian version.
- Fresh garlic and ginger are best but if in a pinch, ground-up powders could be used.
- This is a great recipe for using up all kinds of leftovers – you can throw in various veggies, leftover sausage, steak, and so on.
What To Serve With Ham Fried Rice
This dish is pretty good on its own but it will pair nicely with some vegetables. I love simple stir-fried or steamed broccoli or bok choy with a little garlic, a fresh cucumber salad or a simple Asian slaw to freshen it up and add some tang to the meal.
I recommend a little chili oil or Sriracha to serve to add some heat.
