Ground beef fried rice
Better-than-takeout fried rice with savory beef, fluffy egg and sweet little vegetables, made with pantry staples.
- 70 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.43 a serving
- 650 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- 4 stalks green onions
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 1 lb 85/15 ground beef
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 650 calories, 32 g protein, 63 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $2.43 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No 85/15 ground beef? 90/10 ground beef works.
- No frozen mixed vegetables? Frozen peas or frozen corn or frozen green beans work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice until the water runs mostly clear. Put it in a with the water and salt and over high.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cover, turn to low and cook 18 minutes.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Spread the hot rice on a and chill it in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 20 minutes.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Fresh, warm rice turns to mush in the pan. Cold, dry rice fries into separate grains. Leftover rice from yesterday is even better.While it chills, the green onions, keeping the white and green parts apart. the garlic and beat the eggs in a small bowl.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large over medium. Add the eggs and stir gently 1 to 2 minutes, until just set, then slide them onto a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Turn the heat to high, add the beef, and cook 6 to 7 minutes, breaking it up, until no pink is left and it’s browned in spots. Spoon off most of the fat.
High heatTimer: 6 min 30 sec
Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Push the beef to the side, add the rest of the oil, the garlic, onion whites and frozen vegetables, and stir 2 minutes.
High heatTimer: 2 min
Add the cold rice, break up any clumps, and press it flat.
High heat
Leave it 1 minute, then stir.
Repeat for 3 to 4 minutes, until hot with a few crispy bits.
High heatTimer: 4 min
Dolly’s tip: Letting it sit is how you get those toasty grains. Constant stirring just steams it.in the soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil, add the eggs and pepper, and with the onion greens until everything is coated.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heat
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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