This easy, one-pan Ham Fried Rice is perfect for using up holiday leftovers! It’s a perfectly balanced meal-in-one with protein, veggies and rice. This fried rice recipe is just as good as any takeout place! All you need is a handful of ingredients and 20 minutes, then dinner is on the table. As a bonus, fried rice is so easy to customize with whatever you have on hand!
“Delicious! We love to make chicken fried rice at home so this was a great change up to a family favorite. Bonus – our grocery store already had pre packaged diced ham!” – Sarah, So Much Food reader
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Fried Rice Is My Favorite Way to Use Up Leftover Ham
I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely swimming in Thanksgiving leftovers. As much as I love ham, I can only eat so many ham sandwiches before I’m itching for something different.
Finding creative ways to use up leftovers in new meals is one of my favorite challenges! One way I use up lots of leftover holiday ham is by making a big batch of Ham and Potato Soup — but just one recipe isn’t always enough!
Enter: ham fried rice! Fried rice is my go-to way to use up bits of veggies, leftover rice, and leftover meats for a delicious, filling, and simple dinner. It’s great as a side dish, but you can also totally make a meal of it.
This Chinese-inspired ham fried rice checks all the flavor boxes. It’s smoky from the crispy ham, hearty from the veggies and rice, and has tons of umami flavor. Leftover ham adds the perfect amount of smoky and savory flavor. I could honestly eat fried rice for dinner every night and be so happy. Once you try this recipe, it’ll be a go-to for you year round!
Tools Needed
The Main Ingredients (+ Substitutions)
You can find the full list of ingredients, quantities & method in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Rice. Day-old, long grain white rice is best here! My favorite is basmati because it’s less sticky than jasmine and you end up with nice separated grains. If you don’t have leftover rice, steam your rice according to your rice cooker’s instructions and then spread it out on a baking sheet in the fridge for an hour or two to dry it out a bit.
- Ham. I used leftover holiday ham for this recipe, but you could also purchase a ham steak and dice it up. (If you’re looking for a ham recipe, might I suggest my apricot glazed ham or bourbon ham?)
- Veggies. This is a great recipe for using up extra veggies you may have! The classics here are carrot, onion, green onion, and frozen peas but you could also add chopped up green beans, broccoli, cabbage, etc.
- Garlic. Because garlic makes everything better!
- Eggs. It’s not fried rice without some eggs scrambled in.
- Soy sauce and oyster sauce. You don’t need a lot of liquid for the fried rice but the soy sauce and oyster sauce add tons of umami and flavor.
- Japanese Mayo. I had fried rice at a restaurant once and they drizzled it with kewpie (Japanese mayo) before it came out and I’m never going back!
- Furikake. Furikake is a dry Japanese condiment that has dried seaweed, sesame seeds, katsuobushi (smoked fish), and sometimes dried wasabi. It’s great for sprinkling and adds tons of flavor.
Jenny’s Tip: Oyster sauce is NOT the same thing as fish sauce! Fish sauce has a much stronger flavor than oyster sauce and also a different texture. The only oyster sauce substitute I can recommend would be hoisin sauce mixed with just a dash of fish sauce.
How to Make Takeout-Style Ham Fried Rice
- Crisp up the ham. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the diced ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy. This helps develop flavor in the fried rice.
- Add the veggies. Don’t add the frozen peas just yet, just the hardier carrot and onions. Cook them until they start to soften but still have some bite to them.
- Add the day-old rice. Stir, stir, stir for several minutes to toast the rice without having it stick to the wok.
- Scramble the eggs. The trick here is to shove all of the rice and vegetables to one side of the pan so that the scrambled egg doesn’t cling to the rice and give it a weird texture.
- Finish the ham fried rice. We’re adding the frozen peas, soy sauce, and oyster sauce last so that the peas maintain their texture and vibrant color and so that the sauces don’t burn or stick to the pan.
Customizing Your Fried Rice
This ham and egg fried rice is a great recipe for using up a variety of leftovers! Here are some ways to customize it to your tastes and ingredient availability:
Add more protein. You could add diced chicken, turkey, or diced bacon to the fried rice to make it extra hearty.
Add veggies. Onions, carrots, peas, and green onions make up the fried rice base here. You could also saute in some sliced leeks for more flavor. Some other great veggies would be corn, green beans, cabbage, snow peas, or chopped broccoli.
Add some fresh herbs. Green onion is great, but you could also stir in some Thai or regular basil or cilantro for a fresh punch of flavor.
If you do give this recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag@JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!
More Super Quick Asian-Inspired Meals
- Ground Beef and Broccoli
- Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Bowls
- Cashew Chicken Stir Fry
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Salmon and Rice Bowls
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Ham Fried Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup neutral oil, such as canola oil
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 6 green onions
- 5 cups cold, day-old white rice*
- 3 eggs, lightly whisked
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 cup frozen peas
- kosher salt and white pepper, to taste
- furikake, optional
- Kewpie or Japanese Mayo, optional
Instructions
- Slice the green onions. Thinly slice the green onions, but keep the white/light green parts separate from the dark green parts. Mix the light parts with the diced onion and diced carrot. Set the dark green parts aside.
- Crisp up the ham. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the diced ham and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy. This helps develop flavor in the fried rice.
- Add the veggies. Once the ham is browned, add the onion, carrot, and green onions to the wok. Cook until the veggies are starting to brown and soften.
- Add the day-old rice. Mix the rice into the ham and veggies and stir so that the rice really gets mixed in. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
- Scramble the eggs. Move all the rice to one side of the pan, leaving a gap on the other side and lower the heat to medium. Add the eggs to the pan in that space and season with salt and pepper. Once the eggs are mostly cooked through, use a silicone spatula to break them up and incorporate them into the rice.
- Finish the ham fried rice. Add the peas, soy sauce, and oyster sauce and stir well. Cook until the soy sauce has absorbed into the rice. Stir in the rest of the green onions and season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with furikake, if desired and serve with a drizzle of Japanese mayo.
Storage Instructions
- To store: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can reheat the fried rice in the microwave in increments until heated through.
- To freeze: Allow the fried rice to cool completely and store it in a freezer safe bag, pushing all the air out before zipping closed. This helps prevent freezer burn. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw in the refrigerator overnight before rewarming.
Rate & Review This Recipe
Delicious! We love to make chicken fried rice at home so this was a great change up to a family favorite. Bonus – our grocery store already had pre package diced ham!
This is one of our new favorites, too!
Hi Jenny, I don’t usually have oyster sauce on hand but fish sauce i do. Could I use that instead?
Fish sauce has a much stronger flavor than oyster sauce and a different texture–I would swap in hoisin sauce mixed with a dash of fish sauce.
This is a great recipe for the extra Christmas ham. I made it without the peas and carrits because my son does not like them. Very flavorful. The oyster sauce adds a nice depth.
This is a keeper!
So happy you loved it, carol!